reached particular complexity in convents that had both male and female communities,
such as Fontevrault and Saint-Louis-de-Poissy.
During the 13th century, the requirements of strict enclosure became increasingly rigid
and universal; Poor Clares were known as among the most austere and enclosed of the
female orders, even though their churches were open to the lay public. The revival and
reaffirmation of strict enclosure, which culminated in Boniface VIII’s bull Periculoso of
1298 and were to a large extent based on the rule of the Poor Clares, universalized
regulations concerning convents. The abbeys had to incorporate new strictures
concerning barriers, turning wheels, grills, and gates that would ensure the separation of
women from the out-side world while allowing necessary supplies to be sent to the
community. In some orders, such as the Cistercians, which prohibited the public from
access to the church, the issues of enclosure were in some respects simplified: the
churches of Cistercian women were often small chapels or simple rectangular structures,
rarely with aisles or transepts. The only separations that were required were thus those
between the clergy and the nuns. On the other hand, the churches at Fontevrault and
Poissy, as well as many Clarissan convents, had to accommodate both male and female
monastic communities, as well as the lay public and the clergy. These multiple audiences
would have led to a series of screens or spatial divisions that are as yet imperfectly
understood. It is evident, however, that as a result of enclosure women religious often
could not see the altar or had only a partial view and could therefore not participate
visually in the Mass, and in particular the elevation of the host.
Caroline A.Bruzelius
[See also: CAESARIUS OF ARLES; FONTEVRAULT; FRANCISCAN ORDER;
MENDICANT ART AND ARCHITECTURE; NUNNERIES; WOMEN, RELIGIOUS
EXPERIENCE OF]
de Fontette, M. Les religieuses à l’âge classique du droit canon: recherches sur les structures
juridiques des branches féminines des ordres. Paris: Vrin, 1967.
Desmarchelier, M. “L’architecture des églises des moniales cisterciennes: essai de classement de
différents types de plans.” In Mélanges à la mémoire du père Anselme Dimier, ed. Benoit
Chauvin. 3 vols. in 6 parts. Pupillin, Arbois: Chauvin, 1982–87, Vol. 3, part 5, pp. 79–121.
Gesta 31.4 (1992). [Entire issue dedicated to convent architecture.]
CONVENTS
. See NUNNERIES
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 496