Proefschrift--Nijmegen--Katholieke universiteit, 1998. / Bibliogr. p. [180]-188. Index. Résumé en anglais.

Les reliques sont des objets associés aux saints, ou au Christ. Une relique est porteuse d’une puissance spirituelle, une virtus, source de miracles. Depuis l’Antiquité et surtout le Moyen Âge, les reliques ont joué un rôle essentiel dans la vie des sociétés chrétiennes. Il n’en reste pas moins que les théologiens semblent n’avoir réservé au culte des reliques qu’une faible part de leurs écrits, au point d’être considéré par l’historiographie actuelle comme ayant eu « une élaboration théorique inversement proportionnelle à son importance ». Le présent mémoire se propose d’étudier, à travers les différents témoignages laissés sur le culte des reliques, durant l’Antiquité et le Moyen Âge, quelles ont pu être les conceptions, croyances et controverses autour du culte des reliques. L’hypothèse par conséquent proposée est celle d’un « problème des reliques », intimement lié aux évolutions du culte des saints et aux conceptions sur l’eucharistie tout au long du Moyen Âge. Un glissement se produit au cours du Moyen Âge, d’une critique jugée hérétique du culte en lui-même, à un refus des abus et du flou entourant ce culte au nom de l’orthodoxie. Ces paroles persistantes, à défaut d’un débat, sur la validité, les mécanismes mystiques et les abus d’un tel culte se sont ainsi cristallisées au XIIe siècle chez plusieurs auteurs contemporains, tels Thiofrid d’Echternach et surtout Guibert de Nogent, soulignant le besoin d’une élaboration théorique et d’une codification de ces pratiques. / Relics are items linked to the saints, or to the Christ. Relics carry spiritual power, called virtus, source of miracles. Since the Antiquity, and especially since the Middle Age, relics played an essential part in the life of christian societies. The fact remains that the medieval theologians seemed to have reserved, for the cult of relics, a small part of their writings, as to be regarded by historians as having been presenting "a theoretical elaboration inversely proportional to its significance " and did not elicit any debate. This thesis thus proposes to study, through the various accounts left on the cult of relics, the ancient and medieval, what were the views, beliefs and controversies around the cult of relics. The hypothesis is therefore proposed that a "problem of the relics" existed, throughout the Middle Age, intimately linked to developments in the cult of saints and ideas on the Eucharist. A shift occurs during the Middle Ages, from a criticism, considered heretical, of the cult itself, to a denial of abuse and vagueness of this cult in the name of orthodoxy. These persistent speeches, if not a debate, about the validity and the mystical mechanisms and abuse of such a cult, would be well crystallized in the twelfth century, reflected in many contemporary writers, such as Thiofrid Echternach and especially Guibert of Nogent, stressing the need for theoretical development and codification of these practices.

