The Daily Life of Nuns in Seventeenth-century Papal Rome: Prayers, Supernatural Events, Everyday Concerns and Violence

Abstract

The paper aims to examine the daily life of Italian Catholic nuns in Baroque Rome. During the seventeenth century, several important nunneries were founded in the Papal City. Many were established especially for women from the most important or wealthy families. Almost all of these religious communities were compelled to observe the strict enclosure. The nuns' daily life alternated between prayer, work, and visits (more or less intrusive) by aristocratic noblewomen, princesses and foreign queens; but the nunneries were also witness to events perceived as being supernatural, such as spiritual fights with the devil, along with more or less severe penances and self-flagellation. More than a few were the sisters whose holiness and excellence were celebrated by contemporary chroniclers. Nevertheless, the repetitive nature of the life in a restricted space could cause concerns, troubles, escape attempts which occasionally exploded with brutal consequences, such as brawls and even murders. This was specially linked to those nuns who were forced to profess religious vows but also to rival and opposing factions existing inside the nunneries. However, such inconveniences were carefully hidden by the ecclesiastical authorities so as not to alter the image of Roman monasteries as terrestrial paradises, in opposition to Protestants who had abolished monasticism. The paper reconstructs such a scenario looking through various documentary sources: from monastic chronicles to city chronicles; and to reports written by those who were in charge of controlling nuns, especially cardinals and Roman Curia.