Ascelina

Overview

Title social-status

nun

Date of Birth

later 12th century

Biography

Ascelina was a nun who had chosen the religious life rather than marriage. She was apparently from an aristocratic background, having been betrothed to a nephew of the duke of Burgundy as an infant. Peter of Blois wrote to her applauding her choice of the religious life over a life of wealth and power. In the PL, the letter is addressed to Anselma, but according to Michael Markowski, the best manuscripts give her name as Ascelina.1

Letters to Ascelina

A letter from Peter of Blois (late 12th to early 13th)