Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin WEST
- The New Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West
- The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin WEST
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 General Introduction
- Part I The Origins of Christian Monasticism to the Eighth Century
- 2 The Monastic Laboratory: Perspectives of Research in Late Antique and Early Medieval Monasticism
- 3 Re-Reading Monastic Traditions: Monks and Nuns, East and West, from the Origins to c. 750
- 4 The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries
- 5 Egyptian Nuns in Late Antiquity as Exemplars
- 6 Psalmody and Prayer in Early Monasticism
- 7 Heterodoxy and Monasticism around the Mediterranean Sea
- 8 The Invention of Western Monastic Literature: Texts and Communities
- 9 Monastic Rules (Fourth to Ninth Century)
- 10 Social Plurality and Monastic Diversity in Late Antique Hispania (Sixth to Eighth Century)
- 11 Female House Ascetics from the Fourth to the Twelfth Century
- 12 The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries in Italy and France (Second Half of the Fourth Century to the Eighth Century)
- 13 Nuns and Monks at Work: Equality or Distinction between the Sexes? A Study of Frankish Monasteries from the Sixth to the Tenth Century
- 14 Ascetic Prayer for the Dead in the Early Medieval West
- 15 Monastic Identity in Early Medieval Ireland
- 16 Constructing Monastic Space in the Early and Central Medieval West (Fifth to Twelfth Century)
- 17 The Economy of Byzantine Monasteries
- Part II The Carolingians to the Eleventh Century
- Part III The Long Twelfth Century
- Part IV Forms of Monasticism in the Late Middle Ages
- Index
- References
11 - Female House Ascetics from the Fourth to the Twelfth Century
from Part I - The Origins of Christian Monasticism to the Eighth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2020
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin WEST
- The New Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West
- The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin WEST
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 General Introduction
- Part I The Origins of Christian Monasticism to the Eighth Century
- 2 The Monastic Laboratory: Perspectives of Research in Late Antique and Early Medieval Monasticism
- 3 Re-Reading Monastic Traditions: Monks and Nuns, East and West, from the Origins to c. 750
- 4 The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries
- 5 Egyptian Nuns in Late Antiquity as Exemplars
- 6 Psalmody and Prayer in Early Monasticism
- 7 Heterodoxy and Monasticism around the Mediterranean Sea
- 8 The Invention of Western Monastic Literature: Texts and Communities
- 9 Monastic Rules (Fourth to Ninth Century)
- 10 Social Plurality and Monastic Diversity in Late Antique Hispania (Sixth to Eighth Century)
- 11 Female House Ascetics from the Fourth to the Twelfth Century
- 12 The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries in Italy and France (Second Half of the Fourth Century to the Eighth Century)
- 13 Nuns and Monks at Work: Equality or Distinction between the Sexes? A Study of Frankish Monasteries from the Sixth to the Tenth Century
- 14 Ascetic Prayer for the Dead in the Early Medieval West
- 15 Monastic Identity in Early Medieval Ireland
- 16 Constructing Monastic Space in the Early and Central Medieval West (Fifth to Twelfth Century)
- 17 The Economy of Byzantine Monasteries
- Part II The Carolingians to the Eleventh Century
- Part III The Long Twelfth Century
- Part IV Forms of Monasticism in the Late Middle Ages
- Index
- References
Summary
The ascetic vocation of the women who remained in the world and did not join a monastic community never bore one single name. The categorization of a woman as devota, dicata, sacra, professa, sanctimonialis, puella, virgo, vidua, famula, or ancilla could equally refer to a woman enclosed in a monastery and to a woman devoted to God who continued to live in her home. Indeed, these terms in no way reflect the form and the degree of ascetic life which these women adopted, and which can be reconstructed only through a handful of contextual and prosopographical elements. The absence of precise terminology, in combination with the multiplicity of the terms used, is no doubt linked to the diversity of possible situations and the difficulty of clearly sanctioning—or even the reluctance to sanction—the place and function of these women within the Church.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West , pp. 213 - 231Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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