A major new history of medieval monasticism, from the fourth to the sixteenth century
From the late Roman Empire onwards, monasteries and convents were a common sight throughout Europe. But who were monasteries for? What kind of people founded and maintained them? And how did monasticism change over the thousand years or so of the Middle Ages?
Andrew Jotischky traces the history of monastic life from its origins in the fourth century to the sixteenth. He shows how religious houses sheltered the poor and elderly, cared for the sick, and educated the young. They were centres of intellectual life that owned property and exercised power but also gave rise to new developments in theology, music, and art.
This book brings together the Orthodox and western stories, as well as the experiences of women, to show the full picture of medieval monasticism for the first time. It is a fascinating, wide-ranging account that broadens our understanding of life in holy orders as never before.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300208566
Number of pages: 432
Dimensions: 235 x 152 mm
“A masterfully wide-ranging historical account.”—Francesca Peacock, Daily Telegraph“Learned and judicious. . . . An ambitiously descriptive and analytical survey that maps its subject in all its complexity without obscuring its contours.”—Peter Marshall, Literary ReviewIncluded in Country Life’s “Unputdownable: The Books You Wish You Had Been Given for Christmas”“[Jotischky is a] first-class historian. . . . This is a deeply learned book, and one that is packed with fascinating vignettes on many of the places and personalities that feature in the monastic world of the 4th to the 16th centuries.”—David Robinson, Country Life“Rigorous, often highly engaging, textual history.”—Michael Carter, The Tablet“Jotischky’s deep expertise, his emphasis on giving eastern monastic traditions their due and his careful examination of the nuance between practices will be richly rewarding.”—Daniele Cybulski, BBC History Magazine“Easy to read and rich in stories, but rooted in scholarly rigour, it is suitable for the general reader as well as the academic.”—Mass of Ages“A fine scholarly guide to the origins, growth and flourishing of the myriad forms of Christian ascetic life that dominated both Western and Eastern Christianity for a millennium and which still form a vital part of the Church’s religious experience.”—Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford“An accessible and compelling exploration of medieval monasticism that asks fundamental questions about the role of monasteries in medieval culture and argues for their relevance to modern societies.”—Janet Burton, author of Medieval Monasticism“Clear and compelling. . . . Deeply learned yet welcoming to general readers, this book presents a holistic picture of medieval ascetic practices from Syria to Ireland in all of their dizzying variety over the course of the medieval millennium.”—Scott G. Bruce, author of Cluny and the Muslims of La Garde-Freinet
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