The Deposit of Monastic Faith: The Carolingians on the Essence of Monasticism
Renie S. Choy
We live in an age wary of admitting that any institution has essence, and this posed a dilemma for the study monasticism. Until relatively recently, historians monasticism zealously sought out its timeless immutable inner qualities rather than many varieties. While acknowledging changes external form circumstances, Adolf von Harnack’s Monasticism: Its Ideals History (1881), Dom Morin’s L’Idéal monastique (1912), James Hannay’s The Spirit Origin Christian Monasticism (1903) Herbert Workman’s Evolution Monastic Ideal (1913) nevertheless pursued stable which had survived tides time. Even 1957 Jean Leclercq could still presume ‘essence’, classic work translated into English under title Love Learning Desire God: A Study Culture . To our twenty-first-century ears, such monolith title, suggestive existence metahistorical ‘monastic ideal’, seems date. This essay approaches subject monastic historiography via examination Carolingian reflection on past, arguing significance ninth-century programme lies effort to distil entire received heritage coherent precise statement about fundamental purpose life. So we ask question: when Eigil described Boniface Sturm as spending day away ‘sweet discussion life manners monks’, what exactly did he think they were talking about?
Studies in Church History