Could you imagine spending decades of your life confined to one or two small rooms attached to a church?
Anchorites were women and men who did just that – withdrawing from everyday life to pray, to read the Bible and other religious books, and just to be with God. Hundreds of people in England from the 12th to 16th centuries lived as anchorites – including Julian of Norwich. But why?
In this webinar Dr Clare Dowding, Reader at All Saints, Blackheath and Diocesan Warden of Readers, will give an overview of the vocation of anchorites in medieval England, why and how they lived this life, and how being a ‘solitary’ wasn’t really as solitary as you might think:
