1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910458047403321

Autore

Johnson Penelope D (Penelope Delafield), <1938->

Titolo

Equal in monastic profession [[electronic resource] ] : religious women in Medieval France / / Penelope D. Johnson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago, : University of Chicago Press, 1993, c1991

ISBN

0-226-40197-9

9786612089886

1-282-08988-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (312 p.)

Collana

Women in culture and society

Disciplina

271.90044

271/.90044/09021

Soggetti

Nuns - France - History

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

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

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

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.