Women in the Military Orders of the Crusades (The New Middle Ages)

This study of the female members of the Order or Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in the High Middle Ages analyses their presence in the context of female monasticism and compares their position to the position of women in other religious military orders. introducing questions of gender into the history of the military orders. Female Hospitallers in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries is a detailed study of the female members of the Order or Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in the High Middle Ages. It analyses their presence in the context of female monasticism and compares their position to the position of women in other religious military orders. The study is distinct not only because its topic has never before been addressed in a monograph, but also because of its cross-fertilizing approach: It introduces questions of gender into the history of the military orders and it relates answers to these question to the history of female monasticism, bringing fresh insights to both Cover 1 Title 8 Copyright 9 Contents 11 List of Maps, Tables, and Figures 12 Preface 14 Acknowledgments 18 Abbreviations 19 Introduction 20 1. Female Monasticism 26 2. Women in Military Orders 41 3. The Order of Saint John of Jerusalem 61 4. The Lay Sisters of Saint John of Jerusalem 82 5. Hospitaller Sisters in the Twelfth Century 93 6. Hospitaller Sisters in the Thirteenth Century 109 7. The Hospital and Its Female Members 125 Conclusion 148 Notes 157 Bibliography 210 Index 235 Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Introduction....Pages 1-6 Female Monasticism....Pages 7-21 Women in Military Orders....Pages 23-42 The Order of Saint John of Jerusalem....Pages 43-63 The Lay Sisters of Saint John of Jerusalem....Pages 65-75 Hospitaller Sisters in the Twelfth Century....Pages 77-92 Hospitaller Sisters in the Thirteenth Century....Pages 93-108 The Hospital and its Female Members....Pages 109-131 Conclusion....Pages 133-141 Back Matter....Pages 143-230