Is the VMS a work of female authors ?

[LisaFaginDavis]

I'm sorry I missed this thread when it was ongoing, because I have a lot of thoughts about this question. There is significant evidence of female scribes, professional scribes as well as nuns, in the late Middle Ages, so there is really no good reason to assume the VMS couldn't have been written by women. The best work by medievalists on female scribes is being done by Alison Beach. She's written extensively on the subject (including this recent book about nuns in 12th-c. Bavaria: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). She was also responsible for this fascinating discovery: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

The content of the VMS absolutely speaks to women's knowledge and women's wisdom. But it is not an easy matter to distinguish medieval women's writing from men's. This kind of paleographical analysis depends on comparison with known samples...obviously with the VMS, there are no samples for comparison. But I would not be surprised if we eventually discover that the manuscript was made by women for women.