The Literary Agency of Medieval Women

What do we miss when we see women’s agency only through the lens of transgression? What happens when we expand our notion of authorship to include women who were writing books but not necessarily composing ‘original’ texts? To answer these questions, Sara Poor explores the writing work of the prolific nun, Kunigund Niklasin (d. 1457), scribe and compiler of at least thirty-one books by the 1450s, and the librarian for her convent’s large and singular library (close to 600 German-language manuscripts). Building on the growing body of scholarship on medieval women’s literacy, The Literary Agency of Medieval Women explores the wider implications of Niklasin’s scribal and library work for a more inclusive theory of female agency, an expanded notion of authorship, and a nuanced appreciation of the important roles of medieval women as writers—and authors—in the history of the book.