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Monasticism and Mendicancy
Why was monasticism important in Christianity?
What is monasticism?
ascetic lifestyle – asceticism
two types of monasticism: eremitic monasticism, cenobitic monasticism
monks as the new Christian heroes, the new martyrs
What are the origins of Christian monasticism?
St. Anthony (ca. 251-356) < eremitic monasticism; Athanasius, Life of Anthony
Simeon the Stylite (ca. 390-459)
Pachomius(ca. 292-348) < cenobitic monasticism
superior of a monastery: abbot, abbess
St. Jerome (d. 420)
How did monasticism develop?
Mount Athos
Irish monasticism: biblical interpretation, schools, auricular confession
St. Benedict of Nursia (480-553)
Benedictine monasticism and its functions
Opus Dei = Work of God
scriptorium, scriptoria (pl.)
Monastic Reform
Abbey of Cluny (910), Cluniac reform
Cistercian Order: Cîteaux (1098), Heiligenkreuz (1133), Austria, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Carthusian Order (1084): Grand Chartreuse, charter houses
Photos of Heiligenkreuz. Click on the thumbnails to see larger images.
What was monasticism’s contribution to Christianity?
Why were the mendicants important to Christianity?
Who were the mendicants?
mendicancy
friars
Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinians
What were the origins of the mendicants?
malaise in monasticism
wealth of the Church
apostolic life
Arnold of Brescia (ca. 1090-1155)
Peter Waldo (d. 1218), Waldensians
Who were the Dominicans?
St. Dominic (1170-1221)
Order of Preachers
friary
first Dominican pope: Innocent V (1276)
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) and scholastic theology
Who were the Franciscans?
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
fratres minores = lesser brothers
Order of Friars Minor
Franciscan popes: Nicholas IV (1288-1292), Sixtus IV (1471-1484)
What was the contribution of the mendicants to Christianity?
NB Key terms are underlined.