Striving for Religious Perfection in the Lay World of Northern Europe

doi:10.1017/9781107323742.057

57 - Striving for Religious Perfection in the Lay World of Northern Europe

from Part IV - Forms of Monasticism in the Late Middle Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2020

Alison More and

Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker

Edited by

Alison I. Beach and

Isabelle Cochelin

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Alison I. Beach: Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Isabelle Cochelin: Affiliation:
University of Toronto

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Summary

A sermon detailing the active and contemplative life by the Dominican preacher Meister Eckhart (d. c. 1328) opens, “St. Luke writes in his gospel that our Lord Jesus Christ entered a little town where a woman named Martha received him. She had a sister named Mary who sat at Christ’s feet and listened to his words; but Martha hurried about serving our dear Lord.” As Giles Constable has demonstrated, both Martha and her sister Mary were popular and important models in later medieval devotion. Mary was identified with the anonymous sinner who washes Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:36–50) and with Mary Magdalene. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that Martha, this quiet and industrious woman from Bethany, became an influential model for pious lay women during the high and later Middle Ages. Given her importance, the late medieval cult of Martha both offers a point of entry to the subject of lay religious life and forms the basis for this chapter.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West , pp. 1057 - 1073

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107323742.057 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

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57 - Striving for Religious Perfection in the Lay World of Northern Europe

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