a history of convent life
- Categories
- Book/Boek
- Creator
- Evangelisti, Silvia
- Publish Year
- 2008
- Shelfmark
- WER 8 2008
- Thesaurus
- religieuzen, religieuze gemeenschappen, muziek, spiritualiteit, huwelijken, 15e eeuw, 16e eeuw, 17e eeuw, 18e eeuw
- Description
- This examination of convent life paints a portrait of the women who led mostly hidden lives of work and prayer between the late 15th and early 18th centuries. The author tells how nuns of this period engaged in such creative pursuits as writing, music, the visual arts and theater. Some even wrote spirited defenses of their gender, confronting the prevailing view of women as less than men (although at least one of these—Teresa of Ávila—had her words on the subject censored from the published version of The Way of Perfection). Evangelisti also deals with a darker side of convent life: that of women being forced by their families to become nuns because of the few opportunities available to women of that time. She also points out that, for others, becoming a nun was a suitable alternative to marriage.