Books for Nuns

This essay examines women’s scribal self-identification in Renaissance Italy through a study of colophons (scribal production notes) left by nuns at the end of the manuscripts they copied. Within the realm of female monastic book production, colophons are often thought to be formulaic and predictable texts that—though valuable for dating the manuscript and sometimes providing notes on production—do not offer much personalized information about the copyists. The author surveys a large number of nuns' colophons from fifteenth and sixteenth-century Italy and demonstrates that these female scribes presented a range of identities in the inscriptions they left – not all of them pious. The range of colophons reflects the diversity of women who were called to or placed in convent life in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy and demonstrates their adaptability to trends in both their religious community and the larger secular society. Treated as a genre of writing, these messages provide a vivid female-authored voice from the ‘anonymous’ walls of the convent and demonstrate how nuns creatively shaped their identity within the often-limiting strictures of monastic life. The study makes important contributions to Renaissance book history scholarship and reshapes an understanding of female agency in the period.

Edited by Stephen Mark Holmes
University of Edinburgh School of Divinity
For Pluscarden Abbey, Scotland
THE ENTIRE VOLUME AND SECTIONS CAN BE DOWNLOADED IN PDF DIRECTLY FROM THIS LINK:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/theology.religion/MFLPatristicLectionaryYear1and2COMBINED.pdf

There is the verbal paradigm and there is the nonverbal unseen spiritual paradigm. This paper advocates a spiritual view. Sacred scripture tells us we can only please God if we try very hard (diligently) to seek Him. If you believe God is present here and now and surrounds you with Himself, you can pray that what you ask will be granted "only if it serves your purpose and brings you glory, in Jesus's name."  When you read sacred scripture, you are struck in every verse by the writers' constant awareness of God. This is in stark contrast with the secular life in which one merely seeks the good life in harmony with one’s neighbour but without any awareness of God. When a child is very young she is aware of God, then from pre-school to university, the secular worldview is taught, and the secular media and the secular workplace prohibit God, or place faith in a negative light.

Cette étude s’inscrit dans une réflexion sur l’approche de l’aggiornamento de la vie religieuse, notamment monastique. La lecture au plus près du texte fondateur de Jean Cassien est philologique. Ainsi, nous sommes conduits à rejoindre les moines à Scété dans l’espace intemporel de l’accueil de la Parole de Dieu. Les résultats suggestifs, entre autres choses, permettraient une nouvelle compréhension, plus approfondie, des observances monastiques et des dynamiques communautaires actuelles.

"Maria Ormani" has been known as the earliest scribal nun-artist to paint a self-portrait, signed and dated 1453 . However, her breviary contained no further information about her convent or personal identity. A search through Florentine archives revealed her place of residence, Santa Katerina al Monte in Florence, known as San Gaggio, her proper name--daughter of Ormanno degli Albizzi-- and much new information about her family history and the convent's active  scriptorium. The nuns of San Gaggio formed an elite community with an outstanding library inherited from Pietro Corsini. They copied manuscripts for the Augustinian friars at Santo Spirito, especially for the new convent of Santa Monaca. Maria di Ormanno Albizzi appears to have sketched her self-portrait in the frontispiece, but not illuminated other initials. After her disappearance from the convent's archives c. 1470, the manuscript traveled to northern Italy (possibly Ferrara or Mantua), and thence to Vienna.

Intellectual activity of such women as Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, Herrad of Landsberg, Relindis of Hohenburg, Hildegard of Bingen or Jutta of Sponheim testifies to the fact that medieval nuns represented a very high intellectual level, contrary to the conventional wisdom and frequently repeated popular misconception about the „dark ages”. As Johanes Mayer of University of Würtzburg noted, the activity of Herrad of Landsberg, Hildegard of Bingen or Hedwig of Silesia (educated at the Benedictine convent at Kitzingen) proves a very high standard of education, extensive knowledge and greater awareness among medieval nuns. One can say that the 12th century was a women’s era. Manuscripts written by the Polish Poor Clares are works of artistic merit. Analysing the works of women’s convents in the West of Europe and in Poland, in the field of theology, but also medicine, poetry or music, one must conclude that an average nun represented a much higher intellectual level than an average priest (not only in the Middle Ages). It is highly probable that Polish literature owes its origin to the 13th c. Poor Clares’ convents. The convents enjoyed a lot of independence, also from the bishop, and were able to defend their autonomy effectively, as shown – among others – by the Norbertine Sisters in Płock.

