Patronage and Practice: Assessing the Significance of the English Convents as Cultural Centres in Flanders in the Seventeenth Century

The English convents founded in exile from 1598 rapidly became important cultural centres. They generated and supported a number of initiatives in the course of creating a well-regarded monastic life for English women. Although remaining essentially English institutions, nevertheless their situation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:English studies 2011-08, Vol.92 (5), p.483-495
Main Author: Bowden, Caroline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Convents
Cultural centers
European studies
Nuns
Women
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Summary:The English convents founded in exile from 1598 rapidly became important cultural centres. They generated and supported a number of initiatives in the course of creating a well-regarded monastic life for English women. Although remaining essentially English institutions, nevertheless their situation in exile drew them into the orbit of local influences. For instance, their buildings were mostly designed and built by local craftsmen using local materials: they needed printed texts in English, Latin and French printed locally. Convent chapels were liminal spaces where visitors attended Mass at the same time as the nuns, although positioned separately. These chapels were the focus of the liturgy and of many donations. They became highly decorated and at the same time displayed benefactions given to the nuns to a wider audience. This paper is a preliminary attempt to consider cultural interchanges between the English convents in Flanders and their neighbours in the seventeenth century.
ISSN:0013-838X
1744-4217
DOI:10.1080/0013838X.2011.584741