884J: Mourath, Johann, S. J († ca. 1684)..[ Xainctonge, Anne de, (1567–1621)]

Leben und Tugenden Annae Xantoniae, Stiffterin der in der Freien-Grafschafft Burgund aufgericht- und von Ihro Bäpstl. Heiligkeit Innocentio dem Zehenden unnd Eilften bestättigten Gesellschaft S. Ursulae.

 Gedruckt zu Zug Bei- und durch Heinrich Ludwig Muos 1681.              Price $3,800

Cover page of the book 'Leben und Tugenden Annae Xantoniae', written by Johann Mourath, detailing the life of Anne de Xainctonge, founder of the Ursulines.

Quarto 19X 15cm  Signatures:: )?( 7 )?( )?(1, A-Z4, Aa-Ss4 With engraved frontice. Full contemporary calf over wooden boards with one (of two) clasps, parts lightly stained, the endpapers and flyleaf with small worm marks A beautiful copy of the First edition. 

A historical engraving depicting Anne de Xainctonge, dressed in a religious habit, kneeling in prayer before an altar with a monstrance. An angel beside her holds a lily, symbolizing purity.

This work recounts the life and virtues of Anne de Xainctonge (1567–1621), foundress of the Ursulines of the Freigrafschaft Burgund, approved by Popes Innocent X and XI. and confirmed by Her Papal Holiness Tenth and Eleventh.  Mourath’s biography is characterized as part of the Jesuit hagiographical tradition of promoting recently established congregations and their exemplars of female piety. Anne de Xainctonge’s foundation of the Sisters of St. Ursula was a bold experiment in female pedagogy during the Catholic Reformation. Modeled consciously on the Jesuits, her community adopted Ignatian constitutions and methods in order to “do for girls what the Jesuits did for boys.” Uncloistered, they devoted themselves to free teaching for girls—an unusual and controversial mission that required papal approbation. Innocent X (1648) and Innocent XI (1678) confirmed their institute, lending legitimacy to this new vision of women’s religious life: active, apostolic, and educational. Their work spread across eastern France, Switzerland, and southern Germany, leaving a lasting mark on Catholic education for women.

A close-up view of the spine of an antique book, featuring a weathered brown leather cover with visible wear and embossed bands.
Seitenansicht eines alten Buches mit braunem Ledereinband und Metalverschluss.

Leben und Tugenden Annae Xantoniae captures this story at a key moment, less than sixty years after Xainctonge’s death. His Jesuit biography frames her as a hagiographic exemplar of female sanctity whose “virtues” validated a program of schooling and religious formation for girls. The book’s German vernacular, papal approvals on the title page, and Jesuit authorship made it a vehicle for defending the order’s legitimacy to skeptical audiences north of the Alps. In the world of post-Tridentine print, this volume is both edifying life and polemical defense: a testimony to how female education could be integrated into the Catholic renewal under Jesuit guidance.

VD17 12:118131E.;  BBKL XVII, col. 1575f.;  DeBacker-Sommervogel vol.V col.1342 nº1

1 US copy at JHU