AUTHORITATIVE LETTERS JEANNE DE CHANTAL AND FEMININE AUTHORITY IN THE EARLY MODERN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Genre
Thesis/DissertationDate
2014Author
Davis, Elisabeth ClaireAdvisor
Krueger, RitaCommittee member
Levitt, Laura, 1960-Department
HistorySubject
HistoryHistory, European
Women's Studies
Confessor/penitent Letters
Early Modern Catholicism
Early Modern Convents
Early Modern Nuns
Early Modern Women
Jeanne De Chantal
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/2759Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/2741Abstract
The early modern period of a time of religious renewal and upheaval that resulted in a wealth of new religious orders, particularly those for women. During this period of change, Catholic women responded to the threat of Protestantism by adapting the convent to their own needs. One of the most successful orders for women was the Congregation of the Visitation, founded by Jeanne de Chantal and François de Sales. The history of the Visitation tends to focus on de Sales rather than its cofounder de Chantal. This thesis attempts to reconcile this omission, detailing de Chantal's ability to demonstrate and enact her authority through the mode of letters. In doing so, this paper enters into a conversation on religious revival in the early modern period by illustrating the porous nature of the early modern convent and the role women had in shaping early modern religiosity.ADA compliance
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