ABSTRACT
In the quotation at the head of this chapter, taken from his Legend of Edith, Goscelin of St Bertin constructs the nuns of Wilton as a collective – an ‘examina uirginum’ – working together towards the establishment of the heavenly city. Much history writing takes its cue from Goscelin’s description and considers the nuns as a group with a collective narrative, bearing witness to the social nature of their lives. is social focus is important: treating nuns as individuals does not do justice to their communal lives, and Goscelin’s descriptions of the nuns of Wilton make it clear that they did have a sense of themselves as a group. However, focusing on the nuns of Wilton as an intentional community – made up of individuals who chose to join the abbey – means omitting much of the evidence about their lives that might contest this claim. It therefore obscures many of the interactions taking place within Wilton Abbey; aer all, the ‘heavenly Jerusalem’ at Wilton was not built by ‘swarms of virgins’ alone.
