Medieval Monasticism

The papers gives first an overview on the Hungarian monasteriologiae from the 17th century on, then it analysis the tendences of the development of the medieval Hungarian monastic network based on a collection of data between 996 and 1541, the foundation of the first Benedictine abbey in Hungary till the Ottoman occupation of the kingdom's medieval capital, Buda.

Taft R. F. The Great Entrance. A History of the Transfer of Gifts and other Preanaphoral Rites of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. [A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, vol. II]. Roma, 1975. (Orientalia Christiana Analecta; 200).

umr cnrs 8584 lem) -Alain Dubreucq (Université Jean-Moulin, Lyon III, ciham umr cnrs 5648) -Sylvain Excoffon (Université Jean-Monnet, Saint-Étienne, directeur adjoint du cercor umr cnrs 8584 lem) -Bernard Hours (Université Jean-Moulin, Lyon III, larhra umr cnrs 5190) -Daniel-Odon Hurel (lem umr cnrs 8584, président du pcr La Chaise-Dieu) -Thierry Pécout (Université Jean-Monnet, Saint-Étienne, directeur du cercor umr cnrs 8584 lem) -Ludovic Viallet (Université Blaise-Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, chec ea 1001) ContaCts -Frédérique-Anne Costantini fa.costantini@me.com -Daniel-Odon Hurel dohurel@laposte.net -Martine Alet (logistique)

In studies dealing with aspects of Buddhist monasticism, within a wide range of historical settings, we encounter phrases such as “the common monastic curriculum.” But the notion of a curriculum itself in these settings is rarely subjected to genuine scrutiny. Consequently, native conceptions related to curricula, processes of curricula formation, and indeed the appropriateness of the term’s usage seem worthy of greater consideration. Particularly if we seek to understand evolution in the domain of organised monastic learning, greater clarity and consistency seems necessary with regard to the notion of a curriculum, especially because this might allow us to identify the points in history, within various contexts, where Buddhist monastic curricula can be said to have emerged, and what factors, in each case, led to their emergence. 

In addition to assessing Buddhist monastic relations with curricula in pre-modern settings more generally, this article specifically investigates the concept of curricula in terms of Tibetan medieval monastic learning. It deals briefly with how a tenfold classification associated with Sakya Pandita (1182-1251) relates to medieval monastic learning. But the majority of this article takes the form of a historical case study, investigating the events and circumstances surrounding what has been projected as a change in the medieval curriculum, manifesting in the introduction of a new scholastic title, known as the “ten-pillars,” in the final decades of the fourteenth century. The article aims, among other things, to bring the under-appreciated variety and complexity of this area to light, in order to better understand the organisation of learning in Buddhist monastic contexts during earlier centuries.

By the late 14 th century, the Ottoman army had already crossed the Bosnian border. Having said that, the military campaign itself lasted for 60 years, up until 1463, when Bosnia eventually got conquered. During the first 200 years of the Ottoman expansion, the time of prosperity, power, trade and wealth in Bosnia was noticeable. It can be argued that the time of prosperity sized to exist at the time of the Vienna war, from 1683 to 1699. After the battle, the Bosnian principality lost most of its human resources and wealth, while becoming the last Ottoman province in the West. The year 1732 is known as the start of a new desperate episode for the Bosnian folk. That was the year when the plague first ravaged the cities and quickly moved to the countryside and villages. Although the plague first spread amongst the Bosnian Catholics, it showed no mercy to other religious groups; they all equally suffered the loss of human life. The extent of the plague was seen on a large scale in the city of Jajce, where the death of 5,000 people was recorded in one day. The number of deceased was so large that Christians, Jews, and Muslims were, at times, even buried together. The radical measures introduced by the central government, manged to weaken the plague's effects in 1736. The last case of plague was reported in 1739, which is also considered to be the last day of Bosnia's affliction. Officials in the Bosnian principality during the great plague had a set of unique regulations on how to behave in and during the pandemic. Additionally, some settling rules and criteria in cities and counties were rewritten. However, all the taken measures together with the help received from Austrian, Ottoman and independent provinces, were not enough to stop the plague. This study explores what measures were introduced to fight the plague outbreak in 1 muhamedvaljevac@hotmail.com 2

