Martha and Mary: The Religious Vocation of Laysisters in Late Medieval Germany

Medieval female monasteries had two types of sisters: the choir nuns, who sang the Divine Office and prayed for the salvation of souls; and laysisters (or converse nuns), who were responsible for temporal work in the community. These laysisters cooked, washed laundry and gardened so that the choir nuns were free to pursue their spiritual work. Yet the laysisters were not simply servants: they had a religious vocation. They participated in the spiritual work of the community, although they were excluded from the choir nuns’ chapter meeting.

Most of the limited scholarship on laysisters focuses on their work. In this paper, I want to explore their religious vocation. Three unstudied profession rites from Birgittine and Benedictine monasteries in late medieval Germany indicate that laysisters professed the same vows as choir nuns, but their profession ceremonies lacked the giving of rings and the consecration of the sister, making laysisters members of the order but not brides of Christ. The laysister’s separate status can also be seen in how their religious duties were modified to fit around their temporal work in service of the choir nuns. But despite these differences, laysisters were still expected to pray for the souls of deceased sisters just like the choir nuns and, in turn, they benefitted from the commemoration of their souls after death. The laysisters’ vocation comprised both the active life of St Martha and the contemplative life of St Mary. In serving the community, the laysisters’ temporal work became their spiritual work.