"A fascinating reconstruction of a piece of pre-modern life in its most intimate details, and an invaluable work of history."- The Nation
"Good history and highly recommended reading."- History: Reviews of New Books " discussion of the cultural component in Sister Benedetta's visions, their relationship to the religious art and devotional literature of the time, like her analysis of official reactions to the case, make Immodest Acts a serious contribution to ecclesiastical history."- Journal of Ecclesiastical History "An intensely human and engrossing story, Brown's book is the best book available on the female experience during the Counter-Reformation."-Edward Muir, Louisiana State University "Brown's research and analysis is meticulous, her storytelling compelling, and the documents themselves a treasure.An extraordinary glimpse into the world of a seventeenth-century convent.A fascinating contribution to the women's history and lesbian history literature."-Leila Rupp, Women's Studies Review "This is a very well-written and engaging book that explores issues of religion, sexuality and gender."-Professor Cliff Hubby, New York University delivers a scholarly work that is also a story of tragedy and intrigue."- San Francisco Chronicle Fascinating and highly readable."- The New York Times Book Review "Brown is a wonderful storyteller. "A rare example of the life of a nonaristocratic woman of the period and.a vivid picture of convent life and the Roman Catholic Church during the upheavals of the Counter-Reformation. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. The story of the relationship between the two nuns and of Benedetta's fall from an abbess to an outcast is revealed in surprisingly candid archival documents and retold here with a fine sense of drama. During the course of an investigation, church authorities not only found that she had faked her visions and stigmata, but uncovered evidence of a lesbian affair with another nun, Bartolomeo. Benedetta was elected abbess due largely to these visions, but later aroused suspicions by claiming to have had supernatural contacts with Christ.
At twenty-three, she began to have visions of both a religious and erotic nature. Not only is the story revealed in Immodest Acts that of the rise and fall of a powerful woman in a church community and a record of the life of a religious visionary, it is also the earliest documentation of lesbianism in modern Western history.īorn of well-to-do parents, Benedetta Carlini entered the convent at the age of nine. Brown was an event of major historical importance. The discovery of the fascinating and richly documented story of Sister Benedetta Carlini, Abbess of the Convent of the Mother of God, by Judith C.
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