Conclusion

This book has examined the consistent vitality of female abbatial authority within one unusual community over the course of a millennium. In 2005, as a graduate student, I had the privilege of spending time at the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians discussing this project with Jo Ann McNamara. When I mentioned that the abbey of Sainte-Croix did not fit the pattern she and Penelope Johnson had discussed, she said “of course not, it’s Sainte-Croix!” Since this abbey was wealthier, better supported, and better managed than most other abbeys, she declared it an exception, one whose inclusion in larger narratives could not shift our understanding of medieval monasticism. This conversation fits well with the current “beyond exceptionalism” discussion taking place in studies of aristocratic and powerful women; it also was one I thought about often as a student. While Sainte-Croix was unusually wealthy, well supported, and well managed, it was not so exceptional that other abbeys could not or did not follow its model. Sherri Franks Johnson observed that nuns were quite aware of other female communities and able to draw on them as models or partners....