Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 4507
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  • Title: Flaws in the Golden Bowl: Gender and Spiritual Formation in the Twelfth Century [In twelfth century Western Europe, religious writers debated whether arrangements for men and for women in religious life were meant to be identical, equal, or separate. While works on religious formation and spiritual growth can present monastic values as gender neutral and some writings (like Abelard's letters to Heloise purport to praise the virtues of women, misogyny is nonetheless pervasive in monastic writings (women are aligned with carnality, loquacity, and curiosity). Moreover, gender plays an important role in differentiating the importance of chastity for men and for women, and gender profoundly affects how communal life and spiritual growth are represented. The Appendix offers a list of religious literature of formation produced between 1075 and 1225. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Traditio 45, ( 1990): Pages 111 - 146. Republished in From Virile Woman to WomanChrist: Studies in Medieval Religion and Literature. By Barbara Newman. Middle Ages Series. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995. Pages 19-45
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Abelard, Peter, Philosopher Chastity Community Life Friendship Gender Handbooks Heloise, Abbess of Le Paraclet Hildegard of Bingen, Abbess of Rupertsberg Misogyny Monasticism Regula Religious Life Sexuality Social Groups Social History Social Roles Spirit
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  • Geographic Area: General
  • Century: 12
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  • Year of Publication: 1990.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 03621529