This undergraduate thesis is an examination of the works of Odorannus (c. 985-c. 1046), a monk of the abbey of Saint Pierre-le-Vif in Sens, France. A prominent monk in his community, Odorannus was involved in constructing and celebrating his monastery's prosperity and identity. At times, however, he was at variance with his brethren, even experiencing a brief period in exile. This essay explores aspects of Odorannus' compilation, a collection which the monk himself gathered together in his old age, in terms of the dynamic relationship between self and community in a Benedictine monastery of the central Middle Ages.

Zugl.: Regensburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

Parmi les réformes du concile de Trente, figure celle des ordres religieux incités à s'organiser en congrégations. Y figure aussi l'invitation à traduire dans l'architecture et le décor des églises, l'expression de la foi catholique réaffirmée. Tout cela induit de nouvelles formes architecturales ou de nouveaux aménagements liturgiques qui s'accompagnent dans le cas des ordres religieux, d'une réorganisation spatiale des monastères. Dans ce que le professeur Taveneaux a défini comme une dorsale catholique, la Lorraine tient une place particulière, par son histoire déjà, par son emplacement dans l'échiquier européen d'alors et par la forte présence d'une Eglise soutenue par les souverains. Par l'engagement d'évêques réformateurs, parties prenantes du concile de Trente, puis celui de la famille ducale de Lorraine, le pays voit éclore en quelques années trois fortes congrégations : l'Antique Observance dans l'ordre de Prémontré à partir de Pont-à-Mousson alors que la personnalité de Pierre Fourier cristallise la réforme des chanoines réguliers de Saint-Augustin. Pour les bénédictins, c'est la congrégation de Saint-Vanne et Saint-Hydulphe de dom Didier de La Cour. Par les choix et habitudes architecturaux, par le choix des décors des églises et des bâtiments claustraux, par la vie quotidienne et ses objets, il est possible d'avoir une nouvelle vision de cette congrégation particulièrement active et présente sur le sol lorrain.Les vannistes qui essaiment en France ne sont pas sans influence sur les populations. Il apparaît alors naturel de chercher à comprendre ce que leur architecture et leurs choix décoratifs disent d'eux, de la manière dont ils relaient la doctrine de l'Eglise et dont ils se perçoivent eux-mêmes avec le corollaire de l'image contrôlée ou non qu'ils veulent donner d'eux. Leur architecture, témoin d'un pouvoir, d'un état d'esprit, est aussi sûrement la traduction de leurs principes religieux. Le niveau provincial retenu est celui où se décident les noviciats, où se réfléchissent les suppressions éventuelles ou créations de maisons, où un visiteur fait le lien entre le gouvernement central de la congrégation et chacune de ses maisons. Les religieux vivent aussi cette réalité géographique car ils ne sont que fort peu nombreux à passer d'une province à l'autre et il apparait des spécificités provinciales dans l'organisation même de la congrégation, sans négliger pour autant les choix politiques ou l'évolution de la pensée qui varie différemment selon la province. Car au-delà même des aspects liés à l'organisation de la congrégation, la province de Lorraine offre une singularité supplémentaire, celle d'être alors dans un pays indépendant, même si cela est, à l'époque moderne, tout relatif. Bien que d'une étendue géographique assez limitée, elle offre tous les cas de figures pouvant se rencontrer dans la variété de statuts et d'histoire des maisons vannistes. Toutes ces situations constituent un excellent échantillon de la perception que des religieux cloîtrés des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles peuvent avoir de leur cadre de vie et de la manière dont ils le concrétisent. Tous ces éléments doivent concourir à définir ou non un éventuel style vanniste, montrant sous un jour particulier le quotidien des religieux qui composent cette grande congrégation d'une cinquantaine de maisons en Lorraine et en France, mère de congrégations réformées en France et en Belgique et sœur d'autres réformes monastiques nées en Lorraine dans les premières années du XVIIe siècle. / Among the reforms of Trent, is that religious orders are encouraged to organize themselves into congregations. It shall include the invitation to translate the architecture and decorations of the church, the expression of the catholic faith, are reaffirmed. All this leads to new architectural forms and new liturgical developments, are also accompanied in the case of religious orders, by a spatial reorganization of monasteries. In what Professor Taveneaux defined as a Catholic back, Lorraine holds a special place in history, by its location in the european stage and then by the strong presence of a church supported by the sovereigns. By reformers bishops stakeholders the Council of Trent and that of the ducal family of Lorraine commitment, the country sees hatch within a few years three congregations : Ancient Observance in the norbertine order from Pont-à-Mousson while the personality of Pierre Fourier crystallizes the reform of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. For Benedictine, is the congregation of Saint-Vanne and St. Hydulphe by dom Didier de La Cour. The choices and architectural patterns, the choice of sets of churches and abbey buildings themselves, by everyday life and objects, it is possible to have a new vision of this congregation which is particularly active on the Lorraine ground. The vannistes swarming in France are not without influence on populations. It appears natural to try understanding in what their architecture and decorative choices say about them, how they relay the doctrine of the Church and how they perceive themselves with the corollary of the controlled image they want to give of them. Their architecture, witness the power of a state of mind, as surely is the translation of their religious principles. The provincial level used is where decisions novitiates, which reflect any deletions or creations of houses, where a visitor made the connection between the central government of the congregation and every house. Religious also live this geographic reality because they are just very few of them move from one province to another and it seems provincial specificities in the very organization of the congregation without neglecting the political choices or changes' thinking that evolves differently in each province. For even beyond the aspects related to the organization of the congregation, the province of Lorraine offers additional singularity, whereas that of being in an independent country, even if it is in modern times, all relative. Although a fairly limited geographical scope, it offers all the scenarios that can be found in the variety of status and history of vannistes houses. All these situations are an excellent sample of the perception that religious cloistered seventeenth and eighteenth centuries may have their living and how they materialize. All these elements must contribute to define whether a possible style vanniste showing in a particular light daily religious that make up this great congregation of about fifty houses in Lorraine and France, mother of reformed congregations in France and Belgium other monastic reforms sister born in Lorraine in the early seventeenth century.

