The present thesis examines the way in which two twelfth century authors, the Cistercian monks, Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) and William of St. Thierry (c. 1080-1148), used Augustine (354-430) in the articulation of their mystical thought. The approach to this subject takes into account the fact that in the works of all these medieval authors the “mystical” element is inescapably entangled with their theological discourse and that an accurate understanding of their views on the soul’s direct encounter with God cannot be achieved without a discussion of their theology. This thesis posits that the cohesion of Bernard’s and William’s mystical thought lies in their appropriation of the guiding principle of Augustine’s mystical theology: “You made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (conf. 1.1.1), reflected in the subtle interplay of three main themes, namely (1) the creation of humanity in the image and likeness of God, which provides the grounds for the understanding of the soul’s search for direct contact with God; (2) love as a longing innate in every human being, which explores the means to attain immediacy with God; and (3) the soul’s direct encounter with God, which discusses the nature of the soul’s immediate experience of the divine presence that can only be achieved in lasting fullness at the end of time. This examination of Bernard’s and William’s use of Augustine is structured on the basis of these three core themes which form the scaffolding of their mystical thought. Investigating the specific methods of their reception of Augustine will highlight the originality and uniqueness of each of the two Cistercian authors, who while drawing on the same patristic source use it nevertheless in various ways, by focussing on different aspects of Augustine’s immense oeuvre and by arriving at distinct mystical programmes.

La recherche porte sur l'étude historique et architecturale de l'église de Sainte-Marie-Majeure à Ferentino (province de Frosinone, Italie), l'un des plus importants édifices construits dans le Latium méridional au XIIIe siècle. Le contexte scientifique montre d'énormes désaccords relatifs à la période d'édification et, par conséquent, aux différentes références culturelles ayant inspiré l'architecture de l'église, à partir des abbayes de Fossanova (1208) et Casamari (1217). D'autre part, en raison de la rareté des sources médiévales qui nous sont parvenues, nous ne connaissons pas avec précision la chronologie relative et absolue du bâtiment. Le texte de synthèse, qui est supporté de deux volumes supplémentaires rassemblant les sources iconographiques et toute la documentation écrite (inédite ou non) sur Sainte-Marie-Majeure, se compose de trois parties. Après avoir retracé l'histoire de l'église, depuis ses origines jusqu'aux dernières restaurations, à partir de l'exposé critique de questions historiographiques, l'architecture de l'édifice et ses principales phases de construction sont analysées de manière exhaustive. Enfin, la dernière section contextualise notre étude de cas dans le cadre du renouvellement architectural du Latium méridional et, plus largement, dans l'histoire de l'architecture médiévale, sans se limiter à l'Italie. En sélectionnant tel édifice-clé, constituant un exemplum sous le point de vue architectural, la recherche a spécifié les modalités de réception et de transmission des modèles provenant de la Bourgogne et de l'Ile-de-France à l'architecture religieuse et civile dans la province ecclésiastique de Campagna et Marittima au XIIIe siècle. / My research deals with the historical and architectural study of Santa Maria Maggiore in Ferentino (in the modern province of Frosinone), one of the most important buildings erected in southern Lazio during the thirteenth century. The existing scholarship on the church was out of date and suffered from large gaps that left the history of its construction unexplained. Neither the date of the site‟s foundation nor that of its completion are known because of the lack of medieval documentary sources. Consequently, the main disagreements about Santa Maria Maggiore had concerned the sources of inspiration for its architecture, as scholars generally compared it to the model of the Cistercian abbeys of Fossanova (1208) and Casamari (1217). My dissertation is accompanied by two additional volumes containing the images supporting the text and a catalogue of written sources including unpublished archival documents, and it is divided into three parts. The first traces the entire history of the building and begins with a critical exposition of related historiographical issues. The second section exhaustively analyses the architecture of the church and its building phases by reconciling documentary evidence and visual