All posts by Meghan Lescault

The Other Sister Research Seminar: Images

By Meghan Lescault

As The Other Sister project examines women who often took religious life in new and interesting directions, it was only fitting that we followed in their footsteps ever so slightly for our most recent online research seminar on December 13, 2024, where we departed from our customary format and ventured into new territory. Prior to the meeting, images that had been sent in by several scholars were disseminated to all participants. During the seminar, these scholars had the opportunity to discuss these images that they had come across in their research of medieval and early modern religious women and to ask all attendees for information, ideas, and points of comparison with their own research. This collaborative exercise, hosted by Mary Doyno and Tanya Stabler Miller, was a great success, as it led to robust discussion and a helpful exchange of ideas.

A close-up from the left panel, taken from the larger image seen here.

Isabelle Cochelin began the conversion with the above image of a woman, who is thought to be St. Monica, from a fifteenth-century Netherlandish triptych depicting scenes from the life of St. Augustine. She discussed her search for representations of non-cloistered religious women in art, of which this painting is a potential example. This search has led to questions as to whether such women can be detected in crowds and as attendees of sermons in pieces of artwork. Cochelin also mentioned the difficulties of determining the identity of women depicted in art on the basis of their habits. For example, how can we tell whether the subject is meant to be dressed in the garb of a widow or of another type of non-cloistered woman? Devon Sherwood offered the comparison of books of hours that did in fact belong to religious women but depict their owners in secular clothing. Ashley Tickle Odebiyi offered the insight that the potential St. Monica is portrayed here in a blue habit, a noteworthy point given that the bizzoche of Rome studied by Odebiyi are associated with a consorority of St. Monica that also had habits of a blue hue.

Meghan Callahan further stirred up a flurry of conversation with an image taken from Francesco da Castiglione’s sixteenth-century biography of Sister Domenica da Paradiso. It can be seen on the second page of Callahan’s 2012 article found here. The unusual image is meant to depict Domenica in the midst of a vision, seemingly having a mystical experience of Christ’s crucifixion. Callahan asked the group if others had encountered any comparable images. Amongst several interested respondents, Kate Bush recalled a description of a similar image portraying Vanna of Orvieto in 1306 as well as the accounts of Margaret of Cortona mystically experiencing the wounds of Christ. Callahan was the recipient of several inquiries, as curious attendees wanted to know more about the intriguing image: Who drew it? Could it have been a female artist? Why the detailed outline of Domenica’s legs? Why the Y-shaped cross? Callahan believes that it was composed by Domenica’s confessor and biographer Francesco and that the details of the image simply represent an attempt to portray the sight of Domenica during her visions accurately.

Margot Fassler’s chosen image, found in the Klarenbuch, Karlsruhe, BLB Cod. Thennenbach 4, continued the theme of women depicted in unusual places that are typically reserved for Christ. In this case, St. Clare is placed at the middle of a Last Supper table—seated between Christ and St. John—in a late-fifteenth- or early-sixteenth-century painting by the Poor Clare Sybilla von Bondorf. In comparing this painting to a similar depiction of St. Francis at the Last Supper, also painted by Bondorf and found in the Life of Francis in German (London, BL 15710, f.168v), Fassler surmised that Bondorf may have been appealing to her viewers’ memories, as she painted Clare as the presider in one painting and Francis in the other. This can also be seen in two depictions of Bonaventure painted by Bondorf. Fassler’s work on music, in which one melody can have multiple settings, led her to the realization that a similar phenomenon may be at play in artwork—highly stylized images with similar themes but slightly different details. Amanda Pullan offered a helpful comparison with seventeenth-century embroidery in which women would embroider angel or biblical stories on the left side of the panel, changing the exact content but maintaining the same location of the images.

Tanya Stabler Miller continued the discussion by presenting sketches of the tomb effigies of three identifiable medieval Parisian beguines—Jeanne Brichard, Agnes d’Orchies, and Marie de Gonesse. Images of the latter two can be found on pages 100 and 51, respectively, in Stabler Miller’s book. She pointed out that such items allow for interesting observations about how the women chose to represent themselves, and she specifically drew attention to the girdle books carried by Brichard and Gonesse in these images, suggesting that such an accessory might have an association with beguines. Their connection with these wearable pouches intended to carry and protect psalters and other books would make sense given their reputation for piety and charitable work as well as their movement between spaces such as the beguinage, workshops, and home. In asking the group for comparisons, Stabler Miller received feedback about similar tomb effigies of women depicted with books. Moreover, Margot Fassler and Siobhan Nelson noted the similarity of these girdle books to chatelaines, which were used by women working in nursing and haberdashery to store their belongings needed for such tasks. Stabler Miller pointed out that beguines could function as caregivers and silk-workers and that the need for a storage device of this kind highlighted their mobility and fluidity between spaces.

Diptych-reliquary depicting Dominican saints, saint Ursula, saint Catherine of Alexandria, the Virgin and donors. Burgos, Monastery of Santa Maria de Las Huelgas. 13.2 x 20.2 x1 cm (both panels). Beginning of the fourteenth century. Reproduced with the permission of Patrimonio Nacional.

Mercedes Pérez Vidal brought the conversation off the page and into the third dimension, as she discussed the above devotional diptych and reliquary that probably originated in or near Cologne but is now housed at the Cistercian monastery of Las Huelgas in Burgos, Spain. She emphasized two especially intriguing, even puzzling aspects of this object. The diptych contains one of the earliest known depictions of Helen of Hungary, a Dominican nun who is styled as a saint here, and at the same time, it is very similar to an object that belonged to Christina von Stommeln, a beguine who lived near Cologne in Jülich. Pérez Vidal noted that this points to a blurring of boundaries between cloistered and non-cloistered women, Dominicans and beguines. Isabelle Cochelin responded by inquiring about the price of such a precious object and who would have had the means to afford it. Pérez Vidal emphasized that the origin of the diptych remains unknown but discussed the possibility that it came out of the context of the circulation of relics, especially those of the 11,000 virgins of Cologne, that occurred in the area between Cologne and the Low Countries.

Barbara R. Walters furthered the discussion with a presentation of an illumination in a Mosan Psalter (The Hague, KB 76 G. 17 f. 82v). She explained that she approaches images in terms of historical sequences, palimpsests, and progressions with particular emphasis on the feast of Corpus Christi. The thirteenth-century women of Liège, especially the recluse Eve of St. Martin and St. Juliana of Mont-Cornillon, are represented here by this image from a Mosan Psalter, as this is part of a group of psalters that likely circulated among laywomen of Liège. Moreover, the image’s depiction of the elevation of the host highlights the Eucharistic devotion among the women of Liège, who were instrumental in instituting the new feast of Corpus Christi in 1246. Thinking about generations of recluses, Walters asked the group if it makes sense to see different generations of recluses in Liège as part of a progression from a friendship network to a more formal set of church roles and relationships. Isabelle Cochelin responded that the notion of recluses as wholly enclosed with a locked door has been debated throughout the centuries. While the rhetoric suggested constant enclosure, there were significant variations in reality.

