Introduction: chastity and female identity. The Roman empire: the apostolic life; cult and countercults; the discipline of the desert. The early middle ages: the power of prayer; the frontier outpost; the bonds of castimony; family ties; the world, the flesh, and the devil. The high middle ages: the imitation of Christ; cura mulierum; disordered women; the alchemy of mysticism; the tears of Magdalene. The early modern era: regular lives; defenders of the faith; Martha's part; the mystical regiment; the sweetness of life. Modern times: culture wars; the feminine apostolate. Conclusion: toward a third millennium.
"Sisters in Arms" has received great acclaim in the secular press,
and makes a splendid contribution to the history of Catholic nuns
and sisters. In a single volume she has drawn together the fruits
of decades of research and comprehensive documentation, but in a
way which makes for compulsive readingrather than boring narrative.
Her overarching theme is the way in which male clerics tried to
shape and control the lives of ecclesial women religious, much as
husbands used their legal rights to control the lives of their
wives and children...The treatment of women religious during the
upheavals of the European reformations makes poignant reading...[A]
splendidly incivisive account of women religious within the
Christian tradition.--Judith Lancaster "The Way [UK] "
"Sisters in Arms" is undoubtedly the definitive work on nuns. The
book...covers 2,000 years of Catholic women's search for holiness
in the celibate life. Jo Ann Kay McNamara parades seekers from Mary
Magdalen to Sister Mary Theresa Kane, and she does it with a
scholar's eye for detail, a Catholic'snostalgia, and a raconteur's
penchant for entertainment...Century by century McNamara presents
them: women from Galilee (who supported the 'little band of
vagabonds'), deaconesses, hermits, sanctimonials, canonesses,
conversae, beguines, anchorites, abbesses, witches and mystics.
Stealthily, we enter the sacred and secluded halls of Quedlinberg,
Bingen, Amesbury, the Paraclete and glimpse (only just) the
occupants. But those glimpses are titillating and make us want to
keep on reading.--Elizabeth McNamer "Washington Post Book World
"
"Sisters in Arms"...is fascinating to read...[It] presents a
powerful story of dedication and struggle.--Sally Thompson "Times
Literary Supplement "
"Sisters in Arms", which is attracting high praise from reviewers,
is a remarkable work, in the judgment of Sister Karen Kennelly,
president of Mount St. Mary's College in California...She calls the
book 'a unique effort to lay out the comprehensive picture of the
history of religious life for women'...Dr. [Mary Martin] McLaughlin
[a medieval historian formerly of Vassar College] calls the book
'groundbreaking in certain of its aspects, certainly in its scope,
' and she praises its economic analysis and use of family
histories.--Peter Monaghan "Chronicle of Higher Education "
[An] ambitious and energetic book.--Fiona McCarthy "New York Review
of Books "
[An] erudite but impassioned study.--Karen Armstrong "Financial
Times "
[An] exhausting, fascinating, tragic and admirable history of
Catholic women in religious orders over 2000 years...When the
institutional church remains hostile to feminism, and secular
feminists tend to see religion as unrelieved oppression of women,
it is a genuine service to have compiled this record of the iron
will, society-building achievements, and fertile influence of these
determined, inspired women--women whose faith cracked open a space,
however small, for responsibility for the direction of their own
minds, bodies, and spirits.--Alane Salierno Mason "Baltimore Sun
"
[An] extraordinary book...In her preface, McNamara affectingly
declares: 'Like Voltaire, I have grown up to be a secular humanist,
yet, like him, I must concede that all I am I owe to my Catholic
education.' It has served her--and her readers, including this
one--very well.--Jaroslav Pelikan "New Republic "
[A] mammoth study...[and an] engrossing and challenging work...Ms.
McNamara gives us a history of women's rights--and the lack of
them--by focusing on women religious since the birth of
Christ...[It is] a magnificent achievement...Ms. McNamara has made
an inspiring chronicle of [nuns'] struggles.--Antonia Fraser "New
York Times Book Review "
[A] sweeping and scholarly work...[that's] fascinating and
carefully researched..."Sisters in Arms" is likely to be for some
time the definitive history of Catholic religious women in the
West.--Mary N. MacDonald "America "
[McNamara's] knowledge of nuns is encyclopaedic...The story [told
in this book] is...fascinating. Professor McNamara may be a secular
humanist but she has the generosity to recognise that Christianity
transformed the status of women in the Western world.--John Keegan
"Daily Telegraph "
[McNamara's] topic has both vast dimensions and profound
implications.--Karen M. Kennelly "National Catholic Reporter "
A rich tumble of anecdotes, stories, examples and testimonials,
presented in a vigorous and engaging writing style with a certain
staccato rhythm, clothes the understructure of serious scholarship.
