Seventeenth-century Female Monasteries in Cities on the Borders of Protestantism: A Comparative Approach to their Architecture

My research compares the topography of female monasteries distributed on the “Catholic Ridge” (linking Italy to the North Sea) studied by an international project to which I contribute . The northern half of this area (Southern Netherlands, episcopal principality of Liège, Lorraine, Franche-Comté) offers a relevant field of investigation especially during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), while female communities are implanted massively in cities on the borders of Protestantism. In this context, monasteries can be interpreted as spiritual “bastions” associated to the work of the Catholic Reformation. By their look of fortresses, they constitute a spiritual line of defense while expressing the missionary presence of nuns in the heart of cities.
Looking at material achievements as well as the mental representations of the nuns, this paper proposes to focus on the architecture and plans of the monasteries designed for and sometimes by four congregations with contemplative or teacher profiles but all subjected to the strict closure imposed by the Council of Trent. We will try to identify the issues that shape these buildings located in the urban spaces on the borders of Catholic Europe and to show how these nuns challenged to reconcile spirit of retreat and insertion in the world.