BETWEEN FRIARS AND NUNS: THE RELATIONSHIPS OF RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN IN JOHANNES MEYER’S BUCH DER REFORMACIO PREDIGERORDENS

Abstract

The article discusses how the relationships between religious men and women were discussed in the ‘Buch der Reformacio Predigerordens’ written by an Observant Dominican reformer Johannes Meyer around 1468. Though the general attitude during the late fifteenth century seemed to emphasize authority and control by men, the relationships between confessors and nuns were described in other ways as well. Meyer’s work offers the possibility of understanding the varieties of interaction and also, at least partly, everyday interaction in religious communities. The theme of relationships is approached from three different perspectives, starting with the conflicts between friars and nuns, and moving on to their co-operation. In the final section the possibility of friendship between religious authorities and women is discussed. In conclusion, it can be said that Meyer positioned himself between the friars and the nuns. He drew on texts written by women and men and integrated them into new compilations. Also, in his discussion of the relationships between male superiors and women under their auspices Meyer placed himself somewhere in between these two parties. He understood the needs of nuns, and also that the reality in monasteries could differ from the ideals of rules and constitutions.