Books
by Mary Laven
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The Virgins of Venice |
Venice in the 16th century had more convents than any other city in Europe.....This beautifully-written book explores who the nuns were, how they got there, how they lived their lives (did you know that the first thing visitors often met on entry was chickens?) and above all the stratagems they adopted to maintain contact with the outside world as Counter Reformation policy attempted to force enclosure on them. A gem of scholarship lightly worn.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 29 April 2005) |
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Virgins of Venice: |
With the astronomical cost of Venetian wedding dowries, a much cheaper option for 'spare' daughters was for them to marry Christ instead. Subsequent convent life was made slightly more palatable by joining sisters and aunts in one of those rare institutions run and managed by the women themselves. However, legal and religious archives reveal a reputation for good living, political intrigue, less than perfect standards and becoming the inevitable focus of male fantasy and oppression . . .
(Clive Yelf - bwl 99 Winter 2021) |
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