Dans le contexte des chocs de la première modernité et de la Réforme catholique qui suit le concile de Trente (1545-1563), Cîteaux, qui est à la fois une abbaye et un chef-d'ordre, a été exemptée de la commende. Cette exemption conserve les abbés réguliers et leur permet de diriger et de réformer l'ordre en adaptant ses institutions aux exigences réformatrices. Au centre de la direction se place donc le problème complexe des rapports entre l'abbé de Cîteaux, le chapitre général, les quatre premiers pères, les abbayes-filles, et les différents pouvoirs extérieurs, à la fois religieux et politiques. L'abbé général doit diriger un ordre troublé par l'autonomie croissante des congrégations nationales et la formation de l'étroite observance. En effet, l'ordre cistercien conserve des abbayes dans toute l'Europe demeurée catholique. La crainte d'un schisme interne à l'ordre aboutit à la redéfinition des pouvoir institutionnels au profit des vicaires généraux et des présidents de congrégations. L'étude du rôle de l'abbé de Cîteaux se fait au double point de vue du pouvoir, celui de la direction et celui de la réforme de l'ordre. Le problème posé est celui de l'évolution du gouvernement abbatial, et ne se réduit pas à un prisme biographique. Métaphore de l'unité de l'ordre, l'abbé réunit en lui une autorité fonctionnelle et personnelle. Malgré les déchirements, le souhait du maintien de l'unité repose au XVIIe siècle sur la notion du bien commun à tous les fragments monastiques cisterciens : la famille autour du Novum monasterium de Cîteaux et de son père-abbé. / In the context of the clashes of the first modernity and of the Catholic Reformation after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), Cîteaux, which is both an Abbey and a chief of Order, is exempt from being hold in commendam, allowing the regular abbots to govern and reform the order while adapting its institutions to the reformative demands. Hence, at the heart of the leadership lies the complex problem of the relationship between the abbot of Cîteaux, the General Chapter, the four first fathers, the daughter-abbeys, and the various different external powers, both political and religious. The general abbot is confronted to controlling an order that is disturbed by the growing autonomy of the national Congregations and the formation of the Strict Observance. Indeed, the Cistercian Order maintains a number of abbeys throughout all parts of Europe that have remained catholic. The fear of an internal schism within the order leads to a redefinition of the institutional powers for the benefit of vicar-generals and congregation presidents. My study of the role of the abbot of Cîteaux is conducted from the dual point of view of power, that of the leadership and that of the reformation of the order. The problem that I raise is that of the evolution of the abbatial government and it cannot be restricted to a biographical prism. As a metaphor for the order's unity, the abbot gathers both a functional and a personal authority. In spite of the various rifts, the wish for maintaining unity persists in the 17th century around the notion of a common good shared by all the Cistercian monastic fragments : the family gathered around the Novum monasterium of Cîteaux and its father abbot.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100).

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In recent years a controversy has arisen in the scholarship dealing with St. Anselm of Canterbury. Since R. W. Southern published his biography of Anselm, his views have been widely accepted. In his view, Anselm was a devout monk who spent his life contemplating, with clear insight, profound theological issues. Forced to accept the Archbishopric of Canterbury, Anselm was never content with his responsibilities and longed to return to the simple life of a monk. The result was that Anselm blundered his way through conflicts with the Kings of England, William Rufus and Henry I. Because of his inability to handle himself in political spheres, Anselm was forced into exile twice. Within the last decade, however, Sally N. Vaughn has challenged Southern's prevailing views with a re-examination of the sources. In her opinion, Anselm was an astute politician who determined, early on, that he was destined to be Archbishop of Canterbury. Vaughn tries to show that Anselm carefully orchestrated events so that he was in fact elected to the position. Sally Vaughn's Anselm is very different from the contemplative monk of Southern's book. The controversy now centres on whether or not a devout contemplative monk could also be an astute politician while still maintaining an other-wordly detachment. This is the view of Eadmer, Anselm's companion and first biographer. Southern and Vaughn's views, while defensible from the sources, both fail to recognise, unlike Eadmer, the compatibility of vocations as an archbishop and a monk. This thesis will re-examine the sources--Eadmer's biographies and Anselm's writings--to show that Eadmer's view is the correct one. Anselm clearly transferred his intellectual powers into his monastic vocation and from there used his principles as a guiding force of his episcopacy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1961. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 360-373).

Oliver Twist is a novel loved by many, read by more. It is a classic novel by Charles Dickens, portraying the life and hardships of a young boy named Oliver Twist, who was born in a work house. Oliver is bright and righteous, the exact opposite of his brother Edward “Monks” Leeford. This essay will follow Oliver and Monks and analyse their characters in the light of the literary hero and the literary villain and in doing so see how Dickens use the characters as literary tools to convey his view of a dark, uncaring Victorian society as well as his hopes for a brighter future. Their strong characteristics make way for a fascinating story, a story that do not only tell us about Oliver’s bravery and Monks’ egoism, but one that do also prove that they are characters created by Dickens to show both the Victorian society that he lived in as well as the society that it could become.

