Women+in+Christianity

The Foundation of Women Roles in a Larger Society (1st half Women in Christianity & 2nd half The Medieval Nun (at bottom of page)).

by Mary J. Brown

media type="custom" key="6483249" width="224" height="224" align="left"



The Medieval period was not a comfortable place for most women. Medieval women had a hard time in an era when many men lived harsh lives. A few women lived comfortable lives but the Medieval society was completely dominated by men. Women had to know 'their place" in such a society. It was a remote era for the women of the Middle Ages. Historically, the study of medieval women roles were looked upon lightly with less mentioning of the more spectacular figures of the day, St. Joan, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the host of saints, abbesses, princesses, and queens who are spoken of the Middle Ages. Rather, it deals with the position of women, and their assumed roles. Medieval women were educated, writers, mystics, powerful, and influential. Basically we got some pretty extraordinary women that did big and brave things for their own reasons. They were strong and did what they believed in.

"The lives of most medieval women have been consigned to the realm of obscurity. There are few whose names are still remembered, extraordinary women who left their mark on history and memory. We remember Joan of Arc, whose visions prompted her to dress as a man and lead the French against the English; Hildegard of Bingen, who took full advantage of her monastic existence and produced music and mystical writings; Christine de Pisan, a young widow who was able to support herself with her writing, and whose The Treasure of the City of Ladies defends her sex against its detractors; Isabella of Castile, who helped unite Spain and gave Christopher Columbus his big break. But what about the rest of them, the women who weren't ruling nations or leading armies? We only get a distorted glimpse of them in literature, exemplar stories, misogynistic treatises, and the cultural stereotypes of early marriage, illiteracy, and constant breeding," ( http://www.strangehorizons.com/2001/20010528/medieval_women.shtml ).



http://www.r3.org/life/articles/women.html http://www.strangehorizons.com/2001/20010528/medieval_women.shtml http://www.medieval-spell.com/Roles-Of-Women-In-The-Middle-Ages.html

The Middle Ages Susan Mosher Stuard __//Women In Medieval Society//__, Copyright 1976 by The University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

The curious and considerable reputation of women within their communities, reflected in the matronymic which is to explain the heart of our problem. Most obvious is a woman's reputation, fame, notability, and prominence, in the Middle Ages as today, could be built upon many factors. She could have sprung from a family long established in the community or of high social standing; she could have possessed in notable degree the feminine qualities of beauty, elegance, sensitivity, or simply the human qualities of intelligence, ambition, or energy (23). The women during the Middle Ages everywhere and always had some importance in the management of the household economy (24).



http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middle-ages-women.htm

According to the //De ordine//, the royal treasurer,the //camerarius//, is directly under the queen. The queen is responsible for giving the knights their yearly gift, the equivalent of their salaries. This heavy responsibility falls upon the queen in order to free he husband from "domestic or palace solicitude" and to enable him to give all his attention "to the state"of the entire kingdom (25).

1. The Economic Role of Women in Seventeenth-Century France James B. Collins __//French Historical Studies//__, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 436-470 Published by: __Duke University Press__

//Focus:// Women contributions were least viewed upon! Women made up half the labor force. The nature of their work and the importance in families and society changed during 1550-1700 for French women. Natalie Davis argues that "women suffered for their powerlessness in both Catholic and Protestant lands in the late sixteenth to eighteenth centuries as changes in marriage laws restricted the freedom of wives even further, as female guilds dwindled, as the female role in middle-level commerce and farm direction contracted, and as the differential between male and female wages increased" (437). Women were ignored to the significance of the seclusion within marriage. Yet the main intellectual and legal currents worked in a different direction, progressively shunting aside the practical, economic contributions of the woman to the household in favor of greater emphasis on her moral role (437). The role of a woman towards both economic matters and marriage declined quickly.

