Proving Woman

Female Spirituality and Inquisitional Culture in the Later Middle Ages

Nonfiction, History, Western Europe, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory
Cover of the book Proving Woman by Dyan Elliott, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dyan Elliott ISBN: 9781400826025
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: January 10, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Dyan Elliott
ISBN: 9781400826025
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: January 10, 2009
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

Around the year 1215, female mystics and their sacramental devotion were among orthodoxy's most sophisticated weapons in the fight against heresy. Holy women's claims to be in direct communication with God placed them in positions of unprecedented influence. Yet by the end of the Middle Ages female mystics were frequently mistrusted, derided, and in danger of their lives. The witch hunts were just around the corner.

While studies of sanctity and heresy tend to be undertaken separately, Proving Woman brings these two avenues of inquiry together by associating the downward trajectory of holy women with medieval society's progressive reliance on the inquisitional procedure. Inquisition was soon used for resolving most questions of proof. It was employed for distinguishing saints and heretics; it underwrote the new emphasis on confession in both sacramental and judicial spheres; and it heralded the reintroduction of torture as a mechanism for extracting proof through confession.

As women were progressively subjected to this screening, they became ensnared in the interlocking web of proofs. No aspect of female spirituality remained untouched. Since inquisition determined the need for tangible proofs, it even may have fostered the kind of excruciating illnesses and extraordinary bodily changes associated with female spirituality. In turn, the physical suffering of holy women became tacit support for all kinds of earthly suffering, even validating temporal mechanisms of justice in their most aggressive forms. The widespread adoption of inquisitional mechanisms for assessing female spirituality eventuated in a growing confusion between the saintly and heretical and the ultimate criminalization of female religious expression.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Around the year 1215, female mystics and their sacramental devotion were among orthodoxy's most sophisticated weapons in the fight against heresy. Holy women's claims to be in direct communication with God placed them in positions of unprecedented influence. Yet by the end of the Middle Ages female mystics were frequently mistrusted, derided, and in danger of their lives. The witch hunts were just around the corner.

While studies of sanctity and heresy tend to be undertaken separately, Proving Woman brings these two avenues of inquiry together by associating the downward trajectory of holy women with medieval society's progressive reliance on the inquisitional procedure. Inquisition was soon used for resolving most questions of proof. It was employed for distinguishing saints and heretics; it underwrote the new emphasis on confession in both sacramental and judicial spheres; and it heralded the reintroduction of torture as a mechanism for extracting proof through confession.

As women were progressively subjected to this screening, they became ensnared in the interlocking web of proofs. No aspect of female spirituality remained untouched. Since inquisition determined the need for tangible proofs, it even may have fostered the kind of excruciating illnesses and extraordinary bodily changes associated with female spirituality. In turn, the physical suffering of holy women became tacit support for all kinds of earthly suffering, even validating temporal mechanisms of justice in their most aggressive forms. The widespread adoption of inquisitional mechanisms for assessing female spirituality eventuated in a growing confusion between the saintly and heretical and the ultimate criminalization of female religious expression.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book The Case against Education by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book The Collected Works of C.G. Jung by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book A Tale of Two Cultures by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book No Joke by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, Volume 2 by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Lost Enlightenment by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book The Cosmic Cocktail by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Hamlet's Arab Journey by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book The Genome Factor by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Democratic Rights by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Thucydides by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Group Problem Solving by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Worse Than a Monolith by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Dyan Elliott
Cover of the book Confucianism as a World Religion by Dyan Elliott
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy