Tenth-Century Monastic Reform as a Historiographical Problem
This article discusses the state of the art on monastic reforms in the long tenth-century Frankish kingdoms and the analytic problems inherent to reform terminology. It argues that the emendatory undertone, the idea of renewal and the institutional connotation of the term "reform" seem to...
| 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
[2020]
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| In: |
Revue bénédictine
Year: 2020, Volume: 130, Issue: 2, Pages: 331-353 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article discusses the state of the art on monastic reforms in the long tenth-century Frankish kingdoms and the analytic problems inherent to reform terminology. It argues that the emendatory undertone, the idea of renewal and the institutional connotation of the term "reform" seem to be at odds with the tenth-century sources on the variegated interventions in religious communities. Furthermore, the difficulties scholars encounter in pinpointing the chronology and ideology of this "reform movement" indicates another flaw of this paradigm. The author therefore proposes three major adjustments to render the term "reform" a meaning that is both well-defined and applicable. First, the concept of reform is only practical when used in an active sense, to denote a sweeping intervention which profoundly altered a monastery’s network, observance, temporalities or internal organization. Second, the paradigm can only be meaningful on the micro-level of an individual institution. Third, the study of "reforms" should always be part of a comprehensive analysis of interactions and patronship between an abbey and its noble and ecclesiastical connections. Lastly, this article offers a new approach to tenth-century monasticism, which focuses more on agency of both the community and the regional powerbrokers involved in monastic patronage. |
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| ISSN: | 2295-9009 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Revue bénédictine
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1484/J.RB.5.121994 |