HIST-338 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Notre-Dame-De-Prouille Monastery, Catharism
23 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
Women were part of the dominican order almost from the very start. St. dominic established the first female chapter in 1213 at prouille in southern france; it was made up in part by noblewomen he had converted from catharism. Before he died, he had created three more houses in bologna, madrid, and rome. Dominican nuns were not itinerant preachers like the dominican friars; they remained cloistered but participated in the preaching effort by helping to produce books used by the brethren. By the 1340s, there were nearly 150 dominican convents across latin europe, women comprised more than ten percent of the overall order"s membership by the 1340s was nearly fifteen thousand. In the end, however, the authority of st. dominic"s initial desire for the order carried the day. This differed from regular run-of-the-mill poverty in that it was chosen, and was chosen for specifically religious reasons.
