Conrad Leyser
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208686
- eISBN:
- 9780191678127
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208686.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This book examines the formation of the Christian ascetic tradition in the western Roman Empire during the period of the barbarian invasions, c.400–600. In an aggressively competitive political ...
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This book examines the formation of the Christian ascetic tradition in the western Roman Empire during the period of the barbarian invasions, c.400–600. In an aggressively competitive political context, one of the most articulate claims to power was made, paradoxically, by men who had renounced ‘the world’, committing themselves to a life of spiritual discipline in the hope of gaining entry to an otherworldly kingdom. Often dismissed as mere fanaticism or open hypocrisy, the language of ascetic authority, the book shows, was both carefully honed and well understood in the late Roman and early medieval Mediterranean. It charts the development of this new moral rhetoric by abbots, teachers, and bishops from the time of Augustine of Hippo to that of St Benedict and Gregory the Great.Less
This book examines the formation of the Christian ascetic tradition in the western Roman Empire during the period of the barbarian invasions, c.400–600. In an aggressively competitive political context, one of the most articulate claims to power was made, paradoxically, by men who had renounced ‘the world’, committing themselves to a life of spiritual discipline in the hope of gaining entry to an otherworldly kingdom. Often dismissed as mere fanaticism or open hypocrisy, the language of ascetic authority, the book shows, was both carefully honed and well understood in the late Roman and early medieval Mediterranean. It charts the development of this new moral rhetoric by abbots, teachers, and bishops from the time of Augustine of Hippo to that of St Benedict and Gregory the Great.
H. E. J. Cowdrey
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199259601
- eISBN:
- 9780191717406
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259601.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Lanfranc of Pavia was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089, and so for nineteen critical years in the history of the Anglo-Norman church and kingdom after the Norman conquest of 1066. He came ...
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Lanfranc of Pavia was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089, and so for nineteen critical years in the history of the Anglo-Norman church and kingdom after the Norman conquest of 1066. He came to Canterbury with long experience of intellectual and ecclesiastical currents in mid-11th-century western Europe. At first concerned with the liberal arts, after migrating to Normandy he turned to sacred study; he commented upon the Pauline Epistles and engaged Berengar of Tours in eucharistic controversy. He became prominent in the flourishing monastic life of Normandy at Bec and as abbot of Duke William's foundation of Saint-Étienne at Caen. At Canterbury, he was King William's loyal and effective collaborator in renewing and reordering church life, using councils as a principal means. By no means a ‘court-prelate’, Lanfranc may be best characterized as a monk-archbishop, a role in which he was reinforced by being ex-officio abbot of a cathedral monastery at Canterbury. Canterbury's prestige and interests were a major concern; Lanfranc claimed for the see a primacy over the whole British Isles. Towards the great pope of his day, Gregory VII (1073-85), he was surprisingly cool. This is a full scholarly study of Lanfranc. It reconsiders his career and outstanding achievements in all major aspects, focusing on his qualities of wisdom, diligence, and statesmanship.Less
Lanfranc of Pavia was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089, and so for nineteen critical years in the history of the Anglo-Norman church and kingdom after the Norman conquest of 1066. He came to Canterbury with long experience of intellectual and ecclesiastical currents in mid-11th-century western Europe. At first concerned with the liberal arts, after migrating to Normandy he turned to sacred study; he commented upon the Pauline Epistles and engaged Berengar of Tours in eucharistic controversy. He became prominent in the flourishing monastic life of Normandy at Bec and as abbot of Duke William's foundation of Saint-Étienne at Caen. At Canterbury, he was King William's loyal and effective collaborator in renewing and reordering church life, using councils as a principal means. By no means a ‘court-prelate’, Lanfranc may be best characterized as a monk-archbishop, a role in which he was reinforced by being ex-officio abbot of a cathedral monastery at Canterbury. Canterbury's prestige and interests were a major concern; Lanfranc claimed for the see a primacy over the whole British Isles. Towards the great pope of his day, Gregory VII (1073-85), he was surprisingly cool. This is a full scholarly study of Lanfranc. It reconsiders his career and outstanding achievements in all major aspects, focusing on his qualities of wisdom, diligence, and statesmanship.
