Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (The Medieval World)

Medieval Monasticism traces the Western Monastic tradition from its fourth century origins in the deserts of Egypt and Syria, through the many and varied forms of religious life it assumed during the Middle Ages. Hugh Lawrence explores the many sided relationship between monasteries and the secular world around them. For a thousand years, the great monastic houses and religious orders were a prominent feature of the social landscape of the West, and their leaders figured as much in the political as on the spiritual map of the medieval world. In this book many of them, together with their supporters and critics, are presented to us and speak their minds to us. We are shown, for instance, the controversy between the Benedictines and the reformed monasticism of the twelfth century and the problems that confronted women in religious life. A detailed glossary offers readers a helpful vocabulary of the subject. This book is essential reading for both students and scholars of the medieval world. Cover 1 Title 6 Copyright 7 CONTENTS 8 List of images 11 Publisher’s acknowledgements 12 Preface to the First Edition 13 Preface to the Second Edition 14 Preface to the Third Edition 15 Preface to the Fourth Edition 16 Abbreviations used in the Notes 17 1 THE CALL OF THE DESERT 20 The desert hermits 23 St Pachomius and the cenobitical life 26 St Basil 27 The desert tradition transmitted to the West 29 The first Western monks 30 2 THE RULE OF ST BENEDICT 36 St Benedict and his biographer 36 The Rule and its sources 39 The monk’s profession according to the Rule 42 The monk’s life according to the Rule 46 3 WANDERING SAINTS AND PRINCELY PATRONS 55 Columbanus in Gaul 55 Early Irish monasticism 57 Columbanus and the Merovingian nobility 62 The double monasteries of Gaul 64 The mixed rule in Gaul and Spain 65 4 ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT 69 Roman and Celtic foundations 69 Wearmouth and Jarrow 72 The Anglo-Saxon monks on the Continent 75 5 THE EMPEROR AND THE RULE 80 The religious motives for endowment 80 Social convenience 82 Public policy 83 The Rule under imperial supervision 87 Collapse and dispersal 91 6 THE AGE OF CLUNY 95 The rise of Cluny 95 The Cluniac empire 100 The Cluniac ideal 107 Gorze and the German revival 112 The English revival of the tenth century 113 7 THE CLOISTER AND THE WORLD 119 The daily round 121 Monastic tasks and their distribution 128 Recruitment 131 The social and economic role 134 Feudal obligations 138 Lay patrons 140 Relations with bishops and secular clergy 142 The cloister and the schools 146 8 MONASTIC REFORM: THE QUEST FOR THE PRIMITIVE 154 The orders of hermits 157 The Rule and the desert 160 The Carthusians 164 The canons regular 167 The Premonstratensians 172 9 THE CISTERCIAN MODEL 177 The truth of the letter 177 Growth and recruitment 185 The constitution of the order 188 The general chapter 191 Criticism and dilution 194 10 THE NEW MONASTICISM VERSUS THE OLD 202 St Bernard and Peter the Venerable 202 Reformers and traditionalists 205 11 A NEW KIND OF KNIGHTHOOD 209 The Templars 211 The Hospitallers 214 Decline and fall 215 12 SISTERS OR HANDMAIDS 218 Frauenfrage – the question of the sisters 218 St Gilbert and the Order of Sempringham 225 The Cistercian nuns 227 A new experiment: the Beguines 231 13 THE FRIARS 238 The social context 239 New evangelists 241 Franciscan origins 243 The Order of Preachers 252 The mission of the friars 257 Student orders 259 The complaint of the clergy 263 The place of the nuns 266 Other Mendicant Orders 267 14 EPILOGUE: THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COMMUNITY 276 Glossary 291 A Cistercian abbey ground plan 302 Index 304 Medieval Monasticism traces the Western Monastic tradition from its fourth century origins in the deserts of Egypt and Syria, through the many and varied forms of religious life it assumed during the Middle Ages. Hugh Lawrence explores the many sided relationship between monasteries and the secular world around them. For a thousand years, the great monastic houses and religious orders were a prominent feature of the social landscape of the West, and their leaders figured as much on the political as on the spiritual map of the medieval world. In this book many of them, together with their supporters and critics, are presented to us and speak their minds to us. We are shown, for instance, the controversy between the Benedictines and the reformed monasticism of the twelfth century and the problems that confronted women in religious life. A detailed glossary offers readers a helpful vocabulary of the subject. This book is essential reading for both students and scholars of the medieval world. Book jacket "Medieval Monasticism traces the Western Monastic tradition from its fourth century origins in the deserts of Egypt and Syria, through the many and varied forms of religious life it assumed during the Middle Ages. Hugh Lawrence explores the many sided relationship between monasteries and the secular world around them. For a thousand years, the great monastic houses and religious orders were a prominent feature of the social landscape of the West, and their leaders figured as much in the political as on the spiritual map of the medieval world. In this book many of them, together with their supporters and critics, are presented to us and speak their minds to us" -- Provided by publisher