Katherine Clark Walter brought the session to a fitting close with some perplexing illuminations from a fourteenth-century pontifical of William Durand (Clm 10037, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich). Three images found on folios 80v (page 170 in the above link), 81r, (171), and 233r (475) depict women standing behind a bishop at various consecration ceremonies, an unusual sight in such manuscripts. We especially focused on folio 81r (171), where such an illumination is paired with the text for the benediction of widows. Clark Walter thought that the woman right behind the bishop might be an officiant at the benediction alongside the bishop and asked the group why this might be. In response, Isabelle Cochelin discussed the often-significant roles played by abbesses at the professions of nuns and introduced the question of the potentially diverging roles of the abbess and the bishop, depending on the sources consulted. Margot Fassler and Meghan Callahan both questioned whether the woman was playing an active part as an officiant or rather was serving as a witness. Bruce Venarde drew everyone’s attention to the highly unusual nature of the image, highlighting the strange placements of the virgins to one side, the bishop to the other side, the woman behind the bishop, and a monk front and center.

Mary Doyno noted that ending on the note of oddity was a fitting cap for this meeting, as its goal was to elicit analysis, draw out questions, and illustrate the need for further research. This session did just that, highlighting the potential successes of crowdsourcing and proving that sometimes a picture is worth more than 1000 words.

The Other Sister at the 2025 MAA

We are happy to announce that several members and friends of The Other Sister will be participating in sessions at the 2025 Centennial Meeting of the MAA to be held March 20–22 at Harvard University.

A panel entitled “Liminal Figures: Non-Cloistered Religious Women and Canon Law” will occur on Friday, March 21 from 1:30–3:15 pm in Sever Hall 103.

Anne E. Lester (Johns Hopkins University) will serve as chair, and the following papers will be presented:

John H. Van Engen (University of Notre Dame): “Women Hearth-Mates, Master Geert Grote, and Canon Law”

Tanya Stabler Miller (Loyola University Chicago): “‘By No Means Considered Religious’: Beguines, Canons, and Canon Law”

Meghan Lescault (University of Toronto): “Canon-ess Law: Secular Canonesses and Legal Status”

Immediately afterwards on Friday, March 21 from 3:30–5:15 pm, there will be a roundtable session entitled “Women’s Religious Communities: A Roundtable Discussion of Past Scholarship and New Directions” in Emerson Hall 101.

Fiona Griffiths (Stanford University) will serve as chair, and the following will speak as participants:

Margot Fassler (University of Notre Dame)

Eva Schlotheuber (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)

Susan Boynton (Columbia University)

Isabelle Cochelin (University of Toronto)

Joshua O’Driscoll (Morgan Library and Museum)

Information about the conference and registration can be found here.

The Other Sister at the MAA Annual Meeting

The Other Sister will soon be introduced to a wider audience at this year’s annual meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, which will take place March 14–16 at the University of Notre Dame.

A panel entitled The Other Sister: Recognizing Non-Cloistered Religious Women in the Middle Ages will occur on Friday, March 15 at 8:30–10 am in DeBartolo Hall 217.

Fiona Griffiths (Stanford University) will serve as chair, and the following papers will be presented:

Tanya Stabler Miller (Loyola University Chicago): “Mary and/or Martha: Framing Beguine Labor in Medieval France”

Meghan Lescault (University of Toronto): “Subject to Interpretation: The Ambiguous Position of the Chapter of Nivelles in Canon Law”

Ashley Tickle Odebiyi (Arizona State University): “Beyond Clare and Catherine: Lay Penitents in Late Medieval Italy”

Registration for the conference closes February 16. https://medieval.nd.edu/news-events/events/medieval-academy-of-america-2024/

The Other Sister Research Seminar: Dissent

By Meghan Lescault

On October 27, 2023, The Other Sister held a thematic meeting on the topic of dissent among non-cloistered religious women. The following works from the four invited speakers had been circulated prior to the meeting:

  • Justine L. Trombley, “‘Against the Foundation of the Faith’: Theological Refutation in MS Vat. lat. 4953” and “Conclusion,” in A Diabolical Voice: Heresy and Reception of the Latin “Mirror of Simple Souls” in Late Medieval Europe (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2023), 93–124 and 170–178.
  • Huanan Lu, “Marguerite Porete et l’enquête de 1323 sur le béguinage Sainte-Élisabeth de Valenciennes,” Revue du Nord 440 (2021): 451–485. The English summary of the article can be found here.
  • Sean L. Field, “Clare of Rimini: A Case Study in the Circulation of Controversial Religious Claims” (work in progress to be published in a volume edited by Delfi Nieto-Isabel and Justine L. Trombley for the Routledge series Religious Dissent and Persecution in the Pre-Modern World).
  • Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel, “Beguines, Free Spirits, and the Inquisitorial Network Conundrum,” Oliviana 7 (2023). The open access article can be found here.

The meeting commenced with the four speakers presenting their research.

Justine Trombley, Lecturer in European History, 1300–1500 at Durham University, discussed the traditional tendency to label women as spiritual and mystical, but not intellectual. In her own work she strove to emphasize that Marguerite Porete was in fact treated as an intellectual, even if anonymously, as theologians, canons, and preachers assumed the Latin Mirror of Simple Souls to be the work of a man and engaged with it on a serious intellectual level in their attacks and condemnations of it. Not only these critics, but also the supporters of the work ascribed an intellectual character to it. Trombley tied the works of all four speakers together, noting the importance of networks as a major theme and their ability to impact, both positively and negatively, the lives of intellectual women. While a figure such as Clare of Rimini could benefit from a strong network, such networks could also attract the negative attention of inquisitors.

Huanan Lu, Assistant Professor of History at Nanjing University, explained that while she was sifting through archival documents for her PhD studies, she came across the inquisitorial record of 1323 of the beguinage of Saint Elizabeth in Valenciennes. This record mentioned a beguine by the name of Marghoneta, whom she was able to identify as Marguerite Porete. Lu discussed the effect of Marguerite’s inquisitorial trial on the beguine communities at the Council of Vienne, including her own community in Valenciennes, which was the first to be investigated in the diocese of Cambrai following the council. She explained that this investigation turned out to be rehabilitative, as everyone involved identified Marguerite as an exceptional figure with no followers in the community. The beguines of Saint Elizabeth were deemed innocent and orthodox, placed under the protection of religious and secular powers, and granted a high degree of autonomy.

