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Religious Women in the Conversion Period c.Ad 400–600

Christina Harrington

in Women in a Celtic Church: Ireland 450-1150

The ideal starting point of a study of religious women in early medieval Ireland is the native society into which Christianity obtruded: the pagan religion, the status of women, and the roles of ... More

The ideal starting point of a study of religious women in early medieval Ireland is the native society into which Christianity obtruded: the pagan religion, the status of women, and the roles of female religious professionals. Against such a background, the following can be more fully appreciated: the powers religious women enjoyed, the strictures they had to follow, the way secular society regarded them, and how their nunneries were treated. This procedure, which has been extremely valuable in the study of early Christianity in the late antique world and in Germanic areas, is well-nigh impossible for Ireland because the sources are so limited. This chapter discusses Saint Patrick's encouragement of women to contravene social authority and his views on virgins, women in the monastic vocation in the 5th and 6th centuries, the issues of permanence and lapses among women, participation of religious virgins in missionary activities, and widows and deaconesses.Less

Nuns in the Large Women’s Monasteries

Christina Harrington

in Women in a Celtic Church: Ireland 450-1150

Monasteries in early medieval Ireland resembled nothing so much as slightly miniaturised villages. By the 7th century, there were many places resembling this general description, so successful had ... More

Monasteries in early medieval Ireland resembled nothing so much as slightly miniaturised villages. By the 7th century, there were many places resembling this general description, so successful had Christian evangelism been. A handful were women's monasteries, and one at least was a double house. Though the sources on large female monasteries are patchy, a good deal can be gleaned: the rules, daily activities, ministry to the laity, as well as attitudes on nuns' chastity. This chapter looks at nuns in large women's monasteries in Kildare, Killeedy, Killevy, and Clonbroney. Ceremonials in large Irish nunneries are also discussed, along with claustration, and the openness of nunneries in the 7th to 9th centuries.Less

Nuns, Abbesses, Saints, and their Monasteries, c.900–1200

Christina Harrington

in Women in a Celtic Church: Ireland 450-1150

By all accounts, much of the Irish women's religious life was little affected by the changes of the 10th, 11th, and early 12th centuries. The structure of the professions, for example, seems ... More

By all accounts, much of the Irish women's religious life was little affected by the changes of the 10th, 11th, and early 12th centuries. The structure of the professions, for example, seems unchanged. The two types of nuns, the virgins and the penitents/widows, continued to exist. Nuns, nunneries, abbesses, female saints, and their monasteries were all flourishing during this period. The female houses, large and small, were still in place. The nuns' professions appear to have continued much as before. Female saints, major and minor, continued to be petitioned by worshippers of both sexes. The changes of these centuries are, against this background, initially invisible. They become more apparent, however, when the scholar turns to the question of relations between the sexes within monastic life, and concentrates particularly on the chronology in the hagiographical corpus.Less

A New Foundation and its Donors: Bouxières-aux-Dames

JOHN NIGHTINGALE

in Monasteries and Patrons in the Gorze Reform: Lotharingia c.850-1000

Bishop Gauzelin of Toul founded a community of nuns at Bouxiêres-aux-Dames in the early 930s to resound to his own future well-being. Bouxiêres's actual possession lists reveal that episcopal ... More

Bishop Gauzelin of Toul founded a community of nuns at Bouxiêres-aux-Dames in the early 930s to resound to his own future well-being. Bouxiêres's actual possession lists reveal that episcopal donations were swamped by those of nobles, most notably donations made for daughters and donations made by widows; here, as elsewhere, monastic patronage was driven by the desire and ability of widows to gain a greater degree of security in their otherwise precarious existence. This evidence is worth looking at in considerable detail since it provides the key to Bouxiêres's prosperity, revealing why such a nunnery was patronised and how this patronage gave it close links with a network of important and interrelated families whose interests ranged far beyond those of both the nunnery and its lords, the bishops of Toul. The existence of these rival patrons may well explain why the bishops of Toul continued to be so generous to the abbey.Less

Spinsters, Superannuated Virgins, and Old Maids: Representations of Singlewomen

Amy M. Froide

in Never Married: Singlewomen in Early Modern England

This chapter traces the emergence of the negative stereotypes of the spinster and the old maid. Examining various genres of literature from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, it focuses on three ... More

This chapter traces the emergence of the negative stereotypes of the spinster and the old maid. Examining various genres of literature from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, it focuses on three phases in the development of ideas about singlewomen. In the Middle Ages, singlewomen were largely depicted as nubile, young women, but in the 17th century contemporaries began to recognize the older and lifelong singlewoman, and created plans for housing and caring for such women. Beginning in the 1680s and only increasing over the 18th century, singlewomen came to be seen as pathetic, failures, or even loathed, diseased, and bestial creatures. This negative depiction originated in Protestant England and then spread to the continent and America. The influence of Mary Astell is also discussed in this chapter.Less

Work of Service

Derek Hirst and Steven N. Zwicker

in Andrew Marvell, Orphan of the Hurricane

This opening chapter address Marvell's most ambitious poem, Upon Appleton House and explains its relation to Marvell's patron, Thomas Lord Fairfax, and explores the ways in which the poem's literary ... More

