Nails in the Wall: Catholic Nuns in Reformation GermanyDuring the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther instituted new ideologies addressing gender, marriage, chastity, and religious life that threatened Catholic monasticism. Yet many living in cloistered religious communities, particularly women, refused to accept these new terms and were successful in their opposition to the new Protestant culture. Focusing primarily on a group of Dominican nuns in Strasbourg, Germany, Amy Leonard's Nails in the Wall outlines the century-long battle between these nuns and the Protestant city council. With savvy strategies that employed charm, wealth, and political and social connections, the nuns were able to sustain their Catholic practices. Leonard's in-depth archival research uncovers letters about and records of the nuns' struggle to maintain their religious beliefs and way of life in the face of Protestant reforms. She tells the story of how they worked privately to keep Catholicism alive-continuing to pray in Latin, smuggling in priests to celebrate Mass, and secretly professing scores of novices to ensure the continued survival of their convents. This fascinating and heartening study shows that, far from passively allowing the Protestants to dismantle their belief system, the women of the Strasbourg convents were active participants in the battle over their vocation and independence. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Establishment and Growth of the Dominican Convents | 12 |
TWO From Neighbor to Neighbor Reformation Theories of the Utility of the Cloister | 38 |
THREE The Reformation Confronts the Convents | 59 |
FOUR The Ties That Bind Nuns Families and Magistrates | 85 |
FIVE The Empire Strikes Back The CounterReformation in Strasbourg | 107 |
SIX Nuns as Whores The Closing of St NicholasinUndis | 130 |
Conclusion | 146 |
Dominican Nuns in SixteenthCentury Strasbourg | 157 |
Notes | 161 |
Selected Bibliography | 193 |
Name Index | 211 |
215 | |
Other editions - View all
Nails in the Wall: Catholic Nuns in Reformation Germany (Women in Culture ... Amy Leonard No preview available - 2011 |
Nails in the Wall: Catholic Nuns in Reformation Germany (Women in Culture ... Amy Leonard No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
active allowed AMS II Anna attack Augsburg authority bishop bishop of Strasbourg Brady Bucer Burgundian Wars bursar Catholic Catholicism Christian Chronic über Sanct-Margarethen church city council city’s civic claimed clergy cloister Collectanées confessional confessor continued convent administrators Council of Trent Counter-Reformation daughters dissolution Dominican convents Dominican order dowries early modern Elisabeth elite emperor empire enclosure families Fegersheim florins forced friars Germany Geudertheim girls Grund und Ursach Hallinsfahr Holy Roman Empire imperial institutions Interim Johann Katharina Klosterfrauen leave the convent Lenglin live Luther Lutheran magistrates Margaret and Agnes Maria Matthias medieval men’s monasteries monastic Nicholas-in-Undis nuns of St nuns of Strasbourg Nützel pamphlets Peace of Augsburg pensions prayers prioress Protestant reformers Protestantism provincial prior refused religion remained role rules Saverne secular Sendbrief sermons sixteenth century society Specklin spiritual stay Strasbourg convents survival urban Ursula Veronica vows wanted women women’s houses Zittard