"During the high Middle Ages many of the devout really did address Jesus as mother and depict their devotion to him in feminine imagery. And not all of these were women . . . . Don't expect a whole volume on this one topic, however . . . . this book contains four other rich and erudite essays on medieval spirituality: one concerning similarities and differences between clerical and monastic spirituality in the 12th century, another on the Cistercian concept of community, a third devoted to the much-debated question of whether the 12th century anticipated the Renaissance in the discovery of the individual, and a fourth explaining the mystical piety of the nuns of Helfta ... in the context of the burgeoning clericalization of the church."--Christian Century "Painstakingly researched and beautifully written. Bynum gives medieval texts a new reading, presents some important women's religious history and, most importantly, gives us a way to compare practices and values of monastic females and males."--Commonweal "First rate and deepens understanding of spirituality as well as of the particular period which Professor Bynum has chosen as her special domain."--Adnos "A collection of careful and serious essays by a discriminating scholar . . . The author has taken care to reconstruct the individual essays so that they form abook of distinction."--Times Literary Supplement

Caroline Walker Bynum is Western Medieval History, Professor Emerita, School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study.