The Pastoral Care of Women in Late Medieval England: 3 (Gender in the Middle Ages) (Gender in the Middle Ages, 3)

Description

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. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS INTRODUCTION: “Be it husband, be it wife” Pastoral Care The Pastoral Care of Women Gendered Lessons 1. Pastoral Vernacular Literature Clerical Education Pastoral Vernacular Literature Sources: Sermons, Exempla, and John Mirk 2. Pastoral Language Words that Matter: The Significance of “Good Men and Women” Gendered Language John Mirk’s Festial: A Case Study 3. Pastoral Perceptions “Not of their own power” “Sirens” Eve, Mary, and Agnes le Roo 4. Pastoral Care The Ordinary Care of Female Parishioners The Extraordinary Problems of Female Parishioners CONCLUSION: GENDERED LESSONS APPENDIX I:
THE MAJOR MANUSCRIPTS OF MIRK’S FESTIAL APPENDIX II: THE EXEMPLA OF MIRK’S FESTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Index