Gender and Heresy
Women and Men in Lollard Communities, 1420-1530
Publication Year: 1995
Shannon McSheffrey studies the communities of the late medieval English heretics, the Lollards, and presents unexpected conclusions about the precise ways in which gender shaped participation and interaction within the movement.
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Cover
Title Page, Copyright
Contents
Download PDF (64.8 KB)
pp. v-vi
Illustrations
Download PDF (29.1 KB)
pp. vii-
Abbreviations
Download PDF (177.5 KB)
pp. ix-xi
Acknowledgments
Download PDF (96.4 KB)
pp. xiii-
It is my pleasure to thank the following people who offered their help at various stages in the preparation of this book: the late and sadly missed Michael Sheehan, Joseph Goering, Jane Abray, Anne Hutchison, Joel Rosenthal, Jane Harrison, Paul Deslandes, my colleagues at Concordia University (particularly Robert Tittler and Elizabeth Seddon) , Judith Bennett, ...
1. Introduction
Download PDF (1.7 MB)
pp. 1-21
Ideas about sexual difference shape, and in turn are shaped by, religious culture. This is as true of Christianity, the dominant European religion, as of any other faith. Despite St. Paul's declaration of radical spiritual equality for all, regardless of ethnicity, status, or sex- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ...
2. The Lollards of Coventry
Download PDF (2.2 MB)
pp. 22-46
The records of the prosecution depict especially vividly the Lollard community active in the city of Coventry in the early sixteenth century. The court book recording the depositions of those brought before Bishop Geoffrey Blyth in 1511 and 1512 brings to life the people of this important Midlands town as they went about their heretical business. While in many respects ...
3. The Lollard Communities
Download PDF (2.7 MB)
pp. 47-79
A Lollard community was not a strictly defined association. While all adherents of the sect from a particular locality may be said to belong to the same Lollard community, they did not meet together in large community groups, and almost certainly they created no membership lists or other written signs of affiliation (as did later Protestant sects). 1 The practice of ...
4. Lollards and the Family
Download PDF (2.3 MB)
pp. 80-107
Historians studying the social aspects of medieval heretical sects and Protestant movements have approached in various ways the important question of the role of the family, the basic unit of social organization. 1 Scholars of medieval heresy have often tied the patriarchal nature of families in the Middle Ages to Catholicism; a revolt against Catholicism constituted a ...
5. Gender and Social Status
Download PDF (2.4 MB)
pp. 108-136
Although women did not generally play leading roles in Lollardy, this chapter examines the exceptions: active and enthusiastic members of the sect who were recognized as such by other Lollards and by the authorities. One common factor among prominent women was high social position, which could allow a woman, interacting with a group of men below her in ...
6. Conclusion: Lollardy, Gender, and Late Medieval Religious Culture
Download PDF (1.1 MB)
pp. 137-150
Men and women did not respond to the lure of the Lollard movement in the same way.Men, both urban and rural, artisans and agricultural workers, joined the sect in much greater numbers than did women of similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Men were, moreover, the movement's more enthusiastic and active adherents. Most Lollard women became involved as wives ...
Appendix: The Lallard Communities
Download PDF (1.0 MB)
pp. 151-166
Notes
Download PDF (5.0 MB)
pp. 167-222
Works Cited
Download PDF (1.5 MB)
pp. 223-240
Index
Download PDF (1.3 MB)
pp. 241-253
E-ISBN-13: 9780812203967
Print-ISBN-13: 9780812215496
Page Count: 276
Publication Year: 1995
Series Title: The Middle Ages Series
