European University Institute Library

Mulieres religiosae, shaping female spiritual authority in the medieval and early modern periods, edited by Veerle Fraeters and Imke de Gier

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Mulieres religiosae

880556131

edited by Veerle Fraeters and Imke de Gier

Europa Sacra ES, 12

shaping female spiritual authority in the medieval and early modern periods

"Traditionally women were denied access to positions of official religious authority within Christianity and were therefore compelled to explore other avenues to acquire and express spiritual leadership. Through twelve case studies covering different regions in Europe, this volume considers the nuances of what constituted female spiritual authority, how it was acquired and manifested by religious women, and how it evolved from the High Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. Whilst current scholarship often emphasizes binaries within the fields of gender and religious authority, this volume examines the manifestation of female religious authority in its multiple facets. It looks both at individuals displaying exceptional forms of agency such as prophesying, as well as more commonplace, communal activities such as letter-writing and music-making. By taking into account the pervasiveness of spirituality in society as a whole in the Pre-Modern era, this collection of essays renegotiates the relationship between the spiritual and the social domain. Through the chronological organization of the contributions insight is gained into the changes in the means and forms female religious authority could take between 1150 and 1750. The narrative is clearly impacted by late medieval enclosure policies and by changing modes of spirituality. Whereas women in the earlier period tended to represent themselves as a door through which God could advance towards mankind, later on they functioned more frequently as a portal through which others could advance towards God."--, Provided by Publisher

Introduction: Shaping Female Spiritual Authority in Europe from the High Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period - VEERLE FRAETERS and IMKE DE GIER Elisabeth von Schönau and the Story of St Ursula: Visionary Authority and the Cult of the Saints - MAR ÍA EUGENIA GÓNGORA 'You shall all live together in harmony and spiritual unity': Images of Abbesses and Female Religious Communities in the Empire - ANDREA WORM Beguines in Hungary? The Case of St Margareta of Hungary (1242-71): A Mystic without a Voice - VIKTÓRIA HEDVIG DEÁK Sharing Charismatic Authority by Body and Emotions: The Marvellous Life of Lukardis von Oberweimar (c. 1262-1309) - PIROSKA NAGY Text as Authority: Marguerite Porete's Mirouer des simples ames - IMKE DE GIER The Soft Face of Power: Jeanne de Valois and Female Authority in the Middle Ages - ANNEKE B. MULDER -BAKKER Language and Authority in Julian of Norwich's Showings - KATHLEEN M. SMITH Mulieres religiosae and Sorores clausae: The Dominican Observant Movement and the Diffusion of Strict Enclosure in Italy from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century - SYLVIE DUVAL Book Illumination in the Bridgettine Abbey of Vadstena - EVA LINDQVIST SANDGREN Female Leadership and Authority in the Sisterbook of Diepenveen - MATHILDE VAN DIJK Neither ex officio nor ex gratia: The Brussels Visitandines' Discourses of Authority and the Collective Self, 1668-99 - PING -YUAN WANG Piae virgines choristae: Musicians for the Greater Glory of God and the Venetian Republic - CAROLINE GIRON -PANEL Index