The burdens of Sister Margaret : inside a seventeenth-century convent / Craig Harline.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harline, Craig.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Smulders, Margaret, -1648.

Smulders, Margaret.

Franciscan sisters--Belgium--Louvain--Biography.

Franciscan sisters.

Monastic and religious life of women--History--17th century.

Monastic and religious life of women.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Edition:

Abridged ed., Rev. and abridged ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Based on a treasure trove of letters, this fascinating book tells the history of a seventeenth-century nun in a convent in Leuven and how her complaints-of sexual harassment, fears of demonic possession, alliances among the other sisters against her-led to her banishment from the convent on two occasions. Highly acclaimed when it was first published as a revealing look at female religious life in early modern Europe, the book is now available in an abridged paperbound version with a new preface by the author. Reviews of the clothbound edition: "A window to the past. . . . I loved, just loved, this book."-Carolyn See, Washington Post "The world Mr. Harline uncovers is a fascinating one. . . . The story of Sister Margaret gives an extra dimension of humanity to a turning point in the history of ideas."-Sonia Gernes, Wall Street Journal "Better-than-fiction social history. . . . This is a glimpse into diaries, letters, hearts, minds, hatreds, and hopes; it will enthrall."-Christian Century "Harline's graceful writing allows the women and men in this religious community to breathe, gossip, pray with tears. . . . The Burdens of Sister Margaret helps us see the familiar Reformation in a fresh way."-Kevin A. Miller, Christianity Today "Microhistory at its best."-Larissa Taylor, Renaissance Quarterly

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

TO THE CURIOUS READER

A NOTE ON USAGE

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Prologue: Remembering

1. Beginning

2. Demons

3. Confessors

4. Despair

5. The Specialist

6. Pilgrim

7. Fulminations

8. No Balm in Bethlehem

9. The Burden of Bethlehem

10. Favorites

11. Almsgetting

12. Worldly Ways

13. The Visitors

14. Justification

15. Capitulation

16. Finis

Epilogue

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX

Notes:

"Yale Nota bene."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-257) and index.

ISBN:

9781283950213

1283950219

9780300143706

0300143702

OCLC:

1024033734