Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: Pious Widowhood in the Middle Ages
1. Creating the Widow in the Early Church
2. The Widow and the Cloister: Early Medieval Hagiography
3. The Veil and the Vow: Professed Widowhood in Canon Law and Liturgical Manuscripts
4. Chaste Widows and Penitential Ethos in Later Medieval Hagiography
5. Managing the Matron: Widowhood in Medieval Sermon Literature
6. Reading Widows: Grief, Memory, and the Parody of Chaste Widowhood in Medieval Literature
7. Like a Picture before the Eyes: Transitions to the Early Modern World
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index