In the Middle Ages, several different types of finger rings were used that could have different functions and
meanings for different types of people. Exclusive finger rings with motifs depicting the Virgin and child has
been found as loose finds in different locations in Scandinavia. What might have been the function of these
rings? Who wore these types of rings and what was their position in medieval society? What iconographic
meanings did the Virgin with child - motif had? This paper will feature comparative analyzes of these types of
rings and their contexts and work with iconographic studies of the Virgin with child - motif to understand these
rings possible function and to whom they belonged. These types of rings are said to have been worn by people
of the extreme elite based on their exclusive appearance. The rings may have been used by elites in church
organizations and the motif may possibly have a connection to the cult of the Virgin Mary. The result shows
that the rings have probably been multifunctional - both practical and symbolic, that show the persons espousal
to the church, prestige, and wisdom. They also may have had an affective value for the wearer as a protection
of the ghost of Virgin Mary.

This paper explores the possibilities of assessing the social discourse of monastic groups in early twelfthcentury Flanders. Through the examination of a dispute over property given by a dying noblewoman to the priory of Hesdin, it argues that both the way in which the monks and their benefactors dealt with the politics of property transfers and the discourse of the written account of these events may be interpreted, on the one hand as deliberate attempts to force a monastic understanding of property and relations with the laity upon the rural communities around Hesdin. On the other, they may be seen as the reflection of a struggle for power and status involving members of several levels of the lay elite.

Conrad Rudolph
"'In Its Extraordinary Arrangement': Hugh of Saint Victor, the History of Salvation, and the World Map of The Mystic Ark," Victorine Restoration: Essays on Hugh of St Victor, Richard of St Victor, and Thomas Gallus, ed. Robert J. Porwoll and David Allison Orsbon (Brepols, Turnhout, 2021; completed and in press since 2014) 123-146.

Hugh of Saint Victor's Mystic Ark is a Latin manuscript that gives general instructions on how to make an image of all time, all space, all matter, all human history, and all spiritual striving.  This image was meant to be repeated again and again in order to serve as the subject of a months-long course that presented a middle-ground worldview in the face of perceived threats from the new, neo-platonically based critical learning of School (University) culture at an important time in the history of Western intellectual development (original image and course 1125-1130, Paris).  In this study, I expand upon the discussion from my book, The Mystic Ark, of one of the most prominent and crucial components of The Mystic Ark: the world or world map.
This map is perhaps the earliest significant example of a map with Jerusalem at its center, it has the earliest executed oval earth of which I'm aware, and it incorporates the earliest Last Judgment that is part of a map.  But its real interest lies in the way in which the actual specifics of the map are engaged with the Ark of the Flood that forms the core of this image, in a way, even activated by the Ark, resulting in a cartographical image of previously unrivalled conception.
Among other things, The Mystic Ark presents an elaborate visual summary of the entire history of salvation from the beginning until the end of time, an image that is nothing less than a visual capsulization of Hugh's most original theological theory as expressed in his great written systematic theology, De sacramentis: the works of creation and the works of restoration.  The works of creation consist of the world with all its "elements" as manifested during the six days of creation that culminated in the Fall of Adam and Eve--that is, the alienation of humankind from its creator.  The works of restoration comprise the Incarnation of the Word (that is, Christ) with all its "sacraments" as manifested during the six ages of the history of salvation (the six ages that constitute human history from Adam to the end of time)--works that will restore humankind to its creator.  Central to this world-view as put forth in the image of The Mystic Ark is the depiction of the earth as the stage for the history of salvation, with the Ark proper acting as an image of both the Church throughout time and of the progression of time itself (as specifically stated in the text of The Mystic Ark), and with the focal point of all this being Christ as the Lamb of God in the central cubit of the Ark proper.  It is the fundamental pervasion of this dynamic of the history of salvation throughout the image of The Mystic Ark--the map, the Ark, the cosmos, the figure of Christ--that makes its map so different from other contemporary maps, which may, in a less concerted way, also refer to the history of salvation.
Other themes that are taken up are the "extraordinary arrangement" of the Ark--to quote a contemporary witness--as manifested in Hugh's theory of an east-west spatial-temporal progression of events throughout history (translatio spiritualitatis and, to a lesser extent, translatio imperii);  the manner in which the actual specifics of the map of The Mystic Ark are engaged with the Ark proper--in a way, even activated by the Ark proper; and Hugh's desire "to show not things and not the images of things, but rather their significations--not those that the things themselves signify, but those that are signified," or, put another way, his desire to show not Egypt or the geographical depiction of Egypt, but rather "ignorance," which is what the word "Egypt" was thought to mean etymologically and so exegetically.  That is, he wanted to show not the geographical reality, but the spiritual reality.
In the end, the map of The Mystic Ark is nothing less than the centerpiece of a fully articulated world-view directly aimed at (and appropriating) the more prestigious (and secular) neoplatonic thought of the time, a newly perceived threat that was arising out of the same School culture in which and for which The Mystic Ark was created, and from whose standard academic imagery it borrows.

