medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>Noble ? matrons ??? I read somewhere that the Magdelenes at F. were most
>likely to have been discarded clerical concubines who had lost their
>livlihood, home, status and lovers when the Gregorian reforms tightened
>their grip. NB Robert d'A. was himslef the child of clerical concubinage so
>he might reasonably have been sympathetic to the plight of these women.
First of all, those clerical "concubines" were perfectly legitimate wives
until the reformers chose to maintain that their marriages were not legal by
reason of the man's clerical status. It is certainly true that Robert
himself was widely said to be active in reforming prostitutes and
contemporary legend, his Vitae, and letters from the local bishops
criticizing his mingling with such women all ratify this idea. However,
once noble women like Petronilla took charge of the institution itself, that
changed rapidly. The "penitents" included retired dignitaries like Eleanor
of Aquitaine. Theoretically, they worked with lepers, etc. and it is more
than probable that lower class women (whether or not in need of repentance)
did the actual work but I don't know what there status may have been in
comparison with the wealthy women who gave the place its enduring ton.
>
>On the other hand, there is sound psychological sense in this if celibacy
>was mandatory. A formerly married woman was less likely to give out
>*unconscious* seductive signals while at the same time being more likely to
>spot a pass being made in the early stages and less likely to be
>disconcerted by it.
>
Oh, I would not rule out the resistance of some steely old maiden ladies--or
their ability to spot when a man is up to no good either. It's just a
simple matter of men's obsession with the purity of virgins which grows ever
more demented in the pages of prescriptive writers as the twelfth century
progressed.
>
There is really no meaningful difference between a monacha and a
sanctimonial. I suppose that a precise person could make one in that a
monacha is a female monk and a sanctimonial is a more general consecrated
woman but I have never had the impression that this is a distinction that
medieval authors were very finicky about. I'm sorry to say that I don't
recall ever running into "reddita."
Jo Ann
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