I hope you enjoyed the first lecture and tutorial. Having moved *very* briskly through the Late Roman Empire, this week we're going to be thinking about the ways that Christianity structured life - at least for some people - in the Early Medieval World.
This image shows a plan of a monastery drawn up in a place called Reichenau sometime in the early 9th century (about 819-826 A.D.). It's known as the St Gall Monastery Plan, because it's been stored in the library of St Gall monastery, almost since it was made. The actual artefact is massive; it's made of five pieces of parchment sewn together, and measures 112 cm x 77.5 cm. I've chosen this image to stimulate your thoughts this week because scholars think that this plan isn't a plan at all... In other words, it's not like an architect's drawing to help builders to construct a monastery, or even a drawing of what the floorplan of an actual set of buildings looked like. Instead, they think it might be a kind of map of the ideal organisation of a monastery, and maybe therefore a visual metaphor for the ideal organisation of Christian life.
So when you're reading and preparing for this week, it might be useful to think about what kinds of ideal Christian organisation the readings are discussing. What are they saying about how monks should live? Or about other Christians? What did this organisation represent; what was it for? Or perhaps you have other responses...!
If you have 'time', you might also want to think about how differently from us medieval people thought about time itself. How does the Benedictine Rule structure the hours of the day?
Post your thoughts, comments, ideas, questions or uncertainties below, and we'll discuss further when we meet on Monday.
Have a great week!
Kathleen
P.S. You can read more about the St Gall Plan and zoom in to see the amazing detail here: http://www.stgallplan.org/en/
P.P.S. You can find out more about medieval concepts of dates and times here: http://www.gardenhistoryinfo.com/medieval/medtime.html
25 comments:
Hi,
Something I thought that was interesting about the Plan in its sheer size - not the actual parchment size necessarily - but the number of buildings, as well as all the other areas (e.g. the cemetery and areas for keeping animals). I had never realised before seeing it that monasteries were designed to function almost as a separate fully-functional town...Is the size of the monastery on this plan representative of the actual size of medieval monasteries in large cities?
(Steph Kelly)
Hey,
I also found it interesting how the plan tries to represent a medieval community. It has stable areas for animals, kitchens for cooking and bedrooms for sleeping. Practically allowing one to live happily here without ever leaving. I also found it intersting how the monastary also had similar views on the role of women as many medieval towns. Women at the monastary were somewhat seen as lower then men as they cannot be Bishops or The Pope but only nuns, just like how women could not hold any political postion in medieval towns.
(Stephanie Dumble)
Hey all,
I agree with Steph. I thought of Monasteries more like boarding houses, but it actually looks really cool!
One question that I did want to raise and throw out into the jaws of debate, in the lecture on Monday Clare said the lecture style and that "classroom" atmosphere was really developed during the Middle Ages, however, I personally would assert that lecture styles actually originated from Ancient Greece. Any thoughts?
Hello everyone,
I agree, its very impressive and interestly that it was never built as far as they know. Some agree that Abbot Haito may have been the designer or the overseer in its making and as the 'monasic community' was in its hey day at that time, it could have been made as community wish list for the future. This might gain them more economic and political power?? In Wikipedia it says that the absence of heating in the dining hall was to discourage excessive eating enjoyment... because they were freezing?? in Benedicts Rule the abbot decides on winter attire which is heavier and hairy garments, any idea on what hairy means?
In Greece I would have thought that the style of lecture was not formal but more of a mingling around the lecturer type of learning.
Ross Blundell
Hi Steph
Good point - a monastery was not just a hostel, but an enclosed community, more or less self sufficient (although not always or everywhere completely blocked off from the rest of the world). They varied hugely in actual size - if this one had been built it would have been one of the biggest which is one reason why people think it can't have been real. However, the theory of having food, lodging, worship and work all in one space where the religious man or woman separated themselves from earthly concerns (as much as possible) remained the same. Monasteries often weren't actually in cities, but out in the country with fields etc. of their own. You could look at this one in Yorkshire as an example; it became large and impressive on the basis of its valuable wool produce: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/rievaulx-abbey/
Ross is on the right track I think: the lecture (with one person declaiming and lots of students listening and taking notes) was a medieval innovation. But obviously education was already around before then, as Lauren suspects. I think of the Greek model as more like our tutorials - based on discussion, debate, question and answer. The technique of learning by putting forward an idea and having it challenged, and having to defend or modify it is called the 'Socratic method' because this is how Socrates is said to have taught his students. But he only had a few at a time, so there could be real conversation among them. If you read any of Plato's works - available in cheap Penguin editions - he describes how Socrates worked. Perhaps the medieval model became leture based was because all of a sudden there were *lots* of students?