Este estudo retrata o adolescer de Guibert de Nogent, monge da região de Beauvais, norte da França, que viveu entre 1055-1125, aproximadamente. Utiliza-se de um método histórico-psicanalítico com o objetivo de tentar analisar o texto autobiográfico e o contexto vivido por Guibert, durante sua infância e a transição para a vida adulta. Toma-se como pontos de referência para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, o conhecimento adquirido pela psicanálise contemporânea sobre o processo adolescente e o contexto histórico da Idade Média, séculos XI-XII. Tendo por base a metapsicologia psicanalítica proveniente de Freud, e de alguns dos seus seguidores, e os conhecimentos da história social, oriundos de Bloch, Vernant e outros, procura-se compreender os aspectos inconscientes e as interferências recíprocas entre sujeito psíquico e cultura. Estuda-se as condições de nascimento e de desenvolvimento, o processo educacional, a entrada na puberdade, a crise e a elaboração do processo adolescente até a vida adulta, dos quais se pode extrair os conteúdos componentes das estruturas e dinâmicas existentes entre as pulsões, o ego e o superego. Analisa-se as interações entre o desenvolvimento do sujeito psíquico e as incorporações provenientes das características do meio familiar, social, afetivo, religioso, cultural, preconizadas e exercidas pelo domínio da Igreja dentro do regime clérico-feudal. Parte-se do estudo particular de um caso para se propor algumas considerações gerais sobre o adolescer na Idade Média. Evidencia-se dois objetivos principais nesta investigação histórico-psicanalítica. O primeiro, tentar definir a existência da adolescência como fenômeno intrínseco do desenvolvimento humano e seus conflitos, durante a construção da identidade adulta e em relação à cultura. O segundo, tentar criar uma metodologia através da interface histórico-psicanalítica, capaz de contribuir para a compreensão da construção do sujeito psíquico em suas relações com os fatos e processos históricos, e que levam em consideração o individual e o coletivo, o psicofísico e o ambiental, o texto e o contexto, o homem e sua cultura. / This study analyses the becoming adolescent of Guibert de Nogent, monk from the Beauvais region, north of France, who lived around 1055-1125. A historic-psychoanalytic method was used, having in mind the analysis of the autobiographic text and the context within which Guibert lived his childhood and his transition to adulthood. The up to date psychoanalytic knowledge about the process towards adolescence and the historic context in the Middle Ages, centuries XI-XII, are the reference points adopted for the development of the present work. The basis for understanding the unconscious aspects and the reciprocal interference between the psychic subject and the culture is the psychoanalytic metapsychology originated with Freud and some of his followers, and from the social history by Bloch, Vernant and others. It is possible to extract the contents from the dynamic structures components which exist between the drives, the ego and the superego by analyzing the conditions of birth, the development, the educational process, the entering into puberty, the crisis and the development of the adolescence process until the adult life. The interactions between the psychic subject and the influences originated from the characteristics of the family, social, affective, religious and cultural environment, imposed and executed by the dominance of the Church within a clerical-feudal regime are analyzed. The study of this one case leads to general considerations about the adolescence process during the Middle Ages. Two main objectives come out from this historic-psychoanalytic research. The first aims at the definition of the existence of the adolescence as intrinsic phenomenon of the human development and its conflicts along the construction of the adult identity and in relation to the culture. The second intents the presentation of a new methodology by means of the historic-psychoanalytic interface, able to contribute to the understanding of the building up process of the psychic subject in relation to the facts and the historic processes, which takes into consideration the individual and the collective, the psychophysic and the environment, the text and the context, the man and his culture.

Les reliques sont des objets associés aux saints, ou au Christ. Une relique est porteuse d’une puissance spirituelle, une virtus, source de miracles. Depuis l’Antiquité et surtout le Moyen Âge, les reliques ont joué un rôle essentiel dans la vie des sociétés chrétiennes. Il n’en reste pas moins que les théologiens semblent n’avoir réservé au culte des reliques qu’une faible part de leurs écrits, au point d’être considéré par l’historiographie actuelle comme ayant eu « une élaboration théorique inversement proportionnelle à son importance ». Le présent mémoire se propose d’étudier, à travers les différents témoignages laissés sur le culte des reliques, durant l’Antiquité et le Moyen Âge, quelles ont pu être les conceptions, croyances et controverses autour du culte des reliques. L’hypothèse par conséquent proposée est celle d’un « problème des reliques », intimement lié aux évolutions du culte des saints et aux conceptions sur l’eucharistie tout au long du Moyen Âge. Un glissement se produit au cours du Moyen Âge, d’une critique jugée hérétique du culte en lui-même, à un refus des abus et du flou entourant ce culte au nom de l’orthodoxie. Ces paroles persistantes, à défaut d’un débat, sur la validité, les mécanismes mystiques et les abus d’un tel culte se sont ainsi cristallisées au XIIe siècle chez plusieurs auteurs contemporains, tels Thiofrid d’Echternach et surtout Guibert de Nogent, soulignant le besoin d’une élaboration théorique et d’une codification de ces pratiques. / Relics are items linked to the saints, or to the Christ. Relics carry spiritual power, called virtus, source of miracles. Since the Antiquity, and especially since the Middle Age, relics played an essential part in the life of christian societies. The fact remains that the medieval theologians seemed to have reserved, for the cult of relics, a small part of their writings, as to be regarded by historians as having been presenting "a theoretical elaboration inversely proportional to its significance " and did not elicit any debate. This thesis thus proposes to study, through the various accounts left on the cult of relics, the ancient and medieval, what were the views, beliefs and controversies around the cult of relics. The hypothesis is therefore proposed that a "problem of the relics" existed, throughout the Middle Age, intimately linked to developments in the cult of saints and ideas on the Eucharist. A shift occurs during the Middle Ages, from a criticism, considered heretical, of the cult itself, to a denial of abuse and vagueness of this cult in the name of orthodoxy. These persistent speeches, if not a debate, about the validity and the mystical mechanisms and abuse of such a cult, would be well crystallized in the twelfth century, reflected in many contemporary writers, such as Thiofrid Echternach and especially Guibert of Nogent, stressing the need for theoretical development and codification of these practices.

