Dominican nunneries

Female monasticism and the conversion of the Jews were both major concerns for the ecclesiastical establishment, as well as for Italian ruling elites, after the Council of Trent (1545–1563). Hence, the monachization of baptized Jewish girls acquired a unique symbolic significance. Moreover, during this period cases of demonic possession were on the rise, and so were witchcraft accusations. This article explores a case from late sixteenth-century Mantua in which Jewish conversion, female monachization, demonic possession and witch-hunting all came into play in a violent drama. Drawing on unpublished documents as well as on chronicles and hagiographies, the article elucidates the mental toll that conversion and monachization took on the Jewess Luina, who later became known as Sister Margherita. It delineates her life, which culminated with her diagnosis as a demoniac, and analyzes the significance that this etiology held for the energumen—whose affliction was attributed to her ongoing contacts with Jews—and for Mantua's Jews. The article argues that the anxiety provoked by suspicions that a formerly Jewish nun reverted to Judaism was so profound, that it led to the burning at the stake of Judith Franchetta, the only Jew ever to be executed as a witch in the Italian peninsula.

This article argues that converting Jewish girls and women constituted an important expression of Italian nuns' religiosity throughout the age of Catholic Reform. Unlike their male counterparts, however, converting nuns rarely left behind accounts of their conversionary efforts. Moreover, since these endeavors were directed exclusively at female Jews they are often obscured in the historical record and in modern historiography. The article tackles the difficulties of recovering the voices of converting nuns and presents examples that suggest how they could be circumvented. Exploring the potential of drawing on previously understudied texts, such as nuns' supplications, the article calls for the integration of this specific manifestation of female devotion into the scholarship and teaching on women's religious life in the early modern era.

The Castilian Franciscanism born closely linked to the Crown. The data we have are scarce and often legendary, but they allow us to draw a first scheme of links and interests. We analyze the performances of Fernando III, closely related to those of his mother, Berenguela I, and we compare them with those that both of them realized in benefit of the Order of Preachers in order to draw the general consequences that had the promotional policies of the Mendicant Orders.

El franciscanismo castellano nació estrechamente ligado a la corona. Las noticias son escasas y con frecuencia legendarias, pero permiten perfilar un primer esquema descriptivo de los vínculos y los intereses. Analizamos las actuaciones de Fernando III, muy relacionadas con las de su madre, Berenguela I, comparándolas con las que al mismo tiempo protagonizó en beneficio de la Orden de Predicadores a fin de extraer consecuencias generales sobre las políticas de promoción de las órdenes mendicantes.

What I intend to analyse in this communication is if and how, despite the strict rules involving their copying and keeping, liturgical books produced for female religious communities reflected, either textually or visually, the characteristics of their audience.
Through the analysis of some exemplars coming mostly from the Portuguese Dominican nunneries I will argue that, in some particular cases, liturgical books used in these communities reflect the effort of both their producers and users to adapt them, not only to be used by nuns, but also to function as identity shapers.

Monasteries and convents were — and still are — not only a place of worship isolated from the material world, but also organizations dealing with secular, worldly matters. Everyday goods like food and beverage had to make their way inside their walls; other goods had to leave the monasteries and convents in exchange. Any possessions outside the walls had to be administered; therefore, every religious household needed management.

This manuscript contains a previously unknown copy of the German translation of De reparatione hominis, the principal work of the Franciscan Marquard of Lindau. In addition, it transmits several of the „Engelberger Predigten,“ thus completing the collection contained in Cod. Sang. 1919. It bears mentioning that both of these manuscripts are based on an earlier model, to which also the manuscripts Cod. Sang. 1004 and Wil M 47, which were created 50 years earlier, owe their (complementary) selection of „Engelberger Predigten“.

Die Handschrift enthält eine bislang unbekannte Abschrift der deutschen Übersetzung von De reparatione hominis, der Hauptschrift des Franziskaners Marquard von Lindau. Darüber hinaus überliefert sie einige der „Engelberger Predigten“, womit sie den Bestand von Cod. Sang. 1919 komplettiert. Bemerkenswert ist, dass beide Handschriften auf eine Vorlage zurückgehen, der auch die etwa 50 Jahre früher entstandenen Handschriften Cod. Sang. 1004 und Wil M 47 ihre (wieder einmal komplementär angelegte) Auswahl der „Engelberger Predigten“ verdanken.

Le manuscrit contient une version jusqu’ici inconnue de la traduction allemande du De reparatione hominis, oeuvre majeure du franciscain Marquardt de Lindau. Il transmet en plus quelques-uns des „Engelberger Predigten“, de sorte qu’il complète le recueil contenu dans le Cod. Sang. 1919. Il faut remarquer à ce propos que les deux manuscrits remontent à un seul modèle auquel se référaient également, pour leur choix de "Engelberger Predigten", le Cod. Sang. 1004 et le Wil M 47 (également complémentaires dans ce cas), écrits 50 ans auparavant.

Il manoscritto contiene una versione finora sconosciuta della traduzione tedesca del De reparatione hominis, opera principale del francescano Marquardo di Lindau. Tramanda inoltre alcune delle "Engelberger Predigten", completando in questo modo la raccolta contenuta nel Cod. Sang. 1919. Degno di nota il fatto che entrambi i manoscritti si rifacciano a un modello al quale circa 50 anni prima si erano orientati anche il Cod. Sang. 1004 e il Wil M 47 per la loro scelta (anche in questo caso complementare) di "Engelberger Predigten".

El siglo XV asistió en la Corona de Castilla a un amplio y diversificado fenómeno de creaciones conventuales femeninas promovidas por mujeres que fue muy visible en las ciudades. Se inscribió en las reformas de la Baja Edad Media y coincidió con el debate conocido como “Querella de las Mujeres”. Partiendo de la idea de que hubo un Humanismo femenino, pensado y enunciado por las mujeres en sus propios términos, en estas páginas se buscan las conexiones entre dichos fenómenos, especialmente entre las aportaciones femeninas de reforma religiosa concretadas en las fundaciones de espacios de espiritualidad y la “Querella de las Mujeres”. Para ello, se fundamenta el análisis en una ciudad concreta, Córdoba, y se delimitan cronologías y tipologías religiosas a fin de determinar sus contenidos programáticos. El objetivo último es perfilar algunas de las principales formulaciones y claves explicativas del proyecto humanista de las mujeres.

Manchester, University of Manchester, 13.-16. April 2011 — Internationale Konferenz „Der Literaturbetrieb im spätmittelalterlichen Straßburg“ (Veranstalter: Prof. Dr. Felix Heinzer/Freiburg i. Br., Dr. Stephen Mossman/Manchester und Prof. Dr. Nigel F. Palmer/Oxford)

Der ‚entstellte‘ Eckhart. Eckhart-Handschriften im Straßburger Dominikanerinnenkloster St. Nikolaus in undis, in: Schreiben und Lesen in der Stadt. Literaturbetrieb im spätmittelalterlichen Straßburg, hg. von STEPHEN MOSSMAN, NIGEL F. PALMER und FELIX HEINZER (Kulturtopographie des alemannischen Raums 4), Berlin/Boston 2012, S. 39–98