Beatrice's world : the rise of Cistercian nunneries in the bishoprics of Liège and Cambrai

Beatrice of Nazareth was but one of many women from the southern Low Countries who chose a religious life in the Cistercian Order. In the first half of the thirteenth century, this region experienced a genuine boom of Cistercian nunneries. This paper studies the rise of these Cistercian nunneries in the bishoprics of Liège and Cambrai. First, it examines the origins of the nunneries and the role of contemplation in the nuns’ life. It also investigates the motives of the founder(s) and the role played by local ‘managers’ in charge of the practical establishment of a new community. Finally, it addresses the nunneries’ relation to the Cistercian Order and lays bare the difficulties that Cistercian women faced by the middle of the century. The resulting picture not only gives insight into the rise and stagnation of Cistercian nunneries in Liège and Cambrai, but it also helps to better understand the world in which Beatrice of Nazareth lived