The thesis focuses on the history of several Czech benedictine monasteries in the period marked by two major milestones in Czech history, them being the outbreak of the Hussite Revolution and the Battle of White Mountain. It aims to juxtapose monasteries abandoned in the post-Hussite era with the ones that had undergone restoration and remained active during the above mentioned period. Apart from trying to put together an overall outline of the convents' history, the thesis also addresses select problems the abbots of the restored monasteries had to face in the course of the aforementioned two centuries. KEY WORDS Benedictine monks, monastery, priory, Hussitism, secularization, protestantism

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS. 278 is an early-fourteenth-century trilingual manuscript of the Psalms from Norwich Cathedral Priory, an urban cathedral church staffed by Benedictine monks. This manuscript is notable because it contains one of six Middle English Metrical Psalters, the earliest Middle English translation of the Psalms, as well as a full Anglo-Norman Oxford Psalter, the most popular French translation of the Psalms in late medieval England. While the Middle English Metrical Psalter is a remarkable and understudied text in and of itself, the Metrical Psalter of CCC 278 is even more interesting because of its monastic provenance and innovative layout. This thesis explores the questions of why a monastic institution would produce a manuscript of two complete, prominently displayed, vernacular Psalters with only highly abbreviated Latin textual references; what sociolinguistic and political forces drove the production of this innovative manuscript; and how the Middle English Metrical Psalter in particular was read, and by whom. Because there are no annotations, colophon, prologue or external documentation to provide clues to either the intended or actual use of the manuscript by the Priory monks, this thesis undertakes a detailed historicization and contextualization of the book in its urban, religious, linguistic and social settings. In addition, the lenses of community, mediation, and authority are applied, leading to the conclusion that CCC 278 and its Middle English Metrical Psalter were likely used by the monks to reach out to Norwich’s élite laity in order to form a mixed reading community around the book—a reading community controlled by the Priory.

In 733, Japan’s ninth diplomatic mission to Tang China conveyed two Japanese Buddhist monks committed to finding a Chinese master of Buddhist precepts. The prevailing explanation for the precepts master solicitation states that Japan lacked sufficient numbers of fully ordained monks to conduct ordinations using vinaya codes of conduct. While this campaign successfully resulted in precept masters going to Japan in 736 and again in 754, there were no notable changes to monastic ordinations until after the final monk arrived. It is commonly presumed that only the latter precepts master possessed sufficient charisma, training, and followers necessary to establish a vinaya tradition. However, this explanation presumes that the later reforms matched the original expedition’s intent. Moreover, this position ignores the other monks’ activities in Japan’s political, cultural, and religious affairs between 736-754. It is also not supported by period texts. In this work, I utilize textual and physical evidence to demonstrate that these overseas monks’ activities and significance were largely unrelated to monastic precepts and ordinations. Instead, they rose to prominence due to their knowledge of Buddhist texts and rituals, familiarity with neighboring countries’ Buddhist legitimation and protection systems, fluency in overseas forms of cultural capital, and embodied otherness. Their influence can be seen in their involvement in the Ministry for Monastic Affairs, promulgation of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, and the creation and worship of the Great Buddha of Nara. Through highlighting these understudied and highly diverse monks, I demonstrate that Japan’s overseas population was intrinsically involved with the country’s transformation into a transregionally-connected, Buddhist country. Moreover, I argue that the overseas monks affiliated with Daianji Temple (大安寺) provided the Japanese court with direct ties to foreign countries that not only expanded Japanese international awareness, but also helped establish the country’s understanding of its position within a broader Buddhist world.

The dissertation delineates how the writings compiled in The Collected Works (Gsung ’bum) of Jey Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (1357–1419), the founder of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism, constitute the centrality of the Geluk thought and philosophy and have contributed towards the school’s formation. It details how the texts have played a prominent role in establishing doctrinal authority, defining philosophical boundaries, postulating intellectual identity, and reorienting monastic education for the school. These texts have also considerably enhanced the intellectual, spiritual, and charismatic authority of Jey Tsongkhapa as a teacher and philosopher. This dissertation bases its approach on the premise that the life and writings of Tsongkhapa define the core identity of the Geluk School and that an explicit rejection of either tantamount to an outright abnegation of its membership. The dissertation begins with a critical retelling of Tibet’s religious history to contextualize the subject. The second chapter presents the culture and practice of life writing in Tibet to inform about the mechanism employed in traditional auto/biographies. Given the enormous attention drawn by the study of Jesus Christ (c. 4 BCE–c. 33 CE) in western academia, the chapter includes a literary review of contemporary studies and research for their emulation in the study of Tibetan hagiographies. The life story of Tsongkhapa is recounted in the third chapter. The fourth chapter details significant historical events that helped recenter Tsongkhapa in the Tibetan religio-cultural landscape. The fifth chapter presents his oeuvre—The Collected Works, the first extensive xylographic work printed in Tibet in the early fifteenth century. It also outlines the volume contents, presents sample texts, and chronicles the history of its publication and printing. The sixth chapter illustrates the centrality of Jey Tsongkhapa’s writings and its integration into the Geluk monastic educational system. The seventh chapter explicates on the topic of textual transmission and demonstrates how the texts were passed down through unbroken lineages to this day. The dissertation concludes with an epilogue and other back matters, including a list of transliteration of names, which are phoneticized in the main body for the ease of reading.