Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Glossary
- Introduction
- 1 The Meaning of Leadership in the Medieval English Nunnery
- 2 Leadership and Lineage
- 3 Guardians of the Brides (care of the female religious by bishops, archbishops and their representatives)
- 4 The Lady and the Monarchs (the relations of the abbess or prioress with king and pope)
- 5 The Distaff and the Crosier (balancing financial and spiritual responsibilities)
- 6 The Clerical View (interpretations of episcopal reports)
- 7 Shifting Perspectives (secular views of the nunnery superiors)
- 8 Epilogue (preparations for the Dissolution and reaction to its demands)
- Conclusion
- Appendix A List of nunneries and incomes
- Appendix B List of nunnery superiors
- Appendix C Election procedures at Wilton
- Appendix D Eulogy for Euphemia of Wherwell
- Bibliography
- Index
- Other Volumes in Studies in the History of Medieval Religion
7 - Shifting Perspectives (secular views of the nunnery superiors)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Glossary
- Introduction
- 1 The Meaning of Leadership in the Medieval English Nunnery
- 2 Leadership and Lineage
- 3 Guardians of the Brides (care of the female religious by bishops, archbishops and their representatives)
- 4 The Lady and the Monarchs (the relations of the abbess or prioress with king and pope)
- 5 The Distaff and the Crosier (balancing financial and spiritual responsibilities)
- 6 The Clerical View (interpretations of episcopal reports)
- 7 Shifting Perspectives (secular views of the nunnery superiors)
- 8 Epilogue (preparations for the Dissolution and reaction to its demands)
- Conclusion
- Appendix A List of nunneries and incomes
- Appendix B List of nunnery superiors
- Appendix C Election procedures at Wilton
- Appendix D Eulogy for Euphemia of Wherwell
- Bibliography
- Index
- Other Volumes in Studies in the History of Medieval Religion
Summary
Two late medieval documents stand out from the small and mixed collection of writings in which the medieval English female superior is depicted, namely the euology for Euphemia and Chaucer's late fourteenth-century piece describing Eglentyne, the prioress in his Canterbury Tales. Even at a cursory glance Eglentyne fails miserably to emulate the ideal represented by Euphemia. If Chaucer's image is based on reality there was a serious decline in the standard of religious service performed by female superiors in the later Middle Ages; but its validity as a representation of the ‘typical’ female superior of the later period is open to question.
Comparisons
The medieval English nunnery head is mentioned in a few other extant medieval works, though references to her are brief in these writings. Through Piers Plowman, William Langland expresses outrage at the hypocrisy of several religious groups, and though less vitriolic about the nuns he paints an unsavoury picture of the female house. The prioress of the convent in the poem escapes specific censure, but she is rendered guilty by implication. Malory in his Arthurian work presents a contrasting image of the medieval superior. Guinevere is a chastened woman, having repented of her adultery with Lancelot and entered a nunnery, where she is now abbess, while striving to do penance for her sins. The Langland and Malory pieces to some extent counterbalance each other in their portrayal of the convent superior, though they represent different periods.
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- Information
- Leadership in Medieval English Nunneries , pp. 137 - 168Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2005