Gender, Catholicism, Women’s Spirituality over the Longue Durée

International audienceThis volume emerged from the realization that the history of women religious was attracting the interest of an increasing number of scholars. We noticed the steady growth of the History of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland (H-WRBI), a network of scholars initiated by Carmen Mangion and Caroline Bowden in 2001 to encourage research in the history of women religious. 2 Their annual conferences are consistently well-attended and gather scholars from all parts of the globe. Recently, other major conferences have testified to the vigour of research in women's spirituality. We have already mentioned Claire Renkin and Katherine Massam's 2007 conference in Melbourne (Australia), focusing on 'The Spirituality of Religious Women: From the Old World to the Antipodes, 1400-1900'. In 2009, Sarah Apetrei and Hannah Smith organised a conference on 'Women and Religion in Britain c. 1660-1760 in Oxford (UK), while Laurence Lux-Sterritt and Claire Sorin welcomed over forty speakers from thirteen countries to speak on 'Women and Spirituality' in Aix-en-Provence (France). Noticing the efflorescence of research in this field did, in turn, raise questions on how to place our own work within the history of European Catholic women's spirituality over the longue durée. We became curious about overarching themes which could apply to the study of female roles within the Catholic Church in the varied circumstances of their countrie