Sean L. Field, Professor of History at the University of Vermont, introduced his paper as a result of a larger project of an English translation of and commentary on the vita of Clare of Rimini (Jacques Dalarun, Sean L. Field, and Valerio Cappozzo, A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy: The Life of Clare of Rimini [Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022]). He explained that by being asked by Delfi Nieto-Isabel to think about the flow of controversial ideas in the text, he saw the clear trajectory of Clare’s life from a solitary penitent woman to the leader of an informal community. Moreover, by being asked to think about moments in the text in which Clare is a recipient and dispenser of ideas, he was able to notice the rhetorical machinations by which the author of the text protects her from accusations of heresy. Field noted that Clare is a good example of an understudied figure who could help shed light on important themes related to non-cloistered women.

Delfi Nieto-Isabel, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Lecturer in History, and Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences Fellow at Queen Mary University of London, focused on the perennial problem of categorization, which she finds to be particularly relevant to the discussion of late medieval lay religiosity, especially in the case of women. She explained that this struggle goes back to the inquisitors themselves, who attempted to rely on categories for their detection of heresy. When they tried to fit a vast array of expressions of penitential lay religiosity into a small hole of orthodoxy, they inevitably met with failure. Nieto-Isabel noted that modern scholars still easily fall into this same mistake, and she challenged the group to move away from this tendency. Recalling the late medieval religious women who readily identified themselves both as beguines and as members of the Third Order of St. Francis, she asked why we would have a problem acknowledging this double identity if the women themselves embraced it.

As usual, a robust discussion began after the conclusion of these presentations. The theme that clearly dominated the discussion was that of networks. Emma Gabe turned the group’s attention to Trombley’s earlier point about the strong influence that networks could have on whether someone would be deemed heretical or orthodox. Nieto-Isabel elaborated on this point, illustrating the importance of networks by explaining that Na Prous Boneta (a beguine from Languedoc who was burnt at the stake in 1328) was not judged as a beguine by the inquisitors, but as a very specific type of heretic, entirely because of her network and the people in it with whom she was associated. Networks were so important that they could define boundaries and determine the categories into which people were placed. Trombley applied these ideas to Marguerite Porete and The Mirror of Simple Souls, showing how networks could either bring support or ruin depending upon the circumstances. She pointed to the ultimate failure of the networks around Marguerite to provide protection for her. In the case of The Mirror, she noted that its reception depended upon not only who was reading and interpreting it, but also the milieu in which it was being read. For example, its circulation in the Tuscan monastery of the Camaldolese Order seemed to be free from problems, while its circulation in a network in Venice resulted in trouble for those who were reading it. Courtney Barter-Colcord introduced the figure of Guglielma of Milan (d. 1282) into the discussion, remarking upon the fact that unlike Na Prous Boneta, Guglielma was already dead at the time of her inquisition (c. 1300) and that unlike Marguerite, she had a great deal of support, albeit the wrong kind of support as far as the inquisitors were concerned. Barter-Colcord posed the question of whether there were many other cases in which a network was built up around an individual who was no longer present. Nieto-Isabel discussed the persistence of social capital beyond death and tied this question to the idea of martyrdom and sainthood, explaining that in most cases of these, the individual being venerated is not living. She also demonstrated the importance of networks, discussing how Guglielma herself was never deemed suspect in her lifetime but only after her death when her network made dramatic claims about her, whereas Na Prous was considered problematic while alive.

In addition to a more general discussion of networks, closer examination of the networks specific to Marguerite took place. Isabelle Cochelin mentioned Lu’s assertion that Marguerite had no support in her own beguinage. Lu elaborated on this point, explaining that the beguines were largely responsible for their own protection. In response, Nieto-Isabel questioned whether we can truly know the nature of the relationship between Marguerite and the other beguines of Saint Elizabeth before 1310 given their obvious desire to present themselves as orthodox during the inquisition occurring after Marguerite’s execution. Lu responded by appealing to the text of The Mirror itself in which Marguerite claims that the beguines held her views to be wrong, suggesting their rejection of her. She also cited the dearth of archival documents mentioning Marguerite/Marghoneta, perhaps implying by their silence that Marguerite was poor and lacked strong social support. Field took up this particular line of discussion to emphasize the many possible interpretations of these situations for which we have no definite answer. John Arblaster moved from discussion of support for Marguerite in the beguinage to that of support for The Mirror. He noted that the three approbations given to the work by clerics must indicate a geographically wide network. To this point, Nieto-Isabel responded that the circulation of a manuscript requires a network and that Marguerite’s book would have had to be circulated in other networks before reaching those of the ecclesiastical authorities. Trombley elaborated on this, explaining that the rapid early appearance of the Latin translation of The Mirror suggests that Marguerite had introduced her original vernacular text into circulation very early. Field clarified that the words “approbation” and “approval” are not quite right here, because the clerics who commented on The Mirror did not give their full approval to it, but rather tentative praise that could be withdrawn if the work met with trouble, as happened in this case.

The networks of Clare of Rimini also arose as a topic of discussion. Mary Harvey Doyno introduced this topic by asking if there is a relationship between the idea of networks and the fact that Clare’s vita was begun while she was still alive. Field noted that a network that was physically gathered around a dying person, as in the case of Clare, would function differently from a posthumous canonization inquiry. He surmised that the former might have a stronger value in that the individuals around Clare would have to be gathered there of their own accord in a free exchange of ideas. Nieto-Isabel agreed that it is a question of the strength of the network and that the organic accompaniment of Clare in her dying moments would suggest a strength not available to a network built around an individual who had already died.

At the conclusion of this substantial conversation, Nieto-Isabel pointed out that in citing each other in their papers, the speakers had created their own network about networks. While the participants were discussing the importance of medieval networks, they were demonstrating in real time the necessity of a modern network such as The Other Sister.

The Other Sister 2023 Conference

By Meghan Lescault

Scintillating conversation from morning until night, high levels of intellectual synergy, and an aura of enthusiastic camaraderie. While this may sound like a scholarly daydream rather than an ordinary academic conference, this was in fact the reality of The Other Sister’s 2023 first international conference, which took place on the campus of the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto from May 18 to 20. The conference entitled “The Other Sister: New Research on Non-Cloistered Religious Women (1100–1800)” was organized by Prof. Isabelle Cochelin (University of Toronto), Prof. Alison More (University of St. Michael’s College and University of Toronto), Prof. Mary Harvey Doyno (California State University, Sacramento), Dr. Patricia Stoop (Universiteit Antwerpen), and graduate students Joseph Akl, Emma Gabe, Meghan Lescault, and Laura Moncion (University of Toronto). It showcased important research about the many groups of women and individual women who have traditionally received far too little scholarly attention despite their prominence in the medieval and early modern worlds. The need for greater emphasis on this topic was made evident by the numbers of eager participants. Between attendance in person and on Zoom, there were somewhere from 50 to 100+ people present at all times, with the number usually falling on the higher end of the spectrum.

