Women in the Premonstratensian Order of Northwestern Germany, 1120-1250

Abstract

Written sometime before 1226, Jacques de Vitry's description of the Premonstratensian order is frequently cited as evidence of the harsh treatment of women within the order. 1 Although initially celebratory, de Vitry revealed that during his lifetime negligence had infiltrated the cloister. Highlighting his own disquiet about Premonstratensian men and women living close to one another, he wrote that after the original fervor of the order had died down the narrow communicating windows were exchanged for spacious doors. 2 He twice mentioned the fact that the order had decided to no longer receive women, 3 and he linked the decline of the order to the rise of the Cistercians. 4 To what [End Page 387] degree do the comments and observations of Jacques de Vitry hold true for northwestern Germany?

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