The diploma thesis is devoted to the abbess focusing on her spiritual and secular duties, on the powers in the administration of the convent and in the care of the nunnery property at the turn of the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. For describing the ideal conception of the post of the abbess the study uses legislative regulations of various levels: the statutes and rules of women's contemplative and mendicant religious orders as welll as the decrees of the Council of Trent. On the example of three selected women's monasteries of three different orders - the Benedictine convent of St. George at Prague Castle, the Cistercian nunnery in Pohled, the monastery of the Poor Clares in Panenský Týnec - illustrates how the real influence of the Mother Superior differs from the ideal one. The text is based on an exploration of the written archival materials of the monasteries, from which were selected individual cases, that illustrate what the abbess had to deal with. According to the regulations, the authority for solution disputes inside the convent should be the Prague Archbishop, the King of Bohemia and his officers on property matters, but the archival sources show that secular and ecclesiastical law was very often intertwined. The most frequent sources for the diploma thesis were letters written...

This paper deals with the history of the study and discipline called "History of Christian Art". It attempts to find the roots of the interest in history, sacred monuments, and national monuments of the past in the spiritual environment of the Czech lands, and its subsequent inclusion in the context of contemporary European developments of interest in art and its study. Beginning with the oldest hagiographic texts, which are not only records of literary history, but in many cases are important in terms of references to building monuments and artworks, among which Kristian's legend is dominant, through the texts of medieval chroniclers, Kosmas, his followers, the Chronicle of Zbraslav Monastery and chronicles from the reign of Charles IV., across the historiography of the Baroque period, which is without a doubt dominated by the work of Bohuslav Balbín and Thomas Pešina of Čechorod, and the period of national awakening, through a boom industry in the nineteenth century, when Ferdinand Josef Lehner made history with his founding work, to the culmination in the activities of representatives of the field the first half of the twentieth century, when it was represented by personalities such as Antonin Podlaha, Eduard Sittler, and Josef Cibulka. Based on the recapitulation and subsequent description of...

This thesis examines the intricacies of women's vowed life in the High Middle Ages with regard to key aspects of contemporary religiosity. Vowed women are studied in their connection and interaction with the male world of authorities and spiritual guides. The diachronic approach is employed with a focus on the ideals and spirituality of three different types of vowed women's groups; traditional monastic groups living according to the Benedictine rule, namely Benedictines and Cistercians, Mendicant groups, which include Poor Clares, Dominicans and tertiaries of both orders, and finally groups of non-conformist vowed women, including beguines, anchoresses and recluses. This thesis serves as a probe into the proclaimed ideals of these groups in the view of male authorities, and points out the tendencies in the spirituality of specific vowed women. The principal method is the analysis of several types of sources with the categories of analysis being three key aspects of the religious life of the society of the High Middle Ages, namely the relationship to asceticism, the relationship to Christ and the Eucharist, and the Marian devotion. The introductory chapter presents the preconditions for constructing the role and position of the female gender in medieval society and subsequently discusses the origin...