Discovering an unknown medieval library must count as one of the unexpected delights in the career of any medievalist. In the case of a group of Birgittine scholars, however, our recent joyful anticipation unfortunately all too quickly turned into anxiety and concern. In October of 2015 the Extraordinary Sensescape work group (http://sensescapes.asu.edu) toured several German monasteries, ending up at the Birgittine monastery at Altomünster, a market hamlet to the West of Munich. Our group is researching the sensorium of late medieval nuns, and we have decided to focus on the Birgittines because of the ways that Saint Birgitta of Sweden founded and fashioned her order with special architecture, art, music, texts and rituals all of which might today be characterized as a " Gesamtkunstwerk. " The Birgittine monastery at Altomünster was founded in the 1490 and was continuously inhabited by Birgittines ever since, even though it had been secularized by the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1803 and refounded as monastery in 1841. Until recently strict claustration prohibited scholars from entering the vast Baroque building complex of the nuns' monastery, which also includes a library. About one dozen manuscripts from the library at Altomünster were known to specialists of Birgittine liturgy, in addition to the books that were taken to Munich during the secularisation of 1803. The antiphoners at Altomünster were considered to be the earliest complete sources for the cantus sororum, the office liturgy of the Birgittines, the only liturgy composed especially for women during the Middle Ages. When our group visited Altomünster we asked Sister Apollonia, the prioress of Altomünster, to see these manuscripts and she gladly brought them to us to peruse. When we inquired what the situation of the library was, if there were more medieval manuscripts and books, she invited several of the colleagues to join her and see for themselves. What they found was a treasure trove of books, many medieval, that were unknown to scholarship. Several of these came from other Birgittine monasteries, including Maria Mai in Maihingen and Maria Troon in Dendermonde. Some of the tomes contained high quality illuminations. This discovery indicates that Altomünster contains the most important repository for liturgical sources of the Birgittine order. Before the members of our group left for their homes in the U.S., Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, we approached Sister Apollonia and asked if we could inventorize the library and digitize the most important manuscripts for our project. Sister Apollonia approved, and we made plans for a smaller group to return to Altomünster to work on the books. Unfortunately, however, before we could realize our plans we learned through the press that the Vatican had closed the monastery and had instituted a papal commissar, Sister Gabriele Konrad, to dissolve the institution. We immediately made contact, pointing out the importance of the library and offering our help to secure the undocumented collection through cataloging and digitization. Sister Gabriele declined our offer, has ceased to answer subsequent queries about the plans for the collection or allowing access to our project participants, and has not permitted visitors into the library – neither scholars nor journalists. The diocese of Munich and Freising, named as heir to the monastic buildings and their contents in the papal dissolution document, has likewise refused to communicate with us about the fate of the library. As informed scholars we feel an obligation that this important collection, which we consider to be our shared world cultural heritage, remains accessible to researchers and is preserved for future generations. In January 2016 our working group wrote an open letter to Sister Gabriele Konrad, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of the diocese of Munich and Freising.

