The pastoral care of women in late medieval England:

A close examination of religious texts illuminates the way in which parish priests dealt with their female parishioners in the middle ages. The question of how priests were taught to think about and care for female parishioners is the topic of this book. As neither misogynist villains nor saintly he...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Barr, Beth Allison (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Suffolk Boydell & Brewer 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:BSB01
Volltext
Summary:A close examination of religious texts illuminates the way in which parish priests dealt with their female parishioners in the middle ages. The question of how priests were taught to think about and care for female parishioners is the topic of this book. As neither misogynist villains nor saintly heroes, clerical authors of pastoral vernacular literature persisted both in their characterization of women as difficult parishioners and in their attempts to recognize women as ordinary parishioners who deserved ordinary pastoral care. Focusing on the important vernacular writings of John Mirk, his 'Festial' and 'Instructions for Parish Priests', the author reveals how even a small number of influential sermon compilations, exempla, and pastoral guides could have significantly shaped the perceptions, attitudes, and - perhaps - actions of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century priests. Shedding light on the mental universe of the late medieval parish, this study offers important new insights into the reality of how priests perceived and fulfilled their spiritual obligations to the women they served. BETH ALLISON BARR is Assistant Professor of European Women's History at Baylor University
Item Description:Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015)
Physical Description:1 online resource (x, 171 pages)
ISBN:9781846156663

There is no print copy available.

Interlibrary loan Place Request Caution: Not in THWS collection! Get full text