Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages

319 Pages·2015·2.671 MB·English

by  C.H. Lawrence

MEDIEVAL MONASTICISM
Medieval Monasticism traces the Western Monastic tradition from its fourth cen-
tury 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.
C. H. Lawrence is Professor Emeritus of the University of London, UK. His
previous publications include St Edmund of Abingdon (1960); Matthew Paris and
St Edmund (1996); The Friars: The Impact of the Mendicant Orders on Medieval Society
(2001) and The Letters of Adam Marsh (ed. and translated 2006–10).
The Medieval World
Series editors: Warren C. Brown, Caltech, USA and
Piotr Górecki, University of California, Riverside, USA
Alfred the Great Crime in Medieval Europe
Richard Abels Trevor Dean
Christian-Jewish Relations, Charles I of Anjou
1000–1300 Jean Dunbabin
Anna Sapir Abulafia
The Age of Charles Martel
The Western Mediterranean Paul Fouracre
Kingdoms Margery Kempe
David Abulafia A. E. Goodman
The Fourth Crusade Abbot Suger of St-Denis
Michael Angold Lindy Grant/David Bates
The Cathars Edward the Black Prince
Malcolm Barber David Green
The Godwins Church and People in the
Frank Barlow Medieval West, 900–1200
Sarah Hamilton
Philip Augustus
Jim Bradbury Bastard Feudalism
M. Hicks
Disunited Kingdoms
The Crusader States and their
Michael Brown
Neighbours
Violence in Medieval Europe P. M. Holt
Warren C. Brown
The Formation of English
Medieval Canon Law Common Law
J. A. Brundage John Hudson
The Mongols and the West Justinian
Peter Jackson John Moorhead
Europe’s Barbarians, AD 200–600 Ambrose
Edward James John Moorhead
The Cistercian Order in Charles the Bald
Medieval Europe Janet L. Nelson
Emilia Jamroziak
The Devil’s World
The Viking Diaspora Andrew Roach
Judith Jesch
The Reign of Richard
Medieval Monasticism Lionheart
C. H. Lawrence Ralph Turner/Richard Heiser
Cnut The Welsh Princes
K. Lawson Roger Turvey
The Age of Robert Guiscard English Noblewomen in the
Graham Loud Late Middle Ages
J. Ward
The English Church, 940–1154
H. R. Loyn
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MEDIEVAL
MONASTICISM
Forms of religious life in Western
Europe in the Middle Ages
Fourth edition
C. H. Lawrence
First published in 1984 by Longman Group Ltd
Second edition published in 1989 by Longman Group UK Limited
Third edition published in 2001 by Pearson Education Limited
This edition published in 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 C. H. Lawrence
The right of C. H. Lawrence to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published in 1984 by Pearson Education Ltd
Third edition published in 2001 by Routledge
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lawrence, C. H. (Clifford Hugh), 1921–
Medieval monasticism : forms of religious life in Western Europe in
the Middle Ages / C. H. Lawrence. — Fourth edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Monasticism and religious orders—History—Middle Ages, 600–1500.
I. Title.
BX2470.L39 2015
271.0094′0902—dc23
2015000988
ISBN: 978-1-138-85403-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85404-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71566-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of images x
Publisher’s acknowledgements xi
Preface to the First Edition xii
Preface to the Second Edition xiii
Preface to the Third Edition xiv
Preface to the Fourth Edition xv
Abbreviations used in the Notes xvi
1 THE CALL OF THE DESERT 1
The desert hermits 4
St Pachomius and the cenobitical life 7
St Basil 8
The desert tradition transmitted to the West 10
The first Western monks 11
2 THE RULE OF ST BENEDICT 17
St Benedict and his biographer 17
The Rule and its sources 20
The monk’s profession according to the Rule 23
The monk’s life according to the Rule 27
3 WANDERING SAINTS AND PRINCELY PATRONS 36
Columbanus in Gaul 36
Early Irish monasticism 38
Columbanus and the Merovingian nobility 43
viii Contents
The double monasteries of Gaul 45
The mixed rule in Gaul and Spain 46
4 ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT 50
Roman and Celtic foundations 50
Wearmouth and Jarrow 53
The Anglo-Saxon monks on the Continent 56
5 THE EMPEROR AND THE RULE 61
The religious motives for endowment 61
Social convenience 63
Public policy 64
The Rule under imperial supervision 68
Collapse and dispersal 72
6 THE AGE OF CLUNY 76
The rise of Cluny 76
The Cluniac empire 81
The Cluniac ideal 88
Gorze and the German revival 93
The English revival of the tenth century 94
7 THE CLOISTER AND THE WORLD 100
The daily round 102
Monastic tasks and their distribution 109
Recruitment 112
The social and economic role 115
Feudal obligations 119
Lay patrons 121
Relations with bishops and secular clergy 123
The cloister and the schools 127
8 MONASTIC REFORM: THE QUEST FOR
THE PRIMITIVE 135
The orders of hermits 138
The Rule and the desert 141
The Carthusians 145
The canons regular 148
The Premonstratensians 153
9 THE CISTERCIAN MODEL 158
The truth of the letter 158
Growth and recruitment 166
Contents ix
The constitution of the order 169
The general chapter 172
Criticism and dilution 175
10 THE NEW MONASTICISM VERSUS THE OLD 183
St Bernard and Peter the Venerable 183
Reformers and traditionalists 186
11 A NEW KIND OF KNIGHTHOOD 190
The Templars 192
The Hospitallers 195
Decline and fall 196
12 SISTERS OR HANDMAIDS 199
Frauenfrage – the question of the sisters 199
St Gilbert and the Order of Sempringham 206
The Cistercian nuns 208
A new experiment: the Beguines 212
13 THE FRIARS 219
The social context 220
New evangelists 222
Franciscan origins 224
The Order of Preachers 233
The mission of the friars 238
Student orders 240
The complaint of the clergy 244
The place of the nuns 247
Other Mendicant Orders 248
14 EPILOGUE: THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE
COMMUNITY 257
Glossary 272
A Cistercian abbey ground plan 283
Index 285