1. Church and city; 2. The monastery and the city: generalia; 3. Monks and the city; 4. Cluny and the city; 5. Monks in the city; 6. Monks live in the city; 7. Monks and the rise of the city; 8. Monastic cities; 9. Eremitic orders and cities; 10. Regular canons and the city; 11. mendicants; 12. Female orders and the city; 13. Beguines, Beghards, third order. 1. Kościół a miasto; 2. Klasztor a miasto: generalia; 3. Mnisi a miasto; 4. Cluny a miasto; 5. Mnisi w mieście; 6. Mnisi żyją w mieście; 7. Mnisi a powstanie miasta; 8. Miasta klasztorne; 9. Zakony eremickie a miasta; 10. Kanonicy regularni a miasto; 11. Mendykanci; 12. Zakony żeńskie a miasto; 13. Beginki i begardzi, tercjarze i tercjarki

The rule of the order of the Temple took a traditional monastic attitude towards women, being strongly antifeminine in tone, and seeing women as contaminating the brothers. However, the evidence discussed in this article suggests that the brothers had a more secular attitude to women. They were prepared to give way to pressure from their lay patrons and to admit women to full membership of the order, even, in one case, to accept responsibility for a nunnery. The evidence also indicates that, like knights of the world, they were inclined to romanticize women, and they seem to have preferred the cults of female saints to male. They were, however, as was normal in their society and class, too ready sexually to exploit ordinary women. This was apparently accepted by outsiders, for whereas the Templars were criticized for pride and greed, they were not accused of lack of chastity. Until the accusations brought against the order in 1307, the brothers also escaped the accusations of homosexuality hinted against more traditional monastic orders by secular clergy such as John of Salisbury and Walter Map.

Honorable Mention, 2012 Early Slavic Studies Association Distinguished Scholarship Award
A pivotal period in Russian history, the "Time of Troubles" of the early 17th century has taken on new resonances in post-Soviet Russia. Current national narratives glorify the role of the Russian Orthodox Church during that torturous span of famine, war, and disintegration. But what was the actual history of the Church and of Orthodox Christian religion in crisis? For the first time, and just prior to the 400th anniversary of the end of the Time of Troubles, this book attempts to give a comprehensive picture of the topic on the basis of archival and other evidence. Beginning with Russia's posited status as "New Israel" and continuing to examine the business activities of monasteries, Gruber discovers the motivations behind key political and religious innovations of the period. New "voices" attributed to women and the people marked this as a unique epoch in the troubled history of one of the world's most enigmatic and influential countries. Both accessibly written and deeply scholarly, this book will appeal to a wide readership interested in history, religion, and culture.

History of the feminine monasteries is one of traditional observed subjects in World historical sciences. However, this subject will have to find its own positions in the Czech countries. But, problems connected with studies of every person of monastic convent (in this study the abbess and her office) are worse specified. The catastrophical deficit of written material creates a main obstacle. However, larger survival written material of the studied St Georg Monastery of Benedictine nuns on the Prague Castle is really extraordinary and makes a deeper analyse possible. The examined time period was in view of a long St. Georg Monasterie´s activity limited to the end of 13th to early 15th century (or untill begining of the Hussite movement). Better said it was a period of many changes, that influenced position and function of abbesses. The certain form of a specific position is typical for the analysed Monastery. The oldest Přemyslid´s fundation´s position played an important role, as well the oldest monastery in the Czech countries, the aristocratic origin of abbesses and nuns (often from royal family), big economic fortune of convent, the contiguity of Prague royal court, the place of the cult of St. Ludmila, the oldest Czech saint and many others. The spirit base for the function of abbesses the Regula Benedicti inside, same as outside of the Monastery, is. The abbesses could relly on strong connections to the orginal families and the royal court nearby, which services were obviously used often (see the comparation of documents and expansion of manuscripts in the first half of the 14th century). Fragmentary notices reflect the measure of self-confident abbesses´position in medieval czech cronicles. Two incidents from the 14th century got closer to this fact. First of them is the advencement to the princess´title and the right to be presented to the coronation of Czech queens, given by the Czech king Charles IV. Second one is an argument between the Prague archbishop and the St. Georg Monastery about the self-confident position of the Monastery. However, the abbeses worked as real director of financial streams (a payment of canons for the regular spirit acts, direction of withdrawals from monastic prebens, etc.). The convent of canons, which served as spirit provision of Monastery and convent of nuns, was left outside. Of course, the own origins of nuns from the higher Czech medieval aristocracy formed the formation of exterior connecions to the medieval society. Notices about other Czech Benedictine nuns´monasteries are really fragmenal, therefore they were limited to just a short information (mainly in the case of monastery in Teplice and Pustiměř). A clearer situation is reflected in the monastery of Holy Spirit in the Prague Old Town. However, there is an evident difference, thanks to origin of nuns from the group of the Prague rich patriciate. The St. Georg´ Monastery and abbesses holded the independent position and functioned as an important member of medieval world and society in the Czech countries.
Written in Czech. Published in: Sacri canones servandi sunt. Ius canonicum et status ecclesiae saeculis XIII–XV curavit Pavel Krafl Praha: Historický ústav AV CR, v. v. i., 2008 (Opera Instituti historici Pragae, series C – Miscellanea, vol. 19), s. 580-587

