Sacred Communities, Shared Devotions. Gender, Material Culture, and Monasticism in Late Medieval Germany

June L. Mecham (auth). Alison Beach, Constance Berman, Lisa Bitel (eds) Pages: xviii + 310 p. Illustrations:49 b/w, 2 tables b/w. Language(s):English, German, Latin. Publication Year:2014. Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-54134-1. Hardback -- SUMMARY Sacred Communities, Shared Devotions takes us behind the gates of six medieval convents in Lower Saxony and into the lives of rich and noble nuns going about their daily labour of religion just before the Lutheran Reformation. Drawing on writings by and about the nuns, as well as an analysis of the costly art and architecture of their monasteries, June Mecham reveals how monastic women wielded their wealth to create a ritual environment dense with Christian images and meanings. Mecham argues that nuns chose devotions and rituals within the framework of a distinct material culture, influenced by local religious customs, gender structures, and social protocols. She questions perceived differences between monastic and lay piety, emphasizing instead the shared religious culture in which monastic and laywomen actively participated, and the continuity that shaped female devotion. Looking through lenses of art, history, and spirituality, Mecham describes the spiritual and social tensions caused by women who vowed poverty but lived a seemingly lavish life funded by private income. Medieval reformers, as well as modern scholars, suggested that profligate nuns hastened the decline of medieval convents, but Sacred Communities, Shared Devotions proves that these women did not oppose reform. They simply fought to maintain their traditional devotions and religious environments even as they adapted to new religious sensibilities. TABLE OF CONTENTS Illustrations Acknowledgements A Note about June L. Mecham Chapter 1. The Heath Convents of Lower Saxony Chapter 2. In Festo Paschali: Performative Devotion and Liturgical Ritual Chapter 3. The Art of Devotion Chapter 4. Wealth and Poverty, Piety and Necessity Chapter 5. Abbess Katharina von Hoya and the Creation of Monastic Space Chapter 6. The Art of Reform Chapter 7. Walking in the Footsteps of Christ Epilogue Note on Coinage Bibliography Index.…