Oh - and speaking of hairy shirts - it means just that! i.e. shirts (normally undergarments) made of animal hair. The idea was they were rather scratchy, and the discomfort was a kind of spiritual challenge: to overcome the present irritation and focus on the divine. Often when particularly holy people are described in medieval sources, it is mentioned that they were found to be wearing a hair shirt under their clothes when they died. Henry II of England is said to have started wearing one after the death of archbishop Thomas Becket - in which he was implicated - as a kind of penance (which roughly means making up for sins).
Hi Everyone
Just adding to this debate about where the first lectures were held as we would recognise them, I would agree with Kathleen and Rosslyn. The Greek style was designed a lot more around debate between intellectuals. I looked at Plato a bit last semester and found that often it was more of a forum where they would bounce ideas off each other to come up with certain hypothesis. With out having looked at it too much as yet, lectures designed to educate on various topics as Kathleen suggests probably came after greece in the Middle Ages.
Mathew Gashi
From looking at the Plan I would imagine that it could have been used for both purposes, as an architectual design and as the plan for an ideal monastery. I believe this would be done as the people who built St Gall's would want their monastery to be as close to the ideal organisation of Christian life as possible. Then the closer you are to God the more popular the monastery would become. (Erika Hill)
Check out the photos associated with the Yorkshire abbey linked above, they are magnificent!! I'd love to visit this place :)
Hey Stephanie,
I agree, I also think that is interesting and kinda cool how they're able to be self sufficient.
I love how much thought and effort has gone into living together in a functional community that doesn't put strain on surrounding towns/villages/people, as in, by being able to support themselves they aren't draining resources from people nearby who may be under hard times already. I don't know for sure if that's how it worked, but I'd assume that that was the case. Sorry, just me rambling on.
I couldn't find on either websites where they referred to women, where about's in the floor plan/websites were they?
In response to your point/observation however, (and i'm not attacking you or defending them or whatever, am just thinking out loud :D, I am not at all researched/knowledgeable on this topic, so I could be completely wrong), I assume, that following a very patriarchal Roman reign, it wasn't necessarily an intentional attack/movement against women, but more a cultural tradition which they may not have thought more than twice about.
The "role of women" traces much further back than the founding of the church and much of how they were treated/not treated is passed on through cultural traditions rather than new religious law/whatever.
I mean, there are even still so many things that occur today which we 'just go with' and don't question simply because it's been a cultural tradition.
I don't know, that's kind of how I see it. Having said all that I totally agree with you, and I think it's interesting to see how much culture affects how we do things.
Stick around in medieval studies, Bronwyn, and you may get a chance! There's an awesome annual conference on medieval studies held every July in Leeds and it normally includes excursions to landmarks like this one (Rievaulx abbey, for those who are curious).
Last year I went on the conference excursion to another famous Yorkshire abbey in a place called Whitby (also famous as the birthplace of Captain James Cook). You can see my friend Jonathan Jarrett's report about that trip on his blog, including pictures, here: http://tenthmedieval.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/leeds-2011-report-part-0i-pictures-of-whitby/
Hi again.
After going through the readings i found it very interesting about the different positions within the Church. Right at the start of the readings of St Benedict when he talks of the different types of Monks, he speaks of the Cenobites as the best kind. These are the ones who seem to follow the most strictest existence. I am interested in what most people think after reading about their lives what they consider to be the most harsh or the most difficult thing to live with. For me it is the stuff concerning humility. Not laughing, talking unless necessary and always looking down seems pretty tough. What does everyone else think?
Also, given the various positions with in the Catholic church, which one people would most like to have if they lived in medieval times or the one they found most interesting. For me, i found the role of the Bishop as extremely interesting and found it astonishing how much power they had.
Mathew Gashi
Hey,
I am wondering, did monasteries such as this that were essentially self sufficient exist before the Rule of St Benedict was devised or did they only come into being afterwards?
Hello everyone,
I was interested in your remarks about the Monastry as an institution of learining and comparisons with the schools of classical greece. It did come to my mind that there were parallels with the Library of Alexander: in service to a religious organization (the Temple of the Muses) containing lecture rooms, dining halls, gardens, accomodation and services for travelling scholars as well as focusing on the procurement, copying,storage and teaching of arts, sciences and literature of the known world. I think the ideal of the St Gall monastery plan was seeking to provide for many of the same needs as Ptolemy sought to bring to the Greek world of academia.
Kellie Youngs
It seems to me that the monks lived a very simple and strict existence of prayer, silent reflection, eating sleeping, working and studying – exemplified by the very structured representation of the monastery. The idealised plan of the monastery is simple, with clean lines and very compartmentalised. It is a community in itself with everything linked together to form a meaningful whole.
Humility is a value that seems to be greatly valued in the monastery, considering that there are twelve grades of humility by the Rule of St Benedict, eight of them being outlined in the document.
