English Women's Spiritual Utopias, 1400-1700: New Kingdoms of Womanhood

English Womens Spiritual Utopias,1400-1700: New Kingdoms of Womanhood explores a tradition of womens utopianism that extends back to medieval womens monasticism, overturning accounts of utopia that trace its origins solely to Thomas More. Convent-based utopianism influenced the first English womens literary utopias, forging a mode of utopia that drew on the past to imagine new possibilities for themselves and their communities.

Format: Hardback
Length: 223 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2022
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

English Womens Spiritual Utopias,1400-1700: New Kingdoms of Womanhood delves into a rich tradition of women's utopianism that traces its roots back to medieval women's monasticism, challenging the notion that utopianism originated solely with Thomas More. Medieval and early modern convents, as enclosed spaces where women held authority beyond their societal roles, consciously reworked cultural heritage to project desired proto-feminist futures. The utopianism nurtured within English convents spilled over to unenclosed women's spiritual communities, such as Mary Ward's Institute of the Blessed Virgin and the Ferrar family at Little Gidding. Convent-based utopianism also exerted an unrecognized influence on the early English women's literary utopias written by authors like Margaret Cavendish and Mary Astell. Collectively, these female communities forged a unique utopian mode that drew on the past to envision new possibilities for themselves and their broader religious and political communities. Spanning a 300-year trajectory, New Kingdoms offers a groundbreaking history of medieval and early modern women's intellectual endeavors and broadens the concept of utopia itself.

Weight: 442g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031009167
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022