This opening chapter address Marvell's most ambitious poem, Upon Appleton House and explains its relation to Marvell's patron, Thomas Lord Fairfax, and explores the ways in which the poem's literary strategies can be seen as servicing Marvell's patron and the poet himself.Less

Virgin Authority and its Transmission

JOCELYN WOGAN-BROWNE

in Saints' Lives and Women's Literary Culture, 1150-1300: Virginity and its Authorizations

This chapter explores the documentation and representation of virgin authority in the form of abbess sanctity, and especially the availability of models and precedents for female achievement. It ... More

This chapter explores the documentation and representation of virgin authority in the form of abbess sanctity, and especially the availability of models and precedents for female achievement. It argues that although institutional resources for women did not generally support full versions of the hagiographic and historiographic genres of male monasticism, there are still some relatively unexplored sources for women both in Latin and in Anglo–Norman. The chapter focuses on three British virgin abbess lives and miracles that were read in the nunnery of Campsey.Less

Buddhism as a Vehicle for Girls’ Safety and Education in Thailand

Monica Lindberg Falk

in Little Buddhas: Children and Childhoods in Buddhist Texts and Traditions

This chapter focuses on girls who study at a Buddhist samnak chii (female Buddhist “temple”) in Thailand. The Thai education system has recently been reformed and today free basic education with free ... More

This chapter focuses on girls who study at a Buddhist samnak chii (female Buddhist “temple”) in Thailand. The Thai education system has recently been reformed and today free basic education with free twelve years of schooling is provided to all Thai boys and girls. The reform has decreased the gender gap in education that previously favored boys’ education over girls’. However, the education reform has made other disparities more visible, such as economic inequality and lack of educational services for the poor. The Dhammajarinee School (Buddhist school for girls) in central Thailand has brought services to poor communities, and to girls in those communities in particular. This chapter investigates the makeup of the student bodies at these schools, why the children have chosen to study there, and how teaching, living, and learning at the Buddhist school are experienced by the schoolgirls and their teachers.Less

Concerning Certain Women: The Women’s Religious Movement in Champagne

Anne E. Lester

in Creating Cistercian Nuns: The Women's Religious Movement and Its Reform in Thirteenth-Century Champagne

This chapter opens in the 1230s and traces the origins and development of the women's religious movement in Champagne. The earliest documents for the Cistercian convents of Champagne expose the shape ... More

This chapter opens in the 1230s and traces the origins and development of the women's religious movement in Champagne. The earliest documents for the Cistercian convents of Champagne expose the shape and impulses of a women's religious movement at work within the region decades before these women became Cistercian nuns. Throughout the county communities of religious women assembled as penitents and Filles-Dieu in service to the poor and sick. Some were perhaps reformed prostitutes, laboring under the weight of worldly sins, of luxuria and pride, who forged a new religious identity. Others offered care to the sick and poor. The Filles-Dieu and religious women of northern France and Champagne were part of a broader religious impulse to engage in a spiritual life initially outside of institutional definitions, customs, and limitations. The appeal of this type of spirituality was significant, particularly to members of the urban bourgeoisie, to lesser knights, and to secular canons, who became the first patrons of many of these communities.Less

The Bonds of Charity: The Special Cares of Cistercian Nuns

Anne E. Lester

in Creating Cistercian Nuns: The Women's Religious Movement and Its Reform in Thirteenth-Century Champagne

This chapter examines how and why religious women continued their administration of hospices and domus-Dei and caring the sick, poor, and leprous even after their nunneries were incorporated into the ... More

This chapter examines how and why religious women continued their administration of hospices and domus-Dei and caring the sick, poor, and leprous even after their nunneries were incorporated into the Cistercian order. This institutional affiliation had its roots in the goals of the Third (1179) and Fourth (1215) Lateran Councils, which sought to reform informal hospital communities, whose numbers had burgeoned at a staggering pace in the previous century. When bishops and patrons founded Cistercian nunneries within older leper houses, or gifted hospitals and domus-Dei to the nunneries, they did so with the double aim of reforming these institutions along monastic lines and institutionalizing the ideal of apostolic charity as outlined in the conciliar degrees. This practical connection had a deep spiritual significance based on the complex and often competing religious meanings attendant with poverty and leprosy. Providing for and living with the poor, leprous, and suffering marked a pivotal moment of progress within the religious life. By the mid-thirteenth century active charity, manual labor, and service for those who suffered in this world became fundamental components of a distinctive kind of Cistercian female spirituality.Less

One and the Same Passion: Convents and Crusaders

Anne E. Lester

in Creating Cistercian Nuns: The Women's Religious Movement and Its Reform in Thirteenth-Century Champagne

This chapter analyzes the social and religious connections fostered between Cistercian nunneries and crusader families. Crusaders and their families cultivated relationships with Cistercian convents ... More

