Anne E. Lester

This is an interesting case study of the involvement of women in the Christian religious movements which emerged in Champagne—and many other areas of western Europe—during the thirteenth century. Lester challenges much of the established historiography on Cistercian women, arguing that their motivations and goals may have differed in some respects from those of their male counterparts. Moreover, the religious identities of these women were fluid enough that arguing about when women identifiable as Cistercians appear in official records is less important than paying attention to their activities and to their social networks. Lester's study brings together much previously unpublished source material, and as a regional case study provides a useful testing ground for recent arguments about medieval women's religious movements. Recommended for those with an interest in the area.… (mehr)