Medieval Christianity and Women

1. Aquinas on Women
2. Beguines (5)
3. Hildegard of Bingen (7)
4. Joan of Arc (54)
5. Medieval Saints (37)
6. Men's Voices: Medieval a...
7. Witches and Witchcraft
8. Women and the Crusades
9. Medieval and Renaissance...

Abbess - The Role of the Abbess
An abbess is not just a female Abbott, though the roles are somewhat similar.

Anchoress
A definition of the office of anchoress, a role a few women took in medieval times that afforded an ironic element of independence.

Ancrene Wisse
A definition of the Ancrene Wisse, rule for anchoresses.

Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena
Francis C. Lowell in 1896 compared Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena, religious mystics who lived at about the same time.

Pope Joan
Pope Joan is a legend about a woman pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Is the story of Pope Joan true?

Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich was a medieval British saint and religious recluse who published her revelations.

Margery Kempe
Margery Kempe biography - a profile of medieval mystic and author Margery Kempe of England, who wrote an autobiography.

Marozia
Marozia was trained by her mother Theodora to be a major player in papal politics. Marozia was allegedly the mistress of one Pope, mother of another and grandmother of yet another.

Pope Joan: NOT
Popess Joan, a female pope: the legends persist, though there's little evidence for them.

Theodora - Senatrix
Theodora was a powerful woman at a corrupt period in Rome. Allegedly lover of one Pope, she was the grandmother and great-grandmother of two other Popes.

Women Saints: Doctors of the Church
St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila were both made Doctors of the Church, a title meaning their doctrines are valid and they serve as teachers.

Women in Medieval and Renaissance Music: Albums
Today, women composers of the medieval and Renaissance periods are becoming better known. Many were women leading religious lives who had the time and education to devote to composition. Here are some picks of music by women composers or with female subjects and performers, selected for diversity and quality.

Abelard and Heloise: The Love Affair
Esther Lombardi, About's Guide to Classic Literature, presents an excellent summary of the relationship between a well-educated woman of the 12th century and her mentor/husband, the philosopher Peter Abelard. After the tragic twist in their relationship, Heloise's family forced her into the religious life.

Abbesses as Managers in Twelfth-Century France
An essay by Bruce L. Venarde documenting the roles that abbesses sometimes played in medieval France, managing religious communities.

Power Suffering
Lives of medieval saints, and the anorexic behavior they engaged in to prove their sanctity -- and similar self-mutilation among girls today. (Registration may be required.)