How did medieval Christianity balance solitude and community?

What is the role of solitude in Christian history? Medievalist Hetta Howes comments on the allure of enclosure, how seeking solitude supports community, and what these ancient lives reveal about our modern search for connection.

“Even those moments of solitude that she’s carving for herself are surprisingly sociable.”

This episode is part 1 of a 5-part series, SOLO, which explores the theological, moral, and psychological dimensions of loneliness, solitude, and being alone.

Medieval Anchoresses and Women Mystics sought a life of solitude with and for God—what about their vocation might illuminate our perspectives on loneliness, isolation, and solitude today?

In this episode, Hetta Howes joins Macie Bridge to explore the extraordinary lives of medieval women mystics, including Julian of Norwich and Marjorie Kempee. Drawing from her book Poet Mystic Widow Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women, Howes illuminates how these women lived in literal and spiritual solitude—sometimes sealed in stone anchorages, sometimes carving sacred space in the midst of family and community. Together they consider the physical and spiritual demands of enclosure, the sociable windows of anchorages, and the simultaneous human longing for both solitude and companionship. Across the centuries, these women invite us to think anew about loneliness, vocation, and the need for community—even in devotion to God.

Helpful Links and Resources

• Poet Mystic Widow Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women – Hetta Howes
• Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (Penguin Classics)
• The Book of Margery Kempe (Oxford World’s Classics)

Episode Highlights

1. “An anchorage is a small cell, usually joined to a church… and the idea was that you would never leave that place alive again.”
2. “Sometimes you do come across these things and you’re like, oh, maybe the cultural consciousness was so different that they had a different language for loneliness.”
3. “Marjorie frames herself as a figure who is constantly looking for connection—sometimes finding it, but often being rejected in really painful ways.”
4. “Even those moments of solitude that she’s carving for herself are surprisingly sociable.”
5. “What I’ve learned from them is the importance of community—that even solitary professions absolutely rely on other people.”

About Hetta Howes

Hetta Howes is a Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at City St. George’s, University of London. She specializes in the literature of the Middle Ages, with particular focus on medieval women writers, mysticism, and representations of gender and devotion. Her most recent book is Poet Mystic Widow Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women (2024).

Show Notes

Solitude and Sanctity

• Howes introduces her research on medieval women mystics and writers (Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Christine de Pizan, Marie de France).
• Exploration of the anchoritic life—cells built into church walls where women lived sealed from the world.
• The paradox of solitude: enclosure for God that still required connection for survival.

The Anchorite’s World

• Anchorages included small windows—to the church, the street, and for food—balancing isolation with limited engagement.
• Guidebooks warned women against gossip and temptation, revealing anxiety about sociability and holiness.
• “Why have a window to the world if you’re not ever going to converse with it?”

Loneliness and Boredom

• Loneliness rarely appears in medieval texts; boredom and idleness were greater concerns.
• “Boredom comes up as a concept much more often than loneliness.”
• Modern readers project our loneliness onto them; their silence might reveal difference, not absence.

Julian and Marjorie

• Julian’s quiet solitude contrasts with Marjorie’s noisy, emotional piety.
• Marjorie Kempe’s “roarings” and unconventional piety challenged norms; she lived in the world but sought holiness.
• “I wish you were enclosed in a house of stone”—a critique of her refusal to conform.

Solitude and Community

• Even in seclusion, anchorites served others—praying, advising, maintaining windows to the world.
• Julian’s writings reveal care for all Christians; her solitude was intercessory, not selfish.
• Howes connects medieval community to our modern digital and emotional isolation.

Modern Reflections

• Howes parallels her own experience of digital overload and motherhood with the medieval longing for quiet focus.
• “As amazing as the digital can be, it’s eroding so much.”
• She cautions against idolizing solitude but affirms its value for clarity and grounding.

Production Notes

• This podcast featured Hetta Howes
• Interview by Macie Bridge
• Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa
• Production Assistance by Alexa Rollow, Emily Brookfield, and Hope Chun
• A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/about
• Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give