Gary Dickson asked, with regard to Diemut of Wessobrun, How many
solitary sisters, anchoresses, were there after c.1000 and
before the 14thc.?
I haven't done any research into this area since 1984 (!) when I wrote
The Desert Mothers: A Survey of the Feminine Anchoretic Tradition in
Western Europe, but the figures I came up with then were as follows: 23
(excluding Wiborada and her sisters at St. Gall) in England and on the
continent during the 9th and 10th centuries; for the 11th-14th
centuries Sainsaulieu found somewhat less than 3000 names in France;
Doerr listed 433 female recluses and reclusoria in southern Germany and
Clay noted 750 cells in England and over 650 actual names of whom 180
were women. When I wrote the paper Anne Warren's book wasn't yet out, so
Clay's figures probably should be revised
The little book[let] The Desert Mothers is out of print (its
bibliographical notes are too desperately out of date), but there are
still a few copies lurking in my basement if anybody is interested.
--
Margot King
Peregrina Publishing Co.
17 Woodside Avenue
Toronto Ontario M6P 1L6 Canada
Phone: 416-604-3111; Fax: 416-604-7883
email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://home.ican.net/~margot/Peregrina.html
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