Forgetful of Their Sex: Female Sanctity and Society, ca. 500-1100

by Jane Tibbetts Schulenburg

In this remarkable study of over 2,200 female and male saints, Jane Schulenburg explores women's status and experience in early medieval society and in the Church by examining factors such as family wealth and power, patronage, monasticism, virginity, and motherhood. The result is a unique depiction of the lives of these strong, creative, independent-minded women who achieved a visibility in their society that led to recognition of sanctity.

"A tremendous piece of scholarship. . . . This journey through more than 2,000 saints is anything but dull. Along the way, Schulenburg informs our ideas regarding the role of saints in the medieval psyche, gender-specific identification, and the heroics of virginity." — Library Journal

"[This book] will be a kind of 'roots' experience for some readers. They will hear the voices, haunted and haunting, of their distant ancestors and understand more about themselves." — Christian Science Monitor

"This fascinating book reaches far beyond the history of Christianity to recreate the 'herstory' of a whole gender." —Kate Saunders, The Independent

Genres: History, Medieval, Religion, Nonfiction, Womens, Medieval History

595 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Hazel Savenay]

i already wrote a review but it disappeared who cares thanks jane for best book on female sanctity in medieval europe that ive read and ive read a few, caroline bynums are great as well but this was so detailed without boring me.

[Highlyeccentric]

Very dense. Haven't read all chapters.