Neinstitucinė moterų vienuolystė? : davatkos Žemaitijoje XVII–XVIII a.

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Apšvieta; Davatka; Davatkos; Katalikų Bažnyčia; Moterų religinis gyvenimas; Parapija; Religinis gyvenimas; Žemaitija (Samogitia); Catholic Church; Devout Women; Enlightenment; Female religious life; Parish; Religious life; Samogitia.

ENThe paper is devoted to the analysis of identity and way of life of the ‘devout women’ (Lithuanian, davatkos; Polish, dewotki; Latin, devotissae / devotae) frequently present in towns and parish centres of Samogitia (Lithuanian, Žemaitija) in the 17th–18th centuries. This phenomenon of female religious life has hitherto escaped the attention of scholars, partly due to the prevailing negative attitude towards ‘devout women’ since the Enlightenment, partly due to the scarce information about them in historical sources. Having examined some references from historical sources of a different kind, preliminary reconstruction of the identity and way of life of a typical ‘devout woman’ seems to be possible. Predominantly it was a poor noble virgin; usually she settled in a modest cottage built on a parcel of land owned by the Church after having made a private vow of chastity. The main duties of a ‘devout woman’ were to sing the Rosary in the adjacent church and to take care of liturgical paraments. A ‘devout woman’ was partially provided with some regular revenue and enjoyed the occasional possibility to be supported by a modest donation. In addition, she would raise cattle and cultivate her own garden. Finally, a ‘devout woman’ expected a decent funeral in the church, accompanied by Mass and other forms of prayer.This portrait of a typical ‘devout woman’ by no means applied unequivocally. E.g., it is possible to come across some widows, persons of low descent or quite wealthy women among ‘devout women’. Sometimes they gave solemn vows, and they could settle either in a common house (in the parish hospital, in some cases) or in separate cottages built on land which was the property of the King, of the nobles, or their own. Such institutional vagueness can be regarded as a distinguishing feature of a spontaneous, and to a certain extent, an independent female religious movement which was under the formal but weak control of the Catholic Church. The latter, despite certain caution, provided ‘devout women’ with acknowledgement and modest support until the Age of Enlightenment. [From the publication]

• Teologija / Theology
• Istorija / History