analysis of the church. The third section contextualizes the design of Santa Maria Maggiore within the territory of southern Lazio and the panorama of "Cistercian" architecture. By taking this exemplary monument as its subject, my research demonstrates the complex reception of architectural models from Burgundy and the Ile-de-France, analysing their subsequent reworkings in thirteenth-century religious and civil architecture in the ecclesiastical province of Campagna and Marittima. / La ricerca affronta lo studio storico-critico della chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore a Ferentino (FR), uno dei più importanti edifici costruiti nel Lazio meridionale durante il XIII secolo. Nonostante sia stata dichiarata Monumento Nazionale nel 1884, non era mai stata oggetto di uno studio sistematico ed è ancora oggi pressoché inedita. Il contesto scientifico, ormai desueto, soffre di grandi lacune sulle vicende costruttive della fabbrica, di cui non sono note né la data di fondazione né quella di completamento del cantiere a causa della scarsità di fonti documentarie medievali. Di conseguenza, i principali disaccordi hanno riguardato le influenze culturali fonte d‟ispirazione per l‟architettura di Santa Maria Maggiore, troppo genericamente ricondotte al modello delle abbaziali cistercensi di Fossanova (1208) e Casamari (1217). La dissertazione, accompagnata da due volumi supplementari che contengono le immagini di supporto al testo e il repertorio delle fonti documentarie, è suddivisa in tre parti: quella iniziale ripercorre l‟intera storia dell‟edificio a partire dall‟esposizione critica delle questioni storiografiche; la seconda sezione analizza in modo esaustivo l‟architettura della fabbrica e le fasi edilizie riconosciute; la terza parte, infine, contestualizza il caso studio nel quadro del Lazio meridionale e nel panorama dell‟architettura “cistercense”. Estendendo il campo di indagine, il lavoro ha acquisito un valore a scala territoriale poiché la ricostruzione delle vicende edilizie di Santa Maria Maggiore ha permesso l‟istituzione di raffronti con diverse altre architetture coeve sia italiane che francesi, al di là dei due magniloquenti monasteri di Fossanova e Casamari. A questi ultimi, infatti, la storiografia ha attribuito da sempre un ruolo privilegiato nell‟introduzione del linguaggio gotico ultramontano nel territorio a sud di Roma, di cui la chiesa ferentinese rappresenta una derivazione locale. Selezionando tale exemplum, la ricerca ha precisato le modalità di accoglienza dei modelli provenienti dalla Borgogna e dall‟Ilede-France, rintracciando le successive rielaborazioni nell‟edilizia duecentesca sia religiosa che civile nella Provincia ecclesiastica di Campagna e Marittima.

As perennial Christian ideals, virginity and chastity were frequent themes in medieval religious discourse. Male religious were frequently virgins and were expected to cultivate chastity; however, women not men were usually the focus of such discussions. But some monastic writers did draw on those models when considering their own spirituality, and it is worth knowing how they were understood and enlisted in those instances. To this end, I investigate five eleventh- and twelfth-century monks who wrote about monastic virginity or chastity: Anselm of Canterbury, Guibert of Nogent, Rupert of Deutz, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Ælred of Rievaulx. In my analysis, I uncover each author’s perception of virginity/chastity. Thus, I reveal that Anselm’s Deploratio is not about lost physical virginity or even sexual sin per se; it is a spiritual meditation driven by his immense fear that sinners would be forever damned. Guibert’s work exposes what a treatise on virginity could become in the hands of an adolescent struggling with sexual desire and steeped in lessons taught by his monastery. Rupert’s tract on virginity and masturbation portrays male virginity as tangible and potent. In so doing, it erects a barrier defending Rupert’s work as an exegete against detractors. For his part, Bernard teaches that what matters most is chaste humility. He also consistently links virginity with pride and false holiness, a strategy possibly linked with a battle between white and black monks. Finally, Ælred produces a model of monastic perfection that is terrifically masculine, distinctively different from virginity, and perfectly suited for his audience. In addition to uncovering each monk’s unique perception of virginity and chastity, I call attention to similarities and differences in their thought and make conclusions based on those observations. Overall, I have found not only that virginity and chastity did matter to some medieval religious men but also that the way they handle those ideals can be tremendously revealing.