Silence and a sombreness of character – no laughter, only speaking when spoken to and even then to do so slowly, with few words and quietly – appear to be greatly revered, as a sign of what the monks stand for. In a way, it’s like by giving up, by sacrificing, by following orders without hesitation, by believing in their heart that they are a sinful being, the monks are brought closer to God by bringing themselves forward to be judged and separating themselves from the outside world that is not as devout.
From what I can infer from the readings, monastery life placed a great deal of weight on suffering - on blaming of self, feeling immense guilt for sins, shaming of newcomers to test their worthiness – in an attempt to escape the troubles of life on earth and secure a place in Heaven. Is this accurate?
It would be interesting to know what became of the tension that was hinted at in the reading by Cruz and Gerberding this week between the bishops, the abbots and the way the monasteries were run.
Jennifer Stephens
It would be interesting to know the function of the two circular sturctures at the front of the monastery
Nathan Iddles
Good thinking Stuart. I suspect some kind of monastic community movement must already have existed for there to be demand for somebody to draw up regulations. That seems to me to be more likely than a rule appearing out of nothing. What do you think? Any ideas where we might find out for sure?
Interesting parallel Kellie! I suppose the major difference, crudely put, is the Alexandrine communities were aimed at the ultimate goal of knowledge, whereas the monastic ones were aimed at the ultimate goal of salvation. But there's certainly a tradition of thought that says to do either of these things properly you have to shut yourself off from mundane concerns and be totally focussed. (Those of you who are trying to hold down part time jobs, raise kids, or look after elderly relatives while doing this course might know the feeling!)
It sure would Nathan! I don't know if I can even answer that, but I have some info that might help us investigate further. If you follow the links above to the St Gall Plan website, it shows these two structures as towers named after the archangels Michael and Gabriel. I notice they're also located at the West end of the church, which is the less spiritually intense zone (the East is generally where the altar is, and is the most important part of the church). Maybe these angels are metaphorically watching over the boundary between the holy spaces of the church and the exterior world? Does anyone know or want to do a bit of exploring in the library to discover more about the angels' roles in - for example - apocalytic traditions, that might give us some more ideas?
Hi guys, I'm posting this for Sian because she's had login problems:
"I found it interesting and amusing that the monks started off trying to live alone, but either gained followers in their isolation, defeating the purpose of being isolated, or seem to have starved themselves to death in their enthusiasm. Also the fact that in many 'double monasteries' it was the Abbess who was in charge, not the Abbot. The Catholic Church doesn't seem to have a very good track record of letting women assume positions of leadership over men, so I was wondering if there was a specific reason for this?
Lastly, I was curious to know roughly what percent of the population became monks and nuns? It sounds like a fairly strict sort of life, so it couldn't be for everyone, but with the Church's influence over almost all aspects of life I would think many would have."
Hello,
Having looked into the plan of St. Gall and a little on the medieval concept of time, I'm quite surprised by their manner of organisation.
It's all just so sensible in some ways and in other ways confusing.
For instance, they have a blood-letting room; that actually makes perfect sense, considering the context. I'm impressed by the practicality of St. Galls.
However, their manner of keeping time sure is something which has me bewildered. Just the thought that not all hours were 60 minutes - perplexing. Even keeping track of personal events by referencing known occurrences seems reasonable considering the circumstances, but the hour thing is something else.
In the linked article the 6 hours of the day marked specific times of day; I'm guessing this means they were not so much measures of time as markers of time. These measures of time seem like they would be pretty cool for use in stories, but I can't help wondering if they were impractical for the people of the time.
-Amy Hudson-Jones
Georgia wants to reply:
"Continuing on from that, I think it's also important to note how much power members of the Church (for example, the bishops) held over the State/Empire. A good example of this I found early in the readings, where C. Warren Hollister describes the time when St. Ambrose (bishop of Milan) excommunicated Emperor Theodosius I from the church of Milan until he begged forgiveness for massacring the people of Thessalonica and states that, "the emperor's public repentance set a long-remembered precedence for the principle of ecclesiastical supremacy in matters of faith and morals". It's really interesting to see how influential the Church became such a short time after Constantine's "momentous" changes to Rome's religious policies. The fact that a bishop was able to hold that power over the Emperor clearly shows the dominance of the bishops and the Church as a whole."
Oops - my mistake Ross - I've just realised what you were referring to with the hair... The Rule is talking about it being OK to use fur in cold climates.
Sorry to mislead you!
On a couple of websites I looked at said that there had previously been such self sufficient monastic communities which is what I suspected. I would think there would have to be something in the library on it, I might try look tomorrow.
However something else I found in my readings was that Monasticism before the Rule of St Benedict was mostly found in the British isles and only really started to spread on the continent after the rule had been made. Is this correct?
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