[MR] History Blog: The Nun Who Faked Her Death

Garth Groff and Sally Sanford mallardlodge1000 at gmail.com
Thu Feb 14 02:26:28 PST 2019


Noble Friends,

Yesterday the History Blog reported on a project to digitize and translate
17 volumes of records kept by the Archbishops of York. The records span the
13th to 17th centuries, and record almost everything they did, sometimes in
great detail.

Among the fascinating items is a 1318 monition, or formal admonishment,
issued by Archbishop Melton. It seems that a nun from St. Clement's near
York named Joan of Leeds had fled the convent and returned to a worldly
life. A rumor had reached Melton that the nun had faked her own death by
creating a dummy, which with the help of her sisters had been buried in
consecrated ground. Apparently the records do not tell us if Joan ever
repented her sin, or went on to have a good time in sinful worldly
pleasures. You have to admire her inventiveness though! This is truly a
case where "You go, Girl!" is appropriate.

The History Blog story is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/54281 .

Another of the story from the GUARDIAN newspaper is found at
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/11/archive-shows-medieval-nun-faked-her-own-death-to-escape-convent
 .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆


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