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And Paul is right about the confusion between a parish and a monastic church. I dug a bit and found the source the textbook draws from: Simeon of Durham’s History of the Church of Durham. He misread it:
“Not long after this, Cuthbert, that man of God, being elevated to the episcopal throne, careful that an example of this sort [i.e., monks and nuns carnally consorting] should no longer provoke the anger of God against themselves or their successors, entirely secluded them from the society of women, apprehensive that the incautious use of that familiarity should endanger the purpose which they had in hand, and their ruin should afford the enemy cause for rejoicing. Men and women alike assented to the arrangement, by means of which they were mutually excluded from each other's society, not only for the present, but for all future time; and thus the entry of a woman into the church became a matter which was entirely forbidden [my italics]. Wherefore he caused a church to be erected in the island on which was his episcopal see, and this the inhabitants called "Grene Cyrice," that is, The green church, because it was situated upon a green plain; and he directed that the women who wished to hear masses and the word of God should assemble there, and that they should never approach the church frequented by himself and his monks. This custom is so diligently observed, even unto the present day, that it is unlawful for women to set foot even within the cemeteries of those churches in which his body obtained a temporary resting-place, unless, indeed, compelled to do so by the approach of an enemy or the dread of fire.” Simon goes on to recount an exemplary account where a woman named Sunegova steps in the cemetery, loses her senses, and dies that night.”
I grabbed this from Joseph Stevenson’s 1855 translation of Simeon of Durham’s History of the Church of Durham, pp. 657-58 (available free on Google Book). My textbook seems to have grabbed it from Emily Amt’s Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe sourcebook.
Best,
John
********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe 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: unsubscribe 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/medieval-religionIt does seem unlikely that women could not enter the church, even St Augustine's letter (which might not be authentic, but was thought so in the Middle Ages) says they can enter after childbirth and during menstruation if the need.
As to the the tavern accusation, people undoubtedly drank in the church and church yard. I wonder if you textbook author is thinking of church ales, which were a form of fund-raising. Not sure this makes the church or church yard a tavern though. These textbook accusations seem kind of filtered through reformers' accusations.Katherine Frenchmedieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe 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: unsubscribe 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/medieval-religionTwo questions about claims in a textbook I use:
1. “In some cases” the village church and tavern “were actually the same building, though not at the same time.” I’ve never heard this and it seems at the least “uncanonical.” True?
2. “In some northern areas [of Europe], women were forbidden from entering their parish church or even setting foot on its land.” This one seems especially unlikely to me, except perhaps during the few weeks before they were churched after childbirth. Could it be true?
I await enlightenment.
Best,
John
--
John Shinners
Professor, Schlesinger Chair in Humanistic Studies
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Phone: 574-284-4494 or 574-284-4534
Fax: 284-4855
www.saintmarys.edu/~hust
"Learn everything. Later you will see that nothing is superfluous." -- Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141)