Over the course of the three days, 25 scholars from 9 different countries and all levels of academia, from MA students to professors emeriti, presented papers concerning non-cloistered religious women. The speakers offered precise insights into specific aspects of these women’s lives, while the papers taken together provided a broad thematic perspective that transcended geographic and temporal boundaries. Through the papers, both individually and together, participants were invited into a deeper understanding of non-cloistered religious women and their many important religious and social roles. In the final session of the conference, Prof. John Van Engen (University of Notre Dame) tied together the major themes of the papers and challenged participants to continue to ponder the broad questions that had arisen.

Most of the speakers and some in-person attendees of The Other Sister 2023 conference

Each session was followed by a robust discussion in which connections were made, collaborations were forged, and even friendly debate was held. While the participants specialize in different non-cloistered women and can often find themselves working on their separate topics in isolation, this conference provided the opportunity to exchange ideas, resources, and methodologies related to a shared interest. At least two speakers described their sessions as a unique chance to speak to their bibliographies. This palpable synergy powered the conference and did not stop even when the clock did. Outside of the formal sessions, participants eagerly conversed during meals and coffee breaks. Even when there was no official dinner organized, the attendees formed plans to go out together and extend the conversations for hours. 

Between the fascinating academic presentations and the lively spirit of collaboration, it is no wonder why at least five speakers have reported this to be the best conference of their careers. As the many “networks” of the other sisters were a recurring theme of the conference, it is only fitting that there exists an academic network devoted entirely to them. This network’s conference was a great success and hopefully only the first of many more to come.

Participants eagerly discussing research on non-cloistered religious women

2023 International Conference

The Other Sister: New Research on Non-Cloistered Religious Women (1100-1800)

CHARBONNEL LOUNGE

St Michael’s College. University of Toronto

May 18–20, 2023

You can find a summary of the conference here.

Mary and other young women in the Temple (1325-1350), Johannes de Caulibus, Meditatione de la uita del nostro Signore Ihesu Christo, Paris, BnF, Ital 115, f.7v.

Throughout Christian history, there have been groups of women who lived recognizably religious lives but outside of traditional monastic structures. Despite leaving a substantial documentary and (in some cases) visual record, they are conspicuously absent from the dominant scholarly tradition. By defining and contextualizing the experiences of these women, we can begin to understand the ways they fit into the ecclesiastical and lay landscape of the worlds in which they lived. Our conference focuses on new research on non-cloistered women religious including (but not limited to) beguines, bizzoche, tertiaries, pinzochere, canonesses, and house ascetics. By looking beyond the limitations generally imposed by geography or time period, we can begin to think of the connections that existed between these women and society, cloistered nuns, or clerics. 

This conference is a collaborative and international endeavour with, besides the University of Toronto team of The Other Sister (Isabelle Cochelin, Alison More and graduate students Joseph Akl, Emma Gabe, Meghan Lescault and Laura Moncion), Professors Mary Doyno (California State University Sacramento) and Patricia Stoop (University of Antwerp).

Detail from Mechelen’s beguines at work (17th cent.). Museum Hof van Busleyden (Mechelen, Belgium).

The conference will take place at the University of Toronto, in person, May 18–20, 2023. Those who cannot be present in Toronto on these days may attend the conference virtually and ask questions through chat. In order to attend the conference via Zoom or in person, please email us at tos2023conference@gmail.com.

May 18th

10:30 am Welcome

Augustine Thompson, PIMS Praeses

Alison More (St Michael’s College, University of Toronto) and Isabelle Cochelin (University of Toronto)

11am-12:30pm Interactions with the Church I – Session 1 : the Frederick Charles Furlong Memorial Lecture

Melissa Moreton (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), Romite del Ponte: Pinzochere, Anchorites, and Spiritual Women on Florence’s Ponte alle Grazie

Tanya Stabler Miller (Loyola University, Chicago), The Beguinage of Cantimpré: A Sponsored Emergence

Meghan Lescault (University of Toronto), Appealing to a Higher Power: Episcopal Interventions in the Conflicts of Nivelles

Lunch 12:30-2pm

2-3pm Interactions with the Church II – Session 2

Ashley Tickle Odebiyi (Arizona State University), Partners not Servants: The Religious Networks of Fifteenth-Century Roman Bizzoche

Sarah Joan Moran (independent scholar), Reforming the Low Countries: The Beguines, the Clerics, and the Archduchess Isabella

Coffee 3-3:30pm

3:30-5pm Their Voices – Session 3

Michael Hahn (Sarum College, Salisbury), Angela of Foligno within Franciscan (mystical-)theological genealogies

Mary Harvey Doyno (California State University, Sacramento), Shout-Outs to the Friars: Catherine of Siena’s Daughters and the Search for Institutional Identity

Silvia Giovanardi Byer (Park University, Parkville, MO), Mystical Journeys in Post-Tridentine Italy: Caterina Paluzzi’s Laborious Writings

Detail from Mechelen’s beguines at work (17th cent.). Museum Hof van Busleyden (Mechelen, Belgium).

May 19th

9:30-11am Dissidence – Session 4

Courtney Barter-Colcord (Princeton University), Woman as Savior: Guglielma of Milan, Na Prous Boneta, and the Holy Spirit Incarnate

Delfi Nieto-Isabel (Queen Mary University, London), Central Outliers: Women, Intellectual Contributions and Beguinal Dissident Networks in the Fourteenth-Century Mediterranean

Joseph George Akl and Isabelle Cochelin (University of Toronto), Sisters to Sister: New Perspectives on the Painting Mechelen’s Beguines at Work (Museum Hof van Busleyden, Mechelen, 17th Century)

11-11:30am Coffee

11:30am-12:30pm Liturgy – Session 5

Samantha Slaubaugh (University of Notre Dame), Teaching the Liturgy through Ecstasy: Douceline of Digne’s Vida as Liturgical Source

Katherine Clark Walter (SUNY Brockport), Pious Widowhood in Text and Image: Widows’ Consecrations in Illuminated Pontificals of the Later Middle Ages

Lunch 12:30-2pm

2-3pm The Lower-Status Ones – Session 6

Kate Bush (College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA), Ut pedissequa ministrare: Service and Serving Sisters in Early Clarissan Hagiography

Kim Main (University of Toronto), “Among the Number of His Spouses”: Ursuline Converse Nuns in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Quebec

Coffee 3-3:30pm

3:30-5pm Production and Transmission of Knowledge – Session 7

Patricia Stoop (Universiteit Antwerpen), Non-Cloistered Religious Women and their Contributions to Literary Culture in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Low Countries

Kathryn Kerby-Fulton (University of Notre Dame), Not So Silent After All: Anchoresses and Other Sisters in the Virtual Intellectual Communities of Medieval Oxford

Sergi Sancho Fibla (Università degli Studi di Padova), Women, religion and education: types of sources and perspectives of study (Southern Europe, 14th-15th Centuries)

Detail from Mechelen’s beguines at work (17th cent.). Museum Hof van Busleyden (Mechelen, Belgium).

May 20th

10-11am In Hagiographical Sources – Session 8

Alicia Smith (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto), Harlots and Hermits: Thais as Intertext for Twelfth-Century Eremitic Experiments

Laura Moncion (University of Toronto), A Recluse in New France: The Life of Jeanne Le Ber (1662-1714)

Coffee 11-11:30am

11:30am-12:30pm Problems of Definition, Questions of identity – Session 9

Fiona Griffiths (Stanford University), Clerics’ Wives as “Other” Sisters

Michelle M. Sauer (University of North Dakota), Noble Women Attached to the Minoresses in England

Lunch 12:30-2pm

2-3:30pm (Non-)Enclosing – Session 10

Alison Beach (University of Saint Andrew’s), Hermits, Inclusae, and Other Freelancers:  Women in Germany’s Apostolic Awakening (11th-12th Centuries)

Letha Böhringer (Universität zu Köln), The Beguines of Cologne, a Social History

Adrian Kammerer (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), An Order and its Consequences: Effects of the Dominican Third Rule on Non-Cloistered Religious Women

Coffee 3:30-4pm

4-5pm Conclusion by John Van Engen (University of Notre Dame)

Detail from Mechelen’s beguines at work (17th cent.). Museum Hof van Busleyden (Mechelen, Belgium).

Office of the Vice President, International

The Other Sister research seminar: secular canonesses

By Meghan Lescault

On January 14, 2022, The Other Sister research group held a seminar on the topic of secular canonesses. Three invited speakers presented some of their work on the subject, which had been circulated to all participants prior to the meeting:

  • Sigrid Hirbodian, “Religious Women: Secular Canonesses and Beguines,” in The Oxford Handbook of Christian Monasticism, edited by Bernice M. Kaczynski. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020;
  • and “Weibliche Herrschaft – männliche Herrschaft? Stiftsdamen und –herren im Vergleich,” in Frauenstifte – Männerstifte (Schriften zur südwestdeutschen Landeskunde), edited by Oliver Auge, Sigrid Hirbodian, and Friederike Schnack. Ostfildern: Thorbecke Verlag, forthcoming in 2022. (An English summary of the secondary article can be found here.)
  • Eva Schlotheuber, “Pilgrims, the Poor, and the Powerful: The Long History of the Women of Nivelles,” in The Liber ordinarius of Nivelles (Houghton Library, MS Lat 422): Liturgy as Interdisciplinary Intersection, edited by Jeffrey H. Hamburger and Eva Schlotheuber, 35–96. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
  • Steven Vanderputten, “They Lived Under That Rule as Do Those Who Have Succeeded Them: Simultaneity and Conflict in the Foundation Narratives of a French Women’s Convent,” The Downside Review 139, no. 1 (2021): 82–97.
  • For more information on the topic, please refer to Vanderputten’s new book: Steven Vanderputten, Dismantling the Medieval: Early Modern Perceptions of a Female Convent’s Past (Turnhout: Brepols, 2021). Open access link: https://www.brepolsonline.net/action/showBook?doi=10.1484/M.STMH-EB.5.122603.

Sigrid Hirbodian, Director of the Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde und Historische Hulfswissenschaften at the Universität Tübingen, framed her presentation in terms of three questions, the first being what are secular canonesses? She answered that they are religious women, mostly from noble families, whose way of life was characterized by the practice of the vita communis and the absence of strict enclosure. They did not take permanent vows, could leave to get married, and had their own private income through their prebends. Hirbodian noted that unlike the beguines, the secular canonesses celebrated the Divine Office, which stood at the center of their religious life. In answer to the second question, which concerned the religious self-image of the canonesses, Hirbodian explained that they seemed to perceive themselves both as sanctimoniales and as the female equivalent of secular canons, all the while being aware that they led a special way of religious life in between the religious and secular spheres. She pointed out that the canonesses of St. Stephen’s in Strasbourg manifested this understanding of themselves in a rotulus of 1359 in which they emphasized the secular components of their life in order to make clear that they were neither nuns nor regular canonesses. As her third and final question, Hirbodian asked whether there were differences between the secular canonesses and canons. She has found that the two were quite similar in many ways but that a marked divergence was the greater adherence to the vita communis on the part of the female communities, due especially to the inability of the women to accumulate prebends, a common practice of the men. Hirbodian explained that secular canonesses and canons had equal standing and ability in terms of organizing finances and exercising power over subjects. It was the office not the individual, that mattered, and it was not until the Reformation that the ability of an abbess to lead a church was questioned.

Eva Schlotheuber, Chair of Medieval History at the Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, began by introducing the Abbey of Nivelles, which was founded in the middle of the seventh century by Itta, the widow of Pepin the Elder, and her daughter, Gertrude, a typical foundation of an aristocratic widow working with Irish missionaries. Schlotheuber explained that this community developed into the Chapter of Nivelles with forty-three canonesses and thirty canons under the leadership of an abbess. The chapter cared for strangers, the poor, widows, and orphans, operating multiple hospitals for almost 1200 years. At the same time, Nivelles was closely connected to the Merovingian, Carolingian, and Ottonian dynasties, and the abbess had the status of the most powerful territorial ruler in the region for centuries. Schlotheuber noted that the secular canonesses were not the only type of religious women in Nivelles. The beguines had a presence there and managed hospitals as well. In fact, it seems to be the case that Nivelles was hospitable to the beguines precisely because of the social and religious environment created by the canonesses. Schlotheuber then discussed the Liber ordinarius of Nivelles, which has been explored in recent years following its purchase from a private collector in 2009. Schlotheuber explained that this book, containing documents and records of Nivelles as well as liturgical customs, was produced in response to a conflict that reached its peak in the 1230s. The immediate question at issue was whether the abbey should retain its self-governing status despite having no political protection, as the chapter thought fitting, or whether it should be under the protection of the Duke of Brabant despite losing some of its freedom, as the abbess thought best. The underlying question, however, was who or what constituted the church of Nivelles—the abbess or the chapter. Schlotheuber noted that the chapter ultimately prevailed and limited the power of the abbess, who although continuing to represent the Abbey of Nivelles, was nevertheless accountable to the chapter.

Steven Vanderputten, Senior Full Professor in the Department of History at Ghent University, began by explaining his realization that scholars’ interactions with the early medieval primary source material related to religious women are largely dependent upon the handling of the sources by these women’s early modern successors. This, together with the fact that little work has been done on this phenomenon, inspired Vanderputten to investigate how a community’s early modern perception of its medieval past could be influenced by ruptures and transitions over the course of its existence. He was also interested in studying early modern memory culture through the lens of gender, and in particular, “women’s agency in the politics of memory.” Vanderputten found that institutions of canonesses provided an ideal case study. While early modern secular canonesses often emphasized the differences between themselves and their medieval predecessors due to a combination of internal and external factors, including centuries of clerical criticism and the local belief that these communities were originally cloistered, they simultaneously gave pride of place to continuity, linking themselves especially to the founders of their communities and their first inhabitants. He explained that his work on the Abbey of Bouxières is an even more specific case study, as he thought a micro-historical approach best to examine the topic of canonesses’ memory culture. This allowed for a detailed view of how women lived in and experienced an eighteenth-century house with elements and spaces from the fifteenth and twelfth centuries. Vanderputten gave some examples of ways in which the canonesses embraced continuity with their predecessors, including the story of a ca. late-seventeenth-century painting that hung in the abbatial church and displayed important moments from the abbey’s foundation story. He also provided instances of ruptures, one such being that the early modern canonesses disposed of the abbey’s archival charters related to individuals whom they no longer remembered.

Following the presentations, the floor opened for a discussion amongst all participants. As with many research seminars of The Other Sister, questions of identity and categorization featured prominently. When a question arose concerning evidence of very early canonesses, Vanderputten and Schlotheuber concurred that the categorization of religious communities before 800 is not realistic, and Vanderputten noted that it remains difficult to label groups as Benedictines or canonesses even afterwards. He offered an alternative method of assessment by which we can look at individual communities of religious women and see how they were organized, how they interacted with their surrounding environments, and what type of function they had in society. Schlotheuber offered the categories of the vita activa and the vita contemplativa for religious women. As an example of the vita activa, she mentioned groups of women, such as the secular canonesses, who operated schools and hospitals. In response to a question about the fittingness of using the vita activa, rather than the private ownership of goods, as a distinguishing feature of secular canonesses, Vanderputten argued that terms such as “nun” and “canoness” reflect normative concepts from normative sources and are not necessarily indicative of the reality of the women to whom they refer. He gave examples of Benedictine women receiving a prebend and canonesses having a mensa conventualis, the reverse of what one would expect in normative terms. He offered the reminder that ecclesiastical authorities could legislate in a way that did not reflect the reality of the communities, and he thus underlined the necessity of looking at the local realities and expectations of these women.

Another question touched upon these same topics—is it possible to arrive at one definition of secular canonesses given their many differences over time and space? Hirbodian remarked that the answer to this question could be “very easy or very complicated,” but that the truth is perhaps somewhere in the middle. It would be easy simply to say that secular canonesses do not belong to any religious order but rather follow the Regula Aquisgranensis and have their own statutes, that they retain their personal possessions, and that they do not take perpetual vows and may leave the community. The complicated aspect comes in, however, because the above attributes are theory, but in practice, every community has its own particularities, according to Hirbodian. She offered the reminder that we have to see how the women thought of themselves. Schlotheuber built upon this idea by offering the notion that we could look at two aspects of the canonesses—their internal structure and their religious life. She noted that the internal structure can vary widely from one community to another. Vanderputten also warned here of the dangers of over-categorizing and offered a few examples of external pressure potentially altering the identity of canonesses. He explained that from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries onward, ecclesiastical authorities could put pressure on communities of canonesses to place themselves in one strict category or another. He also discussed how the canonesses’ constitutions in the early modern period might suggest some self-conscious attempts to conform to the image of them held by the surrounding society.

While these questions primarily examined the identity of the secular canonesses, an additional question furthered the discussion by asking what kind of demands of society required such an institution/identity to exist for many centuries apart from the flexibility of the internal structure, as the speakers had previously mentioned. Hirbodian explained it in terms of two desires on the part of the nobility. One was their need for a place to send their daughters while still being able to retrieve them for marriage later, if need be. The second relates to the exclusive social status associated with these institutions. Placing a daughter there meant that you belonged to a certain high-level social group. On a different note, Schlotheuber discussed the case of Nivelles in which the importance of the canonesses there was closely tied up with their hospital service. Vanderputten addressed both of these ideas. He first mentioned letters of abbesses written in 1790 and 1791 in which they defended themselves against the dissolution of their institutions by emphasizing their economic generosity with hospitals and the poor. He then underlined Hirbodian’s point about communities of canonesses as pre-marriage holding places for daughters of nobles, and he added that not only the institution, but the prebends themselves, were thought to belong to the nobility.

While we may not always be able to categorize the other sister, we can surely identify secular canonesses as a fascinating research topic that merits further investigation.

The Other Sister Research Seminar: Iberian Non-Cloistered Religious Women

By Gustave Ineza and Meghan Lescault

On May 7, 2021, The Other Sister research group hosted a seminar on the topic of Iberian non-cloistered religious women. Three invited speakers presented their research and discussed some of their specific projects which the participants had the chance to examine prior to the meeting:

  • Núria Jornet Benito, Claustra, http://www.ub.edu/claustra/eng/info; Spiritual Landscapes, http://www.ub.edu/proyectopaisajes/index.php; and Monastic Landscapes, https://www.ub.edu/proyectomonastic/en/.
  • Pablo Acosta-García, “Radical Succession: Hagiography, Reform, and Franciscan Identity in the Convent of the Abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481–1534),” Religions 12, no. 3 (2021), https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12030223; and “En viva sangre bañadas: Caterina da Siena y las vidas de María de Ajofrín, Juana de la Cruz, María de Santo Domingo y otras santas vivas castellanas,” Archivio italiano per la storia della pietà, 33 (2020): 143–172. (An English summary of the second article can be found here.)
  • Amanda L. Scott, The Basque Seroras: Local Religion, Gender, and Power in Northern Iberia, 1550–1800 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2020).