H. E. J. COWDREY
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199259601
- eISBN:
- 9780191717406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259601.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
There has been considerable debate amongst historians about the process by which Lanfranc established his ultimate view of English saints. It has involved the wider question of the attitude of Norman ...
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There has been considerable debate amongst historians about the process by which Lanfranc established his ultimate view of English saints. It has involved the wider question of the attitude of Norman abbots to the traditions and observances of their English subjects. There has been a strong tendency amongst recent scholars to question whether Norman churchmen in general disparaged the sanctity of England's men and women whom they found to be venerated in their churches, and whether in particular Lanfranc purged the Canterbury calendar of many English saints and reduced or suspended the recognition of his predecessors as archbishop, Dunstan (959-988) and Elphege (1006-1012). This chapter examines the newer view and presents examples confirming that Lanfranc was not hostile to the saints of Christ Church.Less
There has been considerable debate amongst historians about the process by which Lanfranc established his ultimate view of English saints. It has involved the wider question of the attitude of Norman abbots to the traditions and observances of their English subjects. There has been a strong tendency amongst recent scholars to question whether Norman churchmen in general disparaged the sanctity of England's men and women whom they found to be venerated in their churches, and whether in particular Lanfranc purged the Canterbury calendar of many English saints and reduced or suspended the recognition of his predecessors as archbishop, Dunstan (959-988) and Elphege (1006-1012). This chapter examines the newer view and presents examples confirming that Lanfranc was not hostile to the saints of Christ Church.
H. E. J. COWDREY
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199259601
- eISBN:
- 9780191717406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259601.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
As Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc was the ecclesiastical head of an English church that consisted of the provinces of Canterbury and York; he claimed a primacy over the British Isles that ...
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As Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc was the ecclesiastical head of an English church that consisted of the provinces of Canterbury and York; he claimed a primacy over the British Isles that includes Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. On account of his own past career and present reputation, Lanfranc continued to be considerably concerned with persons and problems both in the Duchy of Normandy and beyond its frontiers, including the French church. Lanfranc's Norman concerns centred upon the abbey of Bec and its two leading figures: abbots Herluin and Anselm. Lanfranc's known concern with matters arising in the French church beyond the Duchy of Normandy is limited to two of his letters: one to Archbishop Manasses I of Rheims in 1080, and the other to Abbot Reynald of Saint-Cyprien at Poitiers and others regarding the Trinity and especially about the incarnation of the second Person of the Trinity.Less
As Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc was the ecclesiastical head of an English church that consisted of the provinces of Canterbury and York; he claimed a primacy over the British Isles that includes Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. On account of his own past career and present reputation, Lanfranc continued to be considerably concerned with persons and problems both in the Duchy of Normandy and beyond its frontiers, including the French church. Lanfranc's Norman concerns centred upon the abbey of Bec and its two leading figures: abbots Herluin and Anselm. Lanfranc's known concern with matters arising in the French church beyond the Duchy of Normandy is limited to two of his letters: one to Archbishop Manasses I of Rheims in 1080, and the other to Abbot Reynald of Saint-Cyprien at Poitiers and others regarding the Trinity and especially about the incarnation of the second Person of the Trinity.
H. E. J. COWDREY
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199259601
- eISBN:
- 9780191717406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259601.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Considered in terms of his own life and achievement, Lanfranc's exceptional stature as Archbishop of Canterbury is apparent. In particular aspects of an archbishop's life and work in church and ...
