I am delighted to be joining Durham University as an
IMEMS Library Fellow in April and May. During my time there I will be researching a project entitled 'Mysticism among the English Poor Clares, 1580-1680'.
The project will engage with the remains of the library of English Poor Clares, first donated to
Durham in 2007. It will explore the devotional and mystical works preserved in the
collection, focusing especially on print and manuscript material from the seventeenth century. While
much scholarly work has focused on the mysticism of contemporary monastic communities of
Benedictines and Carmelites in the seventeenth century, little attention has been given to the works
read and produced by the communities of English Poor Clares.
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| Fresco of Saint Clare and nuns of her Order |
The project proposes that the Poor
Clares represent a unique case among female monastic communities, with their library containing
works of spiritual direction by Benedictine, Carmelite, Jesuit and Augustinian confessors and authors.
Exploring the contents of the collection, as well as the ownership marks and marginalia of individual
works, will reveal the richly diverse spirituality of the nuns. It will also shed new light on the
interconnected nature of spiritual direction in the seventeenth century, with the Durham collection
suggesting devotional material initially directed towards one community of nuns quickly transcended
such confines and found popularity with secondary audiences in other convents.
Material gathered at Durham will inform a journal article on mysticism in early modern convents. I am also hoping it will inform a British Academy Small Research Grant in the near future. I am incredibly grateful to Durham for awarding me such a prestigious fellowship and look forward to a month of detailed research in their libraries!
