Western Monasticism ante litteram
The Spaces of Monastic Observance in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Edited by Hendrik Dey Edited by Elizabeth Fentress
Space has always played a crucial part in defining the place that monks and nuns occupy in the world. Even during the first centuries of the monastic phenomenon, when the possible varieties of monastic practice were nearly infinite, there was a common thread in the need to differentiate the monk from the rest: whatever else they were supposed to be, monks were beings apart, unique, in some sense separate from the mainstream. The physical contours of monastic topographies, natural and constructed, are thus fundamental to an understanding of how early monks went about defining the parameters of their everyday lives, their modes of religious observance, and their interactions with the larger world around them. The group of eminent historians and archaeologists present at the American Academy in Rome in March, 2007 for the conference ‘Western monasticism ante litteram. The spaces of early monastic observance,’ whose contributions comprise the bulk of this volume, have sought to reconsider the theory, the practice and above all the spaces of early monasticism in the West, in the hope of creating a more complete picture of that seminal period, from the fourth century until the ninth, when notions of what it meant to be a monk were as numerous as they were varied and (often) conflicting.
Space has always played a crucial part in defining the place that monks and nuns occupy in the world. Even during the first centuries of the monastic phenomenon, when the possible varieties of monastic practice were nearly infinite, there was a common thread in the need to differentiate the monk from the rest: whatever else they were supposed to be, monks were beings apart, unique, in some sense separate from the mainstream. The physical contours of monastic topographies, natural and constructed, are thus fundamental to an understanding of how early monks went about defining the parameters of their everyday lives, their modes of religious observance, and their interactions with the larger world around them. The group of eminent historians and archaeologists present at the American Academy in Rome in March, 2007 for the conference ‘Western monasticism ante litteram. The spaces of early monastic observance,’ whose contributions comprise the bulk of this volume, have sought to reconsider the theory, the practice and above all the spaces of early monasticism in the West, in the hope of creating a more complete picture of that seminal period, from the fourth century until the ninth, when notions of what it meant to be a monk were as numerous as they were varied and (often) conflicting.
- Edited by Hendrik Dey
- Edited by Elizabeth Fentress
Other Titles in this Series
The Pursuit of Salvation
Community, Space, and Discipline in Early Medieval Monasticism: With a critical edition and translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines
Volume 13
Consuetudines et Regulae
Sources for Monastic Life in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period
Volume 10
‘The Devout Belief of the Imagination’
The Paris 'Meditationes Vitae Christi' and Female Franciscan Spirituality in Trecento Italy
Volume 6
Saint-Benigne de Dijon en l’an mil, ‘totius Galliae basilicis mirabilior’
Interpretation politique, liturgique et theologique
Volume 5
Walls and Memory
The Abbey of San Sebastiano at Alatri (Lazio), from Late Roman Monastery to Renaissance Villa and Beyond
Volume 2
From Dead of Night to End of Day
The Medieval Customs of Cluny: Du coeur de la nuit a la fin du jour: les coutumes clunisiennes au Moyen Age
Volume 3
Les deux vies de Robert d’Arbrissel, fondateur de Fontevraud. Legendes, ecrits et temoignages
The Two Lives of Robert of Arbrissel, Founder of Fontevraud. Legends, Writings, and Testimonies
Assistenza, ospitalità e ospedali presso monasteri e canoniche regolari del medioevo europeo: l’ospedale di Sant’Andrea di Vercelli in contesto
Care, Hospitality and Hospitals in Monasteries and Houses of Regular Canons in Medieval Europe: The Hospital of Sant’Andrea in Vercelli in Context
Volume 15
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