15 Knowles, David: Th e monastic order in England. A history of its development from the times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran council 940-1214 (dále jen Th e monastic order in England). Cambridge 1966, s. 134-136, 687. Přitom práce R. Nevilla Hadcocka, věnovaná středověkých klášterům Anglie a Walesu, ukázala celly a prepozitury jako významnou součást monastické mapy středověké Anglie. Srov. Hadcock, R. Neville: Medieval religious religious houses: England and Wales. London 1971, s. 52-82, 137-180. 16 Knowles, David: Th e religious orders in England. Volume II. Cambridge 1961, s. 164; Burton, Janet: Monastic and religious orders in Britain 1000-1300. Cambridge 1994, s. 30. 17 Jako proboštství Knowles označil klášter s nejméně čtyřmi řeholníky, jako cellu (priory cell) dům tvořený méně než čtyřmi mnichy. Srov. Knowles, David -Brooke, Christopher N. L. -London, Vera C. M.: Th e heads of religious houses: England and Wales 940-1216. London -New York 1972, s. 1. 18 Knowles, D.: Th e monastic order in England, s. 134-135. Ostatně ještě před Davidem Knowlesem se pokusil klášterní fundace kategorizovat Chester William New, a to na konventní domy, malé celly zcela závislé na mateřském klášteře a správní jednotky, tzv. bailiwick. Viz New, Chester William: Th e history of the alien priories in England to the confi scation of the Henry V.

This article suggests to view monasticism as a sequence of 'unisex-experiments' and to reflect on the fact that the medieval world developed monastic ideals that were to a large extent applicable equally to women and men. Furthermore, it analyzes the different textual techniques to describe female religious life as a mere variant of a male model. It contrasts this marginalization of the female 'variant' with an archeology of concepts of religious life, which shows that a lot of central aspects of medieval religious life (of women and men) had its roots not in desert father asceticism but in the tradition of urban praying virgins and widows. The 'first medieval monk' was, in fact, a religious woman.

What do a rnonastery and an airplane have in cornrnon? Both are closed cornmunities; rhere is no way out (at !east after the plane has started). Both are regulaced by rules different from those followed in the world outside. In both cases there is a clear sense of hierarchy and a common goal. Entering a monastery should bring us doser to paradise; a plane should bring us to sorne sort of holiday paradise (if not, we end up at a conference). There are, however, also sorne differences: a plane trip usually cakes a couple of hours, which makes bearable the rules imposed on us, the enforced asceticism, and the spatial limitations (which, of course, depend on the airline). Entering a monastery means committing oneself to living a restricted !ife in a closed communiry for the rest of one's earthly existence, and this individual commitment is only a short episode in the long !ife of an instirution thar is organized and endowed with the purpose of existing un til the end of time 1 • The sociologist Airlie Hochschild uses the example of flight attendanrs ro exemplify her mode! of whac she calls ,emotion work" and ,emotion management". Insread of assuming thar destructive emotions and their ourward expression simply have ro be suppressed, she investigates how in many work-spheres positive feelings are shaped by a conscious and strictly regulated ourward acting. For Hochschild, the relation berween feeling and acting is not a one-way road. Certain behavior-imposed and self-imposed-evokes feelings, nor only on chose within one's surrounding, but also within the one who aces. Flight attendants are trained to smile in orcier to shape ·a pleasanr atmosphere and to create happiness, which eventually affects themselves and brings them into a stace of happiness, which !ases as long as the specifie constellation, but inevitably creates painful tensions berween the artificial yet 1 This article is basd on a profound revision of an essay published several years ago: Albrecht DIEM, Van liefde, vrees en zwijgen. Emoties en ,emotioneel beleid' in vroegmiddeleeuwse kloosters. Groniek. Historisch Tijdschrift 173 (2006) 409-423; many ideas broughr forward in this ,,try our" needed to be modified and refined. -The following abbreviations will be used: RBen = Regula Benedicri, ed. Jean NEUPVILLE-Adalbert DE VoGÜÉ (SC 181-182, Paris 1971); RCaeV = Caesarius of Arles, Regula ad virgines, ed. Adalbert DE VoGÜÉ-Joël CouRREAu (SC 345, Paris 1988) 170-272; RMag = Regula Magistri, ed. Adalbert DE VoGüÉ (SC 105-106, Paris 1965}; Rcui =Regula cuiusdam ad virgines (also called Regula Waldeberci), ed. Jacques-Paul MIGNE (PL 88, Paris 1862) 1051-1070; quotations from tbe Rcui are based on a forthcoming new edition. 1 would like to thank Barbara Rosenwcin for her commems and suggestions and for allowing me to work with her forrhcoming article on ,Problems and Methods in the History of Emotions", and William Roberts for in: Christina Lutter (ed.), Funktionsräume, Wahrnehmungsräume, Gefühlsräume. Mittelalterliche Lebensformen zwischen Kloster und Hof, Vienna/Munich: Böhlau/ Oldenbourg 2011, pp. 17-39.

In the final decade of her life, Hildegard received a letter seeking her counsel and guidance from the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Maulbronn. He addresses Hildegard as his 'spiritual mother and venerable sister', emphasizing the shared monastic bonds between himself and the visionary, and his respect for her spiritual teaching. 'We have heard good things about you', he proceeds, 'therefore, since I have some hope that I will be heard, whatever my condition, I send this letter to you and request the singular support of your prayers.' Anticipating Hildegard's intercession, he moves to the heart of his request: 'for I have an arduous and worrisome duty, that is the governance of souls, and so I request, I beseech, I implore help from the Lord, through you.' The abbot concluded with an eloquent expression of the solace he hoped his missive would elicit from the visionary: 'I trust that it will not be too burdensome or trivial for you to write back to me so that my body and soul might be instructed, comforted and consoled.' 1 On this occasion Hildegard's responseif indeed she did respondhas not survived. If this beleaguered abbot did hear from her, it probably contained a mix of admonition and encouragement conveyed in the imagery characteristic of the visionary's oblique style found in the scores of other epistolary exchanges that constitute her extant correspondence. 2 Hildegard's visions and prophecies created a public persona in which she was widely understood to be a mediator between divine and human needs. 3 She was perceived as a stable and reliable spiritual authority, a source of consolation for people experiencing uncertainty. In another illustrative example, an abbot from Averbode (in modern-day Belgium) alluded to her growing reputation, or fama, declaring that: 'your name has been diffused far and wide like a delicious fragrance, not only throughout Germany but also in other regions'. He refers to the impact of her teaching, likening her to an 'unmovable and unshaken column in the middle of the Church, so that among 1 Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium. ed. by L. Van Acker. 3 vols CCCM 91, 91A, 91B (with M. Klaes-Hachmöller), (Turnhout: Brepols, 1991-2001, II, Ep. 172, pp. 390-1; translated in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, trans. by Joseph L. Baird and Radd K. Ehrman, 3 vols (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994-2004), II, pp. 130-131. I use Baird and Ehrmann's translations, unless noted otherwise. 2 The abbot may have received a reply from Hildegard that has not survived, or one of the 'form' letters that were sent in response to the many requests for a word from the visionary. John van Engen critically appraises the methodological problems in reconstructing the correspondence in 'Letters and the Public Persona of Hildegard', in Hildegard von Bingen in ihrem historischen Umfeld, ed. by Alfred Haverkamp (Mainz:

https://brill.com/view/title/33632
Contents
List of Contributors
Medieval Rules and Customaries Reconsidered - Krijn Pansters
The Rule of Saint Benedict - James Clark
The Cistercian Customaries - Emilia Jamroziak
The Carthusian Customaries - Stephen Molvarec and Tom Gaens
The Rule of Saint Augustine - Paul van Geest
The Customaries of Saint-Ruf - Ursula Vones-Liebenstein
The Premonstratensian Project - Carol Neel
Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights - Kristjan Toomaspoeg
The Dominican Constitutiones - Gert Melville
The Rule of Saint Francis - Holly Grieco
The Rules of Poor Clares and Minoresses - Bert Roest
The Rule of the Franciscan Third Order - Jean-François Godet-Calogeras
The Rule of Saint Albert - Coralie Zermatten
The Augustinian Rules and Constitutions - Matthew Ponesse

It is an unchallenged fact that medieval monks and nuns following the Rule of saint Benedict were preparing their own food, as required by chapter 35 of the Rule. In fact, the practices in between the ninth and the eleventh centuries, before the arrival of laybrothers and laysisters, might have been more complex, with some dishes prepared within the monastic kitchen, especially vegetables and beans, but the majority of the dishes prepared by lay servants, in another kitchen. This other kitchen is little known to scholars because it was barely mentioned by the monastic writings. I make the hypothesis that this was so because its existence was not really acknowledged by the monastic community, as illustrated by the absence of a proper name for it. More generally, through this article and in relation with the main topic of the book in which this article is published, I attempt to demonstrate as well that A) the monks and nuns created the norms (customs) that dictated their enclosed way of life, in other words they were responsible for their own bars to their own cage, a fundamental difference with prisoners in jails B) They had internalized the necessity for them to distance themselves from the lay world and indeed did not pay much attention to it (at least to some aspects of the lay world), which represents another way to create one own's bars.

This paper is concerned with identifying signs of a cultural and institutional crisis in early Cistercian collections of visions and miracle stories (ca. 1170 – ca. 1225). I analyze some of the  themes of these literary productions in relation to the political and cultural contingency. I am particularly interested in the way through which a fear of the dissolutio ordinis might have penetrated and shaped the use of symbolic language in the literature. For example, the automatic salvation of the Cistercians and their superiority in the afterlife is a theme that is elaborated upon widely in the miracle literature, and the way in which this theme is expressed differs significantly from the teachings of Bernard of Clairvaux. Visions and miracle tales show us how Cistercian authors sought to recount their history and shape their community. They can also offer us an invaluable insight into the general structure of the Order and perhaps reflect the political climate within the institution.

Nové zpracování dějin břevnovského opatství (mateřského archisteria u Prahy i pobočných domů na Moravě a v severovýchodních Čechách) z pera historika Josefa Šrámka. Na základě dochovaných archivních dokumentů, na jejichž edice soustavně odkazuje, rekonstruoval autor dnešní znalosti o nejstarším mužském klášteře na našem území od jeho založení v 10. století až po bouřlivé období 15. století. Pohled na benediktinský klášter je zasazen do rámce širších českých dějin, pozornost se v tomto směru soustředí zvláště na osobu sv. Vojtěcha, kronikáře Kosmy, záhadného legindisty Kristiána a na budování klášterní domény v Čechách, na kladském pomezí a na Moravě. Lektorátu knihy se ujali historici David Kalhous a Jan Hrdina. Za podporu své distribuce vděčí svazek Vzdělávacímu a kulturnímu centru Klášter Broumov

One of the great premises of medieval popular religion was the localization of the holy, the essential principle of the pilgrimage.  At the same time, there was a widespread equation between excessive art and holiness.  One result of these complementary dynamics was that many pilgrims felt that the localization of the holy was indicated by an elevated artistic environment, an attitude that was used at times by religious institutions at some holy sites to meet the expectations of some great experience on the part of the tens and even hundreds of thousands of visitors who are recorded as having annually visited these places.  At the high point of the pilgrimage (11th-12th centuries), almost all of these pilgrims had no or only very little formal education.  And so the question arises, given the important role of art in the lived experience, how was this often complex form of visual media negotiated in this unique intersection of high culture and the non-elite in actual practice?  In other words, what provided the crucial interface for a largely uneducated public and the often phenomenally expensive art programs that had been created almost entirely for their benefit, practically speaking?  Or, put another way still, was there such a thing as a "tour guide" in the Middle Ages?
This study investigates the medieval "tour guide" or, perhaps better, it investigates guide culture.  Toward this end, I ask such questions as was there a "tour guide" in the Middle Ages, that is, is there evidence for an artistic component within medieval guide culture?  If so, what was the precedent for this?  What was its relation to artistic culture in general and pilgrimage culture in particular?  Is there any evidence of guide support, such as guide training or guide aids?  What can we say about the range of artistic culture addressed by medieval guides and, in this regard, what sort of information did they convey?  Who were these guides and what social groups did they address?  Did they act to maintain--consciously or unconsciously--the traditional social distance between the spiritual elite and the non-elite?  And how does all this affect our conception of medieval artistic culture, broadly speaking?
Medieval guide culture and its mediating dynamic, ephemeral by nature, have been largely overlooked.  But at least something--even if little more than an awareness--of this culture may be recovered.  The evidence suggests that it was an active factor in the transmission of particular categories of knowledge and claims, and strongly affected both the object-viewer dynamic and the social context of medieval public art.  And in this, the guide, variously understood, was often the principal mediator between the ordinary visitor and the sometimes incredibly lavish and complex art programs--between the public and the public work of art--of the Middle Ages.

The authorship of the Life of the twelfth-century English holy woman, Christina of Markyate (c. 1096–after 1155), has inspired considerable scholarly speculation. Though the writer never once positively identifies himself in extant versions of the text, oblique references locate his activity at the Benedictine monastery of St Albans in Hertfordshire during the 1130s under the patronage of the reigning abbot, Geoffrey de Gorron (1119–46), and intimate the close connections he enjoyed with his narrative’s subjects. Building off of these references, and incorporating clues from related sources from St Albans and Markyate, this article reconstructs the likeliest candidate for the writer—Robert de Gorron (d. 1166), Geoffrey’s nephew, appointed sacristan and later abbatial successor—and assesses his eligibility.

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"The Institutes" of Cassian is considered one of the early Latin monastic literary texts, which played a vital role in presenting the eastern, and more specifically the Egyptian monasticism to the Latin west. This study aimed to explore these texts, where Cassian provided its exemplar as a model to follow in both the newly founded and the already existing western monastic communities in Gaul, and found its way to the Benedictine Rules, which played in its turn, a vital role in defining the western monasticism.

Monastic liturgies are difficult to access. Certainly,
plenty of service books survived, but their majority
comes from a period when comprehensive scope and
detailed rubrics were something that most liturgical books still
lacked. Moreover, such books practically never refer to their
mother institutions. Monastic houses were far more numerous,
and changed their customs more frequently than cathedral
chapters. In the age when chapters began to compile detailed
and comprehensive books, monasteries were already declining
or being reformed according to international standards. This is
why source material that is both informative and reliably refers
to mother institutions is so invaluable from the perspective of
liturgical history.

Customaries are normative texts regulating monastic com-
munities in terms of liturgy and beyond. Liturgical evidence is,

however, often hidden or somewhat disguised in them. This is why
their excellent and extensive edition, the Corpus Consuetudinum
Monasticarum, could not have been fully utilized in this respect.
Now the obstacle is removed by the present volume, a thorough and
systematic work of Ábel Stamler that offers both an indispensable
tool for researchers, and a mental map for the fields of worship
in the monastic programme of life.

DENIS the Carthusian affirms Mary as the summa contemplatrix, interpreting the plenitude of grace of Luke 1:28 to include the theological gift of wisdom. In Dionysian thought, the gift of wisdom equates to mystical theology, unitive wisdom, or contemplation by negation, the highest form of prayer possible in this life to a wayfarer.

Denis the Carthusian makes an original contribution to Marian studies by positing the exemplarity of Mary's prayer, in accord with Denis's notion of contemplation, suggesting that Mary enjoyed a singular perfection in Her intellectual knowledge of God before the Incarnation; was later instructed in mystical theology by Her Divine Son, the God-Man; and attained to the contemplative vision of God while still on earth as a foreshadowing of the beatific vision Mary now possesses in heaven.

This doctoral dissertation, written by a cloistered monk not unlike Denis the Carthusian, seeks to penetrate the silence and solitude of contemplative monastic life lived by one of Christianity's most prolific authors and popularly hailed "the last of the schoolmen" to explore the notion of Marian contemplation and the incomparability of Mary's prayer for twenty-first century imitation and pastoral application.