| Edition |
Pbk. ed. |
| Description |
xvi, 241 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. |
| Note |
Originally published: 2010. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Dangerous enchantments: what the inquisitor found, San Lorenzo (Bologna, 1584) -- Spinsters, silkworms, and a flight in flagrante, San Niccolò di Strozzi (Reggio Calabria, 1673) -- Perilous patronage: generosity and jealousy, Santa Maria Nuova (Bologna, 1646-80) -- Slipping through the cracks: a convent's porous walls, Santa Maria degli Angeli (Pavia, 1651-75) -- Nights at the opera: the travels and travails of Christina Cavazza, Santa Cristina della Fondazza (Bologna, 1708-35). |
| Summary |
Some nuns in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy strayed far from the paradigms of monastic life. Cloistered in convents, subjected to stifling hierarchy, repressed, and occasionally persecuted by their male superiors, these women circumvented authority in sometimes extraordinary ways. Monson resurrects forgotten tales and restores to life the long-silent voices of these cloistered heroines. Here we meet nuns who dared speak out about physical assault and sexual impropriety (some real, some imagined). Others were only guilty of misjudgment or defacing valuable artwork that offended their sensibilities. But what unites the women and their stories is the challenges they faced: these were women trying to find their way within the Catholicism of their day and through the strict limits it imposed on them. Monson introduces us to women who were occasionally desperate to flee cloistered life, as when an entire community conspired to torch their convent and be set free. But more often, he shows us nuns just trying to live their lives. When they were crossed--by powerful priests who claimed to know what was best for them--bad behavior could escalate from mere troublemaking to open confrontation. |
| Subject |
Nuns -- Italy -- Conduct of life -- History -- 16th century.
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Nuns -- Italy -- Conduct of life -- History -- 17th century.
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Convents -- Italy -- History -- 16th century.
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Convents -- Italy -- History -- 17th century.
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Women -- Italy -- Social conditions -- 16th century.
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Women -- Italy -- Social conditions -- 17th century.
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Music in convents -- Italy -- History -- 16th century.
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Music in convents -- Italy -- History -- 17th century.
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| ISBN |
9780226534725 (pbk. : alk. paper)) |
|
0226534723 (pbk. : alk. paper)) |
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