Medieval Nuns at War: Rebellious, Resilient and Rowdy Women

 

Medieval Nuns at War is a well written, accessible, and nicely notated monograph on the sometimes surprisingly turbulent lives of medieval nuns by Elizabeth Quillen. Released 13th Nov 2025 by Pen & Sword on their History imprint, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

The author is a doctoral candidate with a special emphasis in the high Medieval period, and became intrigued by a reference to a rebellion in a convent in the course of her studies, and decided to investigate further in the original Latin source material (Gregory of Tours History of the Franks). If the setup sounds placid, the book is delightfully anything but, emphasizing that people throughout history are fundamentally people, with much the same desires and conflicts that affect people of the current day. Women of the period could be quite feisty and the author does a good job of balancing objectivity through the lens of academic responsibility and modern sensibility. It's not dry -at all-, and that's delightful.

The author covers both specific instances of disagreement (including some rather shocking individual physical attacks) alongside larger cultural/political contexts such as the crusades. The book is very well annotated throughout and the chapter notes alone are likely worth the price of the book, just for later reference. The text is accessible for modern readers, and not just for academics and historians. Obviously it's a niche subject, but it reads very well for anyone interested in even ancillary history.

The subject content is enhanced by the inclusion of a cross referenced index (with active hyperlinks in the ebook format), chapter notes and bibliography, as well as an appendix full of facsimile illustrations, artifacts, and period archival pictures and drawings.

Four stars. This is well and deeply researched and interesting.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.