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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture but > what about a [good scholarly or indeed any ] history of the Paraclete > (which was still a viable institution in the 18th C when it was forcible > closed by the Revolution.) which has yet to be written? I am amazed that > feminist scholarship has ignored this topic!" > > Here, here! Even a bit of explanation sur place would be nice. Last time I > was there, happening upon the woman who owns/runs the basse cour now in > the area is the only way to get any sort of information. There are no > pamphlets, no guidebooks, no nothing. The only book I have tracked down in what ? 30 years ? of dabbling in the A & H = A story, is Albert WILLOCX [sic!!] "Abelard, Heloise et le Paraclet". Libraire Bleue, 1996. (No ISBN) I believe it is out of print. I managed to grab a remaindered copy at the Abelard Conference in Nantes in 2001. In his bibliography, "Sur le Paraclet", Albert cites three books only: published in 1815, in 1851 & in 1861. This book is popular rather than scholarly, but it does provide some tantalising nuggets of information. One is that in 1567, the nuns - all but a handful - became converts to Protestantism but without wishing to relinquish their monastic profession. Shock horror! Is this a sign of degeneracy or evidence that A & H's standards of intellectual rigor were still flourishing! (page 148 et seq. ) The other is that the last abbess, Charlotte de Roucy, attempted to get the expulsion cancelled on the grounds that the nuns did good charitable work among the poor of the district, especially the migrant workers coming in from Lorraine, Franche-Comte &c. (page 173 et seq.) I also seem to remember - tho I can't find the page ref - that up to the last the nuns were singing the liturgy for Whitsunday IN GREEK. (This was the Patronal festival, of course.) This is the tip of the iceburg. Surely someone would be tempted to investiage this institution which survived for over 600 years, more thoroughly.!! Perhaps the trouble is, it needs someone to move effortlessly from 1127 to 1790. Gauntlet duly thrown down. Brenda M C ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html