Why did the noble lady cultivate? An analysis of the reasons for the cultivation of aristocratic women in the Middle Ages.
After the Middle Ages, the status of women weakened and they became "good wives and mothers" in the family circle. This decline in status is closely related to the level of social productivity, which requires a large amount of labor in an agrarian society, where men dominate social production, and women are far from direct production and dependent on men for survival, and their status has declined significantly.
In ancient times, with the decline of economic status, women's rights gradually weakened, and their former glory was gone. In this context, religious practices that emphasize "equality" are favored because they can provide women with an outlet for emotional catharsis.
* Religion teaches that as long as women remain chaste and truly believe, they can approach God, be saved, and become God's chosen people. Influenced by the teachings of the early ** religion, women's monastic groups came into being.
In the Egyptian desert, the appearance of a large number of hermits attracted many women who were dissatisfied with reality. In the 20s of the 4th century, Pakmius founded the first monastery in Thebes, and the nuns were about 20 people in units like the monks.
With the introduction of the hermitage from the East to the West, it was improved by the ** clergy, and the ascetic hermitage became the standard life of the clergy, and the monastery came into being.
In Western Europe at the beginning of the Middle Ages, nuns were mainly composed of aristocratic women, some of whom were there for the elderly, and some for education. For example, the Sisters of Wierich in Germany was built by a couple of counts for their daughter Adheide.
Adhead did not swear to keep her vows of poverty and chastity, and her nun dress was a long skirt with a soft texture. Despite this, she demanded herself according to the rules of the Benedictine hospital, and took care of the sick herself, providing food to the poor to help them get through their troubles.
The Gandesheim Abbey was founded by the German Emperor Otto II for his princess Sophie. Sophie became a nun under the auspices of the Archbishop of Mainz and ran the convent strictly according to Benedict's rules.
This convent gathered many daughters of the nobility, who were educated here and learned the etiquette of the nobility. As a result, this early convent was imbued with a strong aristocratic atmosphere.
During the Merovingian rule of the Franks, the female monastic community was not only privileged and respected, but also developed considerably. Although the social chaos of the 6th century did not stop the development of nuns, they guaranteed their stability and development through isolation.
By the 7th century, double monasteries had become a common phenomenon.
A double convent is not a convent of mixed sex or a convent attached to a male convent, but a monastery with a unique character. It is characterized by a two-wing design, consisting of two separate monasteries for men and women, each of which is strictly separate in terms of residence and life, but shares the same rules and has the same schedule.
At the time of the sacrament, the priesthood of the male convent presided over because the nuns were not allowed to hold the priesthood. Each monastery had its own abbot, but the affairs of the entire double monastery were handled by one of the abbots.
The double monastery was derived from the rules of Glen Banus, and although he never actually participated in the double monastery, his proposal for co-labor with women provided the basis for the creation of the double monastery.
The two monasteries of North-Eastern Gaul, Hama, Navarre, Anon, Viennana, Margoburg, Hamariels, Tife, Soissons, Troyes, Montelde and Passiri are famous, with the Abbey of Scherer and the Abbey of Münster being the most famous.
The former, located near Paris, was founded by Sister Hilda; The latter is located on the English island of Sarnet, with Sister Rioba at the helm.
Hilda began her ascetic career seven years ago in a double monastery and later established a new monastery in Whiteby, accepting more monks. In addition to founding a monastery, managing the affairs of the monastery, and vigorously promoting the spirit of asceticism, Hilda was also active as a nun, becoming one of the most high-profile figures in medieval history.
In 663, for example, the ruling class and nobility convened an important council at the monastery presided over by Hilda, recognizing her leadership in the Church of England.
Committed to evangelism with her sisters, Rioba founded monasteries, churches, and schools that provided places for the monks to preach and opportunities for the nuns to educate.
The collaboration and support between the monks and nuns has made the monastery famous.
The implementation of the dual monastic system also led to the vigorous development of the women's monastic movement. According to statistics, in the Gallic region (present-day France and Belgium) there were up to 28Nine per cent of monasteries were founded by women, and in England the proportion of female monasteries reached 357%。
However, as with anything new, the promotion of the dual cultivation system has not been without its challenges. After its introduction to Western Europe, the system was opposed by the upper echelons of the friars. In the 11th century, the dual system reappeared in France, Germany, and Italy, and finally disappeared altogether in the 13th century.
A double monastery that provides a platform for self-development for women in a subordinate but pious position. At the end of the 7th century, the women's monastic movement began to decline, especially in England, where the number of nuns plummeted.
It is recorded that there were 38 convents in the mid-7th century, but by the early 8th century only seven remained. The subsequent Viking invasion of England, the Islamic invasion of Spain, and the Magyar invasion of Central Europe further exacerbated the chaos of this period, and the development of the nuns was hindered.
However, in the mid-to-late 8th century, a number of nuns such as the Convent of Santa Girla in Italy, the Convent of Herfurd and the Convent of Geedheim in Germany were established one after another, and left a deep imprint on the history of the Middle Ages with their cultural and educational functions.
By the early 9th century, women's monasticism was re-emerging in Britain, France, and parts of Germany.
In the 1st century, Western European cities began to recover, and commerce and handicrafts became their main economic activities. Women began to participate in social work in handicrafts such as textiles and sewing, and had greater contact with society.
At the same time, the dervishes in the streets and alleys and in the markets explained the Bible in popular language, exaggerating the poverty of the society and increasing the religious consciousness of the society. This environment inevitably touched the women's group and aroused their religious fervor.
