What have medieval nuns, parrot shooting, Freemasonry, and Shetland revelry got in common? This study of monastic orders, guilds, Freemasonry and friendly societies over centuries and across frontiers provides new insights into their contribution to the gendering of public space and the evolution of 'separate spheres' in Europe.

ROBERT BEACHY Associate Professor of European History, Goucher College, USAROBERT COLLIS Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sheffield, UKMÁIRE CROSS Professor of French, School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University UKPAMELA KING Professor of Medieval Studies, University of Bristol, UKANDREAS ÖNNERFORS Director of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, University of Sheffield, UKRÓBERT PÉTER Senior Assistant Professor in the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Szeged, HungaryANDREW PRESCOTT Director of Research, the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII), University of Glasgow, UKJAMES SMITH ALLEN Professor of History, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USAMEG TWYCROSS Emeritus Professor of English Medieval Studies, Lancaster University, UKDAN WEINBREN Chair of the Friendly Societies Research Group, The Open University, UKANNE WINSTON-ALLEN Professor of German Studies, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA

List of Illustrations Preface Seven Hundred Years of Fraternal Orders; D.Weinbren Men and Women in the Guild Returns; A.Prescott Women in Monastic Orders; A.Winston-Allen The Archduchess and the Parrot; M.Twycross Masonic Apologetic Writings; R.Beachy Protectresses in Jacobite Fraternities; R.Collis 'The Fair Sex' in 'Male Sects'; R.Péter 'Sisters of Virtue' in Swedish Pomerania; A.Önnerfors French Masonic Culture on the Eve of the Revolution; J.Smith Allen The Fraternity of Female Friendly Societies; D.Weinbren Flora Tristan's Appeal for Fraternity; M.F.Cross Squads and Ha's; P.M.King Notes Index