During the 17th Century || Urban women often controlled substantial enterprises or amount of capital (455). In 16th century Rouen, 20 of 36 Linen merchants were women (455). ||< According to the tax rolls and other records, there were a number of enterprises headed by women (455). || In the first and second generations, the widow took over the lease (451). ||< In a four year period, 40.5% women disappeared, a rate double that for the other taxpayers of the parish. There were new widows to replace them (446) The most critical role of the women often came as a widow: head of the ongoing family enterprise (451). || In 1680, a sample of twelve towns and bourgs with 2,049 hearth shows 19.1% to have been headed by women. By the 1670's, in the France of customary law, some 15 to 20 percent of urban taxpayers were women (455). The richest woman in the parish, the dame de la Vye, was tax exempt and therefore does not appear (446). ||< The tax rolls show the number of hearth headed by women (443). Almost all rural women taxpayers were widows (443). These women had often contributed to the joint household income (445) The roll can be deceiving in various ways(446). ||
 * =  || Economic Role of French Women During the 17th Century ||< French Women Contributions
 * Economics & Marriages || The change in the status of women in evident (437). The main intellectual and legal currents worked in a different direction, progressively shunting aside the practical, economic contributions of the woman to the household in favor of greater emphasis on her moral role (437). || The economic role of women was downplayed, the legal position of women with respect to both economic matters and marriage also sharply declined (438). ||
 * < French women made up half the labor force || The royal court was a prime source of employment for noble women, whose annual salaries as maid to the Queen or other high personage would supplement their husband military income and their landed revenue (455).
 * Head of House Hold || In the parish of Masserac in the Vilaine valley, women also made up a substantial portion of the heads of households (446).
 * < The tax rolls || French widows had a right to a share of their husband's inheritance and they also had full legal control of all possessions in the interval between the death of the husband and the coming of legal age (25) of their children (443).

Implications: My intake on this matter is that French women contributed tremendously to the society during the seventeenth century, but supposedly due to new Draconian laws towards marriages gave fathers full control over families in early modern France. Women had no choice but to do what was expected of them, yet they had more control than what they was credited for.

this is where i started to change it due the misunderstanding..............................................................

The Medieval Nun by Mary J. Brown

This Wiki page is about the Medieval Nuns during the 16th century. During the early stage of medieval woman had public roles, rights, and responsibilities. Women provided labor and took care of the communities welfare. Women were very important towards public affairs; they dealt with abortion and infanticide; women committed crimes and were punished; women owned land and controlled estates.

In the later years of the Middle Ages, the social position of women changed yet did not quite improve, The role of the church played as the dominant arbiter of social values and gives woman in Christianity their great merit and relevance today. The drive toward economic growth and expansion abroad rested upon the capacity of women to staff and manage economic endeavors at home.

media type="custom" key="6512287" width="192" height="192" align="right"

 Why Become a Nun? Becoming a Nun was a matter of serving God. During the Medieval Ages women had three choices which were single life, married life, or religious life. For some women being a Nun was a calling. For the most part, women were placed into convents by their families for various reasons, which is known as Oblate. An example would be Hildegard of Bigen. She were her parents 10th child and the number ten held a special symbolic meaning. Older women and widows also became Nuns which is known as Postulate. A person seeking admission to a religious order. The process of becoming a Nun was very long. The first step is to take the vow of obedience which could last at least one month, the novitiate one year, at the end which simple vows were taken. She would then be considered as a Novice. A member of a monastic community under training, who has not yet taken final vows. Four years later, the solemn vow would take place. The ceremony of a nun would be of like a wedding, being seen as married to God. Nuns wore a wedding crown or headdress and a ring on their finger.



Today, becoming a Catholic Nun is still a lengthy process that requires both a "calling" to serve God, and much time to consider one's choice. There are various orders with different missions. It is still traditionally called a Nun if you do not work in the outside world. If a Nun works outside the convent, they are considered sisters. As a Nun you may choose to serve God in a more calm silent way, or be active in the world. Most Nuns consider to be educators in Catholic schools or nurses in Catholic hospitals. One must be Catholic, female, unmarried, and sane according to vocation network. Women who are not virgins can become a nun. Women who have been previously married and are divorced may not generally become a nun  unless they have received a divorce or annulment from the Catholic Church. They must prove that the marriage was somehow invalid or contracted under false pretenses in order for an annulment to be granted.

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/medieval-nuns.htm http://www.vocationsplacement.org/

Articles

2. A Tale of Two Convents: Nuns and Anabaptist in Munster, 1533-1535 D. Jonathan Grieser //__The Sixteenth Century Journal__//, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp.31-47 Published by: __The Sixteenth Century Journal__

//Focus:// With the division among the nuns now public knowledge, the few who had remained within the convent and steadfast in their adherence to the old faith became the subjects of renewed pressure, both from the reforming party and from the reformed nuns themselves (41). The presence of Uberwasser nuns during the attacks on the Niesing convent provides further evidence of the central role played by these nuns in the movement toward more radical reform (43). Uberwasser nuns had participated and were attempting to convert other nuns. A reference to the nuns in Niesing Chronicle may be due in part to spiritual competition between the two convents (43). The period of Anabaptist rule, reports that at least a few nuns continued to live in the convent, having taken a husband in common (44). 1535 || Struggle || Women in Reformation Movements || Women were victims, but they were participated as well. They prophesied, they agitated for reform, they resisted the leadership, they fought alongside the men (33). || Women came to voice only when they resisted the practice (33). Husband and male family members left women in the city to tend family property while the men fled the Anabaptist takeover (33). || issues/events ||  || These two chronicles are supplemented by the letters of an abbess to her bishop in which she appeals for his advice and assistance (34).
 * || 1533-
 * Were women polygamy victims? ||  || Women's opposition to the introduction of polygamy was the presence in Munster of a prison occupied by female opponents of the practice. These opponents within the walls of what had been a religious house for women (33).
 * Sources Surrounding Muster

Kersssenbrock's depiction of events was written nearly forty years after the fact, he aroused antipathy in the city with his writing. He was concerned with protecting the reputation of Munster's clergy and bishop, downplaying abuse as a cause for the evangelical and Anabaptist movements (34). || We are fortunate to have two convent chronicle that relates the experiences of nun during this time of religious upheaval. They are the products of women writing about the events of Munster, observing, participating, fleeing from the Anabaptist takeover (34).

The major source for the history of Anabaptism in Munster remains Hermann von Kerssenbrock's history (33). He gives a good deal of information that is backed up with verifications. ||
 * The urban uprising of 1525 ||  || Because the Munster burghers was involved in the cloth trade, and the nuns relied on weaving to supplement their income (35).

The poorer one found itself in direct conflict with the guilds for its economic survival (35). || Niesing came under attack from the townsfolk (35). There was an economic conflict between the nuns and the Gesamtgilde (35).

Uberwasser was wealthy and independent of lthe town, but of few nuns. And the other was poorer, but more populous (35). || Implication: In my opinion, anything that becomes public will have big influences amongst others. There were various issues leading towards both convents and the attack implicated economic conflicts between the two convents, especially when money is involved. One was wealthy and independent and the other was poor, yet more populous. Women being victims of polygamy might have been somewhat misleading because of the participation on behalf of the women. There could be a possibility of confusion and or even black-male. When it comes to Reformation, majority of the times it will be associated with struggle, because most are not ready for or acceptable to change and may feel invaded.