L'ancien maître de l'ordre dominicain rassemble une quinzaine de textes sur la prière, l'Eglise, la vie religieuse. Ce choix de textes inédits en français est introduit par un portrait humain, spirituel et intellectuel rédigé par son ami Eric de Clermont-Tonnerre, provincial des dominicains en France. Un cahier iconographique montre Timothy Radcliffe dans ses différents voyages à travers le monde et ses rencontres en France.

Peace of mind may be seen as a precious gift. It is certainly very advantageous in all our daily life and work and accompanied by joyfulness. Yet, we often experience how easily our peace of mind and joy can be lost. For St. Dorotheus, peace of mind is not merely a gift to be hoped for, it is the fruit of work on oneself. The fathers and spiritual guides of the monks taught this through their way of living the quest of union with God. In conclusion to this teaching on the renunciation that leads back to union with God through Christ and to peace of mind, St. Dorotheus gives very concrete indications on how to begin on this road and shows with three true stories how its final outcome is holiness. Kindle edition and printed book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YRQ43M3

Ao longo deste texto pode ver-se como o anonimato que caracterizou a produção manuscrita medieval não transpareceu nas obras das comunidades dominicanas femininas. De modo contrário, a maioria dos casos aqui analisados mostra a importância do registo do envolvimento das monjas no processo de produção ou aquisição dos manuscritos, evidenciando como, também no caso Português, as monjas dominicanas tiveram um papel ativo na produção cultural ligada ao movimento observante. Além do envolvimento na produção e aquisição dos manuscritos (e de outras peças, como se pode ver pelas cartas de Maria de Ataíde), as monjas parecem também ter tido um papel ativo nas escolhas dos programas iconográficos que se demarcaram, como demonstrado, daqueles apresentados pelos códices produzidos fora da comunidade.

Los restos materiales del periodo colonial en la América española dan idea de una cultura rica, vivaz, compleja y diversa que afortunadamente mantiene todavía lazos fuertes con nuestras sociedades. Iglesias, retablos, conventos, esculturas, bargueños, escritorios y, por supuesto, libros, forman parte de nuestra idea de cultura colonial. Un pasado que visitamos, recreamos, reinterpretamos y disfrutamos de diferentes maneras. Estas son algunas de sus historias.

What I intend to analyse in this communication is if and how, despite the strict rules involving their copying and keeping, liturgical books produced for female religious communities reflected, either textually or visually, the characteristics of their audience.
Through the analysis of some exemplars coming mostly from the Portuguese Dominican nunneries I will argue that, in some particular cases, liturgical books used in these communities reflect the effort of both their producers and users to adapt them, not only to be used by nuns, but also to function as identity shapers.

