Shaping Stability: The Normation and Formation of Religious Life in the Middle Ages (Disciplina Monastica) (Disciplina Monastica, 11) - Softcover

Krijn Pansters

Softcover

ISBN 10: 2503566952 ISBN 13: 9782503566955

Publisher: Brepols Publishers, 2016

Synopsis

This volume examines the efforts of medieval religious communities and orders to bring stability to the dynamic complexity of organized religious life. By focusing on legislative structures and normative documents (rules, customaries, constitutions), the authors address not only such matters as the meaning of these texts and the motivations behind them, but also the evolving conditions of their production and use, the internal politics of institutional change, and the reality of precept not practice. These papers thus present spiritual principles and social practices in their historical and functional contexts, confront normative programs with formative processes, and explain distinctive modes and models of life within the broader landscape of medieval organized religion.

About this title

Review

"In the end, Shaping Stability shows that normative monastic sources can be fascinating, fruitful, and at moments revelatory, especially when read against the rest of the primary source record and the generalized assumptions of historiography. By reading monastic rules, customs, and legislation, Shaping Stability argues, scholars can open windows unknown, discerning more accurate, nuanced, and original insights about medieval religious life." --Lauren Mancia, Brooklyn College (CUNY), The Medieval Review 17.04.04

Edition details

• Publisher: Brepols Publishers
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 2503566952
• ISBN 13: 9782503566955
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 300
• Editor: Krijn Pansters, Abraham Plunkett-Latimer