Women in the Medieval Monastic World [Medieval Monastic Studies]

(The most notable exception is Anne Müller's discussion of the symbolic meanings of space, which ranges from the era of Caesarius of Arles to the thirteenth century, with examples from across western and central Europe.) Several themes emerge: the relationship of women and their communities to male authority figures, from the Mass priest to bishops and kings; the place of women's communities within pan-European monastic federations, especially the Cistercians; patrons and patronage; the internal workings of nunneries and lived experience in the spaces within them; and women's contributions to monastic and other forms of cultural life.Regarding Cistercian nuns in northern Italy, Guido Cariboni notes an "extreme variety [. . .] of origins, social extractions, relations with the ecclesiastic structure, and aims" (p. 69), while Carmen Florea concludes that "Transylvanian women living in a monastic life in the Middle Ages . . . had several choices they could opt for when deciding to join a religious order" (p. 224).[...]there are genuine insights, too, like Anne Müller's conclusion, "social behavior, rituals, religious practice, art, and decoration (such as painting, wall hangings, pictures, and images), as well as atmospheric qualities . . . it was all of these elements combined that created the space of the religious, both male and female, and were vital for definitions of the sacred" (p. 320).[...]the volume, Hedwig Röckelein offers an interim report on an evolving research tool on women's religious houses, "Female Monasticism's Database" (http://femmodata. uni.goettingen.de).