Gendered Spirituality within Female Monastic Space in Britain, c. 800-1300

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the monastic spirituality of women in England from the early to high medieval periods, approximately 800-1300 CE, through the analysis of their material culture, primarily their books, bodies, and buildings – evidence of their existence and participation within monasticism. The foundation of this project is understanding how gender functioned within medieval female monasticism as such to influence and inform feminine spirituality. Constructing medieval ideas of gender within a monastic setting is crucial and it is not possible to do this without using the ideas of post-modern gender theorists. Yet it is a fine line to walk, analysing materials without imposing the modern on the medieval. The strategy is to acknowledge and understand the ‘mess’. Early within Gender Trouble, Butler states: ‘Gender is not always constituted coherently or consistently in different historical contexts.’ This is especially true in the medieval context, where culturally accepted meanings of gender identities are often contradictory, even as simple binaries abound. By establishing relevant discourse on medieval conceptions of gender and sex – and also understanding how certain gender-based ideologies continued to inform the study of the period – fragments of female participation in the material culture of their own spirituality becomes visible.