“Crowned with Many Crowns” Nuns and Their Statues in Late-Medieval Wienhausen

The crowning of statues was a common practice in medieval cloisters, but at the north German convent of Wienhausen, the golden crowns of statues were confiscated by Observant reformers after the reformation of 1469. The nuns voiced distress at the loss of these crowns and made new Marian statues wit...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bynum, Caroline W. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: The Catholic University of America Press 2015
In: The catholic historical review
Year: 2015, Volume: 101, Issue: 1, Pages: 18-40
Further subjects:B female identity
B Devotional objects
B crowns
B women’s monasticism
B Wienhausen
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The crowning of statues was a common practice in medieval cloisters, but at the north German convent of Wienhausen, the golden crowns of statues were confiscated by Observant reformers after the reformation of 1469. The nuns voiced distress at the loss of these crowns and made new Marian statues with elegant wooden crowns that were irremovable. The author puts the crowns worn by Mary in the context of the crowns worn by the nuns themselves and argues that such elaborate headdresses carried for the sisters many meanings; they include shaping female identity, signaling monastic commitment, and foreshadowing the rewards of heaven.
ISSN:1534-0708
Contains:Enthalten in: The catholic historical review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/cat.2015.0038