The Medieval Girdle Book describes the now known twenty-six girdle books from the perspective of the hand bookbinder with details of the construction, techniques and materials used. It also includes research into each book's history and provenance. During the medieval period before garments had pockets, various small objects such as keys, pomanders, folded almanacs and miniature books were worn suspended from, or tucked under the belt, thus putting them always at the wearer's disposal. Monks, nuns, and other religious had to read their prayers several times during the day as directed by their orders, and since they often worked outdoors, and traveled between monasteries and convents or on missions and pilgrimages, it was important to have the prayer book, breviary or book of personal devotions always handy. To accommodate these needs the very practical construction of the girdle book developed and proved to be also a valuable format for legal texts used by advocates, lawyers and law clerks, riding the circuit to dispense the law – often in the open air and in difficult weather conditions. The little known girdle book format differs from other books by the extension of the leather covering from the lower edges of the boards, an extension sometimes measuring more than the height of the book. This extension may end in a knot, ring or hook by which it could be fastened to the belt where it hung upside down. Upon picking it up the writing, however, was in the direction in which it could be read without having to detach the book from the belt. If present, additional protective leather flaps on the upper and fore edges enclosed the book completely and protected it against sun, wind, rain, dust and insects. Girdle books were apparently made and used frequently between the mid-14 th to the mid-16 th century, as shown on many paintings, sculptures and drawings of the times, where they are represented with actual persons, but are most often used as symbols of learning, piety, or as the outward sign on the owner's elevated station in life. To date we have records of only twenty-six that remain in their original bindings, or at least retain the extension that sets them apart from regular books. It is thought, however, that many more may be housed, unrecognized, in libraries and other repositories. The ones still surviving were mainly produced in what is now Central and Northern Europe, with a preponderance of Germany, and Scandinavia. Twenty-three are held in museums and libraries in Europe, three are in the United States, however, their current locations are not necessarily the place where they were made. Illustrated with more than 270 photographs, most in color, taken by the author, and accompanied by images of medieval paintings, and sculptures that show contemporary uses of the girdle book.

This work is intended to examine the "Giardino spirituale", a short treatise
of devout spiritual exercises and instructions addressed to nuns, composed in the first quarter of the sixteenth century by Sister Arcangela Panigarola, a mystic and prophetess who lived in the Milanese Augustinian monastery of Santa Marta. After briefly outlining the figure and work of Sister Arcangela, the essay investigates the spiritual allegories relating to the celebration of the cult of the Child Jesus, linked to the idea that every daily gesture must be accompanied by meditation. Panigarola in fact invites her nuns to build, through prayer, the cradle of Jesus, as well as the «lenzoletto», the «fodretta», the «patolino», all devotional practices which, appear indebted to the tradition of monastic orthopraxis. Subsequently,
it is demonstrated how the work fits beautifully into a precise pietistic
circuitry – that of exquisitely feminine monastic ceremonials – and how everything seems to be linked to characteristic objects of devotion to the Divine Infant, particularly to portable cradles.

The Book of Deer is a small pocket gospel dated by handwriting to around 850-1000 C.E. It contains, in Latin, portions of the four gospels, the Gospel of John in its entirety, and the Apostles Creed, but what it is most famous for are the later additions in Gaelic from the 12 th century, believed to be the oldest Gaelic from Scotland still extant.1 By the time of the Gaelic additions, it appears to have been housed at the Columban monastic institution at Deer and it is possible, though not certain, that it was created there or nearby.2 The manuscript is sprinkled with some stylized distinctively-blocky illustrations of human figures in addition to some animal and other motifs. One of the smallest human figures in the Book of Deer is found at the bottom of folio 71v, after the Latin text of John 14:12-22, standing in orans position, and I believe represents a female figure. If the figure is indeed meant to depict a woman, then that raises further questions around interpretation, audience, and the conditions surrounding the manuscript's production.

Nere Jone Intxaustegi Jauregi, "Celebraciones en torno a la clausura de los conventos bilbaínos en el siglo XVII", Bidebarrieta: Revista de humanidades y ciencias sociales de Bilbao. 2014 (25)

Resumen:

Bajo este título, se recogen los actos, todos ellos de matiz religioso y en los que participó lo más granado de la sociedad bilbaína, que realizaron durante la Edad Moderna en Bilbao con motivo del enclaustramiento de las religiosas en los conventos bilbaínos. Este encerramiento fue una de las consecuencias del Concilio de Trento, y se ejecutó en todos los conventos de la Monarquía de los Austrias.

Comment faire coïncider les lois de notre nature humaine avec celles de Dieu ? Comment prendre en compte la réalité de notre être pécheur pour progresser vers la sainteté ? Dans cet ouvrage, des chemins privilégiés nous sont proposés : la contemplation de la Vierge Marie, modèle de sainteté ; le lien entre foi et raison, le sens de la simplicité ; l'abandon à Dieu...