The pious women who sealed themselves inside churches

The life of an anchoress was certainly an extreme one. Bricked inside a small room, forced to dig their own graves, considered already dead… that's the story of the anchoress' lives that you might have heard about. But how much of it was really true? In this video, we try to think like a medieval lady so we can understand why anyone would choose this solitary way of life. Was it a way to escape medieval expectations for women or was there more to it? Did their anchorholds actually have no door!??

We meet anchoress Julian of Norwich, traveller Margery of Kempe and other devote women. We read some obscure Middle English literature. We consider medieval culture. And we discover some surprises along the way. Although they were officially recluses, anchoresses could also be well-known people who were relied on for advice and counsel. They were writers and thinkers and sometimes they were scandalous!

[0:48] Julian of Norwich, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich (Medieval Institute Publications: Michigan, 1994), 1:41-2, TEAMS, https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/publication/crampton-shewings-of-julian-norwich

[1:14] 'Psalms, hearing confession and blessing penitents', Additional 89379, f. 62, North of England, c. 1275-1300, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=19516&CollID=27&NStart=89379

[1:29] 'Bishop', Lansdowne 451 f. 76v, England, c. 1400-1425, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7299&CollID=15&NStart=451

[1:38] 'Enclosure of an anchorite by a bishop', Cambridge Corpus Christi College, MS 079: Pontifical, f. 95v, England, c. 1300 - 1499, Parker Library on the Web, https://parker.stanford.edu/parker/catalog/tx112pf2826

[3:30] 'Christine de Pizan: The Book of the Queen', Harley MS 4431, f. 4r, France, c 1410-c 1414, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_4431

[4:32] 'Yvain fighting Gawain', Garrett MS. no. 125, c. 1295, Princeton University Library, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ywain-Gawain.JPG

[4:38] Edmund Blair Leighton, 'God Speed', oil on canvas, 1900

[7:30] 'Saint Hedwig and the New Convent; Nuns from Bamberg Settling at the New Convent', MS Ludwig XI 7 (83.MN.126), fol. 56, Poland, 1353, The J Paul Getty Museum, https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/4032/unknown-maker-saint-hedwig-and-the-new-convent-nuns-from-bamberg-settling-at-the-new-convent-silesian-1353/

[7:38] '100 Lewes Women # 39 – The Anchoress of St Anne's', Vote100Lewes, https://vote100lewes.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/100-lewes-women-39-the-anchoress-of-st-annes/

[7:50] 'A representation of Pope Boniface VIII and his cardinals', Additional MS 23923, f. 1r, c. 1375-1400, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/the-middle-ages/articles/church-in-the-middle-ages-from-dedication-to-dissent

[7:55] Hetta Howes, 'Sociable Solitude in the Medieval Anchorhold', Solitudes: Past and Present, 23 Jun 2019, https://solitudes.qmul.ac.uk/blog/sociable-solitude-in-the-medieval-anchorhold/

[8:02] John Leech, 'Henry VIII Monk Hunting', Comic History of England, coloured etching, 1850, private collection, https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/leech/henry-viii-monk-hunting-comic-history-of-england-colored-etching-by-john-leech-1850/nomedium/asset/939347

[8:24] Hetta Howes, 'Sociable Solitude in the Medieval Anchorhold', Solitudes: Past and Present, 23 Jun 2019, https://solitudes.qmul.ac.uk/blog/sociable-solitude-in-the-medieval-anchorhold/

[8:30] 'Christ and a praying Dominican nun', MS 136, f. 3v, Unterlinden, c. 14th century, Bibliotheque de la Ville, Colmar, France, http://www.gutenberg-e.org/lindgren/detail/BVC-136-f3v-Christ-Nun.html

[9:05] Hetta Howes, 'Sociable Solitude in the Medieval Anchorhold', Solitudes: Past and Present, 23 Jun 2019, https://solitudes.qmul.ac.uk/blog/sociable-solitude-in-the-medieval-anchorhold/

[9:20] AK Warren, Anchorites and their Patrons in Medieval England (University of California Press: London, 1985) p. 19

[9:30] 'Coniugium(Marriage)', Royal 6 E VI f. 375, South East England, c. 1360-c. 1375, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=40319

[9:42] 'Lewd hermit', Yates Thompson 13 f. 177, South East England, c. 1325-1350, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=29284

[11:05] 'Woman, wearing headdress, kneels with joined hands raised, before half-figure of Virgin Mary', MS Pierpont Morgan Library M.62 f. 155v, France, c. 1500, The Morgan Library and Museum, http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/46/77017

[12:15] Lauren McIntyre and Graham Bruce, 'Excavating All Saint’s: a Medieval church rediscovered', Current Archeology 245 (2010): 30-37

[13:27] 'Richard Beauchamp holding Henry V', Additional MS 48976, f. 6ar, England, c. 1483, British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_48976_f001ar#

[13:57] Andreas Rockstein, 'Disibodenberg reconstruction', 1986, https://commons.wikimedia.org/Wiki/File:Disibodenberg_Rekonstruktion.jpg

[14:02] Hildegard von Bingen

[14:14] 'Eight-year-old Hildegard von Bingen (center) is brought to Jutta von Sponheim', https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JDie_achtj%C3%A4hrige_Hildegard_von_Bingen_(Mitte)wird_zu_Jutta_von_Sponheim(Mitte_rechts)_auf_den_Disibodenberg_gebracht.jpg

[15:11] 'The Anchoresses', Walsingham Anglican Archives, https://www.walsinghamanglicanarchives.org.uk/anchoresses.htm

Quick links:

'Ancrene Wisse', British Library, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/ancrene-wisse

'The life of an anchoress', British Library, https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/the-life-of-the-anchoress

Megan J. Hall, 'Buried Alive?', Medieval Studies Research Blog, 23 April 2015, https://sites.nd.edu/manuscript-studies/tag/anchorhold/

'The anchorhold', The Benefice of South and West Lynn, https://www.southandwestlynn.org.uk/the-anchorhold.html

Mari Hughes-Edwards, 'Solitude and Sociability: The World of the Medieval Anchorite', Building Conservation, https://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/anchorites/anchorites.htm

Alicia Smith, 'A day as an anchorite', History Matters: History Brought Alie by the University of Sheffield, 17 Oct 2018, http://www.historymatters.group.shef.ac.uk/day-anchorite/

'Those who pray, those who work, those who fight', Medievalists, https://www.medievalists.net/2016/01/those-who-pray-those-who-work-those-who-fight/

Longer links:

Liz Herbert McAvoy, 'Uncovering the "saintly Anchoress": myths of Medieval anchoritism and the reclusion of Katharine de Audley', Women's History Review, vol. 22.5 (2013)

Ancrene Wisse (Medieval Institute Publications: Michigan, 2000) TEAMS, https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/publication/hasenfratz-ancrene-wisse

Julian of Norwich, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich (Medieval Institute Publications: Michigan, 1994) TEAMS, https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/publication/crampton-shewings-of-julian-norwich

AK Warren, Anchorites and their Patrons in Medieval England (University of California Press: London, 1985)