Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe (The Middle Ages Series)

In cities and towns across northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a new type of religious woman took up authoritative though solitary positions in medieval society. Mulder-Bakker offers a new history of these women and their roles as counselors, theological innovators, and public recluses. In cities and towns across northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a new type of religious woman took up authoritative though solitary positions in medieval society. Mulder-Bakker offers a new history of these women and their roles as counselors, theological innovators, and public recluses. Lives of the Anchoresses The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker. Translated by Myra Heerspink Scholz

"We are blessed here with a study of rare insight and perception into the functioning of lay religious devotion in northwestern Europe and its interaction with institutionalized and learned clerical religion."--Speculum

In cities and towns across northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a new type of religious woman took up authoritative positions in society, all the while living as public recluses in cells attached to the sides of churches. In Lives of the Anchoresses, Anneke Mulder-Bakker offers a new history of these women who chose to forsake the world but did not avoid it.

Unlike nuns, anchoresses maintained their ties to society and belonged to no formal religious order. From their solitary anchorholds in very public places, they acted as teachers and counselors and, in some cases, theological innovators for parishioners who would speak to them from the street, through small openings in the walls of their cells. Available at all hours, the anchoresses were ready to care for the community's faithful whenever needed.

Through careful biographical studies of five emblematic anchoresses, Mulder-Bakker reveals the details of these influential religious women. The life of the unnamed anchoress who was mother to Guibert of Nogent shows the anchoress's role as a spiritual guide in an oral culture. A study of Yvette of Huy shows the myriad possibilities open to one woman who eventually chose the life of an anchoress. The accounts of Juliana of Cornillon and Eve of St. Martin raise questions about the participation of religious women in theological discussions and their contributions to church liturgy. And the biographical study of Margaret the Lame of Magdeburg explores the anchoress's role as day-to-day religious instructor to the ordinary faithful.

Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker is a senior lecturer in history and medieval studies at the University of Groningen. She is the author many books in Dutch, including Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe, 1200-1550 and is editor of The Invention of Saintliness and Sanctity and Motherhood: Essays on Holy Mothers in the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages Series
2005 | 312 pages | 6 x 9
ISBN 978-0-8122-3852-5 | Cloth | $65.00s | £42.50
ISBN 978-0-8122-0286-1 | Ebook | $65.00s | £42.50
World Rights | History, Women's/Gender Studies, Religion

Short copy:

In cities and towns across northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a new type of religious woman took up authoritative though solitary positions in medieval society. Mulder-Bakker offers a new history of these women and their roles as counselors, theological innovators, and public recluses.

In cities and towns across northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a new type of religious woman took up authoritative positions in society, all the while living as public recluses in cells attached to the sides of churches. In Lives of the Anchoresses, Anneke Mulder-Bakker offers a new history of these women who chose to forsake the world but did not avoid it.

Unlike nuns, anchoresses maintained their ties to society and belonged to no formal religious order. From their solitary anchorholds in very public places, they acted as teachers and counselors and, in some cases, theological innovators for parishioners who would speak to them from the street, through small openings in the walls of their cells. Available at all hours, the anchoresses were ready to care for the community's faithful whenever needed.

Through careful biographical studies of five emblematic anchoresses, Mulder-Bakker reveals the details of these influential religious women. The life of the unnamed anchoress who was mother to Guibert of Nogent shows the anchoress's role as a spiritual guide in an oral culture. A study of Yvette of Huy shows the myriad possibilities open to one woman who eventually chose the life of an anchoress. The accounts of Juliana of Cornillon and Eve of St. Martin raise questions about the participation of religious women in theological discussions and their contributions to church liturgy. And the biographical study of Margaret the Lame of Magdeburg explores the anchoress's role as day-to-day religious instructor to the ordinary faithful.

In this scholarly and thought-provoking work, Mulder-Bakker (Univ. of Groningen) examines the role of the female public recluse (anchoress) in northern Europe c. 1100-1312. Through a detailed examination of five anchoresses as case studies (the unnamed mother of Guibert of Nogent, Yvette of Huy, Juliana of Cornillon, Eve of St. Martin, and Margaret the Lame of Mageburg), Mulder-Bakker is able to situate the anchoritic movement into a broader historical context as well as define the precise role of the anchoress to the larger community. The movement itself was primarily urban and predominately female; it afforded women a very different type of religious experience than that offered to nuns in contemplative cloisters. These anchoresses chose to be enclosed in a solitary anchorhold at the heart of the community. Mulder-Bakker examines their roles in this capacity, as counselors, teachers, liturgical innovators, and theological discussants. This important study will undoubtedly challenge many preconceptions about the public role of the anchoress. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by A.G. Traver "In cities and towns across northern Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a new type of religious woman took up authoritative positions in society, all the while living as public recluses in cells attached to the sides of churches. In Lives of the Anchoresses, Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker offers a new history of these women, who chose to forsake the world but did not avoid it." "Through careful studies of five emblematic anchoresses, Mulder-Bakker reveals the details of these influential religious women's biographies. The life of the unnamed anchoress who was mother to Guibert of Nogent shows the anchoress's role as a spiritual guide in an oral culture. A study of Yvette of Huy shows the myriad possibilities open to one woman who eventually chose the life of an anchoress. The accounts of Juliana of Cornillon and the Eve of St. Martin raise questions about the participation of religious women in the theological discussions and their contributions to church liturgy. And the biographical study of Margaret the Lame of Magdeburg explores the anchoress's role as day-to-day religious instructor to the ordinary faithful."--Jacket Contents 1. Bees Without a King 2. The Mother of Guibert of Nogent: The Age of Discretion 3. Yvette of Huy: The Metamorphoses of a Woman 4. Juliana of Cornillon, Church Reform, and the Corpus Christi Feast 5. Eve of St. Martin, the Faithful of Liege, and the Church 6. Lame Margaret of Magdeburg and Her Lessons 7. Living Saints 8. Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments