Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 1786
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Hotchin , Julie.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Female Religious Life and the "Cura Monialium" in Hirsau Monasticism, 1080 to 1150
  • Source: Listen, Daughter: The "Speculum virginum" and the Formation of Religious Women in the Middle Ages.  Edited by Constant J. Mews.  The New Middle Ages Series. Palgrave, 2001.  Pages 59 - 83.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Double Houses Ecclesiastical Reform Education Handbooks Hirsau, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany- Benedictine Abbey for Men Man Woman Relationships Monasticism Monks Pastoral Care- Nuns Recluses Speculum Virginum, Latin Handbook for Nuns Women in Religion
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 11-12
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: One figure. Figure One Map indicating the spread of the Benedictine reform movement of William of Hirsau in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
  • Table:
  • Abstract: This chapter explores the historical context of the "Speculum virginum" through investigating the expansion of religious life foe women in houses founded or reformed by monks of Hirsau in the late eleventh and first half of the twelfth century. Under the influence of William of Hirsau and his immediate disciples, there was a dramatic growth of interest in reestablishing the "vita apostolica" as a way of life in which women could participate alongside men. Many monastic houses influenced by these reforms incorporated groups of women living as recluses alongside a male monastic community. Inevitably the participation of women in a way of life traditionally defined by men created tensions. The "Speculum virginum" can be seen as vindicating a way of life that might easily provoke criticism from outsiders. Male commentary on female religious life was a process through which they could actively constitute their own male religious identity. The popularity of this treatise within male communities, involved in pastoral responsibility for religious women, reflects a continuing need for men to be instructed in the way they had to relate to religious women. [Reproduced by permission of Palgrave].
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: Australian National University [Ph. D. dissertation candidate]
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2001.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0312240082