Sacred communities, shared devotions
Subtitle: gender, material culture, and monasticism in late medieval Germany
By: by June L. Mecham ; edited by Alison I. Beach, Constance H. Berman and Lisa M. Bitel
Contributors: Beach, Alison I.; Berman, Constance H.; Bitel, Lisa M., 1958-
Series: Medieval women: texts and contexts -- vol. 29; Medieval women--texts and contexts -- 29.
Publisher: Brepols
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Turnhout
Language: eng
Number of pages: 307
ISBN-13: 9782503541341
Subjects: Monastic and religious life of women; History; Convents; Religion and sociology; Material culture; Christianity; Frauenkloster; Sachkultur; Spiritualität; Wohlstand
Description: "'Sacred communities, shared devotions' takes us behind the gates of six medieval Saxon convents and into the lives of rich and noble nuns going about their daily labour of religion just before the Lutheran Reformation. Drawing on writings by and about the nuns, as well as an analysis of the costly art and architecture of their monasteries, June Mecham reveals how monastic women wielded their wealth to create a ritual environment dense with Christian images and meanings. Mecham argues that nuns chose devotions and rituals within the framework of a distinct material culture, influenced by local religious customs, gender structures, and social protocols. She questions perceived differences between monastic and lay piety, emphasizing instead the shared religious culture in which monastic and laywomen actively participated, and the continuity that shaped female devotion."--Cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The Heath convents of lower Saxony; title: In Festo Paschali: Performative devotion and liturgical ritual; title: The art of devotion; title: Wealth and poverty, piety and necessity; title: Abbess Katharina von Hoya and the creation of monastic space; title: The art of reform; title: Walking in the footsteps of Christ.