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University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Monasticism and religious orders for women -- History -- Middle Ages, 600-1500
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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Feminine Agency And Masculine Authority: Women's Quest For Autonomy In Monastic Life, Kathryn Temple-Council
Feminine Agency And Masculine Authority: Women's Quest For Autonomy In Monastic Life, Kathryn Temple-Council
Honors Theses
From the earliest days of the Christian church women eagerly sought to pursue a life of devotion to Jesus Christ. This led to the foundation of women’s monastic communities, also known as convents. The path to a life in holy orders within the male dominated church was fraught with challenges to women’s authority to be the authors of their own religious experiences. Women were defined by early church fathers including Tertullian, Ambrose, and Jerome as lesser human beings than their male counterparts, inheritors of the sin of Eve and led by their inherent sexual deviance and demonic susceptibility. It is …