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The Middle Ages in Western Europe extended from roughly 500 to 1500 c.e. During these thousand years, hundreds of monastic communities were founded and played important roles in religious, economic, social, literary and even military realms. Each had different emphases and goals, ranging from aristocratic monasteries and nunneries that offered comfort and security, to rural institutions that specialized only in the most ascetic lifestyles.
This book has two goals. The first is to detail the most significant monastic and secular events of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, such as the decline of the Roman Catholic Church, the rise of Protestantism and the various types and purposes of monasteries and nunneries. The second is to introduce some notable (and unusual) individuals who made their mark upon the Middle Ages-- such as Eustache, the French monk who became a pirate and made a pact with the Devil.
List of contents
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction
¿1.¿The Importance of Monasticism in Western European Medieval Society
¿2.¿Some Defining Characteristics of Christian Monasticism
¿3.¿Early Western European Monasticism
¿4.¿An Overview of Medieval Monastic Callings
¿5.¿Notable Medieval Abbeys and Monasteries
¿6.¿The Economic Roles of Monks
¿7.¿Monks and Vineyards
¿8.¿Armed Monks
¿9.¿Medieval Academic Life
10.¿Scholasticism
11.¿Medieval Heresy
12.¿Monks in the Scriptorium
13.¿Monks and Medicine
14.¿Alchemy and the Mendicant Orders
15.¿Nuns
16.¿Beguines
17.¿Early Irish Beliefs and Irish Monasticism
18.¿The Monk Raoul Glaber Meets the Devil
19.¿Robert d'Arbrissel: Controversial Breton Hermit and Monk
20.¿Chaucer's Literary Sketches
21.¿Peter Abelard: Pre-Eminent Theologian and Ill-Fated Lover
22.¿Eustache: French Monk and Pirate
23.¿The Monk Matthew Paris: So Good at So Many Things
24.¿Monastic Sheep Farming
25.¿Evaluating the Black Death
26.¿Fountains Abbey
27.¿The Poisoned Chalice and Fatal Affray of Furness Abbey
28.¿Medieval Pilgrims
29.¿Goliards: Wandering Poets
30.¿François Villon: Murder and Poetry in Medieval France
31.¿Limiting the Number of Monks
32.¿The Avignon Papacy
Assessment: The Inherent Features of Medieval Monastic
Life in Western Europe
Appendix 1.¿The Medieval Renaissance of the 12th Century
Appendix 2.¿The Canticle of the Sun
Appendix 3.¿"The Splendors of Avignon and the Evils of the Times"
Appendix 4.¿A Medieval Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Appendix 5.¿Far-Ranging Friars: John of Montecorvino and Odoric of Pordenone
Appendix 6.¿"Lightning Chastises the Monks"
Appendix 7.¿The "Clerical Estate" in England in the Later Middle Ages
Appendix 8.¿Monastic Rivalries in Medieval Paris
Chronology
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Hunt Janin is an American writer living in southwestern France. He has written numerous nonfiction and scholarly books on a range of subjects, including medieval history and cross-cultural studies.Ursula Carlson is a professor emerita at Western Nevada College, Carson City, Nevada.
