Ordering Women’s Lives

Penitentials and Nunnery Rules in the Early Medieval West

Julie Ann Smith (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

256 Seiten

2016
Routledge (Verlag)
978-1-138-27232-3 (ISBN)

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This book takes an innovative approach to the study of the penitentials and nunnery rules and the ways in which these texts impinged upon the lives of female audiences. The study emphasises the importance of the texts for the promotion of Christian values and of the expectations of churchmen in the construction of appropriate Christian behaviour for women in the early medieval West. These texts constitute the only written works which would have had direct influence upon the lives of lay and religious women. The work focuses upon the elements of the penitentials which provided female-specific expectations, and these fall largely into two categories of sexuality and pre-Christian practices. The nunnery rules seldom provided comprehensive sets of behavioural expectations. Rather, rules emphasised expectations relating to issues of enclosure, work and abstinence which came to be perceived as the defining characteristics of religious women.

Julie Ann Smith

Contents: Introduction; The texts; Section i - Penitentials: History: Public penance; Private penance; Purposes of penance; The place of penitentials in women’s lives; Sexuality: Sexuality within marriage: Marriage by abduction; Serial monogamy; Kin marriage; Abstinence within marriage; Modes of intercourse; Adultery; Divorce; Sexuality outside marriage: Fornication; Rape; Sexual incest; Prostitution; Deviant sexuality; Sacred space; Clerical marriage and sexuality; The nunnery; Volition; Work and magic: Women’s work with non-magical associations; Healthcare; Contraception and abortion; Childcare; Magical and pagan practices; Healing; Contraception and abortion; Love magic; Food preparation; Textile work; Intentional evil magic; Funeral practices; Section II - Nunnery Rules: History: Eremetic and domestic asceticism; Augustine’s ’Rule for Nuns’; Early western monasticism; Benedict’s rule; Caesarius’ rule for nuns; Columbanian monasticism; Early monasticism in England; 8th-century Benedictine movement; 10th-century reform movements; Enclosure: Nunnery structures; The rules for enclosure; Work and abstinence: Abstinence; Detachment from the secular world; Relinquishment of status; Poverty; Avoidance of friendship; Silence; Simplicity of dress; Fasting and food; Work; Prayer; Reading; Domestic labour; Special officers; Abbess and prioress; Obedience; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Erscheinungsdatum	19.11.2016
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	453 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Mittelalter
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Religionspädagogik / Katechetik
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	1-138-27232-9 / 1138272329
ISBN-13	978-1-138-27232-3 / 9781138272323
Zustand	Neuware