Suchergebnisse

Monastic reading arouses much interest in academic community in two important aspects: firstly, reading as the essential part of the contemplative monastic life; secondly, reading as the process of visual decoding of written text with the following sense perception. The second aspect remained for a long time under scientific discussion. In my paper I touch upon the issue of development of historical viewpoints on the monastic reading in modern historiography. I also suggest my interpretation of the episodes connected with books and reading in Confessio of St. Augustine, in letters of St. Ambrose and in Prudentius' Liber Peristephanon[1]. For the appropriate understanding of the Cistercian tradition of lectio divina it's necessary to apply to the influential writings of Desert Fathers. In my paper I'm analysing several chapters, which deal with reading, of such sources as John Cassian's De coenobiorum institutis and Collationes patrum in scetica eremo and the Rule of Saint Benedict that was used by the Cistercian Order as the basic example of pure monastic coenobium. The direct analysis of reading in Cistercian communities, its roles and functions in monastic everyday life, is carried out by means of comparative method. I compare the information received from the main Cistercian normative source videlicet Liber Usuum Sacri Cisterciensis Ordinis with facts from the Cistercian visionary texts of the XIIIth century, chosen as the sources for the History of Everyday Life. Richalm's of Schoental Liber revelationum contains the most impressive amount of references to lectio divina. Also some representative material can be found in Liber miraculorum of Herbert of Clairvaux. Such historic texts are particularly interesting for medievalists, because they provide insight into monastic everyday practices. Whereas statutes and rules descibe in detail the legislative side, that means how the monks' life must be regulated (including the schedule of all activities), mentioned visionary texts inform us, how the cistercians observed their declared high ideals in practice, what kind of difficulties they faced, what results achieved. So, lectio divina turns out to be one of the most intellectually and physically exhausting and time-taking activities for all monks' generations. In the analysed works there are various episodes of loud reading during refection, individual silent reading and meditation, explanations of significance of the book as the material object as well as situations of demons' intrigues and hindrances. By the use and interpretation of both types of writings are revealed some new aspects and functions of lectio divinaconnected with monastic everyday life. [1] In my Peristephanon's analysis I also try to compare Prudentius' metaphors of books and reading with the metaphors of the Apocalypse.

This study involves the analysis of the overall quantitative, structural and sociodemographic characteristics of the Roman Catholic monastic Orders in Eastern Galicia as a part of the Galician Crown land of Austria-Hungary in the early 20th century. In the second half of the 19th century, the Roman Catholic monastic communities renewed their activity after a period of decline in the epoch of Enlightenment. The analysis indicates two features that characterize the contemporary Galician monastic Orders – a significant predominance of female members and active social work among the population of the region. Quantitatively, the Roman Catholic monastic structures considerably exceeded those of the Greek Catholic Church

One of the central issues in the debate on the transformative impact of European economic expansion on agricultural structures in the Ottoman Empire concerns the formation of large agricultural estates. It has been argued that the growing demand for raw materials on the world market fostered efforts at the integration of small landholdings into larger units of production and an increasing commercialization of agricultural produce. This commercializaiton coincided with a tendency toward crop specializaiton and a regional differentitation between the rural areas.

Identities in the urban world are mental constructs of varying degrees of complexity that are built on the structure of the social groups to which they refer. But urban identity was a complex system also constructed based upon responsibilities and efforts, which served to cultivate common work. In Castile the towns and cities had a high capacity for management and organisation from their creation. The common identity was represented by the oligarchic government and the cities only brought before the king rivalries among themselves. This lack of sovereign urban identity leads to the supposition that the ambitions were absorbed in the feelings of identity with the community of the kingdom and monarchy would reserve an unquestionable leading role for the cities.

Mapping a Monastic Network examines a "grassroots" reform movement in the Italian Marches, the monastic congregation of Fonte Avellana, how it functioned as a communications network, and how interactions between individuals and with the landscape produced a compelling and politically potent vision of personal and institutional change. In a new take on "history from the bottom up," I have used two strategies to rewrite the prehistory of the papal revolution of the late eleventh century usually called the Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Conflict. One is, literally, to look at the ground: by mapping the spread of this monastic network with Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and site surveys, I have reconstructed relations among communities within the congregation and considered the impact of topography on religious ideals and political relations. Second, having discovered and utilized documentation from the daughter houses of Fonte Avellana, I have reconsidered the center from the periphery, recovering the contributions of those who collaborated with the congregation's charismatic prior, the theologian, cardinal, and papal polemicist, (Saint) Peter Damian (1007-1072). The result is a more dynamic and inclusive portrait of how and why ecclesiastical reform convulsed European society at the end of the eleventh century.