Life and Death in a Venetian Convent: The Chronicle and Necrology of Corpus Domini, 1395-1436 (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe)
Adding to 11 translated works in "The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe" series, Bornstein (religious studies, Texas A&M;) brings high scholarship to contemporary sources on women in the late Middle Ages. Riccoboni built her Dominican convent, Corpus Domini, in 1394 in Venice, aided by a wealthy patron and an eminent Dominican preacher, Giovanni Dominici. Writing 20 years after these events, she reveals the impact of multiple popes on her cloistered community during the Great Western Schism and the Council of Constance. Preceding Riccoboni's "Chronicle" is a fascinating contextual chapter by Bornstein of the convent's construction and surrounding political, ecclesiastical, and mundane events. Her "Necrology" describes the qualities, contributions, and deaths of 49 people, mostly nuns, creating a record of 15th-century Venice as seen by a devout woman in touch with her times. Recommended for scholarly collections.-Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NYCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.