Carrow Priory in Norwich, of Benedictine nuns, and with possible Julian of
Norwich connections, has records indicating that the laity even could enter
the nuns' choir and that clausura was not much observed, the church being
used by the parish and by guilds as well. The indications are that
cloistering was lax until later periods when its strictness became the rule.
Carrow nuns were seen going out in silken veils. In Julian's time the
Prioress even harboured a criminal which caused a great uproar. Perhaps the
best sources for English records would be the Bishops' visitations, like
those of William Alnwick.
At 12.49 07/08/97 EST, you wrote:
>Sam,
>The problem of how medieval nuns used their churches is, as far
>as I know, virgin territory. Even where their churches have
>survived, the internal divisions have long been destroyed, and there
>seems to be little documentary evidence about who used what part of
>churches in houses of women religious. The problem of lay
>participation in such churches is also difficult. In male
>Benedictine houses, some churches served a parish and some didn't.
>Where there were parochial connections, there was often conflict
>(cf. the protracted law suit at Wymondham), and the ideal solution
>for monks seemed to be to get parishes out of their churches
>completely. I believe a separate parish church was built at
>Muchelney within the monastic precinct. The parishioners at
>Sherborne practically destroyed the whole church in a protest over
>restrictions of privileges. If there was that much conflict in male
>houses, it could only have been worse in houses of nuns. But as for
>female access to altarpieces, this raises all sorts of other
>questions about how nuns and their chaplains functioned that, once
>again, have not been systematically treated. In general, you might
>find some interesting perspectives on your topic in a new book by
>Jeffrey Hamburger, Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval
>Convent (U. of California Press, 1997), although it deals with a
>south German convent during the early 16th century. All such
>research is very interesting and long overdue, so good luck with it.
>Jim Bugslag
>
>
____
Julia Bolton Holloway, [log in to unmask]
La Piazza 21, Castellina-in-Chianti, SIENA, ITALY
http://members.aol.com/juliansite/Juliansite.htm
Julian of Norwich, Showings, Paris MS, fol. 149v.
Glad and mery and swete is the blessedfulle louely chere of oure lorde to
oure soulys.
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