Christian Monasticism in Asia

The chapter begins with an overview of the history of Christian monasticism in the various countries of Asia, giving attention to major publications in the field. It reconstructs the process of documenting early foundations and their later evolution, with particular reference to China, Korea, and Sri Lanka. It then considers the ways in which contemporary Western monasticism has responded to the manifold challenges of the Asian context. Two themes are explored: the creation of a distinctive ‘monastic missiology’ for Asia; and the role of some key figures in the historical encounter of Western monastics with their Eastern confrères. The chapter addresses, finally, the present state of Christian monasticism in Asia. It charts the number of Christian monasteries throughout Asia, and it identifies the major issues that now face Christian monasticism there.

Observant Reform in the Late Middle Ages

Observant reform is central to the religious, social, cultural, economic, and political changes fundamental to late medieval Europe. However, modern scholars have traditionally devoted scant attention to it, focusing instead on pre-1300 religious movements or the changes of the Reformation. Yet in the past two decades, more work focusing on the ‘Observance Movement’ has begun to remedy that neglect. This chapter highlights the essential questions and issues that drive recent studies, such as property, the involvement of women and the laity, and resistance to reform. It evaluates the current challenges presented by the conceptualization of an emerging field and argues that while greater collaboration between scholars and the production of basic overviews are needed, we should also strive to understand those who professed or embodied Observant ideals not just from the viewpoint of our own labels and concepts, but also to understand them in their own terms.

The Literature of Early Eastern Monasticism

The chapter examines a variety of late antique monastic sources written in Greek, Syriac, and Coptic—hagiographies, canons, letters, and pedagogical treatises. It interrogates ways of reading these sources in order to reconstruct the historical development of monastic settlements in Palestine, Cappadocia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. It argues that the monastic texts do not clearly reflect the world that produced them, and it identifies a number of obstacles for historians that are embedded in the texts upon which we must rely. The discussion emphasizes the function of the perceptions, metaphors, symbols, images, and memories contained in the sources, thereby revealing late antique cultural and rhetorical trends and reflecting many aspects of Eastern monastic culture.

Sickness and Healing

How should a medieval monk behave when sick? Must submission to divine test or judgement be the only response, or is resort to secular as well as spiritual medicine allowed? What is the role of the infirmary in a monastery and, for the individual monk, what are the benefits and disadvantages of staying in it? The chapter traces medieval answers to such questions through case studies drawn from the earliest phase of monasticism in late antiquity, from Carolingian Europe, from the twelfth century, and from the later Middle Ages, concluding with an outline of a set of topics for further research.

Friendship, Family, and Community

Friendship, family, and community were central to the ways in which members of religious communities understood and negotiated their relationships with one another and with the societies around them. In many respects the religious vocation was defined in relation to these concepts, all of which were, in different ways and at different times, treated by contemporary monks and nuns as subjects for spiritual, ethical, or political thought. The same themes have been approached by historians from a range of analytical perspectives which relate to broader scholarly agendas, including the histories of emotions, social capital, trust, and networks. This chapter considers these three subjects in relation to the history of the religious orders and describes some emerging themes. While varied, they all reflect to some degree a longer-term change from the histories of individual institutions to the study of religious communities as embedded in the societies and cultures of premodern Europe.

The Archaeology of Monastic Households

This chapter explores the buildings and artefacts of late antique monastic sites in Egypt and Palestine. It uses household archaeology to examine the daily behaviours of those who lived in monastic settlements. Household archaeology combines methodologies from archaeology, anthropology, geography, and history. Its application enables us to read the archaeology of monasticism with greater sophistication, so that the artefacts and the places of ordinary life can be interpreted alongside other sources, such as liturgy, images, and texts. Archaeological remains offer an additional lens for reading monastic settlements as complex households or homesteads, and they permit us to write a more nuanced history of monastic life.

Monasticism in the Oriental Orthodox Churches

The Christian monastic tradition has its origins in the Middle East. It has been and remains a constitutive institution in the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which are the Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian Orthodox Churches. In Armenia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Syriac-speaking Christian traditions, the monasteries have been the most important educational institutions in which language and literature have been transmitted. A strong emphasis on charismatic authority in Oriental monasticism, as well as a lack of political support for the hierarchy in the Coptic and Syrian traditions, has strengthened the role of the monasteries. The monasteries had a major importance for the spread of Christianity in central Asia, south India, and the Horn of Africa in the medieval period. A remarkable revival of Coptic monasticism beginning in the mid-twentieth century is of importance for all the churches.

Prayer

Prayer lies at the centre of the monastic life, but what is prayer? For medieval monks and nuns, prayer was above all a ‘lifting up of the mind and soul to God’, whether in speech or song, requiring the whole of one’s attention and thus careful preparation and life-long discipline. It was a service offered to God, an exercise of penance, and a battle fought on behalf of one’s neighbours against the powers of darkness and sin. Like modern Christians, medieval monks and nuns worried whether their prayers were offered with appropriate devotion and understanding. Their most important models for and sources of prayer were the psalms of the Old Testament, which they sang daily in the Divine Office.

Introduction

The chapter gives an introduction to the current state of scholarship on monasticism, and it sets out an agenda for the future. It begins with a consideration of monasticism’s long historical arc, its longue durée. Few movements in the history of Christianity have had such lasting importance. The chapter then looks ahead to the great variety of monastic practices described by contributors to the volume. It draws attention to patterns of continuity and change, to recurring themes, and to major debates in the field. The experience of Christian monasticism is multifaceted, for it has assumed different forms in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and Anglican traditions, and in contemporary ‘new monasticism’. What, then, is Christian monasticism, and what are its essential features? It is surprisingly difficult to come to a definition of the monastic way of life, and the chapter ends with an exploration of this issue.

Monasticism in Early Modern Germany

The chapter addresses the history of monasticism in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Whether the Reformation movement unleashed by Martin Luther represented a continuation of late medieval monastic reforms or, rather, an abrupt departure from them, is a contentious issue. In the Catholic parts of Germany, after the Council of Trent, monasteries became significant agents in the renewal of the Church, especially in the areas of education and social and charitable activity. On the other hand, the Enlightenment, with its narrow conception of utility, called into question the very basis of monastic life, and hence the right of monasteries to exist. The fallout of the French Revolution and the French occupation of the left bank of the Rhine led to a great wave of monastic dissolutions. It was only under the influence of German Romanticism that monasticism experienced another revival.