Imagining religious leadership in the Middle Ages : Richard of Saint-Vanne and the politics of reform / Steven Vanderputten.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vanderputten, Steven, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Abbots--France--Biography.

Abbots.

Religious leaders--France--Biography.

Religious leaders.

Monasticism and religious orders--France--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Monasticism and religious orders.

Richard, Abbot of Saint-Vanne, -1046.

Richard.

France--Church history--987-1515.

France.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (261 p.)

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York ; London, [England] : Cornell University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Around the turn of the first millennium AD, there emerged in the former Carolingian Empire a generation of abbots that came to be remembered as one of the most influential in the history of Western monasticism. In this book Steven Vanderputten reevaluates the historical significance of this generation of monastic leaders through an in-depth study of one of its most prominent figures, Richard of Saint-Vanne. During his lifetime, Richard (d. 1046) served as abbot of numerous monasteries, which gained him a reputation as a highly successful administrator and reformer of monastic discipline. As Vanderputten shows, however, a more complex view of Richard's career, spirituality, and motivations enables us to better evaluate his achievements as church leader and reformer. Vanderputten analyzes various accounts of Richard's life, contemporary sources that are revealing of his worldview and self-conception, and the evidence relating to his actions as a monastic reformer and as a promoter of conversion. Richard himself conceived of his life as an evolving commentary on a wide range of issues relating to individual spirituality, monastic discipline, and religious leadership. This commentary, which combined highly conservative and revolutionary elements, reached far beyond the walls of the monastery and concerned many of the issues that would divide the church and its subjects in the later eleventh century.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Imagining Richard in Medieval and Modern Historiography

2. Ecclesiastical Office, Religious Virtuosity, and the Apostolic Imperative

3. Imagining Saint-Vanne

4. "Founder and Head of Many Monasteries"

5. Converting the World

Conclusion

Appendix A: Chronology of Major Events in Richard's Life

Appendix B: The Life of Roding

Appendix C: Monastic Reading at Saint-Vanne

Appendix D: Overview of Richard's Abbacies Outside of Saint-Vanne

Appendix E: Overview of Richard's "Priors"

Appendix F: Overview of Richard's Successors

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780801456305

0801456304

OCLC:

918150053