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Considered in terms of his own life and achievement, Lanfranc's exceptional stature as Archbishop of Canterbury is apparent. In particular aspects of an archbishop's life and work in church and kingdom, others would excel him, but in the succession of archbishops from Augustine to the present day, only Theodore of Tarsus approaches Lanfranc's high competence in each of the main concerns of his office, his skill in human and political relationships, and above all the enduring character and benefit of his government of the English church both in itself and as an aspect of national life. He was important as a monk-archbishop not only because of his background as monk and prior of Bec and then abbot of Saint-Étienne at Caen, but also because he was ex officio abbot of the cathedral monastery at Canterbury.Less
Considered in terms of his own life and achievement, Lanfranc's exceptional stature as Archbishop of Canterbury is apparent. In particular aspects of an archbishop's life and work in church and kingdom, others would excel him, but in the succession of archbishops from Augustine to the present day, only Theodore of Tarsus approaches Lanfranc's high competence in each of the main concerns of his office, his skill in human and political relationships, and above all the enduring character and benefit of his government of the English church both in itself and as an aspect of national life. He was important as a monk-archbishop not only because of his background as monk and prior of Bec and then abbot of Saint-Étienne at Caen, but also because he was ex officio abbot of the cathedral monastery at Canterbury.
H. E. J. COWDREY
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199259601
- eISBN:
- 9780191717406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259601.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter discusses Lanfranc's entry into the monastic order as a fundamental conversion of life, his life as monk, and his years as prior of Bec. There is no positive reason to doubt that ...
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This chapter discusses Lanfranc's entry into the monastic order as a fundamental conversion of life, his life as monk, and his years as prior of Bec. There is no positive reason to doubt that Lanfranc's decision to change his manner of life came quite suddenly. Lanfranc became abbot of Saint-Étienne at Caen in 1063, and ruled the newly founded abbey until he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. When he moved to Caen he is likely to have been already some fifty years of age. His seniority, and therefore his experience and proven loyalty, are likely to have commended him to Duke William, who for political as well as for ecclesiastical reasons was seeking to establish the town of Caen as a centre of ducal authority.Less
This chapter discusses Lanfranc's entry into the monastic order as a fundamental conversion of life, his life as monk, and his years as prior of Bec. There is no positive reason to doubt that Lanfranc's decision to change his manner of life came quite suddenly. Lanfranc became abbot of Saint-Étienne at Caen in 1063, and ruled the newly founded abbey until he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. When he moved to Caen he is likely to have been already some fifty years of age. His seniority, and therefore his experience and proven loyalty, are likely to have commended him to Duke William, who for political as well as for ecclesiastical reasons was seeking to establish the town of Caen as a centre of ducal authority.
Paul Rorem
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195384369
- eISBN:
- 9780199869886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195384369.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter first introduces Hugh of St. Victor’s context as to early 12th-century Paris, the founding of St. Victor by William of Champeaux, and the leadership of Abbot Gilduin. It then surveys ...
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This chapter first introduces Hugh of St. Victor’s context as to early 12th-century Paris, the founding of St. Victor by William of Champeaux, and the leadership of Abbot Gilduin. It then surveys what little is known of Hugh’s life and discusses how to approach his many and varied writings. The edition of Hugh’s works supervised by Gilduin provides an order for introducing this corpus.Less
This chapter first introduces Hugh of St. Victor’s context as to early 12th-century Paris, the founding of St. Victor by William of Champeaux, and the leadership of Abbot Gilduin. It then surveys what little is known of Hugh’s life and discusses how to approach his many and varied writings. The edition of Hugh’s works supervised by Gilduin provides an order for introducing this corpus.
Thomas A. McCabe
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823233106
- eISBN:
- 9780823234950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823233106.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter provides an account of the Newark riots that took place on July 4 1967 and July 12 1967, and the closing of St. Benedict's. In 1967, several neighborhood men tried ...
