| Popis: |
Lucy Knatchbull (1584–1629) is an important figure in the history of seventeenth-century English Benedictine convents on the Continent. This chapter examines Knatchbull’s significance as an author by considering how an external network of priests and ecclesiastical officials preserved, circulated, and mediated her writings. While the corpus of Knatchbull’s extant work is comparatively small, it is also highly representative of textual production in convents of this period. Analysis of the material and intertextual aspects of this corpus reveals that cloistered authorship itself was a networked phenomenon. Serving as both a conduit and a mediator of Knatchbull’s writings, her circle offers an intriguing example of the way that cloistered authorship functioned as an extension of nuns’ social networks. By drawing attention to the network’s participation in constructing Knatchbull’s authorial roles, this chapter extends the ongoing critical conversation about nuns’ roles within familial, literary, patronage, and textual networks. |
