Women's Monasticism and Medieval Society : Nunneries in France and England, 890-1215 / Bruce L. Venarde.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Venarde, Bruce L., 1962- author.

Contributor:

American Council of Learned Societies.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

ATLA Special Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Convents--Europe--History.

Convents.

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

Monasticism and religious orders for women.

Physical Description:

xix, 243 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In this engaging work, Bruce L. Venarde uncovers a largely unknown story of women's religious lives and puts female monasticism back in the mainstream of medieval ecclesiastical history. To chart the expansion of nunneries in France and England during the central Middle Ages, he presents statistics and narratives to describe growth in broad historical contexts, with special attention to social and economic change. Venarde explains that in the years 1000-1300 the number of nunneries within Europe grew tenfold. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, religious institutions for women developed in a variety of ways, mostly outside the self-conscious reform movements that have been the traditional focus of monastic history. Not reforming monks but wandering preachers, bishops, and the women and men of local petty aristocracies made possible the foundation of new nunneries. In times of increased agrarian wealth, decentralization of power, and a shortage of potential spouses, many women decided to become nuns and proved especially adept at combining spiritual search with practical acumen. This era of expansion came to an end in the thirteenth century when forces of regulation and new economic realities reduced radically the number of new nunneries. Venarde argues that the factors encouraging and inhibiting monastic foundations for men and women were much more similar than scholars have previously assumed.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Note on terms

Abbreviations

CHAPTER 1.The Expansion of Female Monasticism in the Central Middle Ages

CHAPTER 2. The Old-Fashioned Way: Foundations in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries

CHAPTER 3. Nunneries in an Age of Change, circa 1080-circa 1170

CHAPTER 4. Social and Economic Contexts in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

CHAPTER 5. The End of an Era, circa 1170-circa 1215

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX A. Repertory of Monastic Foundations and Refoundations

APPENDIX B. Diocesan Centers and Other Cities

Bibliography

Index of Monastic Houses

General Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-233) and indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Sep 2019)

ISBN:

1-5017-1724-3

OCLC:

1038488143