Keeping a cat and other rules for anchoresses

Blog series Medieval manuscripts

Author Calum Cockburn

Our past exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words highlighted the stories of women across medieval society, from labourers and artisans to abbesses and queens. Some of the most unique experiences were had by anchoresses, religious women such as Julian of Norwich (d. after 1416), Christine Carpenter (fl. 1329-1332) and Margaret Kirkby (d. c. 1391-4), who chose to enclose themselves permanently in cells attached to churches. There they lived lives of prayer, contemplation and devotion to God.

Several surviving texts provide guidance to anchoresses about how to live their lives. One handbook, known as Ancrene Wisse, was composed in the first decades of the 13th century, supposedly for three sisters who had chosen to enter the contemplative life.

One of the earliest and most important surviving manuscripts of this text (Cotton MS Cleopatra C VI) was on display in the exhibition. The Middle English work not only offers anchoresses spiritual advice, but also practical instructions about all aspects of their daily routine, outlining the rules they are expected to observe, from their food and drink to their clothes and possessions, and even the pets they could own.

Here is a selection of these rules that give a taste of what life as an anchoress might have looked like:

Life in the Anchorhold

• An anchoress’s cell should only have three windows: a church window, that provides a view into the church to see the Eucharist, a house window, to allow for food and other goods to be brought in, and a parlour window for dealing with the outside world. These windows should be as small as possible, and closed when not in use.
• Anchoresses are not allowed to preach and can only offer advice to women. They are also not allowed to criticise men for their vices, the exception being ‘holy old anchoresses’ who may do it in a certain way (the text does not elaborate).
• Anchoresses should not curse or swear.
• Anchoresses must not become teachers or turn the anchorhold into a school.
• They should neither send letters, nor receive letters, nor write without leave.
• Anchoresses are allowed maidservants – Julian of Norwich is known to have had two, called Sarah and Alice – but they have to observe strict rules.

Diet, Sleep and Hygiene

• Anchoresses must not use meat or fat in their meals but instead observe a diet of vegetable stew and be accustomed to drink very little.
• Eating with guests outside the anchorhold is not allowed, and men are barred from eating in the anchoress’s presence.
• Anchoresses and their maidservants should not eat or snack outside of mealtimes.
• No one else is allowed to sleep in the anchoress’s home, and anchoresses must only sleep in their beds.
• Washing is encouraged! Anchoresses can wash themselves and their things as often as they like.
• Anchoresses must have their hair cut, shaved or trimmed four times a year.
• Bloodletting is permitted (a common medieval medical treatment), but the guide warns that afterwards, the anchoress should do nothing strenuous for three days and pass the time with her servants, sharing ‘theawfule talen’ (virtuous stories) together.
• When unwell, anchoresses should not take remedies advised by ‘uncundelich lechecreft’ (unnatural healing), in case they make things worse.

Clothing

• Clothing should be plain, warm and well-made.
• A covering should be worn upon the head, either a wimple or a simple cap.
• In winter, an anchoress’s shoes should be soft, large, and warm, while in summer, light shoes can be worn, or there is the option to walk barefoot.
• Anchoresses should not own rings, brooches, patterned belts and gloves or any other kind of adornments.

Manual Work and Possessions

• Anchoresses should not conduct business. An anchoress who is fond of bargaining ‘chepeth hire sawle the chap-mon of helle’ (sells her soul to the peddler of Hell).
• They should not make embroidered items like purses, caps, silk bandages or lace as a means of making friends. If they want to sew, they can make church vestments or mend clothes for the poor.
• Anchoresses can receive gifts from ‘good people’, but they should not take anything from those they do not trust. Examples of untrustworthy people include those with ‘fol semblant’ (foolish pretences) or ‘wake wordes’ (idle chatter).
• Anchoresses are not allowed to look after other people’s possessions, including clothes, boxes, charters or tally sticks, indentures, church vestments and chalices.
• No pets allowed! Anchoresses are told ‘ne schule ye habben nan beast bute cat ane’ (you should not keep any animals, except a single cat), so they do not invest too much thought on their welfare. If an anchoress must have an animal, then it should not bother or harm anyone and she should not think too much about it, as an ‘ancre ne ah to habben na thing thet ut-ward drahe hire heorte’ (‘an anchoress should not have anything which draws away her heart’).

Ancrene Wisse was one of the more popular medieval anchoritic handbooks – at least 17 manuscripts of the text survive, with translations in Middle English, Anglo-Norman French and Latin – but whether these rules represented a reality for all anchoresses is difficult to judge. There may have been other advisory texts available to guide them, some less stringent than others.

One can also imagine the individual relationships anchoresses had with their communities meant that a life of restriction and near-total seclusion was harder to adhere to. Nonetheless, the rules Ancrene Wisse sets out give us a sense of what these women were knowingly committing to when then entered the contemplative life.