Get down to business! New Non-Fiction Books: Bound Women Were a Power in the Middle Ages

Der Spiegel recently reported on a miracle: while monasteries everywhere are forced to close due to lack of interest, Benedictine nuns are opening a branch in Cologne, Germany, because they are experiencing such a large influx. There are still sisters, say many there, with whom the local pastor does not get along or who get annoyed with the bishop. The population listens to these women, their word has incredible weight. A sensation, because usually nuns do not have a voice in modern society.

Unheard of Women is the ambiguous title of a book just published by German medieval historians Henrique Lehnemann (55) and Eva Schloteuber (63). “Unheard of” in the sense of “unbelievable”, but also in the sense of “not heard”. “These nuns have gone unnoticed in our time, so each visualization is a small revolution,” they write in the preface. Medieval society gave them a special status that “enabled women to be incredibly efficient.”

“Networks of nuns in the Middle Ages” is a subtitle reminiscent of modern mafia male associations. But what men perfectly master today – unfortunately, often for the worse – medieval ladies could do for a long time for the better. While eminent nuns such as Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) or perhaps Mechthild von Magdeburg (1207–1282) were still in the spotlight, this book shows that women in the monastic community were able to form effective unions.

This new general view is driven by a personal achievement: in her doctoral dissertation for a professorship at the University of Münster (D), Eva Schlotheuber analyzed the convent diary of an anonymous nun from the Cistercian monastery of Heilig-Kreuz near Braunschweig (D) between 1484 and 1507 as a source for ” the internal structure of the monastery” and “the relationship of the monastery with its immediate social environment”.

“We want as many forgotten voices to be heard again as possible,” write Lehnemann and Schloteiber. That’s why they decided to start each chapter with a story from the monastery diary of a Cistercian nun: “First-hand about lice, gingerbread and signs of love for Christ.” In this way, the book provides an excellent insight into the seclusion and training of nuns, their relationship with family and society, and death behind walls.

“Networks of nuns allowed both the exchange of treatments and participation in the remembrance of the dead through prayer groups,” the book says. In this respect, nuns were a force in their own right and a strong voice in medieval society. “And in this they were firmly convinced that their heavenly bridegroom, Christ, would hear and exalt them in a special way.”