Description
Book SynopsisThis study of over 2500 female and male saints explores women's status and experience in early medieval society and in the Church. It focuses on the changing social contexts of female sanctity, and also on deviant female behaviour which frequently challenged male order and authority.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1: Saints' Lives as a Source for the History of Women, ca. 500-1100 2: The Making of the Mulier Sancta: Public and Private Roles 3: At What Cost Virginity? Sanctity and the Heroics of Virginity 4: Marriage and Domestic Proselytization 5: "Golden Wombs": Motherhood and Sanctity 6: Sorores Sanctae and Their Saintly Siblings: Terrestrial and Celestial Bonds 7: Gender Relationships and Circles of Friendship among the Mulieres Sanctae 8: Longevity, Death, and Sanctity: A Demographic Survey of the Celestial Gynaeceum Epilogue: The Celestial Gynaeceum Abbreviations Notes Selected Bibliography Index
