Emotional monasticism: Affective piety in the eleventh-century monastery of John of Fécamp (Artes Liberales)

Medievalists have long taught that highly emotional Christian devotion, often called ‘affective piety’, appeared in Europe after the twelfth century and was primarily practiced by communities of mendicants, lay people and women. Emotional monasticism challenges this view. The first study of affective piety in an eleventh-century monastic context, it traces the early history of affective devotion through the life and works of the earliest known writer of emotional prayers, John of Fécamp, abbot of the Norman monastery of Fécamp from 1028–78. Exposing the early medieval monastic roots of later medieval affective piety, the book casts a new light on the devotional life of monks in Europe before the twelfth century and redefines how medievalists should teach the history of Christianity. Medievalists have long taught that highly emotional Christian devotion, often called 'affective piety', appeared in Europe after the twelfth century and was primarily practiced by communities of mendicants, lay people and women. Emotional monasticism challenges this view. The first study of affective piety in an eleventh-century monastic context, it traces the early history of affective devotion through the life and works of the earliest known writer of emotional prayers, John of Fecamp, abbot of the Norman monastery of Fecamp from 1028-78. Exposing the early medieval monastic roots of later medieval affective piety, the book casts a new light on the devotional life of monks in Europe before the twelfth century and redefines how medievalists should teach the history of Christianity Front matter 1 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of figures and maps 9 Acknowledgements 11 Note on translations and editions 16 List of abbreviations 17 Introduction 22 Reforming the reader’s interior: defining emotional reform and affectivity in John of Fécamp’s Confessio theologica 39 Dicta mea sunt dicta patrum?: tradition and innovation in John’s Confessio theologica 67 Reforming the monastic community: the uses of John’s devotional method within the walls of Fécamp 104 Reforming monks in the temporal world: John’s devotional principles cultivated in the secular landscape 137 John’s medieval legacy: the monastic roots of affective.piety 175 Conclusion 212 Bibliography 218 Index 280 Drawing on the devotional culture of John of Fécamp’s Norman monastery, Emotional monasticism exposes the monastic roots of medieval affective piety, casts a new light on the devotional life of monks in Europe before the twelfth century and redefines how medievalists should teach the history of Christian devotion. -- .