As perennial Christian ideals, virginity and chastity were frequent themes in medieval religious discourse. Male religious were frequently virgins and were expected to cultivate chastity; however, women not men were usually the focus of such discussions. But some monastic writers did draw on those models when considering their own spirituality, and it is worth knowing how they were understood and enlisted in those instances. To this end, I investigate five eleventh- and twelfth-century monks who wrote about monastic virginity or chastity: Anselm of Canterbury, Guibert of Nogent, Rupert of Deutz, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Ælred of Rievaulx. In my analysis, I uncover each author’s perception of virginity/chastity. Thus, I reveal that Anselm’s Deploratio is not about lost physical virginity or even sexual sin per se; it is a spiritual meditation driven by his immense fear that sinners would be forever damned. Guibert’s work exposes what a treatise on virginity could become in the hands of an adolescent struggling with sexual desire and steeped in lessons taught by his monastery. Rupert’s tract on virginity and masturbation portrays male virginity as tangible and potent. In so doing, it erects a barrier defending Rupert’s work as an exegete against detractors. For his part, Bernard teaches that what matters most is chaste humility. He also consistently links virginity with pride and false holiness, a strategy possibly linked with a battle between white and black monks. Finally, Ælred produces a model of monastic perfection that is terrifically masculine, distinctively different from virginity, and perfectly suited for his audience. In addition to uncovering each monk’s unique perception of virginity and chastity, I call attention to similarities and differences in their thought and make conclusions based on those observations. Overall, I have found not only that virginity and chastity did matter to some medieval religious men but also that the way they handle those ideals can be tremendously revealing.

Countess Urraca Lope de Haro was the daughter of the noble Lord Diego Lope de Haro, friend and advisor to King Alfonso VIII of Castilla-León and granddaughter of Lord Lope Díaz de Haro and Lady Aldonza Ruiz de Castro, aristocratic courtiers as well as popular monastic patrons. As a young and wealthy widow, Countess Urraca took monastic vows at the Cistercian nunnery of Santa María de Cañas founded by her grandparents. Within a short time of uniting herself to this monastery, she was chosen as its fourth abbess in 1225, a position she held for thirty-seven years until her death in 1262. Following the tradition of monastic patronage established by her noble family members, Countess Urraca expanded the monastery's small real estate holdings, oversaw extensive building projects to create permanent structures for the nunnery, and patronized artistic projects including statuettes of the Virgin Mary and St. Peter in addition to her own decorative stone sarcophagus during her term as abbess. This thesis examines the artistic decoration and architectural patronage of this powerful woman and the influences she incorporated into the monastic structures at Cañas as she oversaw their construction. In dating the original buildings of the monastery at Cañas to the period of Countess Urraca's leadership, the predominant architectural features and decorative details of female Cistercian foundations in northern Spain are discussed. Comparisons with additional thirteenth-century Cistercian monasteries from the same region in northern Spain are offered to demonstrate the artistic connections with the structures Countess Urraca patronized. In addition, this thesis examines Countess Urraca's obvious devotion to the Virgin Mary and St. Peter by considering the medieval monastic world in which she lived and the strong emphasis the Cistercian Order placed on such worship practices. The potent spiritual connections Countess Urraca made by commissioning images of essential, holy intercessors testifies to her devotion to them and the powerful salvatory role she herself played in the lives of the nuns for whom she was responsible. As a nun and abbess, Countess Urraca was urged to emulate Mary's mothering, nurturing qualities, and, as she did so was simultaneously empowered by the Virgin's heavenly authority as administrator of mercy. Indeed, through studying her art it is clear that she saw herself as an intercessor on behalf of the nuns for whom she was responsible. Furthermore, discussion of the imagery displayed on Countess Urraca's decorative stone sarcophagus demonstrates not only a similar message of salvation through intercessors such as Peter and Mary, but also testifies of Abbess Urraca's aristocratic lineage. Through this artistic commission, the Abbess creates another direct, personal link between herself and the Virgin by including the symbol of the rosary throughout the iconography of her tomb. Such a symbol represents her devotion to Mary as Queen of Heaven and simultaneously empowers Countess Urraca as an intercessor herself. All of these architectural and artistic commissions confirm that she was a powerful woman who wielded a great deal of influence.