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This chapter provides an account of the Newark riots that took place on July 4 1967 and July 12 1967, and the closing of St. Benedict's. In 1967, several neighborhood men tried to break in to the Masonic temple across the street. Eight nights later, several monks again stood on the rooftop, where they saw the first of six nights of looting and rioting, some of it just outside St. Benedict's doors. Abbot Martin Burne was an optimist who helped the Newark monastery achieve its independence for the second time in 1968. However after the election of Abbot Ambrose, it became clear that the issue of the school, and the issue of race, split the community in two. The divide was so wide, and disagreement so deep, that the monastic family became virtually dysfunctional by 1971. A year later, St. Benedict's closed.Less
This chapter provides an account of the Newark riots that took place on July 4 1967 and July 12 1967, and the closing of St. Benedict's. In 1967, several neighborhood men tried to break in to the Masonic temple across the street. Eight nights later, several monks again stood on the rooftop, where they saw the first of six nights of looting and rioting, some of it just outside St. Benedict's doors. Abbot Martin Burne was an optimist who helped the Newark monastery achieve its independence for the second time in 1968. However after the election of Abbot Ambrose, it became clear that the issue of the school, and the issue of race, split the community in two. The divide was so wide, and disagreement so deep, that the monastic family became virtually dysfunctional by 1971. A year later, St. Benedict's closed.
Philippa Tudor
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204404
- eISBN:
- 9780191676246
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204404.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter describes the involvement of John Feckenham in religious controversies in Tudor England. Feckenham is best known as the abbot of the restored Benedictine community at Westminster from ...
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This chapter describes the involvement of John Feckenham in religious controversies in Tudor England. Feckenham is best known as the abbot of the restored Benedictine community at Westminster from 1556 to 1559. He was involved in some of the most important religious controversies during the reigns of four of the five Tudor monarchs. He started his career as a controversial preacher at the end of Henry VIII's reign and maintained his opposition to the Reformation until his death in 1584.Less
This chapter describes the involvement of John Feckenham in religious controversies in Tudor England. Feckenham is best known as the abbot of the restored Benedictine community at Westminster from 1556 to 1559. He was involved in some of the most important religious controversies during the reigns of four of the five Tudor monarchs. He started his career as a controversial preacher at the end of Henry VIII's reign and maintained his opposition to the Reformation until his death in 1584.
NICHOLAS CANNY
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204190
- eISBN:
- 9780191676147
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204190.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
The phenomenon of English migration into and across the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries has only recently come to be taken seriously as a subject worthy of historical investigation. The ...
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The phenomenon of English migration into and across the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries has only recently come to be taken seriously as a subject worthy of historical investigation. The pioneering work of Norman Tyack on New England is matched by that of Abbot Emerson Smith and Mildred Campbell on white emigration to North American destinations other than New England. The broad subject investigated by Smith is suggested in his book Colonists in Bondage. The book devotes its attention to white migration to the British West Indies as well as to the colonies on mainland North America, and free migration to Colonial British America. Smith draws some conclusions about the trend and scale of servant migration during the two centuries, and identifies the years just before and immediately after the Restoration of 1660 and the period 1770–5 as the two phases of greatest migration.Less
The phenomenon of English migration into and across the Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries has only recently come to be taken seriously as a subject worthy of historical investigation. The pioneering work of Norman Tyack on New England is matched by that of Abbot Emerson Smith and Mildred Campbell on white emigration to North American destinations other than New England. The broad subject investigated by Smith is suggested in his book Colonists in Bondage. The book devotes its attention to white migration to the British West Indies as well as to the colonies on mainland North America, and free migration to Colonial British America. Smith draws some conclusions about the trend and scale of servant migration during the two centuries, and identifies the years just before and immediately after the Restoration of 1660 and the period 1770–5 as the two phases of greatest migration.
Scott G. Bruce
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452994
- eISBN:
- 9781501700927
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452994.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
In the summer of 972 a group of Muslim brigands based in the south of France abducted the abbot of Cluny as he and his entourage crossed the Alps. Ultimately, the abbot was set free and returned home ...
