Search Results

Context

Paul Rorem

in Hugh of Saint Victor

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 ... More

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

Lanfranc and the English

H. E. J. COWDREY

in Lanfranc: Scholar, Monk, Archbishop

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 ... More

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

External Concerns

H. E. J. COWDREY

in Lanfranc: Scholar, Monk, Archbishop

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 ... More

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

Conclusion

H. E. J. COWDREY

in Lanfranc: Scholar, Monk, Archbishop

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 ... More

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

Monk and Abbot

H. E. J. COWDREY

in Lanfranc: Scholar, Monk, Archbishop

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 ... More

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

“Camelot Is Dead”: The Newark Riots and the Closing of St. Benedict' Prep, 1967–1972

Thomas A. McCabe

in Miracle on High Street: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J.

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 ... More

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

Formative trends in twelfth-century political life

Jean Dunbabin

in France in the Making 843–1180

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 ... More

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

Death in Exile

H. E. J. Cowdrey

in Pope Gregory VII, 1073–1085

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 ... More

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

Experientia vs Gallic inexperience

Richard J. Goodrich

in Contextualizing Cassian: Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reformation in Fifth-Century Gaul

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 ... More

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

Adso of Montier-en-Der and the Fear of the Year 1000

Daniel Verhelst

in The Apocalyptic Year 1000: Religious Expectation and Social Change, 950-1050

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 ... More

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

“He Was Afraid of the City”: Abbot Patrick, the Monastic Family, and Postwar Newark, 1945—1967

Thomas A. McCabe

in Miracle on High Street: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J.

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 ... More

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

Tradition and Creativity in the Construction and Reading of the Philokalia

J. L. Zecher

in The Philokalia: A Classic Text of Orthodox Spirituality

This chapter explores the nature of spiritual fatherhood in Symeon the New Theologian and the dangers for the ancient and modern church.

Conclusion

Steven Vanderputten

in Imagining Religious Leadership in the Middle Ages: Richard of Saint-Vanne and the Politics of Reform

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 ... More

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