Although men still called the shots, women played an active and important role in the development of the medieval church
WORDS: SPENCER MIZEN
Catherine of Siena clearly wasn’t a fan of the easy life. The Italian mystic and author could have rested on her laurels in her home town in Tuscany, where she had gained a reputation for her dedication to the sick and poor, and her ecstatic visions. Instead, she decided to embark on a mission to save the Catholic Church and bring peace to Italy.
And so, in the mid-1370s, Catherine set out to foster peace within the church, and encourage Pope Gregory XI to quit Avignon (which had been the seat of popes since 1309) and return to the papacy’s traditional home in Rome. Shortly after, Gregory entrusted Catherine with the thorny task of negotiating a peace with the rebellious city of Florence.
FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Pope Urban VI, who succeeded Gregory to the papacy in 1378, was equally reliant on Catherine’s talents. She sent out numerous letters to princes and cardinals on his behalf, calling on obedience to his new administration, and played a leading role in his efforts to reorganise the church.
Catherine didn’t succeed in all her endeavours, yet few doubt the massive impact she had on Catholicism in the late 14th century. That impact is reflected in the fact that, since her death in 1380, she has been canonised, declared a doctor of the church, and made a patron saint of Europe. It’s an impressive roll-call of honours. And it’s one that’s made all the more remarkable by the fact that Catherine of Siena was a woman.
Ever since an ancient scribe opined that, having eaten the forbidden fruit, Eve was responsible for man’s expulsion from paradise, women have had a complicated relationship with the church. For centuries, the authorities promulgated the belief that women were inferior to men; that they were morally weaker and prone to lure humanity from the path of God’s teachings.
This was certainly a popular view in the Middle Ages. By portraying the serpent in the Garden of Eden with a female head, artists left their audiences in little doubt that they held women responsible for Eve’s ‘original sin’.
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
Women’s perceived weakness may also have been reflected in seating arrangements in some medieval church services. Women attended church just as often as men (up to five times a day for prayer and at least once a week for services an