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In the summer of 972 a group of Muslim brigands based in the south of France abducted the abbot of Cluny as he and his entourage crossed the Alps. Ultimately, the abbot was set free and returned home safely, but the abduction outraged Christian leaders and galvanized the will of local lords. Shortly thereafter, Count William of Arles marshaled an army and succeeded in wiping out the Muslim stronghold. This book uses this incident to examine Christian perceptions of Islam in the Middle Ages. The monks of Cluny kept the tale of their abbot’s abduction alive over the next century in hagiographical works and chronicles written to promote his sanctity. The book explores the telling and retelling of this story, focusing particularly on the representation of Islam in each account, and how that representation changed over time. The culminating figure in this study is Peter the Venerable, one of Europe’s leading intellectuals and abbot of Cluny from 1122 to 1156. Remembered today largely for his views of Islam, Peter commissioned Latin translations of Muslim historical and devotional texts including the Qur’an. As the book shows, Peter’s thinking on Islam had its roots in the hagiographical tradition of the abduction. In fact, Peter drew from the stories as he crafted a “Muslim policy” relevant to the mid-twelfth century, a time of great anxiety about Islam in the aftermath of the failed Second Crusade.Less
In the summer of 972 a group of Muslim brigands based in the south of France abducted the abbot of Cluny as he and his entourage crossed the Alps. Ultimately, the abbot was set free and returned home safely, but the abduction outraged Christian leaders and galvanized the will of local lords. Shortly thereafter, Count William of Arles marshaled an army and succeeded in wiping out the Muslim stronghold. This book uses this incident to examine Christian perceptions of Islam in the Middle Ages. The monks of Cluny kept the tale of their abbot’s abduction alive over the next century in hagiographical works and chronicles written to promote his sanctity. The book explores the telling and retelling of this story, focusing particularly on the representation of Islam in each account, and how that representation changed over time. The culminating figure in this study is Peter the Venerable, one of Europe’s leading intellectuals and abbot of Cluny from 1122 to 1156. Remembered today largely for his views of Islam, Peter commissioned Latin translations of Muslim historical and devotional texts including the Qur’an. As the book shows, Peter’s thinking on Islam had its roots in the hagiographical tradition of the abduction. In fact, Peter drew from the stories as he crafted a “Muslim policy” relevant to the mid-twelfth century, a time of great anxiety about Islam in the aftermath of the failed Second Crusade.
Jean Dunbabin
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208464
- eISBN:
- 9780191678028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208464.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
The appointment of a Benedictine abbot as chief adviser to the king was sufficiently unusual to call to mind Benedict of Aniane's position in the early years of Louis the Pious's reign. Though ...
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The appointment of a Benedictine abbot as chief adviser to the king was sufficiently unusual to call to mind Benedict of Aniane's position in the early years of Louis the Pious's reign. Though Benedict's austerity and reforming zeal were missing in Suger, his twelfth-century counterpart, there was perhaps a similar commitment to abstract political principle, to the notion of undivided imperial or royal power. In Suger's case, this power was given sharper focus by its place at the apex of the terrestrial hierarchy; for, as he had learned from the presumed patron of his monastery, Pseudo-Dionysius, this was the proper ordering of earthly political authority. What marked Suger out from other Pseudo-Dionysians was firstly, that he translated his abstractions into concepts directly of these writings, that on the Celestial Hierarchies, provided the abbot both with his theory of the function of ecclesiastical architecture, and with a means of integrating the earthly power structure into that of heaven.Less
The appointment of a Benedictine abbot as chief adviser to the king was sufficiently unusual to call to mind Benedict of Aniane's position in the early years of Louis the Pious's reign. Though Benedict's austerity and reforming zeal were missing in Suger, his twelfth-century counterpart, there was perhaps a similar commitment to abstract political principle, to the notion of undivided imperial or royal power. In Suger's case, this power was given sharper focus by its place at the apex of the terrestrial hierarchy; for, as he had learned from the presumed patron of his monastery, Pseudo-Dionysius, this was the proper ordering of earthly political authority. What marked Suger out from other Pseudo-Dionysians was firstly, that he translated his abstractions into concepts directly of these writings, that on the Celestial Hierarchies, provided the abbot both with his theory of the function of ecclesiastical architecture, and with a means of integrating the earthly power structure into that of heaven.
Steven Vanderputten
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453779
- eISBN:
- 9780801456305
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453779.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
Around the turn of the first millennium AD, there emerged in the former Carolingian Empire a generation of abbots that came to be remembered as one of the most influential in the history of Western ...
