Women, men, and spiritual power : female saints and their male collaborators / John W. Coakley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coakley, John W. (John Wayland)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women mystics.

Authority--Religious aspects--Catholic Church.

Authority.

Power (Christian theology).

Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Church history.

Church history--Middle Ages.

Monasticism and religious orders.

Physical Description:

x, 354 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2006]

Summary:

John W. Coakley explores the complex relationships between female mystics and the clerics who wrote about them. These relationships were marked by a fundamental tension between control and fascination: the priests and friars were supposed to hold authority over the women entrusted to their care, but they often switched roles, as the clerics became intrigued with the spiritual gifts of these mystics. Coakley argues that male religious authorities viewed themselves in gendered partnerships that brought together female mystical power and male ecclesiastical authority without placing one above the other.

Coakley focuses on the narratives of the lives of Catherine of Siena, Hildegard of Bingen, Angela of Foligno, and six other mystics. His study undermines simplistic characterizations of male control over religious women to offer an important contribution to medieval religious history.

Contents:

Introduction. "You Draw Us After You" 1

1 The Powers of Holy Women 7

2 Revelation and Authority in Ekbert and Elisabeth of Schonau 25

3 A Shared Endeavor? Guibert of Gembloux on Hildegard of Bingen 45

4 James of Vitry and the Other World of Mary of Oignies 68

5 Self and Saint: Peter of Dacia on Christine of Stommeln 89

6 Hagiography and Theology in the Memorial of Angela of Foligno 111

7 The Limits of Religious Authority: Margaret of Cortona and Giunta Bevegnati 130

8 Hagiography in Process: Henry of Nordlingen and Margaret Ebner 149

9 Managing Holiness: Raymond of Capua and Catherine of Siena 170

10 Revelation and Authority Revisited: John Marienwerder on Dorothy of Montau 193

11 Authority and Female Sanctity: Conclusions 211.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [321]-344) and index.

ISBN:

0231134002

0231508611

OCLC:

61513217