Algunas notas sobre el papel de la mujer en Fontevraud y Santa María de Vega

Abstract

The question is posed whether the relevant role of women in the royal abbey of Fontevraud and in the convent of Vega del Cea- a priorate of the former- was a symptom or a consequence of the discovery of women in the XIIth century,- century full of novelties, of mystical raptures, and new ways to approach divinity which led to religious reforms-. In this essay I shall sketch some interpretations concerning the hegemony of women above men, a superiority which is evident in the two monasteries examined, examples of changes which were interpreted differently by contemporaries and those who later have dealt with this topic.