The Monastic Key
Textual and archaeological evidence show that in medieval monasteries keys signified status and responsibility, mediated spatial boundaries, and featured in rituals that defined communal life. Both a functional domestic object and a powerful symbol of revelation, penance, and chastity, the key moved...
| 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
2023
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| In: |
The journal of medieval monastic studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 12, Pages: 7-26 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAC Church history 500-1500; Middle Ages KCA Monasticism; religious orders |
| Further subjects: | B
Material Culture
B enclosure B keys B Monastic Rules B customaries B locks |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Textual and archaeological evidence show that in medieval monasteries keys signified status and responsibility, mediated spatial boundaries, and featured in rituals that defined communal life. Both a functional domestic object and a powerful symbol of revelation, penance, and chastity, the key moved easily between the physical and spiritual realms, serving as a conduit for divine power and a prop in the theatre of monastic virtue. A closer look at the key as object and symbol offers a new means of unlocking monastic concerns with poverty and enclosure, as revealed in rules, customaries, and hagiography. More broadly, this study calls attention to the distinctively exegetical nature of medieval monastic material culture, in which even seemingly mundane objects were potential vessels for the sacred. |
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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.5.135310 |