Nuns' Chronicles and Convent Culture in Renaissance and Counter-Reformation Italy

by K. J. P. Lowe

Overview

Analyzing convent culture in sixteenth-century Italy through the medium of three unpublished nuns' chronicles, this study examines the nuns' intellectual and imaginative achievements to determine how they preserved individual and convent identities by writing chronicles. The chronicles reveal many examples of the nuns' achievements, especially with regard to cultural creativity, and demonstrate that convent traditions ultimately determined the cultural priorities that dictated convent ceremonial life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521621915
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/04/2003
Pages:	454
Product dimensions:	7.24(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.38(d)

About the Author

Kate Lowe is Reader in the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. History Writing and Authorship: 1. The creation of chronicles: contents and appearance; 2. The authors of the chronicles; Part II. Historical and Cultural Context: 3. The convents and physical space; 4. Nuns and convent communities; 5. Rules and traditions; Part III. Chronicles and the Culture of Convent Identity: 6. The chronicles and ceremonial life; 7. Cultural creativity and cultural production; 8. Convents and art; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"The book adds much to the fields of religious, women's and early modern social and cultural history. More specifically, readers of this work will emerge with a deeper appreciation of the richness and complexity of convent life in this period." American Historical Review, Monica Chojnacka

From the Publisher