Este estudo retrata o adolescer de Guibert de Nogent, monge da região de Beauvais, norte da França, que viveu entre 1055-1125, aproximadamente. Utiliza-se de um método histórico-psicanalítico com o objetivo de tentar analisar o texto autobiográfico e o contexto vivido por Guibert, durante sua infância e a transição para a vida adulta. Toma-se como pontos de referência para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, o conhecimento adquirido pela psicanálise contemporânea sobre o processo adolescente e o contexto histórico da Idade Média, séculos XI-XII. Tendo por base a metapsicologia psicanalítica proveniente de Freud, e de alguns dos seus seguidores, e os conhecimentos da história social, oriundos de Bloch, Vernant e outros, procura-se compreender os aspectos inconscientes e as interferências recíprocas entre sujeito psíquico e cultura. Estuda-se as condições de nascimento e de desenvolvimento, o processo educacional, a entrada na puberdade, a crise e a elaboração do processo adolescente até a vida adulta, dos quais se pode extrair os conteúdos componentes das estruturas e dinâmicas existentes entre as pulsões, o ego e o superego. Analisa-se as interações entre o desenvolvimento do sujeito psíquico e as incorporações provenientes das características do meio familiar, social, afetivo, religioso, cultural, preconizadas e exercidas pelo domínio da Igreja dentro do regime clérico-feudal. Parte-se do estudo particular de um caso para se propor algumas considerações gerais sobre o adolescer na Idade Média. Evidencia-se dois objetivos principais nesta investigação histórico-psicanalítica. O primeiro, tentar definir a existência da adolescência como fenômeno intrínseco do desenvolvimento humano e seus conflitos, durante a construção da identidade adulta e em relação à cultura. O segundo, tentar criar uma metodologia através da interface histórico-psicanalítica, capaz de contribuir para a compreensão da construção do sujeito psíquico em suas relações com os fatos e processos históricos, e que levam em consideração o individual e o coletivo, o psicofísico e o ambiental, o texto e o contexto, o homem e sua cultura. / This study analyses the becoming adolescent of Guibert de Nogent, monk from the Beauvais region, north of France, who lived around 1055-1125. A historic-psychoanalytic method was used, having in mind the analysis of the autobiographic text and the context within which Guibert lived his childhood and his transition to adulthood. The up to date psychoanalytic knowledge about the process towards adolescence and the historic context in the Middle Ages, centuries XI-XII, are the reference points adopted for the development of the present work. The basis for understanding the unconscious aspects and the reciprocal interference between the psychic subject and the culture is the psychoanalytic metapsychology originated with Freud and some of his followers, and from the social history by Bloch, Vernant and others. It is possible to extract the contents from the dynamic structures components which exist between the drives, the ego and the superego by analyzing the conditions of birth, the development, the educational process, the entering into puberty, the crisis and the development of the adolescence process until the adult life. The interactions between the psychic subject and the influences originated from the characteristics of the family, social, affective, religious and cultural environment, imposed and executed by the dominance of the Church within a clerical-feudal regime are analyzed. The study of this one case leads to general considerations about the adolescence process during the Middle Ages. Two main objectives come out from this historic-psychoanalytic research. The first aims at the definition of the existence of the adolescence as intrinsic phenomenon of the human development and its conflicts along the construction of the adult identity and in relation to the culture. The second intents the presentation of a new methodology by means of the historic-psychoanalytic interface, able to contribute to the understanding of the building up process of the psychic subject in relation to the facts and the historic processes, which takes into consideration the individual and the collective, the psychophysic and the environment, the text and the context, the man and his culture.

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.