IMC 2006: Sessions
Session 1008: Hostile Environments?: Beguines and Sisters in their Urban Context, I
Wednesday 12 July 2006, 09.00-10.30
| Organiser: | Letha Böhringer, Stadtarchiv Köln |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Letha Böhringer, Stadtarchiv Köln |
| Paper 1008-a | Inciting the Devout or Confuting the Rebellious?: Addressees and Intention of Marie d’Oignie's Vita by Jacques de Vitry (Language: English) Index terms: Lay Piety, Religious Life |
| Paper 1008-b | Regulating Martha: German Beguine Statutes and the Vita Activa (Language: English) Index terms: Gender Studies, Lay Piety, Religious Life |
| Paper 1008-c | Beguines in Thuringia and their Position in Society (Language: English) Index terms: Gender Studies, Lay Piety, Religious Life |
| Abstract | The existence of sisters or 'women called beguines', who neither lived with their families nor took vows in an established order, caused some unrest in late medieval towns all over Europe. Especially in the 14th century, when there were thousands of such women living on their own, in small groups, convents or large beguinages, their fellow citizens were divided in their opinion on whether to welcome or to distrust them. Hostile emotions led to their persecution and eviction in cities such as Basel and Strasbourg, but there were also many gestures of acceptance and integration into urban society. Two sessions will give occasion to focus on both aspects, as can be detected in different cities and regions – Belgium, Strasbourg, Thuringia, and Paris. These sessions bring together, for the first time, American and German students and scholars who work on various aspects of independent religious lifestyles. |