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Around the turn of the first millennium AD, there emerged in the former Carolingian Empire a generation of abbots that came to be remembered as one of the most influential in the history of Western monasticism. This book re-evaluates the historical significance of this generation of monastic leaders through an in-depth study of one of its most prominent figures, Richard of Saint-Vanne. During his lifetime, Richard (d. 1046) served as abbot of numerous monasteries, which gained him a reputation as a highly successful administrator and reformer of monastic discipline. As the book shows, however, a more complex view of Richard's career, spirituality, and motivations enables us to better evaluate his achievements as church leader and reformer. The book analyzes various accounts of Richard's life, contemporary sources that are revealing of his worldview and self-conception, and the evidence relating to his actions as a monastic reformer and as a promoter of conversion. Richard himself conceived of his life as an evolving commentary on a wide range of issues relating to individual spirituality, monastic discipline, and religious leadership. This commentary, which combined highly conservative and revolutionary elements, reached far beyond the walls of the monastery and concerned many of the issues that would divide the church and its subjects in the later eleventh century.Less
Around the turn of the first millennium AD, there emerged in the former Carolingian Empire a generation of abbots that came to be remembered as one of the most influential in the history of Western monasticism. This book re-evaluates the historical significance of this generation of monastic leaders through an in-depth study of one of its most prominent figures, Richard of Saint-Vanne. During his lifetime, Richard (d. 1046) served as abbot of numerous monasteries, which gained him a reputation as a highly successful administrator and reformer of monastic discipline. As the book shows, however, a more complex view of Richard's career, spirituality, and motivations enables us to better evaluate his achievements as church leader and reformer. The book analyzes various accounts of Richard's life, contemporary sources that are revealing of his worldview and self-conception, and the evidence relating to his actions as a monastic reformer and as a promoter of conversion. Richard himself conceived of his life as an evolving commentary on a wide range of issues relating to individual spirituality, monastic discipline, and religious leadership. This commentary, which combined highly conservative and revolutionary elements, reached far beyond the walls of the monastery and concerned many of the issues that would divide the church and its subjects in the later eleventh century.
H. E. J. Cowdrey
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206460
- eISBN:
- 9780191677144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206460.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, History of Religion
Pope Gregory VII died at Salerno on May 25, 1085. He seems to have fallen seriously ill at about the beginning of the year. The record of his final ...
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Pope Gregory VII died at Salerno on May 25, 1085. He seems to have fallen seriously ill at about the beginning of the year. The record of his final testament, followed by the Montecassino Chronicle, suggests that he was for a considerable period in the grip of major illness. Some days before he died, Gregory appears to have suffered a relapse. He was attended by an entourage of bishops and cardinals who seem to have been essentially those who had left Rome with him. Also present were a number of chaplains. If he died ‘poor and in exile’, his poverty was a matter of the moral indifference to possessions, which was proper for a Christian, not of enforced material need or human isolation. The only named witness throughout his last illness was Abbot Desiderius of Montecassino, who, however, according to Paul of Bernried, fulfilled Gregory's prophecy by being absent at the hour of his death in order to bring relief to one of his abbey's castles to which some Normans were laying siege.Less
Pope Gregory VII died at Salerno on May 25, 1085. He seems to have fallen seriously ill at about the beginning of the year. The record of his final testament, followed by the Montecassino Chronicle, suggests that he was for a considerable period in the grip of major illness. Some days before he died, Gregory appears to have suffered a relapse. He was attended by an entourage of bishops and cardinals who seem to have been essentially those who had left Rome with him. Also present were a number of chaplains. If he died ‘poor and in exile’, his poverty was a matter of the moral indifference to possessions, which was proper for a Christian, not of enforced material need or human isolation. The only named witness throughout his last illness was Abbot Desiderius of Montecassino, who, however, according to Paul of Bernried, fulfilled Gregory's prophecy by being absent at the hour of his death in order to bring relief to one of his abbey's castles to which some Normans were laying siege.
Janet Semple
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198273875
- eISBN:
- 9780191684074
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198273875.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter discusses the family and personal background of Jeremy Bentham and the origins of the panopticon. Bentham was born in London, England in 1748 and was the eldest son of Alicia and ...
