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Then I Received the Habit of Holy Religion. Memorializing the Monastic Profession at the Turn of the Twelfth Century
Abstract
By looking at the archives of the Benedictine priory of Saint-Georges in the Northern French town of Hesdin, this paper aims to illustrate the versatility of a monastic community at the turn of the twelfth century in documenting the spiritual, legal and memorial implications of the monastic profession, as well as their understanding of the ritual itself as a significant social event, in which lasting ties were established with secular society. The analysis of an exceptional notice relating to the conversion of a man named Walter will show how, in addition to these purposes, the written word could also be used to capture in a permanent form the profession ritual as a 'total' transition of a layman's properties and self from the secular world to its spiritual counterpart.
Over the course of the 12th century, the meaning of the liturgical formula for the benediction of abbots shifted from one instilled with a monastic meaning of self-renunciation to a secularised one, focusing on fidelity and service. The purpose of this change was to allow bishops to rely securely on abbatial obedience in the exercise of their office, and to retain or strengthen their financial and juridical grip on the non-exempt monasteries of their diocese. This paper argues that this process did not prevent bishops from being attentive to the sensitive political realities of their time. By looking at the controversial election and blessing of Hugo, first abbot of Saint-André in the diocese of Tournai, it is shown how the benediction liturgy could be used as a means of reconciling the interests of ecclesiastical and secular leaders without compromising the ordinarius' canonic authority and political status.
The author argues that the introduction of the written promise of obedience made by abbots to the local bishop, as recorded in liturgical manuals of the late-twelfth century, was the result of a process that began at least a century earlier. By looking at an exceptional set of liturgical and archival sources from the Bishopric of Arras in northern France and putting them in their appropriate canonical, liturgical, and political contexts, the author shows how, in the late- eleventh and early-twelfth centuries, reformist bishops were experimenting with a ritual repertoire that included references—be they intended or inferred—to both the monastic profession and secular homage.
This article argues that the chronology and geography of the Cluniac reform movement in the county of Flanders in the early twelfth century were to a large extent determined by the attempts of the counts to regain control over the feudal network and by the reformers' specific strategies to reassess relations between monastic communities and their lay officers. Through the example of the turbulent abbacy and eventual deposition of Fulcard, abbot of Marchiennes and member of one of the most powerful local clans in the southeastern parts of Flanders, it is shown how the dividing line between supporters and adversaries of the reform movement ran across the division between the higher levels of the Flemish aristocracy and families who had recently introduced themselves into the aristocratic network. If one accepts the existence of opportunities for consensus based on what Patrick Geary has described as "structural conflicts," it can be understood how Cluniac reforms at the same time constituted a point of dissent and an opportunity for all parties involved to reassess their relations in a satisfying and largely peaceful manner.
This paper explores the possibilities of assessing the social discourse of monastic groups in early twelfth-century Flanders. Through the examination of a dispute over property given by a dying noblewoman to the priory of Hesdin, it argues that both the way in which the monks and their benefactors dealt with the politics of property transfers and the discourse of the written account of these events may be interpreted, on the one hand as deliberate attempts to force a monastic understanding of property and relations with the laity upon the rural communities around Hesdin. On the other, they may be seen as the reflection of a struggle for power and status involving members of several levels of the lay elite.