Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 17694
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Rasmussen , Linda.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Order, Order! Determining Order in Medieval English Nunneries [The author examines Stamford Priory, a house for women founded around 1160, as a case study for the importance of monastic affiliation. At various points the prioress petitioned for tax relief based on poverty and the priory's affiliation as a Cistercian house. At the same time the male Benedictine monastery at Peterborough, Stamford's patron, successfully resisted Stamford's efforts to stop paying fees to the large Benedictine house. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Our Medieval Heritage: Essays in Honour of John Tillotson for His 60th Birthday.  Edited by Linda Rasmussen, Valerie Spear, and Dianne Tillotson.  Merton Priory Press, 2002.  Pages 30 - 49.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Cistercian Order Economics Monasticism Monasticism- Governance Stamford, Lincolnshire, England- Priory of St. Michael's, a Women's House Outside of Stamford Women in Religion
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 12- 13- 14- 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract: Establishing the order of a monastic community is often an important question in modern scholarship, despite a great degree of uncertainty in contemporary sources regarding this issue, especially concerning nunneries. Most of the time the Stamford nuns seem to have been satisfied with being recognized as holy women. It will be argued here that order was important to medieval nuns in certain specific contexts, and that these instances demonstrate the nuns' distinguished negotiation skills and their considerable understanding of contemporary society.
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation:
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 2002.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 1898937559