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This chapter discusses the family and personal background of Jeremy Bentham and the origins of the panopticon. Bentham was born in London, England in 1748 and was the eldest son of Alicia and Jeremiah. His five brothers and sisters died in early childhood and only Samuel survived. When his mother died, his father married a widow whose own son Charles Abbot would play an important role in the story of the panopticon. In 1776, he wrote a successful book titled A Fragment on Government and during this time Bentham was always engaged in ambitious and wide-ranging speculations on the foundations of government and punishment. In 1830 The Rationale of Punishment was published, which explains his motivation for building the panopticon. Safeguarding the interests of the criminal was the main preoccupation of Bentham's panopticon scheme.Less
This chapter discusses the family and personal background of Jeremy Bentham and the origins of the panopticon. Bentham was born in London, England in 1748 and was the eldest son of Alicia and Jeremiah. His five brothers and sisters died in early childhood and only Samuel survived. When his mother died, his father married a widow whose own son Charles Abbot would play an important role in the story of the panopticon. In 1776, he wrote a successful book titled A Fragment on Government and during this time Bentham was always engaged in ambitious and wide-ranging speculations on the foundations of government and punishment. In 1830 The Rationale of Punishment was published, which explains his motivation for building the panopticon. Safeguarding the interests of the criminal was the main preoccupation of Bentham's panopticon scheme.
Richard J. Goodrich
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199213139
- eISBN:
- 9780191695841
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199213139.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter discusses one of Cassian's strategies for swaying an audience, his claim to a level of experience that trumped that of Gallic practitioners. It examines Cassian's critique of Gallic ...
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This chapter discusses one of Cassian's strategies for swaying an audience, his claim to a level of experience that trumped that of Gallic practitioners. It examines Cassian's critique of Gallic asceticism. If this was reduced to a single word, it would be inexperience. The Gallic monks, lacking experience, had created idiosyncratic ascetic structures that Cassian condemned. The chapter notes that the principal problem of Gallic monasticism was the untrained abbot who had the temerity to establish his own monastery without first having served as a disciple under an experienced master. This action, the epitome of pride, undermined one of the chief goals of the ascetic life, the cultivation of humility. Cassian portrayed himself as a man with impeccable credentials, an author whose experience could correct the disorder of Gallic asceticism.Less
This chapter discusses one of Cassian's strategies for swaying an audience, his claim to a level of experience that trumped that of Gallic practitioners. It examines Cassian's critique of Gallic asceticism. If this was reduced to a single word, it would be inexperience. The Gallic monks, lacking experience, had created idiosyncratic ascetic structures that Cassian condemned. The chapter notes that the principal problem of Gallic monasticism was the untrained abbot who had the temerity to establish his own monastery without first having served as a disciple under an experienced master. This action, the epitome of pride, undermined one of the chief goals of the ascetic life, the cultivation of humility. Cassian portrayed himself as a man with impeccable credentials, an author whose experience could correct the disorder of Gallic asceticism.
Daniel Verhelst
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195161625
- eISBN:
- 9780199849666
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195161625.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Christianity has repeatedly experienced events that have given rise to eschatological expectations. Over and over again, people have emerged who, with ambitious curiosity, have attempted to evaluate ...
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Christianity has repeatedly experienced events that have given rise to eschatological expectations. Over and over again, people have emerged who, with ambitious curiosity, have attempted to evaluate the duration of world history. Likewise, the legend of the Antichrist and the expectation of the end of the world were, at various times in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, perceived by some as a threatening reality. Both of these themes had a traditional basis, passed on from one generation to the next. Cosmic and biological omens, religious commotion, and heresies often triggered such expectations. Hence, annals, chronicles, and hagiographical works tend to give normal cosmic events an apocalyptic twist. Also, the abbot of Montier-en-Der, in northeastern France, developed an enduring synthesis of the eschatological vision and tradition.Less
Christianity has repeatedly experienced events that have given rise to eschatological expectations. Over and over again, people have emerged who, with ambitious curiosity, have attempted to evaluate the duration of world history. Likewise, the legend of the Antichrist and the expectation of the end of the world were, at various times in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, perceived by some as a threatening reality. Both of these themes had a traditional basis, passed on from one generation to the next. Cosmic and biological omens, religious commotion, and heresies often triggered such expectations. Hence, annals, chronicles, and hagiographical works tend to give normal cosmic events an apocalyptic twist. Also, the abbot of Montier-en-Der, in northeastern France, developed an enduring synthesis of the eschatological vision and tradition.
