The early Christian and medieval practice of spiritual marriage, in which husband and wife mutually and voluntarily relinquish sexual activity for reasons of piety, plays an important role in the development of the institution of marriage and in the understanding of female religiosity. Drawing on hagiography, chronicles, theology, canon law, and pastoral sources, Dyan Elliott traces the history of spiritual marriage in the West from apostolic times to the beginning of the sixteenth century.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
[Dyan Elliott] reveals the deep tensions and ambiguities about sexuality and marriage in the Christian church as attitudes evolved from apostolic times to the sixteenth century. . . . I loved this book for its magnificent scholarship, clarity of expression, provocative ideas, and scholarly modesty. -- Penelope D. Johnson, American Historical Review
A penetrating study for a wide scholarly audience on the place of women, marriage, and sexuality in Christianity from Augustine to the Renaissance. . . . Using spiritual marriage as a prism, Elliott is able to examine the themes of sacramental theology, female spirituality, sin, sexuality, and gender relations. -- Philip F. Riley, History
Elliot masterfully examines why female spirituality was perceived as a threat to the church and society at large, challenging the boundaries of sanctity and heresy. . . . By tracing the downward trajectory of holy women through medieval society's progressive reliance on inquisitional procedure, Elliot argues that inquisitional mechanisms for assessing female spirituality created confusion between the saintly and the heretical; these efforts to constrain female spirituality were part of a larger program of constraining women. -- Choice
A penetrating study for a wide scholarly audience on the place of women, marriage, and sexuality in Christianity from Augustine to the Renaissance. . . . Using spiritual marriage as a prism, Elliott is able to examine the themes of sacramental theology, female spirituality, sin, sexuality, and gender relations. -- Philip F. Riley, History
Elliot masterfully examines why female spirituality was perceived as a threat to the church and society at large, challenging the boundaries of sanctity and heresy. . . . By tracing the downward trajectory of holy women through medieval society's progressive reliance on inquisitional procedure, Elliot argues that inquisitional mechanisms for assessing female spirituality created confusion between the saintly and the heretical; these efforts to constrain female spirituality were part of a larger program of constraining women. -- Choice
From the Back Cover
"This is a singular accomplishment. I am not only rapt with admiration at Dyan Elliott's achievement but greatly in her debt for the contribution she makes to our understanding of the Christian sexual tradition."--John Boswell, Yale University
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet.
|
|||
|
Video reviews
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
FROM ITS INCEPTION, the Christian message allowed for a two-tiered group of adherents. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
intramarital chastity, unilateral entrance, marital usage, virginal union, chaste cohabitation, tacit vow, abstain sexually, chaste resolve, saints rocs, virginal marriage, conjugal debt, entrance into religion, ascetic chastity, mutual sanctification, normal conjugal relations, virgines subintroductae, clerical wives, summae confessorum, explicit vow, spiritual marriage, penitential movement, legenda maior, consensual theory, chaste marriage, female spirituality Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle Ages, New York, Margery Kempe, John of Freiburg, Virgin Mary, Dorothea of Montau, Bridget of Sweden, Vita Dorotheae, William of Rennes, Thomas of Chobham, Frances of Rome, Jacques de Vitry, Peter the Chanter, Christina of Markyate, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Tours, Mary of Oignies, Robert of Flamborough, Frankish Society, Edward the Confessor, Peter Lombard, Clement of Alexandria, Peter Damian, Catherine of Sweden, Ecclesiastical History New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
FROM ITS INCEPTION, the Christian message allowed for a two-tiered group of adherents. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
intramarital chastity, unilateral entrance, marital usage, virginal union, chaste cohabitation, tacit vow, abstain sexually, chaste resolve, saints rocs, virginal marriage, conjugal debt, entrance into religion, ascetic chastity, mutual sanctification, normal conjugal relations, virgines subintroductae, clerical wives, summae confessorum, explicit vow, spiritual marriage, penitential movement, legenda maior, consensual theory, chaste marriage, female spirituality Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle Ages, New York, Margery Kempe, John of Freiburg, Virgin Mary, Dorothea of Montau, Bridget of Sweden, Vita Dorotheae, William of Rennes, Thomas of Chobham, Frances of Rome, Jacques de Vitry, Peter the Chanter, Christina of Markyate, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Tours, Mary of Oignies, Robert of Flamborough, Frankish Society, Edward the Confessor, Peter Lombard, Clement of Alexandria, Peter Damian, Catherine of Sweden, Ecclesiastical History New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- The Body and Society by Professor Peter Brown on 20 pages
- The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, Vol. 1 by Jacobus de Voragine on 9 pages
- Medieval Canon Law (Medieval World) by James A. Brundage on 8 pages
- The Medieval Idea of Marriage by Christopher Brooke on 7 pages
- Heresies of the High Middle Ages by Walter Wakefield on 6 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Fallen Bodies: Pollution, Sexuality, and Demonology in the Middle Ages (The Middle Ages Series) by Dyan Elliott on 16 pages
- Proving Woman: Female Spirituality and Inquisitional Culture in the Later Middle Ages by Dyan Elliott on 9 pages
- Christina of Markyate by Samuel Fanous on 6 pages
- Ennobling Love: In Search of a Lost Sensibility (The Middle Ages Series) by C. Stephen Jaeger on 5 pages
- Cities of Ladies: Beguine Communities in the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565 (The Middle Ages Series) by Walter Simons on 5 pages
See all 100 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living
- Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Church History
- Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling
- Books > History > World
- Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > History
