Agnes of Jouarre (fl. early 13th c.)
Agnes of Jouarre (fl. early 13th c.)
French abbess.
A learned and pious woman, Agnes entered the religious life as a young girl and eventually became abbess at the convent of Jouarre, France. Not content with the decreasing power of abbesses and convents in the increasingly centralized church hierarchy, Agnes of Jouarre worked to secure specific rights for her abbey. She successfully petitioned Pope Innocent III (1198–1216) for independent status for Jouarre, which meant that the abbey was no longer responsible to local bishops and other church officials, but had to answer only to the pope himself. This substantially increased her own authority as ruler and greatly increased the freedom of Jouarre's nuns to conduct their lives and affairs without interference from male superiors. Saint Balda was the third abbess of Jouarre.