Thomas A. McCabe
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823233106
- eISBN:
- 9780823234950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823233106.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter discusses the reservations of Abbot Patrick for the building of a new and greater St. Benedict's and moving the school, and the consequences of transferring the ...
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This chapter discusses the reservations of Abbot Patrick for the building of a new and greater St. Benedict's and moving the school, and the consequences of transferring the title of abbey to Morristown. Ironically, as Abbot Patrick and his fellow monks debated their future in Newark in the late 1950s and early 1960s, St. Benedict's was a thriving, self-confident institution at the peak of its influence. In May 24, 1956, Abbot Patrick asked his fellow monks to discuss two proposals: the first, to keep the abbey on High Street and develop the site in Newark while keeping Morristown as a dependency; and the second, to transfer the title of the abbey to Morristown and establish Newark as a dependency. The sense of accomplishment and timelessness at St. Benedict's was shattered by the dramatic changes wrought by events of the 1960s, including the civil rights movement and the Second Vatican Council.Less
This chapter discusses the reservations of Abbot Patrick for the building of a new and greater St. Benedict's and moving the school, and the consequences of transferring the title of abbey to Morristown. Ironically, as Abbot Patrick and his fellow monks debated their future in Newark in the late 1950s and early 1960s, St. Benedict's was a thriving, self-confident institution at the peak of its influence. In May 24, 1956, Abbot Patrick asked his fellow monks to discuss two proposals: the first, to keep the abbey on High Street and develop the site in Newark while keeping Morristown as a dependency; and the second, to transfer the title of the abbey to Morristown and establish Newark as a dependency. The sense of accomplishment and timelessness at St. Benedict's was shattered by the dramatic changes wrought by events of the 1960s, including the civil rights movement and the Second Vatican Council.
J. L. Zecher
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195390261
- eISBN:
- 9780199932931
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390261.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter explores the nature of spiritual fatherhood in Symeon the New Theologian and the dangers for the ancient and modern church.
This chapter explores the nature of spiritual fatherhood in Symeon the New Theologian and the dangers for the ancient and modern church.
Steven Vanderputten
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801453779
- eISBN:
- 9780801456305
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801453779.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This concluding chapter argues that scholars have continued to rely on classic notions of monastic reform, monastic networking, and abbatial leadership to justify Richard's relevance to the ...
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This concluding chapter argues that scholars have continued to rely on classic notions of monastic reform, monastic networking, and abbatial leadership to justify Richard's relevance to the development of Benedictine monasticism. However, the book shows that his stature as a great “apostle of reform” is doubtful, and that he did not initiate a true reform movement. The fundamental problem underlying the scholars' marginalized evaluations of Richard's life is that their reconstruction of his motivations and achievements is based on his identity as monk and abbot. In contrast, Richard's thinking was crucially shaped in an environment that, although inspired by monastic modes of thinking, aimed to impact primarily the ideology and practice of clerical and secular rulers.Less
This concluding chapter argues that scholars have continued to rely on classic notions of monastic reform, monastic networking, and abbatial leadership to justify Richard's relevance to the development of Benedictine monasticism. However, the book shows that his stature as a great “apostle of reform” is doubtful, and that he did not initiate a true reform movement. The fundamental problem underlying the scholars' marginalized evaluations of Richard's life is that their reconstruction of his motivations and achievements is based on his identity as monk and abbot. In contrast, Richard's thinking was crucially shaped in an environment that, although inspired by monastic modes of thinking, aimed to impact primarily the ideology and practice of clerical and secular rulers.
