Dark Age Nunneries

The Ambiguous Identity of Female Monasticism, 800–1050

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Denominations, Monasticism, History, Medieval
Cover of the book Dark Age Nunneries by Steven Vanderputten, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Steven Vanderputten ISBN: 9781501715969
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: May 15, 2018
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: Steven Vanderputten
ISBN: 9781501715969
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: May 15, 2018
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

In Dark Age Nunneries, Steven Vanderputten dismantles the common view of women religious between 800 and 1050 as disempowered or even disinterested witnesses to their own lives. It is based on a study of primary sources from forty female monastic communities in Lotharingia—a politically and culturally diverse region that boasted an extraordinarily high number of such institutions. Vanderputten highlights the attempts by women religious and their leaders, as well as the clerics and the laymen and -women sympathetic to their cause, to construct localized narratives of self, preserve or expand their agency as religious communities, and remain involved in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of the laity amid changing contexts and expectations on the part of the Church and secular authorities.

Rather than a "dark age" in which female monasticism withered under such factors as the assertion of male religious authority, the secularization of its institutions, and the precipitous decline of their intellectual and spiritual life, Vanderputten finds that the post-Carolingian period witnessed a remarkable adaptability among these women. Through texts, objects, archaeological remains, and iconography, Dark Age Nunneries offers scholars of religion, medieval history, and gender studies new ways to understand the experience of women of faith within the Church and across society during this era.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In Dark Age Nunneries, Steven Vanderputten dismantles the common view of women religious between 800 and 1050 as disempowered or even disinterested witnesses to their own lives. It is based on a study of primary sources from forty female monastic communities in Lotharingia—a politically and culturally diverse region that boasted an extraordinarily high number of such institutions. Vanderputten highlights the attempts by women religious and their leaders, as well as the clerics and the laymen and -women sympathetic to their cause, to construct localized narratives of self, preserve or expand their agency as religious communities, and remain involved in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of the laity amid changing contexts and expectations on the part of the Church and secular authorities.

Rather than a "dark age" in which female monasticism withered under such factors as the assertion of male religious authority, the secularization of its institutions, and the precipitous decline of their intellectual and spiritual life, Vanderputten finds that the post-Carolingian period witnessed a remarkable adaptability among these women. Through texts, objects, archaeological remains, and iconography, Dark Age Nunneries offers scholars of religion, medieval history, and gender studies new ways to understand the experience of women of faith within the Church and across society during this era.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book A Minor Apocalypse by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book With God on Our Side by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Thucydides and the Pursuit of Freedom by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Breaking the Mold by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book The Right Kind of Revolution by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Hard Sell by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book The Care of the Dead in Late Antiquity by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book A World of Work by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Dominion Undeserved by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Air Plants by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Transnational Tortillas by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book The Worker Center Handbook by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Rochdale Village by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book Bureau of Missing Persons by Steven Vanderputten
Cover of the book City of Forests, City of Farms by Steven Vanderputten
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy