Reims,Bibliothèque Carnegie, 806: a little‐known manuscript of Benedict of Aniane's Concordia regularum

Benedict of Aniane is usually portrayed as the major instigator of a series of monastic reforms undertaken by Louis the Pious in the early years of his reign, which attempted to impose the Rule of Benedict of Nursia as the sole monastic standard across Francia. Based on information provided by Ardo, Benedict of Aniane's biographer, the Concordia regularum has been seen as Benedict's main instrument in his attempt to convince or compel others to accept the Rule as a superior norm. The Concordia itself is a sort of commentary on the Rule, where almost the whole of St Benedict's Rule is explained by texts drawn from other monastic rules. However, a number of fragments from a copy of the Concordia, apparently written a decade or more before the accession of Louis, contests Ardo's chronology, and challenges our traditional understanding of both Benedict of Aniane's role in monastic reform and of the Aachen reform councils. An edition of these fragments is included in an Appendix.     

Good men gone bad? Resistance to monastic reform in the tenth and eleventh centuries

Conservative opponents of monastic reform in the tenth and eleventh centuries have traditionally been portrayed as principally reluctant to change and unwilling to abandon privileges and preferential treatment. This article performs a close, comparative reading of the poem Carmen ad Rotbertum regem by Adalbero of Laon (c.950–1031) and the monastic chronicle Casus Sancti Galli by Ekkehard IV (c.980–1057), in order to identify the authors’ attitudes to reform and reformists, and the sources for their counter-reform argumentation. It argues that the studied texts mediate reasoned, grounded standpoints, based on a thorough knowledge of monastic regulations and their importance to Christian ethics, and on the placing of society into an all-encompassing philosophical-religious context. Particular attention is given to the multiple layers of meaning characteristic of medieval writing.     

Monks and Local Communities: The Late-medieval Landscape of Troed y Rhiw,Caron Uwch Clawdd,Ceredigion

Abstract

In a zone of improved upland pasture some 2 km east of the Cistercian monastery of Strata Florida (Ystrad Fflur), Ceredigion, are the earthwork remains of a 'sheepcote' and four abandoned medieval farms, one probably originating as a monastic sheep-handling station. Documentary evidence and field observation suggest that these farms have preserved their late-medieval forms in a relatively unmodified state. Three were apparently situated along a contemporary ffridd boundary (head dyke) that separated a zone of pasture and perhaps arable land from mountain pasture. We cannot establish the relationship between the 'sheepcote' and the 'farms' through field observation alone, nor do we know the absolute age of the ffridd boundary. Our paper describes and briefly discusses the character and local context of the area defined by the latter. The pattern of land-use is comparable to that in Swaledale (North Yorkshire), an area that has been discussed on the one hand in terms of patterns of townships (hamlets) and their land-use zones, and on the other in terms of monastic enterprise and the identification of 'vaccaries'. In the study of 'monastic landscapes', we risk becoming preoccupied with estate economies and the identification of 'tool-kits', at the expense of dealing with the complexity of relationships between monasteries and local communities.     

A secular shift in Carolingian history writing?

This article explores a series of Carolingian historians, writing in the early ninth century, who marginalized the role of God’s agency, in sharp contrast to the pattern established by the Annales Regni Francorum. Where this has been noted before, largely in relation to Einhard’s Vita Karoli, it has been explained either as a clash between lay and monastic ideals or as a by-product of the classical renewal at the Carolingian court. Examining this process across multiple texts suggests, however, that these historians can be understood as self-consciously ‘secularizing’ in response to contemporary crises.     

The regular canons and the liturgy of the Latin East

ABSTRACT

The present paper examines liturgical rites practised in the crusader states from the perspective of its agents, introducing the monastic and institutional framework in which the liturgy was commissioned and performed, that is, the history of canons regular in the Latin East. The first part identifies the normative basis of the Augustinian canons’ vita communis and looks into the relationship between the clerics’ monastic customs and their liturgical observances. The second part investigates how the canons’ spiritual ideals influenced particular components and features of their liturgy, focusing on the mimetic highlights of the church year and their importance for the way in which the canons strove to impersonate the Apostles and the primitive Christian community of Jerusalem.     

Bone mineral densities in the prehistoric,Viking‐Age and medieval populations of Norway

Osteoporosis is a prevalent condition in Norway, as evidenced by the fact that this country has the highest reported incidences of hip and distal forearm fractures. Because recent studies suggest a higher bone density in rural populations compared with urban ones, increased physical activity is believed to be an important factor in reducing fracture incidence. In the present investigation, 185 femoral necks from the Schreiner Collection in Oslo were measured by means of a bone‐mass scanner. The bones, anthropological specimens ranging from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, were separated into three groups: prehistoric (n = 36), Viking Age (n = 38) and medieval (n = 111). The medieval group was further separated into urban, rural and monastic populations. The examination showed that: (a) there was no significant difference at a 5% level in average bone mineral density (BMD) between the male and female material; (b) there was no significant difference in average BMD among the prehistoric, Viking Age, and medieval periods (P = 0.151); (c) there was no significant difference in average BMD between the rural and urban medieval material; (d) there was a significant difference in average BMD only between the monastic and the rural medieval material; (e) only the medieval material showed a significantly higher average BMD than that of today (P = 0.001). These findings may indicate that factors in addition to physical activity are important for normal BMD maintenance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Somatic Styles of the Early Middle Ages

‘Somatic Styles’ examines how classical modes of gender played significant roles in carving out competitive arenas between clerical and lay elites, c.600–900 CE. The paper explores the hermeneutical obstacles standing between the contemporary theorist of gender and the complex nature of the early medieval texts under scrutiny. The analysis reconstructs classicising techniques of gender deployed by early medieval churchmen, and it does so in a way that both challenges the stranglehold of the ‘one‐sex’ model on pre‐modern understandings of gender and heals the ‘rupture’ between the ‘Ancient’ and the ‘Dark Age’. Finally, the essay maps early medieval somatic and gendered styles onto an architectural space where lay and consecrated bodies met – a ninth‐century monastic basilica.     

Divine Diplomacy in the late Eleventh Century

Abstract

The subject of the XXIV Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies was Byzantine Diplomacy and many of the papers dealt with high-level contacts between Byzantium and other medieval states. But although Byzantines often made use of churchmen and monks as ambassadors and although there was usually a religious dimension to Byzantine diplomacy, it is worth noting that powerful monastic figures and influential houses often engaged in diplomacy on their own account. The theatre of operations was often more geographically limited, but this kind of monastic diplomacy had much in common with its lay counterpart. In both cases, it was Constantinople and the imperial court which was the centre of ‘diplomatic activity’ and, in both cases, negotiations were often delicate and long-protracted. If favours were sought, if confirmations of privileges were required, if difficulties with zealous local officials were to be overcome, then representations needed to be made at the highest level. This often meant a monastic delegation visiting Constantinople and operating in very similar ways to lay missions.     

Monks and children: corporal punishment in Late Antiquity1*

This article examines the place of corporal punishment in early monastic discipline. By comparing the role assigned to corporal punishment in a variety of monastic rules from across the late antique Mediterranean, from the Rules ascribed to Pachomius (d. 348), to the Rule of Benedict from the mid-sixth century, it demonstrates that late antique monastic writers had a sophisticated and ordered approach to this type of penalty. This approach drew both on the concept of the absolute authority of the punishing father in Scripture, and on the limitations of Roman social expectations and ancient educational values to such absolute authority. As a result corporal punishment was seen either as a last resort when all other disciplinary measures had failed to bring about a reasonable response, or the appropriate punishment for an offence that originated from irrational conduct. Contrary to ancient household practices, however, which seem to have reserved corporal punishment for small children and slaves – conventionally perceived to lack ability to reason – late antique monastic rules invoked corporal punishment as a possibility for every member in the community who demonstrated irrational behaviour. In this way they blurred traditional boundaries between children, slaves and adults.     

The Calderstones,Near Liverpool

Abstract

This article is a contribution to the revisionist literature on the monastic orders in late medieval England and their art and architecture. It discusses the visual and material cultures of the Cistercians in northern England in the period immediately before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, demonstrating the enduring popularity of the Order in the late Middle Ages and that patronage of art and architecture continued until the very moment of the Suppression. Evidence is also discussed showing that monks and nuns salvaged property from their houses in the hope that their monasteries would be restored.     

Changing to suit the times: a post-Dissolution history of Monk Bretton Priory,South Yorkshire

Abstract

The Dissolution of the Monasteries is usually seen as the final event in the lifecycle of monastic sites, and consequently is often discussed in terms of the destruction wrought or the motivations of those who profited immediately from their demise. However, the majority of former monastic sites continued to be occupied, maintained and developed in new ways for decades after these events. This paper takes the case study of Monk Bretton Priory, a fairly unremarkable monastic institution, and attempts to demonstrate how an explicitly biographical and long-term examination of a site’s post-Dissolution history can provide a more nuanced and balanced narrative.     

Radical changes in Islamic glass technology: evidence for conservatism and experimentation with new glass recipes from early and middle Islamic Raqqa,Syria*

The chemical analysis of excavated glass fragments from dated archaeological contexts in Raqqa, Syria, has provided a detailed picture of the chemical compositions of artefacts deriving from eighth to ninth and 11th century glassmaking and glassworking activities. Evidence for primary glass production has been found at three excavated sites, of eighth to ninth, 11th and 12th century dates; the first two are discussed here. The 2 km long industrial complex at al‐Raqqa was associated with an urban landscape consisting of two Islamic cities (al‐Raqqa and al‐Rafika) and a series of palace complexes. The glass fused and worked there was presumably for local as well as for regional consumption. Al‐Raqqa currently appears to have produced the earliest well‐dated production on record in the Middle East of an Islamic high‐magnesia glass based on an alkaline plant ash flux and quartz. An eighth to ninth century late ‘Roman’/Byzantine soda–lime recipe of natron and sand begins to be replaced in the eighth to ninth century by a plant ash – quartz Islamic soda–lime composition. By the 11th century, this process was nearly complete. The early Islamic natron glass compositional group from al‐Raqqa shows very little spread in values, indicating a repeatedly well‐controlled process with the use of chemically homogeneous raw materials. A compositionally more diffuse range of eighth to ninth century plant ash glass compositions have been identified. One is not only distinct from established groups of plant ash and natron glasses, but is believed to be the result of experimentation with new raw material combinations. Compositional analysis of primary production waste including furnace glass (raw glass adhering to furnace brick) shows that contemporary glasses of three distinct plant ash types based on various combinations of plant ash, quartz and sand were being made in al‐Raqqa during the late eighth to ninth centuries. This is a uniquely wide compositional range from an ancient glass production site, offering new insights into the complexity of Islamic glass technology at a time of change and innovation.     

‘From Nitria to Sitria’: the construction of Peter Damian's Vita Beati Romualdi

This article examines the construction of Peter Damian's (c.1007–72) Vita Beati Romualdi (c.1042) as a piece of eleventh-century hagiography. Peter Damian was an erudite hermit, monk and reformer whose ideas on spiritual perfection helped to shape the ideals of the so-called ‘Gregorian Reform’ movement in the eleventh century. This article aims to contribute to recent historiography on the eleventh century through a re-examination of this important piece of hagiography, which has not been more thoroughly considered by medievalists since 1957 in Tabacco's critical edition. This article suggests that, through the biography of St Romuald, Peter Damian sought to promote the example of the Desert Fathers in formulating a more rigorous monastic rule, not only for his hermits at Fonte Avellana, but also for a wide monastic and lay audience. It also argues that there existed a gradual evolution in monastic ideology from the tenth century onwards, sponsored by ascetics like Damian who strove constantly to lead a more austere existence based on the Desert tradition and more particularly the Life of St Antony. In particular, the article pays attention to how Damian, as a hagiographer, was engaged in the construction of Romuald's sanctity.     

Reform and the Basque dukes of Gascony: a context for the origins of the Peace of God and the murder of Abbo of Fleury

The tenth‐century Basque rulers of the early medieval duchy of Gascony created novel temporal and ecclesiastical institutions through which to express their power, and negotiated, from a position of some prestige, relationships with both monastic reformers and the Poitevin dukes of neighbouring Aquitaine. There a member of the Gascon ducal family summoned what would come to be known as the first council of the ‘Peace of God’ movement, usually portrayed as an Aquitainian initiative. The impact of the Gascons’ record on their own obscure territories also provides a context for the murder of Abbo, abbot of Fleury.     

Knowledge of the past and the judgement of history in tenth‐century Trier: Regino of Prüm and the lost manuscript of Bishop Adventius of Metz

Regino of Prüm's chronicle is an invaluable source for ninth‐ and early tenth‐century Frankish history, but also for contemporary perceptions of that history. Though Regino's motivations for writing continue to be discussed, most historians now agree that his account can be read as one of Carolingian rise and fall. This article argues that this interpretative stance should be considered as in part a product of Regino's engagement with the surprisingly limited sources for the ninth century at his disposal. Taken together, these texts suggested a narrative for which Regino could find ample confirmation in the events of his own time.     

The Poeta Saxo at Paderborn: episcopal authority and Carolingian rule in late ninth‐century Saxony

This paper argues that the Poeta Saxo's epic poem about Charlemagne was composed at the bishopric of Paderborn as part of a wider literary programme that included both the Translatio sancti Liborii and the Vita sancti Liborii. Near the close of the ninth century, when Paderborn's renown and resources were at their lowest ebb, these three works articulated an image of episcopal authority, touted the pre‐eminence of Paderborn, and made a bid for royal patronage.     

The Icelandic medieval monastic garden - did it exist?

In the multidisciplinary project presented here, 12 known monastic grounds in Iceland were surveyed by a group of medievalists from different fields in the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. The aim of the survey was to increase knowledge of the Icelandic monastic garden and of the plants that were known and used there; to look for possible medieval cultural relict plants; to observe continental influence on the island; and to vitalize discussion and research. Landscape and plants were surveyed at the 12 monastic sites, and full botanical investigations made. Many of the plants found have a medieval past as medicinal and utility plants, and some of their properties may have been common knowledge to medieval Icelanders. An investigation of written sources and archaeological and archaeobotanical findings from excavated sites added to the investigators’ knowledge. So were there monastic gardens in Iceland in the Middle Ages? The answer is a rather confident yes. With all the evidence combined, the investigators were able to trace the deliberate use of medicinal, food and utility plants in the monastic contexts. Whether they were cultivated, tended in situ, gathered growing wild or imported is another matter. Continental influence was more evident than has previously been observed.