Women and Monasticism in Medieval Europe: Sisters and Patrons of the Cistercian Reform (review)

Reviews 161 Parergon 21.1 (2004) The Notes, which comment particularly on differences with Constans’ edition (1881) and metric discrepancies, include explanation of certain passages and allusions. The Glossary has two parts: Occitan forms not in Levy’s Petit Dictionnaire, and the gallicisms. It is too restricted, for the text has noteworthy occurrences of key terms, for example of the verbs cortejar (l. 615) and jazer (l. 526), the frequent use of domneis and domnejar, and the epithet leal (loyal/ legitimate) referring to love, the judgement sought, and lovers (l. 25, 34, 537). Bibliography and Index complete the edition. The Index is economical with references only to the Introduction and Notes. Hence an allusion such as ‘de lin Iutas’ (l. 906) is not explained in either the Notes or Index, and Index references to terms such as Larguesza and lausengiers do not include textual occurrences, which is a loss, although the decision not to overburden the edition is also understandable. I compliment Bardell on producing in an accessible series this excellent edition which extends knowledge and understanding of both Occitan courtly poetry and vernacular allegory. We can await with interest his further publications in the latter field where he is currently working. Glynnis M. Cropp School of Language Studies Massey University Berman, Constance H., ed., Women and Monasticism in Medieval Europe: Sisters and Patrons of the Cistercian Reform (TEAMS Documents of Practice Series), Kalamazoo, Medieval Institute Publications, 2002; paper; pp. xii, 134; 2 b/w figures; RRP US$8; ISBN 1-58044-036-3. The stated brief of the TEAMS Documents of Practice Series is to provide ‘a focussed collection of primary-source materials in a class-room friendly format’. By concentrating on a single topic or theme, these books have presented students with handy introductions to such fields as medieval peasant experience, monastic and mendicant rules, and now, with Constance Berman’s contribution of primary sources from the period c.1120-c.1300, the worlds of medieval Cistercian women. This short book is divided into four parts. First, there are translated charters for female houses that were clearly Cistercian communities. These come from a range of locations including Spain, England, Italy, France, Flanders, and more. 162 Reviews Parergon 21.1 (2004) From the foundation charters one can identify the women of royal and noble background who chose to support Cistercian nuns, while documents from urban Cistercian houses highlight other groups of medieval people who interacted with these Cistercian convents. All of these sources amply demonstrate just how embedded in their local social, devotional, and economic communities these female monasteries were. Second is the section entitled ‘More problematic examples’. This refers to one of the most vexed issues in female Cistercian history, namely the fact that many female communities claimed that they were part of the Cistercian family yet do not seem to have been recognised as such by the General Chapter at Cîteaux. The relationship between a female house and what one might call ‘the official Order’ tended to differ according, among other things, to the date at which the female community was founded. Here Berman focuses on houses that were founded very early in Cistercian history (the female community of Coyroux, which was joined to Obazine as part of a double monastery; Jully; and le Tart). The predominantly cartulary extracts give a sense of such things as the kinds of people who entered monasteries, the gifts they gave, the tithe privileges the nuns received, and Bernard of Clairvaux’s interactions with the nuns. The third part deals with statistical sources. Here there are extracts from rent rolls and account books from French houses. The editorial input is fairly slight – here, as elsewhere, the aim is to give priority to the primary sources – so, given the difficulty that students can experience in analysing economic sources, this section would probably best be used only after significant preparation and background work. The final section refers to narrative and normative sources. Here Cistercian scholars will be pleased to find collected in one spot the comments of Herbert of Tournai and James of Vitry on Cistercian women, as well as some representative samples of episcopal visitation reports and the Cistercian General Chapter...