Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe by Patricia Ranft - 9780312124342 - Compare Prices on New & Used Textbooks, Cheap Textbooks

In her Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe, Patricia Ranft synthesizes the most recent research on women religious in chronological order and places these women in the center of the narrative. Starting with the fourth century birth of monasticism and continuing until the seventeenth century birth of the active congregation, Ranft's book puts to rest any lingering doubts about the pivotal role women have played in the development of Western culture and the Roman church. Written with both the scholar and student in mind, this is a long-awaited work that fills a gap in the history of western civilization, in the history of women, and in the history of the church.

		Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe by Patricia Ranft ISBN-10: 9780312124342 ISBN-10: 0-312-12434-1 ISBN-13: 9780312124342 ISBN-13: 978-0-312-12434-2 Hardcover 1996-01-15 Palgrave Macmillan Find Lowest Price
Editorials

Product Description In her Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe, Patricia Ranft synthesizes the most recent research on women religious in chronological order and places these women in the center of the narrative. Starting with the fourth century birth of monasticism and continuing until the seventeenth century birth of the active congregation, Ranft's book puts to rest any lingering doubts about the pivotal role women have played in the development of Western culture and the Roman church. Written with both the scholar and student in mind, this is a long-awaited work that fills a gap in the history of western civilization, in the history of women, and in the history of the church.
Reviews

History of women in communal or solitary religious life Having recently read Her Story, I expected another feminist rendering of Church history. Instead I found a very enlightening account of the repeated rise and fall of women's authority within their own religious communities, the struggle between active and enclosed views of women's roles, the tension between professed religious and committed lay visions of women's appropriate role. The book was most helpful in putting context around stories I already knew: St. Mary of the Desert, St. Catherine of Siena, Hildegaard of Bingen, etc. The book is introductory - often too sparse in detail for my taste. However, it does paint the broad picture in detail interesting enough to make one want to read more.