Visionary Women: Three Medieval Mystics Summary

To understand the Historical Source, Visionary Women: Three Medieval Mystics by Rosemary Radford Ruether you must understand the premise that women were inferior and sinful in Medieval society you must understand the root comes from the bible. In the Bible, according to the story of creation in the book of Genesis, Eve was created from Adam's rib and, due to have eaten of the forbidden fruit, she was responsible for man's removal from paradise. The creation story in the Christian church highlighted the belief that women were inferior to men, and that they were morally weaker and liable to tempt men into committing sin. However, in the church, women could hold positions of immense duty as abbesses of convents because as she states in the preface …show more content…
First to start with Hildegard of Bingen was a woman who was allowed carry out her creative powers to the greatest extent as an abbess and prophet. My first impression of the book based upon this section was the organization of the book. Even though the three women did have their sections it would help a longer introduction of medieval women roles in the Catholic Church and why was Hildegard separated from her family and what affect did that have on her to become an influential woman. Visionally the book was difficult to read solely based on the …show more content…
Julian and St. Mechthild were much shorter than the section about St. Hildegard. I feel as though that the sections should have been equal in length. However, the section about St. Mechthild of Magdeburg starts with a different feel because the author immediately draws the distinction between St. Hildegard and St. Mechthild because unlike St. Hildegard, Mechthild was far removed from the intellectual community of her mentor. I like the way this section was written better because it gave background history of the period and environment that shaped the perspectives of St. Mechthild. I like the way how she explains that St. Mechthild reflects the new concept of women’s religious life where she was more compassionate for the weak and sick. This distinction shows the changing of times and the world because it affects the visions she will tell and write