Why Nuns Aren't Funny

• Published in: The Sixteenth century journal Vol. 50; no. 1; p. 69
• Main Author: Lehfeldt, Elizabeth A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago University of Chicago Press 01.03.2019
• Subjects: 16th century; Convents; Early modern period; Historiography; Monasteries; Morality; Nuns; Religious history; Womens history
• DOI: 10.1086/SCJ5001010
• ISSN: 0361-0160

The past twenty-five years have witnessed a virtual explosion in the scholarship on early modern convents and nuns. Various historiographical trends fueled this outpouring. In addition, an analysis of cultural production within the convent was a significant factor in focusing attention on female monasticism. Particularly critical for this essay, however, is the role played by women's history. Women's history was a seemingly natural but not necessarily automatic fit for the study of convents and women religious. As a result, the methodology of women's history had consequences for how historians portrayed and understood the role and significance of nuns in this era.