Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Ursulines

2013; Iter Press; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/obo/9780195399301-0040

2293-7374

Querciolo Mazzonis,

Diabetes Management and Research

The Ursulines’ history began in 1535 in Brescia (in northern Italy), when Angela Merici established the Company of St. Ursula, a very innovative secular form of consecration for women without vows and common life, free from male supervision, which offered women spiritual and material independence. After the Council of Trent Merici’s rule was significantly altered and the Company developed in many cities in northern Italy where it took different forms (secular, conventual, and congregated). At that time the Ursulines began to educate poor girls in the schools of Christian doctrine and wealthy young women in their convents or colleges. At the end of the century the Company spread to France, where the members increased in numbers and the institute was gradually transformed into an enclosed teaching religious order. Both in Italy and in France the Ursulines became a pioneering institute for female education, overcoming the limitations imposed on women’s active roles. The Company’s development took place in connection with the Tridentine bishops’ aspirations for the re-Christianization of society and with women’s longing for a devout life that combined active service with contemplative spirituality. From France, the Ursulines began their missions in Europe and in the wider world, where they continued to pursue their educational duty toward women. From the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ursulines reinforced their missionary spirit and increased their presence both in Europe and around the world. Although the conventual form was the most common, the Ursulines were still living in a variety of forms of life at this time (including congregated and secular), and they had never been unified centrally (a partially successful attempt to do so took place with the creation of the Roman Union in 1900). After the Second Vatican Council many groups of conventual Ursulines decided to return to forms of life closer to that of the founder. The history of the Ursulines is thus quite complex because the institute adopted different forms of life, models of organization, and religious rules as well as pursued a variety of spiritual objectives. Many of the historiographical works listed here—often composed by members of the order—include collections of documents and present accurate reconstructions of the evolution of specific convents and groups. Scholarship providing social and cultural perspectives of the Ursuline history focus on Merici and the early Ursulines, the order in early modern France, and the missions in Canada and in New Orleans.