Anchorites, wombs and tombs : intersections of gender and enclosure in the Middle Ages

Anchorites, Wombs and Tombs is the first edited collection dealing specifically with the phenomenon of anchoritic enclosure in the Middle Ages, both as a material practice and as a malleable discourse, not only within the context of individual withdrawal into the anchorhold but also the wider effect it had upon other established religious communities and the laity.

The essays included in the volume examine both theories and practices of enclosure, as well as the physical and metaphorical implications it presented for its adherents and their contemporaries.

In particular, the essays investigate the role played by gender in the various and shifting expressions of enclosure which predominated throughout the Middle Ages.