Equal in monastic profession : religious women in Medieval France / Penelope D. Johnson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Penelope D. (Penelope Delafield), 1938-

Series:

Women in culture and society.

Women in culture and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuns--France--History.

Nuns.

Monasticism and religious orders for women--France--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Monasticism and religious orders for women.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 294 pages)

Other Title:

Monastic profession

Religious women in Medieval France

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993, c1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this study of the manner in which medieval nuns lived, Penelope Johnson challenges facile stereotypes of nuns living passively under monastic rule, finding instead that collectively they were empowered by their communal privileges and status to think and act without many of the subordinate attitudes of secular women. In the words of one abbess comparing nuns with monks, they were "different as to their sex but equal in their monastic profession." Johnson researched more than two dozen nunneries in northern France from the eleventh century through the thirteenth century, balancing a qualitative reading of medieval monastic documents with a quantitative analysis of a lengthy thirteenth-century visitation record which allows an important comparison of nuns and monks. A fascinating look at the world of medieval spirituality, this work enriches our understanding of women's role in premodern Europe and in church history.

Contents:

1. Introductions

1. Connecting Links

2. The Secular Community

3. The Ecclesiastical Community

2. Organizing Structures

4. The Serch for Perfection

5. The Structure

6. The Finances

3. Assessments

7. Religious Person Rather than Woman

8. Closing the Doors

Appendix A: The Twenty-six Female Monasteries Studied

Appenddix B.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-287) and index.

ISBN:

9786612089886

9780226401973

0226401979

9781282089884

1282089889

OCLC:

404026173