Women's Monasticism and Medieval Society: Nunneries in France and England, 890-1215

In this engaging work, Bruce L. Venarde uncovers a largely unknown story of women's religious lives and puts female monasticism back in the mainstream of medieval ecclesiastical history. To chart the expansion of nunneries in France and England during the central Middle Ages, he presents statistics and narratives to describe growth in broad historical contexts, with special attention to social and economic change.

Venarde explains that in the years 1000-1300 the number of nunneries within E...