
Monica
An Ordinary Saint
Gillian Clark(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 20. August 2015
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-0-19-998838-9 (ISBN)
Description
Rarely did ancient authors write about the lives of women; even more rarely did they write about the lives of ordinary women: not queens or heroines who influenced war or politics, not sensational examples of virtue or vice, not Christian martyrs or ascetics, but women of moderate status, who experienced everyday joys and sorrows and had everyday merits and failings. Such a woman was Monica--now Saint Monica because of her relationship with her son Augustine, who wrote about her in the Confessions and elsewhere. Despite her rather unremarkable life, Saint Monica has inspired a robust controversy in academia, the Church, and the Augustine-reading public alike: some agree with Ambrose, bishop of Milan, who knew Monica, that Augustine was exceptionally blessed in having such a mother, while others think that Monica is a classic example of the manipulative mother who lives through her son, using religion to repress his sexual life and to control him even when he seems to escape. In Monica: An Ordinary Saint, Gillian Clark reconciles these competing images of Monica's life and legacy, arriving at a woman who was shrewd and enterprising, but also meek and gentle. Weighing Augustine's discussion of his mother against other evidence of women's lives in late antiquity, Clark achieves portraits both of Monica individually, and of the many women like her.
Augustine did not claim that his mother was a saint, but he did think that the challenges of everyday life required courage and commitment to Christian principle. Monica's ordinary life, as both he and Clark tell it, showed both. Monica: An Ordinary Saint illuminates Monica, wife and mother, in the context of the societal expectations and burdens that shaped her and all ordinary women.
Augustine did not claim that his mother was a saint, but he did think that the challenges of everyday life required courage and commitment to Christian principle. Monica's ordinary life, as both he and Clark tell it, showed both. Monica: An Ordinary Saint illuminates Monica, wife and mother, in the context of the societal expectations and burdens that shaped her and all ordinary women.
Reviews / Votes
[a] detailed and vivid book ... which is worth reading for people interested in the life of Augustine's mother Monica and women's history in general. * Klazina Staat, L'Antiquite Classique * This is a level-headed book, written from a sympathetic perspective. * Ingrid van Neer-Bruggink, Augustiniana *More details
Product info
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Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
14 illustrations, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
482 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-998838-9 (9780199988389)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Gillian Clark is Professor Emerita of Ancient History and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol.
Author
Professor Emerita of Ancient History and Senior Research FellowProfessor Emerita of Ancient History and Senior Research Fellow, University of Bristol, Bristol
Content
List of Figures ; Chapter 1: Introduction ; Chapter 2: Monica's House ; Chapter 3: Monica's Service ; Chapter 4: Monica's Education ; Chapter 5: Monica's Religion ; Chapter 6: Saint Monica ; References and Resources ; Bibliography ; Index

