A Convent Tale

A Century of Sisterhood in Spanish Milan

By: P. Renee Baernstein

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Hardcover | 6 September 2002 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
294 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.75

Hardcover

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Cloistered in an Italian library, leafing through dusty sixteenth-century manuscripts, historian P. Renee Baernstein stumbled on a mystery: The nuns of San Paolo, a vital part of community life in Milan, always busy with missionary or charity work, were suddenly in 1552 forced by the Inquisition to remain behind the thick stone walls of the convent. Why this abrupt clausura? How did the nuns respond to their new isolation? An absorbing work of historical reconstruction,A Convent Talepaints a rich portrait of remarkable women forced to change, adapt and survive in the Counter-reformation world of Renaissance Italy. Baernstein traces how the nuns, stripped of their mission to transform Milan into a New Jerusalem, redirected their energies to securing their own families' political gain and status in the community. Female solidarity broke down, and the San Paolo convent evolved from a radical, egalitarian experiment under the charismatic leadership of the mystic Paola Antonia Negri to aprivileged palace where wealthy Milanese families sent their daughters and promoted their public image. Capturing the texture and conflict of monastic life - from dynastic battles to squabbles over who would wash the dishes -A Convent Taleshows how these forgotten daughters broke down the walls of confinement but remained captives of class and family loyalties.

Industry Reviews

"A vivid and fascinating story of a tumultuous century, a Catholic society, a contentious religious order, and an ambitious family dynasty, A Convent Tale is an exemplary history of religion and society in early modern Europe." -- R Po-chia Hsia, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History, Pennsylvania State University
"Founded as an experimental community of active, missionary women, Milan's Angelic convent eventually became something strikingly different--a cloistered bastion of gendered reform. Full of strong characters, AConvent Tale is a beautifully written book about this complex transformation." -- Kathryn Burns, author of Colonial Habits
"Recounting the turbulent history of the Angelic convent of San Paolo, A Convent Tale is boldly revisionist and a major contribution to Counter-reformation history. Richly documented, and written with passion and verve, this important book is a must-read for students of the church, Italy, and women." -- Richard L. Kagan, author of Lucrecia's Dreams
"[A] wonderful new monograph...which charts the development of the Milanese convent San Paolo from its establishment in 1535 through the tumultuous decadesof the Counter-Reformation...A Convent Tale with its beautiful writing and thick descriptions, brings to life the world these nuns inhabited." -- Sixteenth CenturyJournal

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