A Bishop in the Cloisters: The Visitations of Mathias Hovius (Malines, 1596-1620)
This article addresses the broad problem of the mechanics of reform by focusing on the relationship between a bishop and the female religious of a single diocese. After establishing the special context and conditions of the Spanish Netherlands, we move to extensive analysis of the institution of the...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
1991
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 1991, Volume: 22, Issue: 4, Pages: 611-639 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
Non-electronic |
| Summary: | This article addresses the broad problem of the mechanics of reform by focusing on the relationship between a bishop and the female religious of a single diocese. After establishing the special context and conditions of the Spanish Netherlands, we move to extensive analysis of the institution of the visitation and the contents of the visitation reports. A central theme is that the success of monastic reform depended greatly on the ability of both parties to compromise: the bishop had authority to command as he pleased, but because of limitations in his own bureaucracy and stubbornly held traditions among the sisters, he had greater chance of succeeding if he implemented realistic guidelines and cultivated alliances with the reform-minded members of a particular house. Besides seeking to promote understanding of the regulars after Trent, the evidence and conclusions also support the wider idea that reform ought to be seen as a process that hinged on and took shape through interaction among groups, rather than as an arbitrary imposition from the top down. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/2542368 |