However, the Church does not provide a place for women to practice their religion. Many women who wanted to vow to live an ascetic life could not find access to nuns, and even a few accepted only noble women, excluding women from the lower classes of society.
Until the 12th century, the convent was limited to upper-class women, but as the convent expanded, lower-class women had the opportunity to join the religious community, while more monasteries saw them as weavers and sewers.
At the same time, some double monasteries founded by the small and medium-sized aristocracy provided more opportunities for lower-class women. Although these petty nobles owned landed property, they were in danger of being annexed at any time due to legal restrictions.
Therefore, they established monasteries in exchange for personal freedom for themselves and their children. However, due to the excessively secular nature of such monasteries, they often do not last long.
Despite the restrictions imposed by the Church and the Friastic Council on the establishment of convents, the convents continued to grow strongly. According to statistics, the number of nuns in Germany increased from 70 in 90 to 50 in 1250, when the number of nuns was estimated at 250,000 to 30,000.
In addition, there were a large number of friars living outside the convents, which were also a force to be reckoned with in the social life of medieval Western Europe.
In medieval Western European society, religion was the cornerstone of society, and in addition to orthodox churches and monasteries, there were many unorthodox monastic groups. These groups included virgin friars, whose development also had an important place in medieval society.
Title: Women's Religious Movements in the Middle Ages: Finding Freedom in Reformation Religious movements hit the silent social group of women like a great wave, and the freedom they advocated and fought for awakened women.
The German historian M. Belz argues that while churches and monasteries were fighting for freedom, freedom also attracted women, because freedom from the bondage of marriage was seen as freedom to die for God.
In the 12th century, heretical sects admitted women from all walks of life and allowed them to have their own religious communities, which posed a powerful challenge to orthodoxy.
With the development of society, the trend of women's participation in religious activities became more and more obvious, and various groups of monks and sisters emerged, bringing religious fervor to Western Europe in the middle of the Middle Ages.
However, the women's religious movement in the twelfth century had no clear political goals and tendencies, and their religious fervor was simple, and they were more concerned with the salvation of their souls than with their social status and political rights.
They despise their parents' property, refuse to marry, maintain chastity, exalt the poor, and give relief to the poor and the sick. In this context, the famous penitent priest James proposed to the Pope in 1216 the creation of a ** religious order of women who were not linked to any of the orders.
Subsequently, new women's religious societies were formed in Liège, northern France, Flanders and Germany, absorbing monks who were willing to adhere to chastity and poverty, and who were willing to follow the ** and consciously follow the gospel.
They were known as the Bhija or Bergyin factions. Overall, the medieval women's religious movement was an exploration and attempt to find freedom in the midst of reform, and their actions and ideas had a profound impact on society.
The Albigensians derive from the Church's designation for heretical women, among whom the Bhija or Bergin friars, who voluntarily live together within the walls of the courtyard, are not required to take three vows like nuns, but generally wear long gray dresses to identify themselves.
This order of the Sisters of the Sisters is not related in any way to any order, nor is it bound or constrained by the established monastic rules. Their religious activities are mainly to listen to sermons and learn the way of self-cultivation, but they also have the responsibility and obligation to take care of the sick and infirm.
Most of these friars came from families of aristocrats, wealthy merchants, and well-to-do craftsmen in the cities, who voluntarily gave up their wealth, social status, and comfortable secular life to live a poor, self-reliant religious life.
Although the Order of Sisters did not explicitly oppose the authority of the Holy See, the development of their religious movement was itself a revolt against the traditional doctrine that forbade women from participating in church affairs.
However, due to certain shortcomings of the Friars' own (i.e., secular religious monasticism), they are unable to remain neutral in religious movements, and it is almost impossible to remain independent.
After the middle of the 13th century, the papacy intensified its suppression and repression of heretical sects, and forced the Friars' Order to be placed under the supervision of the Dominican or French friars.
In order to further curb the development of the monastic order, the Pope issued a ban at the Synod of Vienna in 1311, specifying that friars who violated the order would be considered heretics or witches.
However, despite this repression, the Order of the Friars developed further in the late Middle Ages. With the rise of mysticism, people began to seek more direct communication with God, and paid more attention to the sublimation and purity of their hearts, which allowed the Religious Order to gain more room for development during this period.
During this period, there were two main monastic women's groups, one was the group of nuns of action and the other was the group of nuns of contemplation. Sisters like the Grey Sisters, the Ursumu group, and the Oberlet group in Trodespiez belong to the actionist group of nuns, while the Betas group and the Theresa group in Avila belong to the contemplative group.
In the process of secularization of society, the community of nuns of action has been widely accepted and developed rapidly due to its characteristics of adapting to the development of society. Although the monastic style of the contemplative school did not develop as fast as the monastic style of the activists at that time, without the monastic life of the contemplative school, there would not have been a flourishing monastic life of the activists.
The two groups of nuns complement each other and promote each other.
In the late Middle Ages, women played an important role in the pursuit and participation of religious life. Western European society is based on religion, and religion occupies an important place in social life and cannot be replaced.
Although some historians consider the Middle Ages to be a dark period in the history of Western Europe, a period of **religion**, a period of crazy appropriation of the church. But to a certain extent, the Middle Ages was indeed a time of religious piety, a period of social development.
It is undeniable that Christianity played an important role in the development of Western European society.