The History of San Sisto Vecchio
Title
Subject
Description
The abbey of San Sisto was created by Innocent III and finished by Honorius III to consolidate the smaller communities of uncloistered “holy women” that were flourishing in Rome during the 13th century. After Dominic came to Rome in 1216, he lobbied the pope to give him control of the new covent, as he shared the popes’ the “problem” of mendicant women, many of whom may have been influenced by the Cathars and their institution of perfectae, a role that allowed women to be religiously active. To counter this phenomenon in Rome, Dominic used the force of his personality to convince the nuns of Rome, starting with the community of Santa Maria Templa, to join San Sisto. Once they did, he made sure that they could not leave, taking the keys to the abbey with him and eventually giving it to the 16 Dominican friars assigned to oversee the abbey. He also brought nuns from Southern France to the abbey to implement a rule similar to the cistercians.
After Dominic’s death, the convent survived its fairly constant financial problems by playing a part in Rome’s politics of family patronage. Many noble families would send gifts of either art or nuns. In 1331, the abbey included nuns from the Colonna, Pierleoni, De Giudice, and Anibaldi families. The Boccamazzo family, a line stemming from the Saveli, also played a major role in financing and growing the convent and supplying nuns.
Creator
Source
B. Bolton, 'Daughters of Rome: all one in Christ Jesus!', in W.J. Sheils and D. Wood (eds), Women in the Church (London, 1990), 101-15.
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.00818.0001.001.
Dunlop, Anne. “The Dominicans and Cloistered Women: The Convent of Sant’Aurea in Rome.” Early Modern Women 2 (2007): 43–71.
Lloyd, Joan Barclay. The architectural planning of Pope Innocent III's nunnery of S.Sisto in Rome in Innocenzo III : Urbs et Orbis : atti del Congresso internazionale, Roma 91-15 settembre 1998 (2003). 2.292-1311.
McNamara, Jo Ann. Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns through Two Millennia. Harvard University Press, n.d.
Date
Identifier
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Description
The abbey of San Sisto was created by Innocent III and finished by Honorius III to consolidate the smaller communities of uncloistered “holy women” that were flourishing in Rome during the 13th century. After Dominic came to Rome in 1216, he lobbied the pope to give him control of the new covent, as he shared the popes’ the “problem” of mendicant women, many of whom may have been influenced by the Cathars and their institution of perfectae, a role that allowed women to be religiously active. To counter this phenomenon in Rome, Dominic used the force of his personality to convince the nuns of Rome, starting with the community of Santa Maria Templa, to join San Sisto. Once they did, he made sure that they could not leave, taking the keys to the abbey with him and eventually giving it to the 16 Dominican friars assigned to oversee the abbey. He also brought nuns from Southern France to the abbey to implement a rule similar to the cistercians.
After Dominic’s death, the convent survived its fairly constant financial problems by playing a part in Rome’s politics of family patronage. Many noble families would send gifts of either art or nuns. In 1331, the abbey included nuns from the Colonna, Pierleoni, De Giudice, and Anibaldi families. The Boccamazzo family, a line stemming from the Saveli, also played a major role in financing and growing the convent and supplying nuns.
Creator
Russell Star-Lack (2020)Date
1221Coverage
1200sSource
B. Bolton, 'Daughters of Rome: all one in Christ Jesus!', in W.J. Sheils and D. Wood (eds), Women in the Church (London, 1990), 101-15.
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.00818.0001.001.
Dunlop, Anne. “The Dominicans and Cloistered Women: The Convent of Sant’Aurea in Rome.” Early Modern Women 2 (2007): 43–71.
Lloyd, Joan Barclay. The architectural planning of Pope Innocent III's nunnery of S.Sisto in Rome in Innocenzo III : Urbs et Orbis : atti del Congresso internazionale, Roma 91-15 settembre 1998 (2003). 2.292-1311.
McNamara, Jo Ann. Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns through Two Millennia. Harvard University Press, n.d.