3. Were There Twelfth-Century Cistercian Nuns? Constance H. Berman __//Church History//__, Vol.68, No.4 (Dec., 1999), pp.824-864 Published by: //Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History16th century anabaptists and 12th century Cistercian nuns seem awfully far removed from each other. A third article?//

//Focus:// According to history of medieval religious orders, it is believed that the Cestercians only admitted women towards the end of the twelfth-century. This view has posited a "Golden Age" when it had been possible for the abbots of the order of Citeaux to avoid contact with women totally (824). This article reassesses narrative accounts, juridical arguments, land charter evidence to show that such assertions of the absence of any twelfth-century Cistercian nuns are incorrect, which is based on mistaken notions of how the early Cistercian Order developed, as well as on a biased reading of the evidence, including a double standard for proof of Cistercian status made much higher for women houses than for men (824). Overwhelming evidence from the documents of practice show that women were present from the start of the religious movement that grew out of the Burgundian reform monastery of Molesme to become the Cistercian Order (825). Century || Church History || New Development of Religious Order ||
 * || 12th
 * Cistercian Nuns ||  || Because the same language that when used to describe men houses is deemed to show them to be Cisterian (824).

His outflow from Burgundy was by a process of apostolic gestation in which mother abbeys sent out communities of twelve monks and an abbot to found daughter houses (833). || They were present from the start (825).

Such language of mothers and daughters is indeed found in the earliest text of the Cistercian foundation stories, the Exordium Cistercii (833). ||
 * Properties ||  || They include some foundations made by Jully and leTart from the 1120's on. Many of these have been described in traditional narratives as genuine foundations made by colonies of women sent out from Burgundy (829).

In 1147 nuns at Coyroux were apparently incorporated or at least began to adopt Cistercian practices along with monks from their sister house at Obazine (829). || Many other houses of early twelfth-century nuns associated with the Cistercians might be mentioned (829).

Some houses of women that became Cistercian only after having become attached to local communities and congregations of monks, which in turn eventually adopted Cistercian practices (829).. || sources ||  || This is probably because the early Cistercian narrative text are remarkable silent about religious women associated with early Citeaux (832).
 * scatter information/ documents

This is so should not be surprising given how much the discourse concerning medieval religious women was controlled by the men who wrote the earliest histories of the Cistercian Order and other orders (832).

Refutation of claims to the authority and authenticity of the primary "primitive" documents of the Cistercians suggest that traditional denials of the existence of Cistercian nuns are based on a false picture of the order itself (843). || While documents of practice concerning religious women at Molesme, Jully, Le Tart, and elsewhere provide abundant evidence for twelfth-century Cistercian nuns, the standard monastic histories have tended to leave out or marginalize these women (832).

Reading of the sources, disallowing any claims regarding religious women participation in early Cistercian life, is in striking contrast to the presentations of the Cistercian Order's monks (832).

The parallels of language are clear for the precocious foundation of an order is based on this 1119 document, which is lnot even present in the earliest surviving manuscripts of the so-called "eyewitness" accounts (843). || Implications: This article focal point is to submit notations according to the reevaluation, along with other documents, of the reform monastic movement. The author argues that the absence of any twelfth-century Cistercian nuns are incorrect and is based on mistaken notions of how the early Cistercian Order developed. Previous historians were biased towards women in their readings. According to the author, the early Cistercian Order's history with regard to nuns has been misread in the past and argues that there were Cistercian nuns in the twelfth century by reevaluating history because based on false premises about how the sources should have been read. I feel that documents are best when evaluated over a slow period of time and by various people who can look at things from both standards or points of views.

† † † † † † † † † † † † † † †† †† ††

Medieval women played a big part in the society of which they were present. They were very influential. Serving God and devoting their lives meant becoming a nun. Literacy also played a big role in history. Due to illiteracy, which was mostly among the poor, there were not many records or writing on women behalf. For the most part, many women were not well educated. Most nuns were taught to read and write. Women of wealthy backgrounds that became nuns were of course treated differently. They had lighter chores and pleasant tasks. They also progressed to higher titles that lead others.

Young women were also admitted into convents by their families. Single women and widows were given the choice on becoming nuns as well. Medieval women choices were limited. Women were to marry and have children or serve God. In regards to St. Augustine, it was believed that every person was born guilty of the original sin. This original sin was by Eve tempting Adam in the Garden of Eden. Eve represented all women. During the 12 and 13th centuries change came about towards medieval women.