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This Companion to Twelfth-Century Schools provides a comprehensive update and new synthesis of the last three decades of research. The fruit of a contemporary renewal of cultural history among international scholars of medieval studies, this collection draws on the discovery of new texts, the progress made in critical attribution, the growing attention given to the conditions surrounding the oral and written dissemination of works, the use of the notion of a “community of learning”, the reinterpretation of the relations between the cloister and the urban school, and links between institutional history and social history. Contributors are: Alexander Andrée, Irene Caiazzo, Cédric Giraud, Frédéric Goubier, Danielle Jacquart, Thierry Kouamé, Constant J. Mews, Ken Pennington, Dominique Poirel, Irène Rosier-Catach, Sita Steckel, Jacques Verger, and Olga Weijers. See inside the book.
There were two Bernards of Clairvaux. The first was the genuine Bernard who lived from 1090 to 1153, and wrote letters, sermons, and treatises that are of major consequence in the history of the twelfth century. The second is a host of writers, most of whom have not been identified, who wrote treatises attributed to the genuine Bernard, but that were not from his pen. This volume, the first complete translation in more than three hundred years, presents one of the most important texts in the history of medieval Latin spirituality. Written between 1170 and 1190 by an unidentified Cistercian monk-priest, Meditationes piisimae, “Very Devout Meditations,” became one of the most popular and widely distributed pieces of spiritual literature in the whole of the Middle Ages. The work survives in at least 670 manuscripts, with the complete English translation of the treatise published in 1701.
Peter Abelard (1079-1142) is one of the most diversely gifted people of the Middle Ages. His letter writing, poetry, theology, logic, and ethics deal with almost every aspect of the trivium. This volume surveys his career to show how his extraordinary versatility enchanted and distressed his public. A selection of international specialists addresses the various aspects of Abelard's literary persona. The topics range from Abelard's personal history to his monastic thinking. There are essays on the letter collection, his views on love, ethical problems such as intention and suicide, his poetry and treatises written for Heloise and her nuns of the Paraclete. With its strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research, Rethinking Abelard opens up new avenues for future scholarship. Contributors are: Michael T. Clanchy, Peter Cramer, Lesley-Anne Dyer, Juanita Feros Ruys, William Flynn, Babette Hellemans, Taina M. Holopainen, Eileen F. Kearney, Constant J. Mews, Eileen C. Sweeney, Ineke Van ‘t Spijker, Wim Verbaal, and Julian Yolles.
The textual heritage of Medieval Latin is one of the greatest reservoirs of human culture. Repertories list more than 16,000 authors from about 20 modern countries. Until now, there has been no introduction to this world in its full geographical extension. Forty contributors fill this gap by adopting a new perspective, making available to specialists (but also to the interested public) new materials and insights. The project presents an overview of Medieval (and post-medieval) Latin Literatures as a global phenomenon including both Europe and extra-European regions. It serves as an introduction to medieval Latin's complex and multi-layered culture, whose attraction has been underestimated un...
The Decretum Gratiani is the cornerstone of medieval canon law, and the manuscript St Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, 673 an essential witness to its evolution. The studies in this volume focus on that manuscript, providing critical insights into its genesis, linguistic features, and use of Roman Law, while evaluating its attraction to medieval readers and modern scholars. Together, these studies offer a fascinating view on the evolution of the Decretum Gratiani, as well as granting new insights on the complex dynamics and processes by which legal knowledge was first created and then transferred in medieval jurisprudence. Contributors are Enrique de León, Stephan Dusil, Melodie H. Eichbauer, Atria A. Larson, Titus Lenherr, Philipp Lenz, Kenneth Pennington, Andreas Thier, José Miguel Viejo-Ximénez, John C. Wei, and Anders Winroth.
