An Anchoress in the Middle Ages

Much as Christina of Markyate concealed herself away in the hermitage of Roger, anchoresses in the Middle Ages would live a life of piety and prayer, closing themselves into an anchorhold within a church, alone and yet not away from people, being “anchored” close to the church visitors. In fact, Ancrene Wisse, the prescriptive rulebook on being an anchoress, highlights the fact that they were, at least in theory, supposed to have one window through which they could communicate with the public, offering up their knowledge as a devoted and wise servant of Christ. In some ways, rather than a “recluse,” it appears anchoresses may have been more like storehouses of spirituality, confined for the sake of preserving their spirituality but not unapproachable by the outside world. In addition, perhaps, such accessibility, which differed from those who chose to live off in remote areas of nature, like hermits, gave them a more influential role in society. In addition, they were permitted to have one window for an “assistant,” whose role, in whatever capacity her or she served, as under the command of the anchoress shows an anchoress’ authority at the time. The fact that there were expected to be even more than one window represents the idea that anchoresses were an integral part to the church, needing to participate at certain times via the windows. However, the life of an anchoress was more than likely still spent much in isolation and within close quarters, which shows finding agency in a patriarchal world was not always the most comfortable or easy path. On the other hand, the isolation would have helped in establishing an anchoress’ independence, a valuable asset to her agency. The life an anchoress chose was simultaneously situated within an urban and patriarchal world, yet permitted her to escape from and interact with it at her own will (based on her windows).

 

http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/medieval/julian/anchoress.htm


Picture: Plaque at a church in Shere, Surrey, England.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anchoress_of_shere.jpg



View of an Anchorhold from outside attached to All Saints' Church, King's Lynn in Norfolk, UK.
http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/Winstead2/716/AllSts/extne.jpg