Women's monasticism in late medieval Bologna, 1200-1500 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Johnson, Sherri Franks Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 06:34:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/290074 WOMEN'S MONASTICISM IN LATE MEDIEVAL BOLOGNA, 1200-1500 by Slierri Franks Johnson © Sherri Franks Johnson 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2004 UMI Number: 3132234 Copyright 2004 by Johnson, Sherri Franks All rights reserved. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 The University of Arizona Graduate College As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Sherri Franks Johnson and rccommend that it be accepted as fiilfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of D^tor of Philoso-fthy ^ 0':> Alan E. Bernstein date :IL Helen Jteder ^ date^ Alison Futrell datc date date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the iinal copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fixlfiiling the dissertation requirement. Dissertation Director: ' Alan E Bernstein ''date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I appreciate the training and support I have received from the professors who have guided me through my coursework and the dissertation process. Alan Bernstein is a wonderful mentor. I admire his enthusiasm for leaming and for teaching, and the breadth of his knowledge and interests. Alison Futrell is a dynamic teacher and scholar, as well as a friend and advocate of graduate students. 1 also am grateful for the direction I have gotten from Helen Nader, who has a knack for asking the right questions to get students to focus on what is important about their work, and from whom I have learned a great deal. I thank all three of my committee members for their generosity with their time and their expertise. Though he was not on my committee, Piotr Gorecki read and commented on chapters and was a source of encouragement as I wrote my dissertation in Riverside, California. Gabriella Zarri set me on the right path as I began my archival research in Bologna. I have also benefited from the community of graduate students at the University of Arizona. Conversations with Laura Shelton, Catherine Pomerleau, Jerry Pierce, and Jcanine Bruening have helped me to develop my ideas, and 1 have enjoyed leaming about their work as well. I also appreciate the friendship and hospitality of Jodie Kreider and Paula Smith-Hawkins. My husband, Martin Johnson, makes me want to do my best work because of his confidence in me. He was the nuns' greatest advocate during the inevitable days of doubt during the course of writing a dissertation. He is my partner and best friend. My parents, A1 and Barbara Franks, instilled in me a love of leaming and a sense of adventure. They taught me to set high goals and to persevere in achieving them, which has been made easier by the knowledge that I have their love and their support. My in-laws, Guy and Vivian Johnson, also deserve thanks. T consider Vivian my fourth committee member because of her interest and encouragement. Finally, I want to remember and thank my grandfather. Nelson Dozier, who passed away just as I finished my archival research. He spent his life as a teacher, and set an example of lifelong leaming for all who knew him. DEDICATION For my husband, Martin Johnson, in honor of Barbara and Ai Franks, and in memory of Nelson Dozier. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES... ............................9 ABSTRACT 10 INTRODUCTION................................................. .....11 CHAPTER 1: BOLOGNA'S CIVIC AND RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 21 Bologna between Papacy and Empire 22 The consulate and the communal government. 24 The city, the bishops, and the university in the 13"' century. 28 Frederick II and the Second Lombard League ....30 The communal govemment and expansion of the monastic community. 31 Factional struggle between the Geremei and Lambertazzi. 38 Civic religion and lay piety in Bologna: San Petronio and the Madonna di San Luca. 42 Religious movements as responses to factionalism and war. 44 The rise of the Bentivoglio. .49 The Bentivoglio and religious patronage. 50 Conclusions. .52 CHAPTER 2: RULES, CONSTITUTIONS AND ORDERS 54 Benedict and Augustine. 60 Benedict's Rule and Carolingian reform. 60 Cluny and Citeaux. 63 Women in the Cluniac and Cistercian movements. 68 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued The discover}' of Augustine's "Rule" and rise of Canons Regular ..70 The Fourth Lateran Council and the emergence of the mendicants.................72 The Franciscans. 74 Clare of Assisi and her Order. .78 The Dominicans ..84 The "Second Order" of Dominicans ...88 Auguslinians 89 Conclusions ....91 CHAPTER 3: EARLY THIRTEENTH CENTURY FOUNDATIONS IN BOLOGNA 94 Religious movements in Europe .97 Hermitesses in Bologna. ...103 S. Caterina and its congregation. ...112 Conclusions. ........118 CHAPTER 4: NUNNERIES AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS IN BOLOGNA 120 Dominican houses in Bologna. 124 Other Orders. 144 Conclusions. ....154 CHAPTER 5: MOVEMENT INTO THE CITY. 156 Physical layout of Bologna. 162 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued The thirteeBth century and inurbimento. .....164 The relationship between old property and new nunneries.........................176 Fleeing wars in the contado. ..180 Conclusions 186 CHAPTER6: UNIONS AND SUPPRESSIONS ......................189 S. Guglielino 192 Cardinal Bertrand de Pouget's suppressions of nunneries 193 S. Maria di Pontemaggiore..............................................................200 Late fifteenth-century unions ....203 Conclusions. 212 CONCLUSION 214 WORKS CITED 218 9 LIST OF TABLES Table LI, Communal donations to religious organizations ....................34 Table 1.2, Property value of religious houses in Florence................................... ..36 Table 5.1, Total number of nunneries in Bologna by location 161 Table 5.2, Change in number of nunneries by location. 161 10 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the fluid relationship between monastic women and religious orders. I examine the roles of popes and their representatives, governing bodies of religious orders, and the nunneries themselves in outlining the contours of those relationships. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, many emerging religious communities belonged to small, local groups with loose ties to other nearby houses. While independent houses or regional congregations were acceptable at the time of the formation of these convents, after the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, monastic houses were required to follow one of three monastic rules and to belong to a recognized order with a well-defined administrative structure and mechanisms for enforcing uniformity of practice. This program of monastic reform had mixed success. Though some nunneries attained official incorporation into monastic or mendicant orders due to papal intervention, the governing bodies of these orders were reluctant to take on the responsibility of providing temporal and spiritual guidance to nuns, and for most nunneries the relationship to an order remained unofficial and loosely defined. The continuing instability of order affiliation and identity becomes especially clear in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when war-related destruction forced many nunneries to move into the walled area of the city, often resulting in unions of houses that did not share a rule and order affiliation. Moreover, some individual houses changed rules and orders several times. Though a few local houses of religious women had a strong and durable identification with their order, for many nunneries,