Monasticism became part of Europe from the early period of Christianity on the continent and developed into a powerful institution that had an effect on the greater church, on wider society, and on the landscape. Monastic communities were as diverse as the societies in which they lived, following a variety of rules, building monasteries influenced by common ideals and yet diverse in their regionalism, and contributing to the economic and spiritual well-being inside and outside their precincts. This interdisciplinary volume presents the diversity of medieval European monasticism with a particular emphasis on its impact on its immediate environs. Geographically it covers from the far west in Ireland, Scotland and Wales through Scandinavia, south to the Iberian Peninsula, and onto the continent to the east in Romania. Drawing on archaeological, art and architectural, textual and topographical evidence, the contributors explore how monastic communities were formed, how they created a landscape of monasticism, how they wove their identities with those around them, and how they interacted with all levels of society to leave a lasting imprint on European towns and rural landscapes.
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction — EDEL BHREATHNACH
Identifying the Familia Monastica
The Nature of Pre-‘Reform’ Irish Monasticism — EDEL BHREATHNACH
St Sunniva, the Seljumenn and St Alban: The Benedictines and the Sanctuary at Selja, Norway — ALF TORE HOMMEDAL
Monasticism, Lordship, and State-Building in Twelfth-Century Cumbria — RICHARD THOMASON
Tensions in a Border Abbey: Strata Marcella, Its Patrons, Friends, and Enemies — JANET BURTON
The Blackfriars Preachers, Trim, Co. Meath and the Legacy of Geoffrey de Geneville — FINOLA O’CARROLL
Tales of War and Pilgrimage: The Archive of Santa Maria de Vilabertran in Catalonia — KAREN STÖBER
The Cloister, Heart of Monastic Life — ELIZABETH VALDEZ DEL ÁLAMO
The Cistercians and the Laity in Thirteenth-Century Italy: The Familia Monastica — GUIDO CARIBONI
The Role of Monasticism In Shaping Landscapes and Settlement Patterns
City Building and Monastic Institutions in East-Central Europe: The Significance of the Religiones Novae during the Foundation Years of Prague’s Old Town (c. 1220s – 1250s) — FREDERIK FELSKAU
Rivals to Cathedrals: The Architecture of Benedictine Churches in Northern France, 1100-1500 — DANY SANDRON
Transforming Women Religious?: Church Reform and the Archaeology of Female Monasticism in Ireland — TRACY COLLINS
Monasticism in a Border Landscape: Religious Orders in Medieval Finland — VISA IMMONEN
At Blackfriars Priory: Dominican Priories within Urban Geography in Medieval Scandinavia — JOHNNY GRANDJEAN GØGSIG JAKOBSEN
Franciscan Geography in Medieval Portugal: Architecture, Landscape, and Spirituality — CATARINA ALMEIDA MARADO
Ordo Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitae: Monasteries and the Shaping of the Late Medieval Slavonian Landscape prior to the Battle of Mohács (1526) — TAJANA PLEŠE
Monastic Environments and Economies
New Light on Caesarius’ Abbey: Recent Excavations at the Cistercian Monastery of Heisterbach, Germany — CHRISTOPH KELLER
The Landholding and Landscape Exploitation of Coupar Angus Abbey: Granges and Glenisla — VICTORIA HODGSON
This Belongs To Us! Competition Between the Royal Burgh of Stirling and the Augustinian Abbey of Cambuskenneth over Salmon Fishing Rights on the River Forth, Scotland — RICHARD C. HOFFMANN AND ALASDAIR ROSS
Riverine Monasticism in the Kingdom of Hungary: Navigation on the Lower Mureş and the Benedictine Abbey of Bizere — OANA TODA
Convents And Basque Familial Networks Of Power — NERE JONE INTXAUSTEGI JAUREGI
Shadows Of Ghosts: Rediscovering the Special Places of Medieval Female Monasteries Through Experiential Approaches to Landscape — KIMM CURRAN
Index