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The Conversation USA

Butchers, bakers, candlestick-makers − and prostitutes: The women working behind the scenes in papal Avignon

  • Written by Joelle Rollo-Koster, Professor of Medieval History, University of Rhode Island
imageThe papal palace in Avignon, where the pope's court was based for much of the 14th century.Jean-Marc Rosier from http://www.rosier.pro/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

In the medieval church, women’s roles were limited – usually some form of enclosure and celibacy, such as becoming an anchoress walled up alone for life, or a nun in a classic...

Read more: Butchers, bakers, candlestick-makers − and prostitutes: The women working behind the scenes in...

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