McNamara's strength is in dealing with the early and high Middle
Ages. She explains clearly the logic of various social and
particularly economic structures which more often than not
determined whether a young woman would enter a convent (willingly
or otherwise) and just what the range of options were for the
individual and for the community...[The book is] a masterwork of
recovered history, finely detailed and assessed with a knowing and
worldly-wise eye.--Susan K. Roll "Louvain Studies "
In a book which is written to be read by interested general readers
as much as scholars, McNamara not only brings into view all the
best-known nuns from 2000 years of Christian history--from Mary
Magdalen and Thecla through Bridget of Kildare and Hilda of Bingen
to Therese of Lisieux and Mary Theresa Kane--but also gives
glimpses of thousands of unnamed nuns...[They] make up a richly
described and impressively researched tableau of mystics and bad
apples, pragmatists and adventurers, the docile and the
daring.--Susan O'Brien "Catholic Herald "
Jo Ann Kay McNamara's massive, definitive history of Catholic nuns
in the West is accessible and fascinating, thoroughly cohesive and
told with the authority of the historian and the charm of the
storyteller. While historians will appreciate McNamara's
scholarship...and her brilliant achievement in synthesizing so much
history, the lay reader can easily enjoy the work as popular
literature...For nuns have always had to fight.. They have been
reviled as witches, as virgins, as whores. Even their very history
was long silenced, not 'important' enough to record. The convent
has always been a way to seek spiritual fulfillment, but it has
never been a perfect refuge. Nuns have always had to adapt to
changes in the landscapes of politics, class and culture. They have
produced sinners and saints as well as ordinary women doing good
works. Most of all, they have endured. And in "Sisters in Arms",
they prove to be a...compelling [subject].--Sandra Scofield
"Newsday "
McNamara has done us a tremendous service in bringing our
foremothers' struggle for spiritual riches into view.--Linda Cahill
"Toronto Globe and Mail "
McNamara's impressive volume reads the long history of Christianity
against the grain...She has rendered a set of rattling good stories
about women over the long haul...The vast territory covered by this
book inspires admiration...McNamara is an insightful interpreter of
texts whose rhetorical flourish lets us see the heroism at the
heart of the female religious vocation. She gathers together in one
volume an impressive array of women forgotten or deliberately
erased from history...and creates a coherent narrative of struggle
forward from the earliest days of Christianity to the
present.--Mary Jo Weaver "Philadelphia Inquirer "
McNamara's work...is a learned and readable history of religious
women which begins historically with female discipleship in the New
Testament era and ends with some contemporary reflections on female
religious orders today...The precise merit of this highly
accessible historical study rests in the author's keen appreciation
that the Christian tradition, though organic, is not
monodirectional...McNamara raises many historical questions that
remain pertinent today...[T]he strong historical narrative and the
rich panorama of persons...give shape and power to "Sisters in
Arms". I know of no other book of such comprehensive scope. It
deserves a wide readership for what it tells us about women in the
Christian tradition generally and in the ascetic/religious/vowed
world in particular.--Lawrence S. Cunningham "Commonweal "
Original sources and archives are excavated [here] to find the
hidden story of women who, voluntarily and involuntarily, took the
veil. Ms McNamara has achieved a balance between impressive
academic research (there are over one thousand detailed references)
and a book for the general readership that gives Catholic
sisterhood a distinct historical identity. The extent and variety
of sisterhood revealed by Ms McNamara's research is
staggering.--Gina Menzies "Irish Times "
The meaning of female monasticism has reflected, in predictable as
well as surprising ways, the position of women in the
world...[T]his book provides an excellent angle from which to
observe that position.--Katherine A. Powers "Boston Sunday Globe
"
Women will be heartened to discover pioneers in their fight for
autonomy and enlightened by McNamara's analysis of their
struggles.--Carole Slade "Women's Review of Books "
"Sisters in Arms,.".is fascinating to read...[It] presents a
powerful story of dedication and struggle. -- Sally Thompson "Times
Literary Supplement"
"Sisters in Arms," which is attracting high praise from reviewers,
is a remarkable work, in the judgment of Sister Karen Kennelly,
president of Mount St. Mary's College in California...She calls the
book 'a unique effort to lay out the comprehensive picture of the
history of religious life for women'...Dr. [Mary Martin] McLaughlin
[a medieval historian formerly of Vassar College] calls the book
'groundbreaking in certain of its aspects, certainly in its scope,
' and she praises its economic analysis and use of family
histories. -- Peter Monaghan "Chronicle of Higher Education"
[An] ambitious and energetic book. -- Fiona McCarthy "New York
Review of Books"
[An] erudite but impassioned study. -- Karen Armstrong "Financial
Times"
[A] remarkable story--truly of epic proportions...The book is a
"tour de force,.".No book in the library has told the whole rich
story [of Catholic nuns] as soundly and intelligently as this one
does; and for that Jo Ann Kay McNamara deserves our undying
gratitude.
(willingly or otherwise) and just what the range of options were
for the individual and for the community...[The book is] a
masterwork of recovered history, finely detailed and assessed with
a knowing and worldly-wise eye.
