Fécamp, Cluny, and the Invention of Traditions in the Later Eleventh Century

In 1001 Duke Richard II of Normandy appointed William of Dijon as the first abbot of La Trinité de Fécamp. Together with his patron, William initiated a programme of monastic reform which scholarship has long seen as a deliberate imitation of Cluniac custom. This equation has been based on a corpus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of medieval monastic studies
Authors: Pohl, Benjamin 1985- (Author) ; Vanderputten, Steven (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brepols [2016]
In: The journal of medieval monastic studies
IxTheo Classification:KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages
KBG France
KCA Monasticism; religious orders
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Summary:In 1001 Duke Richard II of Normandy appointed William of Dijon as the first abbot of La Trinité de Fécamp. Together with his patron, William initiated a programme of monastic reform which scholarship has long seen as a deliberate imitation of Cluniac custom. This equation has been based on a corpus of early Norman charters that are widely held to have exempted Fécamp from Rouen's episcopal authority as early as 1006, explicitly evoking Cluny in an attempt to abolish the bishop's rights in the election and blessing of abbots. Following a comprehensive reassessment of the historical and diplomatic evidence, this article argues that Cluny did not become a model for Fécamp before the second half of the eleventh century. It questions notions of continuity by demonstrating that both the charters and the traditions to which they pertain are in fact later eleventh-century inventions, which medieval forgers and modern readers alike have projected back onto earlier periods.
ISSN:2034-3523
Contains:Enthalten in: The journal of medieval monastic studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1484/J.JMMS.5.110837