Núria Jornet Benito, Professor of Library Science and Documentation at the Universitat de Barcelona, presented the results and challenges of a series of collaborative projects undertaken by a team of researchers interested in feminine spirituality. The work on the topography of feminine spirituality led to the Claustra project, the principal result of which was a map that catalogued spaces of female spirituality between the twelfth and the fifteenth century in the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy. The points on the map give access to a catalogue file containing historical, archaeological, and architectural data about different religious groups through these centuries, including groups of non-cloistered women. Jornet Benito then discussed how a second project, Spiritual Landscapes, provided a new framework for engaging with the spatial turn in the study of female spirituality. It places monasteries in terms of their surroundings with a broad cartographic focus. The use of digital tools played a major role, as the team was able to pinpoint the exact locations of monasteries and their estates, analyze trends in their properties, and use geographical information systems (GIS) to systematize methodologies for the analysis of monastic documents, such as cartularies. The project allowed the researchers to recreate the internal topography of monasteries and to analyze objects and their functions in relation to spaces. They have also been able to engage in the analysis of networks, for example, the networks between mother houses and reformed monasteries. The third and current project, Monastic Landscapes, engages with the performative turn through the study of the ritual, liturgical drama, and processions of monasteries. It also focuses on the study of monastic sites and excavations of monasteries from an archaeological perspective.

Pablo Acosta-García, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, unfortunately was unable to attend to meeting. His presentation was read by Sergi Sancho Fibla, postdoctoral researcher at the Université catholique de Louvain. Acosta-García explained that the articles that he shared for this meeting are part of a larger project (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Late Medieval Visionary Women’s Impact in Early Modern Castilian Spiritual Tradition, Grant Agreement 842094), the second and current phase of which involves evaluating the impact that writings had on religious communities and on reforms promoted by Cardinal Cisneros. He noted that certain penitential and devotional characteristics of the Castilian religious women include the development of an extreme religious phenomenology, including the production of new mystical literature, and he argued that their reliance on previous models of sanctity indicates the medieval dissemination of hagiographic narratives and religious writing by European women in Castile. What Acosta-García did was to show that Cisneros worked to disseminate these models for female religious at the same time that he was promoting his reform of female religious houses. When Cisneros implemented his reform, he had some of those works by or on mystical women, such as Catherine of Siena, Angela of Foligno, and Mechthild of Hackeborn printed and made available to a larger audience. Acosta-García noted the use of specific narratives taken from Catherine of Siena’s hagiography in writings on Iberian women. Moreover, he discussed the first instance of hagiography on the Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz as a good example of what Gabriella Zarri called “scrittura communitaria.” In this account the community of the Convent of Santa Maria in Cubas de la Sagra (Toledo) created their own chronicle of the convent from the point of view of the reform. In this sense their abbess is seen not only as a charismatic figure, but also as a model of extreme penance. Issues about the identity of these “cloistered tertiaries” were also mentioned.

Amanda L. Scott, Assistant Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University, spoke about her research on Early Modern Basque seroras, women who were neither married nor nuns and were hired to care for church property and to assist with the liturgy. Uncloistered seroras typically served in pairs. Although these women numbered in the thousands, even surpassing the numbers of male secular clergy in the same area, they have received little attention from scholars. Scott explained that the seroras led celibate lives but took no vows and could leave their positions at any time. She noted that they had more autonomy and independence than other women as a result of compromises made between them and church officials regarding acceptable places for women. Their compromises also allowed them to last into the eighteenth century and beyond in some cases. Scott described their distinct role, which was well established and prestigious in the Basque dioceses: the seroras went through a process of examination and licensing and received clerical immunity, housing, and a competitive stipend paid in alms or by the priest of the parish where they served. Scott gave an overview of her book on the subject and discussed the following themes that the topic of the seroras can help us to navigate: the impact of local circumstances on the development of the devout lay life, the impact of religious and secular reforms on female religious life, compensation for women’s work, and instances of inconsistency in the application of religious reform. She also presented pictures of the houses in which the seroras lived, called serorias, which were located very close to the churches where they worked.

A stimulating discussion followed these presentations. The very familiar topics of terminology and identity, which have animated previous seminars, returned as prominent themes in the conversation, this time in relation to Iberian non-cloistered women. In response to a question about the potential problems involved in the identification of communities of beatas who became nuns, Jornet Benito explained that difficulties arose in the creation of the atlas because there was no documentation when a group of women made such a transition and because a plurality of names existed for some groups. Delfi Nieto, a fellow member of the project with Jornet Benito, elaborated on this point, adding that one individual woman could be called a beguine, tertiary, or other names depending on who is writing and how she is known. Nieto explained that for this reason, the team decided to refer to these kinds of women collectively as mulieres religiosae and to assign a specific group identity only to those who were explicitly identified as such. Scott related the confusion of terminology to the seroras, noting that they were described as beatas or even nuns in some documents. She clarified, however, that this discrepancy may have been the product of an on-the-spot translation from Basque to Castilian by bilingual notaries.

One particular facet of identity, that of canonical status, was addressed by Alison More. Expressing an interest in the topic of Tridentine reform and its importance for the seroras, More asked Scott if they had a status in canon law, what authority they had, and from whom they would have received such authority. Scott explained that while localities and dioceses both claimed to have authority over the seroras, it remains an unresolved conflict. She noted that the seroras, did, however, have ecclesiastical immunity.

Related to the question of identity is the question of influence, and this topic, a notable aspect of Acosta-García’s work, was introduced to the discussion when Isabelle Cochelin asked about the current of influence moving from Italy to Spain in terms of the beatas who existed prior to Cisneros’ reform. Sancho Fibla answered with reference to Acosta-García’s article that the living figures of the Observant Movement were greatly influenced by Italian models due to Cisernos’ promotion of them. He added that besides this he cannot see the clear influence of Italian spirituality before the early fifteenth century. Jodi Bilinkoff reminded the group about the possibility of an intermediate translation of a text such as Catherine of Siena’s Dialogue: given Valencia’s proximity to Italy, perhaps the text was first translated from Italian to Valencian and subsequently brought westwards and translated into Castilian. Nieto offered the clarification that the first current of influence flowed southwards from the Occitan territories across the Pyrenees into Spain. She explained that the Catalan sources of southern France spoke of beguines but simultaneously called them beatas and that this term crossed over into Iberia. Nieto specified that the Italian influence did not appear until the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Sylvie Duval further clarified that the influence of Italy, and specifically of Catherine of Siena, on the Castilian women must be understood in the context of the Observant reform in which Cisneros was paradoxically using the life of Catherine, a mantellata, as a model for the reform of the Spanish convents.

