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"Convent Autobiography reveals how English Catholic women wrote about themselves, their families, and their lives in a period where it was illegal to practice Catholicism in England. These nuns went into a two-fold kind of exile for their beliefs. They moved abroad and they "died to the world", trying to cut ties with family and friends. Yet their convents needed support from outsiders to thrive. The nuns studied here reveal how they navigated this through their letters, printed works, paintings, and prayers. Often times these women wrote anonymously, a common practice for nuns, monks, and devout people of many religious persuasions up until the twentieth century. But anonymity was not just a neutral way of signalling humility or deep religious belief; it could allow people to write about themselves a lot more than they would have while writing under their own name. Exploring how some nuns exploited this to shape their convent's chronicle around their own points of view, Convent Autobiography holds up a mirror to the think about the double-edged role of anonymity throughout history."

Christian church history --- Non-fiction --- English literature --- History of the United Kingdom and Ireland --- anno 1500-1799 --- Nuns' writings, English. --- Nuns' writings, English --- Monastic and religious life of women --- Catholics, English. --- Catholics, English --- History --- Catholiques anglais --- Vie religieuse et monastique féminine --- Écrits de religieuses --- Histoire --- Vie religieuse et monastique féminine --- Écrits de religieuses

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This is the first concentrated study to examine the literacy of nuns in a comparative fashion and at the same time pays close attention to the individual textual and cultural complexities. This collection of essays, focused on the literacies of nuns in medieval Europe, brings together specialists working on diverse geographical areas to create a dialogue about the Latin and vernacular texts nuns read, wrote, and exchanged, primarily in northern Europe from the eighth to the mid-sixteenth centuries. To date, there has been some significant research in this field but little in the way of cross-cultural study. Drawing especially on the rich body of scholarship that currently exists about nuns and books in England, Germany, the Low Countries, and Sweden, these essays investigate the meaning of nuns’ literacies in terms of reading and writing, Latin and the vernaculars. Contributors to this volume investigate the topic of literacy primarily from palaeographical and textual evidence and by discussing information about book ownership and book production in convents. In this first concentrated study that examines the literacy of nuns in a comparative fashion the essays pay close attention to the individual textual and cultural complexities of nuns’ literacies in the European Middle Ages.

Christian religious orders --- History of civilization --- Literature --- Christian spirituality --- anno 500-1499 --- Europe --- Nuns --- Nuns as authors --- Nuns' writings --- Latin literature --- Christian literature, Latin (Medieval and modern) --- Literacy --- Religieuses --- Religieuses écrivaines --- Ecrits de religieuses --- Littérature latine --- Littérature chrétienne latine médiévale et moderne --- Alphabétisation --- Books and reading --- History and criticism. --- Christian authors --- Religious aspects --- Christianity --- Livres et lecture --- Histoire et critique --- Auteurs chrétiens --- Aspect religieux --- Christianisme --- History --- History and criticism --- Monastic and religious life of women --- Nonne. --- Schriftlichkeit. --- Lektüre. --- Bildung. --- Christianity. --- 930.85:02 --- 028-055.2 --- 091:2 --- 094:2 --- Cultuurgeschiedenis. Kultuurgeschiedenis-:-Bibliotheekwezen --- Vrouwelijke lezers --- Handschriftenkunde. Handschriftencatalogi-:-Godsdienst. Theologie --- Oude en merkwaardige drukken. Kostbare en zeldzame boeken. Preciosa en rariora-:-Godsdienst. Theologie --- 094:2 Oude en merkwaardige drukken. Kostbare en zeldzame boeken. Preciosa en rariora-:-Godsdienst. Theologie --- 028-055.2 Vrouwelijke lezers --- 091:2 Handschriftenkunde. Handschriftencatalogi-:-Godsdienst. Theologie --- 930.85:02 Cultuurgeschiedenis. Kultuurgeschiedenis-:-Bibliotheekwezen --- Religieuses écrivaines --- Littérature latine --- Littérature chrétienne latine médiévale et moderne --- Alphabétisation --- Auteurs chrétiens --- Europe [Northern ] --- To 1500 --- Christian literature [Latin ] (Medieval and modern) --- Religieuses écrivains --- Écrits de religieuses --- Histoire et critique. --- Nuns - Books and reading - Europe, Northern - History - To 1500 --- Nuns as authors - Europe, Northern - History - To 1500 --- Nuns' writings - History and criticism --- Latin literature - Christian authors - History and criticism --- Christian literature, Latin (Medieval and modern) - Europe, Northern - History and criticism --- Literacy - Religious aspects - Christianity --- Moniales --- Religieuses écrivains --- Écrits de religieuses