A History of Women in Christianity to 1600 - by Hannah Matis (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book concentrates on women's experience, but it should nevertheless be a cogent summary of the major events within the history of Christianity. It does not present women and women's experience as marginal or peripheral to the main narrative of Christianity but as significant actors within it. It aims to introduce students and the more general reader to figures who are well known within specialized academic discourse but often ignored in broad-brush narratives. It attempts to synthesize often diffuse areas of scholarship into a single, easily accessible volume, and to act as a resource for teachers and clergy who are looking for an introduction to the material but do not know how to begin. Finally, it attempts to avoid over-simplified or triumphalist confessional approaches to this history. A Women's History of Christianity is an overarching, synthetic narrative of the major figures, movements, and events within the history of Christianity from its origins through the Reformation, paying particular attention to the contributions of women, their relationship with the church, and the forms their spirituality has taken. It is a balanced assessment of how women have engaged with the church, and it with them, with a particular view to showing the complexity of discourses regarding women and gender that exist within Christianity. It grounds these discourses in an analysis of broader, structural and environmental factors that have shaped women's experience of Christianity"--

Book Synopsis

An overarching history of women in the Christian Church from antiquity to the Reformation, perfect for advanced undergraduates and seminary students alike

A History of Women in Christianity to 1600 presents a continuous narrative account of women's engagement with the Christian tradition from its origins to the seventeenth century, synthesizing a diverse range of scholarship into a single, easily accessible volume. Locating significant individuals and events within their historical context, this well-balanced textbook offers an assessment of women's contributions to the development of Christian doctrine while providing insights into how structural and environmental factors have shaped women's experience of Christianity.

Written by a prominent scholar in the field, the book addresses complex discourses concerning women and gender in the Church, including topics often ignored in broad narratives of Christian history. Students will explore the ways women served in liturgical roles within the church, the experience of martyrdom for early Christian women, how the social and political roles of women changed after the fall of Rome, the importance of women in the re-evangelization of Western Europe, and more. Through twelve chapters, organized chronologically, this comprehensive text:

• Examines conceptions of sex and gender tracing back their roots to the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman culture
• Provides a unique view of key women in the Church in the Middle Ages, including the rise of women's monasticism and the impact of the Inquisition
• Compares and contrasts each of the major confessions of the Church during the Reformation
• Explores lesser-known figures from beyond the Western European tradition

A History of Women in Christianity to 1600 is an essential textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in Christian traditions, historical theology, religious studies, medieval history, Reformation history, and gender history, as well as an invaluable resource for seminary students and scholars in the field.

From the Back Cover

A History of Women in Christianity to 1600 presents an overarching narrative account of women in the Church from the origins of the faith to the seventeenth century. Synthesizing diverse contemporary scholarship into a single, easily accessible volume, author Hannah Matis assesses the role of women in the development of Christian doctrine, and examines how structural and environmental factors have shaped women's engagement with Christianity.

This unique textbook covers topics often ignored in broad narratives of Christian history, such as the experience of women in the Church during the Middle Ages, and the contributions of lesser-known figures from beyond the western European tradition. Locating significant individuals and events within their historical context, the book delves into the conceptions of sex and gender tracing back their roots to the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman culture. Readers will explore a spectrum of complex discourses concerning women and gender in the Church, the martyrdom of early Christian women, how the fall of Rome changed the social, political, and liturgical roles of women, the contrasting positions of major confessions of the Church during the Reformation, and more.

Perfect for advanced undergraduates and seminary students alike, A History of Women in Christianity to 1600 is an excellent textbook for courses in Christian traditions, historical theology, religious studies, medieval history, Reformation history, and gender history.

Review Quotes

"This lucid, informative, eminently readable history of women in pre-modern Christian history is a gem."
--Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, 78(3), 2024

"History of Women is appropriate for a book study group or as a college or graduate school textbook."
--Anglican & Episcopal History, Volume 93, Number 2, June 2024

About the Author

HANNAH MATIS is Associate Professor of Church History at Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Her areas of expertise include Carolingian biblical interpretation, late antiquity and medieval history, Reformation history, Anglican studies, the history of spirituality, and the religious experience of women within the Christian tradition. She is the author of The Song of Songs in the Early Middle Ages (2019).