Christina Carpenter

Christina Carpenter or Christine Carpenter was an English anchoress, also known as a religious recluse, in the village of Shere, Surrey, in southern England. She came to further notice when she left her cell which may well have been built for her in the church and wrote to the Pope to have herself readmitted.

Life Carpenter was alive in the first half of the 14th century. Her father, William, was a carpenter. On 21 June 1329, she asked permission of John de Stratford, who was then the Bishop of Winchester, to become an anchoress.

The Bishop summoned the cleric Matthew Redemane, her father and several notables to swear to her good character and virginity. An anchoress was to have her hair cut every three months and wear a veil and a habit; this presumably applied to Carpenter.

By August 1332, she had left her cell, a violation of her vows. She was facing the spiritual danger of excommunication and the disappointment of all those who had spoken up for her character and integrity. Carpenter wrote to the Pope, Bishop Wrotham advocated that Christine should be forgiven and received back into her former state. However, it was agreed that she should suffer penance for her misbehaviour. Carpenter's story has been used as the basis for a number of pieces of literature. Sir Arnold Wesker wrote a play called Caritas based, in part, on this story. Wesker turned his play into a libretto for an opera on the same subject with music by Robert Saxton.

The 1993 movie Anchoress, directed by Chris Newby, and written by Judith Stanley-Smith and Christine Watkins, is based on the life of Christine Carpenter.