Medieval Women Religious, C. 800-C. 1500: c.800-c.1500: New Perspectives

A multi-disciplinary re-evaluation of the role of women religious in the Middle Ages, both inside and outside the cloister. Medieval women found diverse ways of expressing their religious aspirations: within the cloister as members of monastic and religious orders, within the world as vowesses, or between the two as anchorites. Via a range of disciplinary approaches, from history, archaeology, literature, and the visual arts, the essays in this volume challenge received scholarly narratives and re-examine the roles of women religious: their authority and agency within their own communities and the wider world; their learning and literacy; place in the landscape; and visual culture. Overall, they highlight the impact of women on the world around them, the significance of their presence in communities, and the experiences and legacies they left behind. Front Cover 1 Table of Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 List of Contributors 10 Preface 12 List of Abbreviations 13 Introduction 18 1. Reform, Change, and Renewal: Women Religious in the Central Middle Ages, 800–1050 39 2. New Movements of the Twelfth Century: Diversity, Belonging, and Order(s) 60 3. Change and Renewal: Mendicants and Tertiaries in Later Medieval Europe 78 4. On the Fringes: Anchorites 93 5. ‘Quasi-religious’: Vowesses 107 6. Authority and Agency: Women as Heads of Religious Houses 122 7. Women Religious, Secular Households: The Outside World and Crossing Boundaries in the Later Middle Ages 137 8. Literacies, Learning, and Communal Reform: The Case of Alijt Bake 154 9. Family and Friends: Gift-giving, Books,and Book Inscriptions in Women’s Religious Communities 169 10. Communities of Medieval Religious Women and Their Landscapes 183 11. Materiality and Archaeology of Women Religious 199 12. Between Collective Memory and Individual Remembrance in Women’s Religious Communities 219 Select Bibliography 238 Index 264 Studies in the History of Medieval Religion 278