Convents and Urban Development: The Significance of Convents in the Urbanization Process of Brussels in the 13th Century

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01083
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03040:History of Europe and America-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: Funahashi Michiko 慶應義塾大学, 文学部(三田), 講師(非常勤) (70407154)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 中世都市 / 女子修道院 / 十分の一税 / 都市と農村 / 小教区教会 / 養魚 / シトー会修道院 / ブリュッセル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The city of Brussels, in the 13th century, was at the heart of a constant adjustment of conflicts and tensions caused by rapid economic development. This study focuses on three newly established women's abbeys in the outskirts of the city as communities that integrated a wide range of diverse individuals in their monastic spaces and examines the characteristics of the medieval city that made these activities an important component. The abbeys provided for the city's food needs through fish farming in the surrounding marshes and, as part of the restructuring of the parish church due to the constant influx of population from nearby agricultural villages, they sought compromise with the secular clergy of the city and accumulated numerous tithes from local powers to form their domains. It is believed that the restructuring of the city and the surrounding society progressed through the manorial management of the abbeys, which included various elements.

Free Research Field

西洋中世史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年のジェンダー史への関心から、中世都市において聖と俗の狭間で活躍した「敬虔な女性達」が脚光を浴びているが、本研究では、都市に隣接して創設された、所領経営に基盤を置く伝統的な女子修道院もまた中世都市世界を読み解く多様な可能性を持っていることを明らかにした。
恒常的な人口流入と、都市と農村の経済発展のギャップによって引き起こされる危機的状況化で進行する地域社会の再編と新たな秩序形成において、女子修道院が果たした機能の実態を解明し、その基盤にある社会的・経済的・宗教的コンテクストを読み取る試みによって、ほぼ未開拓であったブリュッセル初期史にアプローチした点が独創的であったと考える。