Apostate nuns in the later Middle Ages / Elizabeth Makowski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Makowski, Elizabeth M., 1951- author.

Series:

Studies in the history of medieval religion ; v.49.

Studies in the history of medieval religion ; v. XLIV

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Monasticism and religious orders for women.

Nuns (Canon law)--History--To 1500.

Nuns (Canon law).

Convents (Canon law)--History--To 1500.

Convents (Canon law).

Monasticism and religious orders for women--Middle Ages.

History.

England.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 227 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge : The Boydell Press, 2019.

Summary:

To make a vow is a matter of the will, to fulfill one is a matter of necessity," declared late medieval canon law, and religious profession involved the most solemn of those vows. Professed nuns could never renege on their vows and if they did attempt to re-enter secular society, they became apostates. Automatically excommunicated, they could be forcibly returned to their monasteries where, should they remain unrepentant, penalties, including imprisonment, might be imposed. And although the law imposed uniform censures on male and female apostates, the norms regarding the proper sphere of activity for women within the Church would prohibit disaffected nuns from availing themselves of options short of apostasy that were readily available to monks similarly unhappy with the choices that they had made. This book is the first to address the practical and legal problems facing women religious, both in England and in Europe, who chose to reject the terms of their profession as nuns. The women featured in these pages acted, and were acted upon, by the law: the volume shows alleged apostates petitioning for redress and actual apostates seeking to extricate themselves, via self-help and litigation, from the moral and legal consequences of their behaviour.-- Provided by publisher, page 4 of cover.

Contents:

Part I The Vowed Life

1 Spiritual Ideal and Legal Realities p. 25

Part II Casting Off the Habit of Religion

2 Force and Fear p. 45

3 Land, Lust, and Love p. 78

4 Diversions and Disasters p. 105

Part III Prodigals Return

5 Penitents and Penalties p. 137

6 Recidivists and Renegades p. 159.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [201]-215) and index.

Other Format:

Electronic version: Makowski, Elizabeth M., 1951- Apostate nuns in the later Middle Ages.

ISBN:

1783274263

9781783274260

OCLC:

1083228842