Visions & longings : medieval women mystics, writings of Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, Clare of Assisi, Margery Kempe, Heloise, and others

The women mystics of medieval Europe represent the very first feminine voices heard in a world where women were nearly silent. As such, they are striking and unusual, strange, powerful and urgent. Monica Furlong uses key selections from among these women's own writings and writings about them by their contemporaries, along with her own assessment of them, to open up their contributions to a wide popular audience. The eleven women represented in this anthology were housewives, visionaries, abbesses, beguines, recluses, and nuns who wrote between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. They include: • Héloise, the scholar and abbess, whose letters to Abelard are treasure of medieval literature • Hildegard of Bingen, the visionary Rhineland nun • Clare of Assisi, the close friend of Saint Francis and founder of the Poor Clares • Catherine of Siena, an influential spiritual counselor whose book, Dialogue, consists of a debate between herself and God • Julian of Norwich, the English hermitess who spent the greater part of her life meditating on and coming to understand the striking visions she received as a young woman • and many others "The women mystics of medieval Europe represent the very first feminine voices heard in a world where women were nearly silent. Monica Furlong presents writings by and about eleven of these Christian mystics who lived and worked between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries." "They are Heloise, the abbess whose letters to her former lover Abelard are a treasure of medieval literature; Christina of Markyate, the hermit whose early life was characterized by her zealous antics aimed at avoiding marriage; Hildegard of Bingen, the Rhineland's renaissance woman - scientist, visionary, poet, and theologian; Beatrijs of Nazareth, Mechtild of Magdeburg, and Hadewijch of Brabant, scholars and poets of the Beguine movement of women's communities; Clare of Assisi, the close friend of Saint Francis and founder of the community of the Poor Clares; Angela di Foligno, the noble woman of Umria whose joyful spirituality made her a cult figure in her own lifetime; Catherine of Siena, the confidante of popes whose major writing consists of dialogue between herself and God; Margery Kempe, the eccentric mystic housewife; and Julian of Norwich, the recluse who spent the greater part of her life reflecting and elaborating upon the visions she received at age thirty - including a striking vision of God as Mother."--Jacket VISIONS & LONGINGS Contents Preface Introduction Héloïse Christina of Markyate Hildegard of Bingen The Beguines Angela di Foligno Catherine of Siena Margery Kempe Julian of Norwich Credit