Par un édit de janvier 1751 Louis XV créa l’Ecole royale militaire de Paris. Elle devait accueillir 500 boursiers du roi. En raison d’insuffisances notoires elle fut scindée en deux. Les enfants devaient acquérir les connaissances de base à La Flèche avant de rejoindre Paris. Ce système jugé coûteux fut réformé en 1776 par le comte de Saint-Germain. L’éducation des jeunes gens se fit, en province, dans des écoles tenues par des religieux puis à Paris ou dans des régiments. Peu de congrégations étaient susceptibles d’accueillir les boursiers ; celle de Saint-Maur obtint 6 collèges dont Pontlevoy. Quel enseignement y était donné ? Que lui apporta la présence de 50 boursiers du roi, chaque année, entre 1777 et 1793 ? Outre la réponse à ces questions, il fallait s’intéresser aux boursiers eux-mêmes, à leur origine, à leurs parents et à leurs revenus. Les règles de l’édit furent-elles respectées ? Les réformes de Saint-Germain visaient à améliorer le sort de cette noblesse provinciale, à récompenser ses talents. Le but fut-il atteint ? / It was not until 1751 when Louis XV succeeded in establishing the Ecole royale militaire de Paris, intending to enroll 500 disadvantaged noble youths. Due to well-known learning deficiencies among many of the pupils, the school was split in two. Younger students studied at the lower school in La Flèche before being sent to Paris. Saint-Germain reformed this costly system in 1776, ordering that the first level of education be entrusted to twelve monastery colleges, spread among the provinces. Afterwards, the king’s pupils would go on to Paris or would enter the army. Few religious orders disposed of the means necessary to educate these pupils. The Benedictine order of Saint-Maur took charge of six colleges. Among them was Pontlevoy. What kind of education should be provided? What economic impact would be caused by the arrival of the new pupils? Additionally, who were these pupils, what was their parents’ income? Did the established rules abide by the terms of the law? Did Saint-Germain achieve his goal of promoting the talents of the king’s pupils and of enhancing the status of the provincial nobility?

La riforma attuata nel ramo femminile dell'ordine di San Benedetto da Catherine Mectilde de Bar [Madre Mectilde del Santissimo Sacramento] (1614-1698). La formazione, l'opera e gli incontri della religiosa lorenese sullo sfondo delle vicende politiche ed ecclesiali della Francia del XVII secolo. Gli aspetti storici, istituzionali e teologici legati alla fondazione e allo sviluppo dell'Istituto delle benedettine dell'Adorazione Perpetua del Santissimo Sacramento. / The reform realised by Catherine Mectilde de Bar [Mother Mectilde of the Most Holy Sacrament] (1614-1698) in the feminine branch of the Benedictine Order. The formation, the works and the writings of this nun from Lorraine in the midst of the political and ecclesial events in seventeenth century France. The historical, institutional and theological aspects connected with the foundation and the development of the institute of the Benedictine nuns of the perpetual adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament.

La tesi si apre con un capitolo introduttivo, che tiene presente l’arco cronologico compreso tra i secoli XII e XIX. L’ampiezza di questo periodo storico è giustificata dall’antichità delle istituzioni antecedenti al monastero cassinese di San Raimondo in Piacenza: una canonica agostiniana (secoli XII-XIV), dedicata a Santa Maria dei Dodici Apostoli, un ospedale di tipo medievale (secoli XII-XVI) e un monastero cistercense femminile (1414-1810). Si è cercato di mettere in luce che le vicende di queste istituzioni sono parte integrante della storia dell’attuale monastero. Dopo un accenno alle soppressioni napoleoniche e alle loro conseguenze per le religiose, la parte centrale della ricerca (comprendente gli altri tre capitoli) riguarda il monastero di San Raimondo in Piacenza nel suo periodo benedettino cassinese. L’erezione canonica è avvenuta nel 1835, in seguito all’iniziativa della fondatrice Teresa Maruffi (1780-1855), monaca piacentina. Nel lavoro si è cercato di mettere in luce l’influsso dell’istituzione anche in campo sociale ed educativo. Il monastero di San Raimondo, infatti, tenendo fermo il carattere contemplativo-claustrale della comunità che vi risiede, ha svolto e svolge tuttora un importante ruolo dal punto di vista scolastico-educativo ed apostolico in campo pastorale e sociale. / The thesis opens with an introductory chapter that considers the chronological period between XII and XIX centuries. The wideness of this historical period is justified by the antiquity of the institutions prior to the “cassinese” monastery of San Raimondo in Piacenza: an Augustinian presbytery (XII-XIV centuries), dedicated to Saint Mary of the Twelve Apostles, a medieval hospital (XII-XVI centuries) and a Cistercian convent (1414-1810). They have tried to point out that the events of these institutions are an integral part of the history of the present-day monastery. After a reference to the Napoleonic dissolution and to its consequences for the nuns, the central part of the research (including the other three chapters) concerns the monastery of San Raimondo in Piacenza during the Benedictine “cassinese” period. The monastery was founded in 1835 on the initiative of Teresa Maruffi (1780-1855), a nun from Piacenza. In the research they have tried to point out the influence of the institution in social and educational field. Actually, the monastery of San Raimondo, preserving the cloister-contemplative character of the community that resides there, has played and still plays an important role both from an educational point of view and an apostolic point of view in pastoral and social field.

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.