The Companion to John of Salisbury is the first collective study of this major figure in the intellectual and political life of 12th-century Europe to appear for thirty years. Based on the latest research, thirteen contributions by leading experts in the field provide an overview of John of Salisbury’s place in the political debates that marked the reign of Henry II in England as well as of his place in the history of the Church. They also offer a detailed introduction to his philosophical works (Metalogicon, Entheticus), his political thought (Policraticus) and his writing of history (Historia pontificalis). Contributors include Julie Barrau, David Bloch, Karen Bollermann, Cédric Giraud, Christophe Grellard, Laure Hermand-Schebat, Frédérique Lachaud, Constant Mews, Clare Monagle, Cary Nederman, Ronald Pepin, Yves Sassier, and Sigbjørn Sønnesyn.
This monograph has set itself the goal to examine, outline, elucidate, and supplement the existing body of knowledge concerning a theme from patristic and medieval theology recalled in 1953 by Marie-Dominique Chenu, and that is the assertion that man was created as a replacement for fallen angels (Yves Congar: créature de remplacement; Louis Bouyer: ange de remplacement). The study first shows that the idea of man having being created to take the place of fallen angels was introduced by St. Augustine and developed by other church fathers. It then identifies the typical contexts in which the subject was raised by authors of the early Middle Ages, but goes on to focus on the discussion that d...
The version of the Rule of St. Augustine used at the Abbey of St.Victor began with the command to love God above all things and ones neighbor as oneself. Not surprisingly, then, love was a pervasive theme in the writings produced there, many of which are introduced and translated here: (1)five lyrical essays by Hugh of St.Victor (d.1141): The Praise of Charity; The Betrothal Gift of the Soul; In Praise of the Spouse; On the Substance of Love; What Truly Should Be Loved?; (2)On the Four Degrees of Violent Love, by Richard of St.Victor (d.1173), which traces the likenesses and differences between romantic love and the love of God; (3)Achard of St.Victor (d.1170), Sermon5 and two of Adam of St.Victors sequences are examples of how these authors wove love into their writings; (4)excerpts from the Microcosmus by Godfrey of St.Victor (d.ca.1195), summarize the central place of love in his humanistic theological anthropology.
Memory in the Middle Ages has received particular attention in recent decades; yet; the topic remains difficult to grasp and the research on it rather fragmented. This book gathers particular case studies on memory in different parts of medieval Europe and in a variety of fields including literatures, languages, manuscript studies, history, history of ideas, philosophy, social history and art history. The studies address, on the one hand, memory as means of storing and recuperating knowledge (arts of memory and memory aids), and, on the other hand, memory as remembering and constructing the past (including the subject of forgetting). It should be useful to all interested in medieval culture, literature and history. Contributors are Milena Bartlová, Bergsveinn Birgisson, Irene Bueno, Vincent Challet, Greti Dinkova-Bruun, Lucie Doležalová, Dávid Falvay, Carmen Florea, Cédric Giraud, Laura Iseppi de Filippis, Farkas Gábor Kiss, Rüdiger Lorenz, Else Mundal, Előd Nemerkényi, William J. Purkis, Slavica Ranković, Lucia Raspe, Kimberly Rivers, Victoria Smirnova, Francesco Stella, Péter Tóth, Tamás Visi, Jon Whitman and Rafał Wójcik.
”O God we thank thee” was sung in the churches of France and Sweden after military victories in the seventeenth century. To celebrate Thanksgiving was a way of thanking God, but also a way for the rulers to legitimize the ever ongoing wars. For the inhabitants it was both an occasion for festivity and a way of getting information about what happened in the battlefield. Yet the image given was selective. Bloody defeats and uneventful everyday life was replaced by spectacular victories and royal glory. Even though the rituals in the two countries were similar in some ways, there were also substantial differences. The propaganda formulated a narrative about what war actually was, and what role the rulers and their subjects should play. In the crisis of 1709 this narrative was profoundly challenged. The book investigates how war events were communicated to the inhabitants of France and Sweden in the seventeenth century by the Church, and especially through days of thanksgiving (called Te Deum in France).