The authority of women in the medieval church
Join us as Lydia Schumacher uncovers the forgotten history of women’s ordination.
The founding of the first universities in the early 13th century led to the establishment of theology as an academic discipline. This had a profound impact not only on how we understand theology, but also on particular topics such as ordination.
In this talk, Lydia Schumacher will explore the impact this had on women’s ordination, how women were ‘defined out’ of ordination, and how their prior roles in ordained ministry were soon forgotten. Join us to dive into this history and explore what it means for us today.
Lydia Schumacher is Professor of Historical and Philosophical Theology at King’s College London. She is a specialist in medieval theology and church history and his published six monographs in this field, including Divine Illumination (2011), Theological Philosophy (2015), and Early Franciscan Theology (2019).
Films of events
Find films of many of our previous events as well as podcasts and written reflections exploring a huge range of subjects – from Rowan Williams’ talk Jesus Christ: The Unanswered Questions, to Paula Gooder's A Spirituality of the Body, to David Suchet’s mesmerising reading of the whole of the Gospel According to Mark.