This chapter analyzes the social and religious connections fostered between Cistercian nunneries and crusader families. Crusaders and their families cultivated relationships with Cistercian convents in part to benefit from the penitential piety and prayers such religious women offered. The Cistercian convents housed female members of crusader families, functioned as sites of liturgical worship in support of crusade expeditions, and served as family necropolises for returning or deceased crusaders who were remembered and commemorated by Cistercian nuns and by the Cistercian order as a whole. Over the course of the thirteenth century, as the crusade movement changed to take on aspects of the imitatio Christi, both religious endeavors—crusading and the active piety of Cistercian nuns who cared for the poor and sick—became expressions of a broader religious orientation focused on Christ's sacrifice, on Jerusalem, and on a theology of redemption.Less

Nuns Who Become Pregnant

Shayne Clarke

in Family Matters in Indian Buddhist Monasticisms

This chapter examines issues surrounding monastic motherhood by focusing on pregnant nuns. Indian Buddhist epigraphical records show that some nuns had children, but they do not specify whether ... More

This chapter examines issues surrounding monastic motherhood by focusing on pregnant nuns. Indian Buddhist epigraphical records show that some nuns had children, but they do not specify whether mothers became nuns or nuns became mothers. In the corpus of monastic law codes, however, we see that monastic jurists not only envisaged the possibility that pregnant women might enter nunneries, but also legislated a place for motherhood in Indian Buddhist nunneries. This chapter begins by considering what the authors/redactors of the extant monastic law codes have to say about the ordination of pregnant women before discussing the distinction between prohibition and rule of law. It then explores the rules in their narrative context in the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya, the issue of monastic motherhood in all extant vinayas, and a prātimoksas rule which seems to offer evidence that nuns should not raise children. It argues that motherhood and the sisterhood were not as incongruous in Indian Buddhist monasticisms as some readings of the prātimoksas might lead one to assume.Less

Becoming Nuns

Geoff Childs and Namgyal Choedup

in From a Trickle to a Torrent: Education, Migration, and Social Change in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal

Chapter 6 begins with the life story of a village-based nun to demonstrate how a woman’s path to religious attainment can be strewn with obstacles rooted in gender roles and ideologies. The chapter ... More

Chapter 6 begins with the life story of a village-based nun to demonstrate how a woman’s path to religious attainment can be strewn with obstacles rooted in gender roles and ideologies. The chapter then explores the motives parents have for making their daughters nuns, the advantages young women perceive in pursuing a religious vocation, and gendered notions of virtue that affect life opportunities for nuns. The main theme of the chapter centers on how the modernizing of Buddhist institutions and educational migration are transforming the nun’s role from a servant in her parents’ village household to a disciple of the Buddha’s teachings who resides in an urban institution.Less

The Struggle Over Vida Común

in Brides of Christ: Conventual Life in Colonial Mexico

This chapter examines the struggle over the so-called vida común in the history of nunneries in colonial Mexico. It explains that under this form of observance, nuns would eat in a refectory sharing ... More

This chapter examines the struggle over the so-called vida común in the history of nunneries in colonial Mexico. It explains that under this form of observance, nuns would eat in a refectory sharing communal meals, give up their personal servants and dismiss girls and seculars living in the cloister. It suggests that the conflict between nuns and their male prelates regarding vida común was a gender contestation issue and explains that while the reform was understood as a religious issue, it was characterized by the explicit use of gendered terms by all those involved.Less

The Prioress and the Second Nun

Katherine J. Lewis

in Historians on Chaucer: The 'General Prologue' to the Canterbury Tales

Although there has been a mass of work on the Prioress and the nature of her femininity, scholars have paid little attention to the relationship between her gender and her position of authority as ... More

Although there has been a mass of work on the Prioress and the nature of her femininity, scholars have paid little attention to the relationship between her gender and her position of authority as the head of a religious house Taking account of the Prioress’s position as an office-holder in an analysis of her representation suggests that Chaucer’s depiction of her was rather less ambiguously indulgent and more deliberately disparaging than has often been allowed. Although the Second Nun, who accompanies the Prioress, is not described in detail in the ‘General Prologue’, her tale does reveal something of her character and piety. Together the Prioress and the Second Nun suggest something of the negotiations between anti-feminist theory and the actualities of everyday life which women had to make in order to wield authority.Less

The Nun’s Priest

Marilyn Oliva

in Historians on Chaucer: The 'General Prologue' to the Canterbury Tales

The Nun’s Priest is not described in detail in the ‘General Prologue’ and so our impression of him is dependent upon his tale, along with its prologue and epilogue. Little work has been done on the ... More

The Nun’s Priest is not described in detail in the ‘General Prologue’ and so our impression of him is dependent upon his tale, along with its prologue and epilogue. Little work has been done on the nuns’ priests who were responsible for saying, mass, preaching and hearing confession in English nunneries but we can learn something about their position, social origins, income, piety, and learning. In particular, the wills of these men reveal their evident respect and even affection for the female religious in their care. This context then allows us to interpret the ‘Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ and, in particular, to criticize the interpretation of the tale as the Nun’s Priest’s misogynist revenge on his female superior.Less