Curiosity Killed the Monk: The History of an Early Medieval Vice
A twelfth-century chapter book made for the nuns of Admont (MS Admont 567) contains an unstudied line-drawing depicting a monk ascending a ladder next to a list of vices crowned with the word curiositas' (curiosity). This article uncovers the textual source for this list of vices in Bernard of...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brepols
[2019]
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| In: |
The journal of medieval monastic studies
Year: 2019, Volume: 8, Pages: 73-94 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAC Church history 500-1500; Middle Ages KCA Monasticism; religious orders KDB Roman Catholic Church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | A twelfth-century chapter book made for the nuns of Admont (MS Admont 567) contains an unstudied line-drawing depicting a monk ascending a ladder next to a list of vices crowned with the word curiositas' (curiosity). This article uncovers the textual source for this list of vices in Bernard of Clairvaux's treatise On the Steps of Pride and Humility (De gradibus superbiae et humilitatis), written in the 1120s, and explores the history of curiosity as a sinful quality in monastic thought between the fourth and twelfth centuries. It shows that, despite the absence of inquisitiveness as a cause for concern in the Rule of Benedict, early medieval monks repeatedly expressed dire warnings about curiosity as a dangerous and potentially lethal pursuit in cloistered communities, but none more so than the Cistercians, who in the twelfth century deployed the accusation of curiosity to great effect against their rivals, the Cluniacs. It concludes by situating the line-drawing of the ascending monk in the context of the threat posed by curiosity in the double monastery of twelfth-century Admont, where the potential for improper interaction between male and female religious was a source of considerable anxiety. |
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| ISSN: | 2034-3523 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of medieval monastic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1484/J.JMMS.5.117960 |