Creating The Monastic Past In Medieval Flanders

Examination of the self-produced histories of a number of religious communities, tracing out the complex reasons for their composition. The creation of a past for themselves was of pressing importance to religious communities, enabling them to increase their status and legitimise their existence. This book examines the process in a group of communities from the southern part of Flanders (the monks of Saint-Bertin at Saint-Omer, the community of Saint-Rictrude at Marchiennes and the canons of Saint-Amé at Douai) over a period running from the ninth to the end of the eleventh century. The central contention is that the communities produced their narratives (history, hagiography, charter materials) for a specific time and purpose, frequently as a response to or intended resolution of internal or external crises. The book also discusses how the circumstances which triggered narrative production had an impact not only on the content but also on the form of the texts.

The history of monastic institutions in the Middle Ages may at first appear remarkably uniform and predictable. Medieval commentators and modern scholars have observed how monasteries of the tenth to early twelfth centuries experienced long periods of stasis alternating with bursts of rapid development known as reforms. Charismatic leaders by sheer force of will, and by assiduously recruiting the support of the ecclesiastical and lay elites, pushed monasticism forward toward reform, remediating the inevitable decline of discipline and government in these institutions. A lack of concrete information on what happened at individual monasteries is not regarded as a significant problem, as long as there is the possibility to reconstruct the reformers’ ‘‘program.’’ While this general picture makes for a compelling narrative, it doesn’t necessarily hold up when one looks closely at the history of specific institutions. In Monastic Reform as Process, Steven Vanderputten puts the history of monastic reform to the test by examining the evidence from seven monasteries in Flanders, one of the wealthiest principalities of northwestern Europe, between 900 and 1100. He finds that the reform of a monastery should be studied not as an "exogenous shock" but as an intentional blending of reformist ideals with existing structures and traditions. He also shows that reformist government was cumulative in nature, and many of the individual achievements and initiatives of reformist abbots were only possible because they built upon previous achievements. Rather than looking at reforms as "flashpoint events," we need to view them as processes worthy of study in their own right. Deeply researched and carefully argued, Monastic Reform as Process will be essential reading for scholars working on the history of monasteries more broadly as well as those studying the phenomenon of reform throughout history.

This book contains ten previously published essays dealing with the development of Benedictine monasticism between c. 1050-1150. Relying on primary sources that originated in communities situated in the Southern Low Countries - one of the densest regions of Benedictine occupation and a crossroads of cultural and political influences - the essays are arranged in three thematic sections. The first looks at the societal background, methodologies, and intended outcomes of 'Cluniac' reform around 1100. The second section investigates reactions to reform, both within the monastic sphere and by outsiders. In the third section, the focus is on groups of monks, and how they, their supporters, and their enemies all developed strategies of self-representation and self-positioning in the face of growing competition over landed wealth, patronage, and positions of social privilege. (Series: Vita Regularis - Regulations and Interpretations of Religious Life in the Middle Ages. Treatises. / Ordnungen und Deutungen religiosen Lebens im Mittelalter. Abhandlungen - Vol. 54)

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.

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. In this book Steven Vanderputten reevaluates 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 Vanderputten 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.Vanderputten 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.

Scholars have long been interested in the extent to which the Anglo-Saxon past can be understood using material written, and produced, in the twelfth century; and simultaneously in the continued importance (or otherwise) of the Anglo-Saxon past in the generations following the Norman Conquest of England. In order to better understand these issues, this volume provides a series of essays that moves scholarship forward in two significant ways. Firstly, it scrutinises how the Anglo-Saxon past continued to be reused and recycled throughout the longue durée of the twelfth century, as opposed to the early decades that are usually covered. Secondly, by bringing together scholars who are experts in various different scholarly disciplines, the volume deals with a much broader range of historical, linguistic, legal, artistic, palaeographical and cultic evidence than has hitherto been the case. Divided into four main parts: The Anglo-Saxon Saints; Anglo-Saxon England in the Narrative of Britain; Anglo-Saxon Law and Charter; and Art-history and the French Vernacular, it scrutinises the majority of different genres of source material that are vital in any study of early medieval British history. In so doing the resultant volume will become a standard reference point for students and scholars alike interested in the ways in which the Anglo-Saxon past continued to be of importance and interest throughout the twelfth century.

In dit 'Jaarboek' worden diverse interessante thema's uit de middeleeuwse geschiedenis van de Nederlanden behandeld. Nicolas Mazeure onderzoekt de omgang van monnik Folcuin met de archivalia van de Vlaamse abdij van Sint-Bertijns. J.A. (Hans) Mol biedt een nieuwe kijk op de eind elfde eeuw op gang gekomen veenontginningen in het huidige Noordwest-Overijssel en Zuid-Friesland. Aan de hand van de door de dertiendeeeuwse Vlaams-Henegouwse gravin Johanna van Constantinopel uitgevaardigde oorkonden belicht Els De Paermentier het bestuur en de machtsuitoefening door vrouwen. Jaap van Moolenbroek ontrafelt het ontstaan van de mythe rond de inname van Damietta door Haarlemse kruisvaarders. Ellen Wurtzel laat zien hoe de stedelijke verdedigingswerken in het vijftiende- en zestiende-eeuwse Lille in toenemende mate werden beschouwd als collectief bezit. Truus van Bueren, Kim Ragetli en Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld belichten de mogelijkheden en uitdagingen van het brede onderzoeksterrein van middeleeuwse 'memoria', in het bijzonder van het Utrechtse MeMo-project.

"The chronicle covers the period from 1035 ... up to the account of the White Ship disaster in November 1120 ... with special reference to the earls of Warenne in Normandy."--Page xiii.

A study of the implications and practices of wills and will-making in Anglo-Saxon society, and of the varieties of inheritance strategies and commemorative arrangements adopted. A remarkable series of Anglo-Saxon wills have survived, spanning the period from the beginning of the ninth century to the years immediately following the Norman Conquest. Written in Old English, they reflect the significance of the vernacular, not only in royal administration during this period, but in the recording of a range of individual transactions. They show wealthy laymen and women, and clerics, from kings and bishops to those of thegnly status, disposing of land and chattels, and recognising ties of kinship, friendship, lordship and service through their bequests; and whilst land is of prime importance, the mention in some wills of such valuable items as tableware, furnishings, clothing, jewellery and weapons provides an insight into lifestyle at the time. Despite their importance, no study has hitherto been specifically devoted to Anglo-Saxon wills in their social and historical context, a gap which this book aims to fill. While the wills themselves can be vague and allusive, by establishing patterns of bequeathing, and by drawing on other resources, the author sheds light on the factors which influenced men and womenin making appropriate provision for their property. Linda Tollerton gained her PhD from the University of York.