A multi-disciplinary re-evaluation of the role of women religious in the Middle Ages, both inside and outside the cloister. Medieval women found diverse ways of expressing their religious aspirations: within the cloister as members of monastic and religious orders, within the world as vowesses, or between the two as anchorites. Via a range of disciplinary approaches, from history, archaeology, literature, and the visual arts, the essays in this volume challenge received scholarly narratives and re-examine the roles of women religious: their authority and agency within their own communities and the wider world; their learning and literacy; place in the landscape; and visual culture. Overall, they highlight the impact of women on the world around them, the significance of their presence in communities, and the experiences and legacies they left behind.

About the Author
Kimm Curran is an independent researcher. Her expertise is in communities of women religious in Scotland, medieval women's monastic landscapes and heritage, and prosopography. Janet Burton is Professor of Medieval History at University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter and the author of many books and articles on monastic history. Kimm Curran is an independent researcher. Her expertise is in communities of women religious in Scotland, medieval women's monastic landscapes and heritage, and prosopography. Janet Burton is Professor of Medieval History at University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter and the author of many books and articles on monastic history. CATE GUNN is an independent scholar who has written on thirteenth-century anchoritic and pastoral literature.


Book Information
ISBN 9781837650293
Author Kimm Curran
Format Hardback
Page Count 278
Imprint Boydell & Brewer
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd