From the Cloister to the State

From the Cloister to the State examines the French order of Fontevraud, one of the largest monastic network under female leadership in medieval and early modern Europe. It is essential reading for scholars and students of medieval and early modern history.

Annalena Müller holds a Master's degree from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a PhD from Yale University. She works at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where she is the recipient of a Swiss National Science Foundation Ambizione Grant.

Introduction Part I: Re-shaping the Myth 1. 1642 or: The Making of Abbatial Absolutism 2. Robert of Arbrissel Revisited 3. Establishing Fontevraud, c. 1001-1149 Part II: Fontevraud and the Making of Bourbon France 4. From a Monastic Network in Decline to a Geopolitical Asset, c. 1150-1457 5. Religious Geopolitics and Geopolitical Religion - Fontevraud in a Changing World Part III: Forming and Re-Forming Fontevraud 6. Revising the Rule and Early Reform (1457-1491) 7. Re-Forming Fontevraud (1503-1534) 8. Re-Building Fontevraud Conclusion