'groundbreaking in certain of its aspects, certainly in its scope,
' and she praises its economic analysis and use of family
histories.
a space, however small, for responsibility for the direction of
their own minds, bodies, and spirits.
are over one thousand detailed references) and a book for the
general readership that gives Catholic sisterhood a distinct
historical identity. The extent and variety of sisterhood revealed
by Ms McNamara's research is staggering.
as this one does; and for that Jo Ann Kay McNamara deserves our
undying gratitude.
conceptualize the relationship between men and women.
forgotten or deliberately erased from history...and creates a
coherent narrative of struggle forward from the earliest days of
Christianity to the present.
magnificent achievement...Ms. McNamara has made an inspiring
chronicle of [nuns'] struggles.
reading...[A] splendidly incivisive account of women religious
within the Christian tradition.
served her--and her readers, including this one--very well.
that have defined and been defined by women in the Roman Catholic
Church from its origins.
the status of women in the Western world.
wide readership for what it tells us about women in the Christian
tradition generally and in the ascetic/religious/vowed world in
particular.
Arms," they prove to be a...compelling [subject].
Bingen, Amesbury, the Paraclete and glimpse (only just) the
occupants. But those glimpses are titillating and make us want to
keep on reading.
"Sisters in Arms..".is fascinating to read...ÝIt¨ presents a
powerful story of dedication and struggle. -- Sally Thompson "Times
Literary Supplement"
ÝAn¨ ambitious and energetic book. -- Fiona McCarthy "New York
Review of Books"
ÝAn¨ erudite but impassioned study. -- Karen Armstrong "Financial
Times"
ÝAn¨ exhausting, fascinating, tragic and admirable history of
Catholic women in religious orders over 2000 years...When the
institutional church remains hostile to feminism, and secular
feminists tend to see religion as unrelieved oppression of women,
it is a genuine service to have compiled this record of the iron
will, society-building achievements, and fertile influence of these
determined, inspired women--women whose faith cracked open a space,
however small, for responsibility for the direction of their own
minds, bodies, and spirits. -- Alane Salierno Mason "Baltimore
Sun"
ÝAn¨ extraordinary book...In her preface, McNamara affectingly
declares: 'Like Voltaire, I have grown up to be a secular humanist,
yet, like him, I must concede that all I am I owe to my Catholic
education.' It has served her--and her readers, including this
one--very well. -- Jaroslav Pelikan "New Republic"
ÝA¨ mammoth study...Ýand an¨ engrossing and challenging work...Ms.
McNamara gives us a history of women's rights--and the lack of
them--by focusing on women religious since the birth of
Christ...ÝIt is¨ a magnificent achievement...Ms. McNamara has made
an inspiring chronicle of Ýnuns'¨ struggles. -- Antonia Fraser "New
York Times Book Review"
ÝA¨ remarkable story--truly of epic proportions...The book is a
"tour de force..".No book in the library has told the whole rich
story Ýof Catholic nuns¨ as soundly and intelligently as this one
does; and for that Jo Ann Kay McNamara deserves our undying
gratitude.
ÝA¨ sweeping and scholarly work...Ýthat's¨ fascinating and
carefully researched..."Sisters in Arms" is likely to be for some
time the definitive history of Catholic religious women in the
West. -- Mary N. MacDonald "America"
ÝMcNamara's¨ knowledge of nuns is encyclopaedic...The story Ýtold
in this book¨ is...fascinating. Professor McNamara may be a secular
humanist but she has the generosity to recognise that Christianity
transformed the status of women in the Western world. -- John
Keegan "Daily Telegraph"
ÝMcNamara's¨ topic has both vast dimensions and profound
implications. -- Karen M. Kennelly "National Catholic Reporter"
A scholarly and sweeping review of early apostolic, medieval, and
modern religious women.
McNamara...knows how to make complex issues clear for a general
audience. Throughout her ambitious narrative she pays close
attention to the scholarly literature. But she does not allow the
apparatus of scholarship to banish her own feminist point of view,
or to overwhelm the story. What comes across most strongly in
"Sisters in Arms" is the extraordinary tenacity of religious
commitment women have made to the Church over the centuries, and
the great difficulties they have faced in expressing a female point
of view within an institution dominated by men...Readers...will be
rewarded with vivid reminders of the many ways that the problem of
gender has been dealt with throughout Western history. More than a
history of nuns, "Sisters in Arms" is a survey of how the Roman
Catholic tradition has confronted the ever-present question of how
to conceptualize the relationship between men and women.
McNamara's fascinating guide through the lives and work of Catholic
nuns over the last two thousand years reveals both the successes
and failures of these women who have played such significant roles
in the history of the Catholic church.
Original sources and archives are excavated Ýhere¨ to find the
hidden story of women who, voluntarily and involuntarily, took the
veil. Ms McNamara has achieved a balance between impressive
academic research (there are over one thousand detailed references)
and a book for the general readership that gives Catholic
sisterhood a distinct historical identity. The extent and variety
of sisterhood revealed by Ms McNamara's research is staggering. --
Gina Menzies "Irish Times"
To narrate two millennia of history in a single volume that is both
comprehensive and accessible is no easy task, but McNamara succeeds
admirably...A readably and compelling account of institutions and
structures that have defined and been defined by women in the Roman
Catholic Church from its origins.
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