The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West: Volume 1 Volume 1: Origins Through the Carolingian Era

Monasticism, in all of its variations, was a feature of almost every landscape in the medieval West.  So ubiquitous were religious women and men throughout the Middle Ages that all medievalists encounter monasticism in their intellectual worlds.  While there is enormous interest in medieval monasticism among Anglophone scholars, language is often a barrier to accessing some of the most important and groundbreaking research emerging from Europe.  The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West offers a comprehensive treatment of medieval monasticism, from Late Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages.  The essays, specially commissioned for this volume and written by an international team of scholars, with contributors from Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, cover a range of topics and themes and represent the most up-to-date discoveries on this topic.

1. General Introduction Alison I. Beach and Isabelle Cochelin; Part I. The Origins of Christian Monasticism to the Eighth Century: 2. The Monastic Laboratory: Perspectives of Research in Late Antique and Early Medieval Monasticism Albrecht Diem and Claudia Rapp; 3. Re-Reading Monastic Traditions: Monks and Nuns, East and West, from the Origins to c. 750 Anne-Marie Helvétius (with the collaboration of Michel Kaplan, Anne Boud'Hors, Muriel Debié, and Bénédicte Lesieur); 4. The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom and Hendrik Dey; 5. Egyptian Nuns in Late Antiquity as Exemplars Mariachiara Giorda; 6. Psalmody and Prayer in Early Monasticism Peter Jeffery; 7. Heterodoxy and Monasticism around the Mediterranean Sea David Brakke; 8. The Invention of Western Monastic Literature: Texts and Communities Roberto Alciati; 9. Monastic Rules (4th-9th c.) Albrecht Diem and Philip Rousseau; 10. Social plurality and monastic diversity in Late Antique Hispania (6th-8th c.) Pablo C. Díaz; 11. Female House Ascetics from the Fourth to the Twelfth Century Eliana Magnani; 12. The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries in Italy and France (5th-8th c.). State of the Question Sébastien Bully and Eleonora Destefanis; 13. Nuns and Monks at Work: Equality or Distinction between the Sexes? A Study of Frankish Monasteries from the Sixth to the Tenth Century Isabelle Réal; 14. Ascetic Prayer for the Dead in the Early Medieval West Gordon Blennemann; 15. Monastic Identity in Early Medieval Ireland Lisa Bitel; 16. Constructing Monastic Space in the Early and Central Medieval West (5th-12th c.) Michel Lauwers; 17. The Economy of Byzantine Monasteries Michel Kaplan; Part II: The Carolingians to the Eleventh Century: 18. The Historiography of Central Medieval Western Monasticism Felice Lifshitz; 19. Sources for the History of Monasticism in the Central Middle Ages (c. 800-1100) Scott Bruce; 20. Questions of Monastic Identity in Medieval Southern Italy and Sicily (c. 500-1200) Valerie Ramseyer; 21. Discerning “Reform” in Monastic Liturgy (c. 750-1050) Jesse Billett; 22. Monasticism, Reform and Authority in the Carolingian Era Rutger Kramer; 23. Carolingian Monastic Schools and Reform John Contreni; 24. Monastic Economics in the Carolingian Age Jean-Pierre Devroey; 25. Missions on the Northern and Eastern Frontiers, c. 700-1100 Janneke Raaijmakers; 26. Minsters and Monasticism in Anglo-Saxon England Christopher Andrew Jones; 27. Monastic Art and Architecture, c. 700-1100: Material and Immaterial Worlds Adam Cohen; 28. Monastic Daily Life (c. 750-1100): a Tight Community shielded by an Outer Court Isabelle Cochelin; 29. The Double Monastery as an Historiographical Problem (4th-12th c.) Alison Beach and Andra Juganaru; 30. Interactions between Monks and the Lay Nobility (from the Carolingian Era through the Eleventh Century) Isabelle Rosé; 31. Monastic Reform in the Tenth to Early Twelfth Century Steven Vanderputten; 32. Monastic Canon Law in the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries Christof Rolker; 33. Eastern Influence on Western Monasticism, 850-1050 John Howe.

Alison Beach is Associate Professor of History at Ohio State University. She is author of The Trauma of Monastic Reform: Community and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Germany and Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in Twelfth-Century Bavaria.
Isabelle Cochelin is Associate Professor of History at the University of Toronto. She is co-editor of several volumes, most recently From Learning to Love: Schools, Laws, and Pastoral Care in the Middle Ages.