The discussion regarding the seroras, on the other hand, touched on their role as the influencers rather than the influenced. In response to a question about whether the seroras could be used as instruments of the Church to promote reform, Scott noted that parishioners citing Tridentine reforms as justification in conflict with their priests (despite general ignorance of what the decrees actually said) were likely repeating what they had heard from the seroras, who would have picked up on some aspects of the reform from the documents of the synods of Navarre that were sent to every parish. She clarified that despite their possible function as a mouthpiece for reform, the seroras were more of a stabilizing, rather than reforming, presence. Scott discussed how it would have been regarded as a disruption to reform the seroras due to the nature of their positions. For example, the seroras had an advantage in being well-informed about the misbehavior of priests and were often called upon by dioceses to testify in cases involving clerical misconduct. Moreover, in describing how the seroras were able to survive as a group, Scott explained that rather than being seen as unattached religious women with spiritual associations, the seroras were considered as diocesan employees with a “normal, boring job,” one, however, that would be destructive to the church if removed.

While the seroras may have embraced normal, boring jobs, this discussion further proved that the other sister, specifically in her Iberian form, is far from normal and boring.

Does Purple Preclude Piety?: Jacques de Vitry’s Disapproval of Secular Canonesses

By Meghan Lescault

In looking for clerical supporters of medieval non-cloistered religious women, the name of Jacques de Vitry (c. 1160–1240) may come to mind. Jacques, a regular canon, bishop, scholar, preacher, and author was a vocal promoter of the beguines, a role which may be seen in his sermons and his Vita of Marie d’Oignies. His enthusiasm for the non-cloistered, however, did not extend to all such women, and certainly not to the secular canonesses.

Secular canonesses were women from noble families who held prebends attached to collegiate churches where they had liturgical duties. They could renounce their prebends at any time and leave the community, usually in order to marry. They have received little attention in modern religious historiography, partly because they have been associated with a lack of traditional piety, a view that has its roots in the minds of some of the canonesses’ medieval contemporaries. As Jacques de Vitry holds such a view, a piece of his writing offers an early example of rigid disapproval of their form of life. Other ecclesiastical figures took issue with the canonesses,[1] seemingly because they were not nuns despite bearing some resemblance to them, but Jacques’ disdain is more surprising at first sight given his support for the beguines. It may be the case, however, that Jacques’ admiration for the modest life of the beguine was the cause of his apparent distaste for the wealthy canonesses.

Jacques devoted several chapters of his Historia occidentalis to various religious groups. A brief glance at the titles of these chapters may well reveal his view of the “ideal” religious life. Straightforward explanations such as De cysterciensibus and De canonicis Sancti Victoris stand in contrast to the title of the thirty-first chapter: De irregularitate secularium canonicarum. While “irregularity” in the ecclesiastical context means that the secular canonesses did not follow a rule, one cannot help but notice the pejorative sense it has for Jacques when reading what follows.

In describing the canonesses, Jacques paints a picture of opulence, laxity, and immodesty. He places secular nobility and religious piety in contrast to each other and elaborates on the canonesses’ material comfort:

Hee siquidem adeo personas accipiunt, quod non nisi filias militum et nobilium in suo collegio uolunt recipere, religioni et morum nobilitati et seculi nobilitatem preferentes. Purpura autem et bysso et pellibus grisiis et aliis iocunditatis sue uestibus induuntur, circumdate uarietatibus cum tortis crinibus et ornatu pretioso circumamicte ut similitude templi, gaudentes cum gaudentibus, liberales ualde et hospitales.[2]

If indeed they do accept people, they do not wish to receive anyone except daughters of knights and nobles into their society, preferring the nobility of the world to religion and nobility of mores. Moreover, they wear purple cotton and gray fur and other garments that delight them. They are enveloped in clothing of various colors with their hair curled and are covered in costly embellishment like a temple. They rejoice with the joyful and are very generous and hospitable.[3]

While this last aspect of his description has a potentially positive tone, Jacques quickly makes his overall position clear by discussing the sumptuous nature of their feasts and their freedom to leave the community for a time and to visit with their families and friends. He disapproves of their liturgical partnership with secular canons and portrays its apparent dangers in no uncertain terms:

Ipse uero, uelut sirens in delubris uoluptatis uocem iocunditatis annuntiantes, ipsos canonicos, dum superari nesciunt, fessos et fatigatos frequenter reddiderunt. Similiter et in processionibus, composite et ornate, canonici ex una parte et domine ex alia parte concinentes, procedunt.[4]

Indeed, just as Sirens proclaiming their call of delight in temples of pleasure, they have frequently wearied and tired the canons who are not aware that they are overcome. And similarly in processions, they proceed in an orderly and splendid manner while singing together, the canons from one side and the ladies from the other.

As if their status vis-à-vis the clerics was not enough, Jacques goes on to discuss the canonesses’ ability to leave their positions and marry, likely holding this in contrast to forms of life that required a permanent commitment. If his view of these women was not clear by this point, he lays all of his cards on the table with the following statement near the end of the chapter:

Aliquas autem ex ispsarum congregatione uidimus, que, saniori use consilio de Hur chaldeorum et de medio Babylonis fugientes, postquam mundi incendia euaserunt, sumpto cysterciensis ordinis habitu, ad magnum perfectionis cumulum peruenerunt.[5]

We have seen some of them who have taken sounder advice and have fled from Ur of the Chaldees and from the middle of Babylon, and after they have escaped the fire of the world, they have taken the habit of the Cistercian Order and have reached the high height of perfection.

Jacques clearly does not condone what he regards as the too worldly life of the secular canoness, and he goes so far as to promote the Cistercian Order as the salvific antidote. His identification of female monasticism with “the high height of perfection,” however, stands in contradiction to his admiration for the beguines, whose lives certainly differed from those of the Cistercians in many aspects. It seems to be the case that Jacques has a vision of ideal female piety that incorporates characteristics of cloistered women and beguines alike but does not accommodate the customs of the canonesses. This leaves the question of whether curled hair, abundant food, and coed liturgical processions can truly determine the presence or absence of piety and religious devotion. This is an important question for scholars to raise when revisiting such groups of women.


[1] Examples include the French Cluniac canonist Guilelmus de Monte Laudano, the Italian canonist Johannes Andreae, and the Italian canonist Cardinal Franciscus Zabarella. See Elizabeth Makowski, A Pernicious Sort of Woman: Quasi-religious Women and Canon Lawyers in the Later Middle Ages (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2005), especially chapter 1.

[2] Jacques de Vitry, Historia Occidentalis, chapter 31. All Latin text is from Jacques de Vitry, The Historia Occidentalis of Jacques de Vitry, trans. John Frederick Hinnebusch, O.P. (Fribourg: University Press, 1972).

[3] Translations are my own.

[4] Jacques de Vitry, Historia Occidentalis, chapter 31.

[5] Ibid.