Learning as Shared Practice in Monastic Communities, 1070-1180 2021027115, 2021027116, 9789004460416, 9789004466494, 9004460411

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Learning as Shared Practice in Monastic Communities, 1070–1180

Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Editors William J. Courtenay (Madison) Jürgen Miethke (Heidelberg) Frank Rexroth (Göttingen) Jacques Verger (Paris) Advisory Board Daniel Hobbins (Notre Dame) Roberto Lambertini (Macerata)

volume 58

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/esmr

Learning as Shared Practice in Monastic Communities, 1070–1180 By

Micol Long

leiden | boston

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Long, Micol, author. Title: Learning as shared practice in monastic communities, 1070-1180 / by  Micol Long. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2022] | Includes bibliographical  references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021027115 (print) | LCCN 2021027116 (ebook) |  ISBN 9789004460416 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004466494 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Monastic and religious life—Europe,  Western—History—Middle Ages, 600–1500. | Learning and  scholarship—History—Medieval, 500–1500. | Latin letters, Medieval and  modern—Europe, Western—History and criticism. | Knowledge, Theory  of—Europe, Western—History. Classification: LCC BX2470 .L58 2022 (print) | LCC BX2470 (ebook) |  DDC 271.00902—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021027115 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021027116

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0926-6070 isbn 978-90-04-46041-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-46649-4 (e-book) Copyright 2022 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau Verlag and V&R Unipress. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

For Marianna, who has been eager to learn (leergierig) from the very beginning

∵

Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 The Authors and Their Letters 15 1.1 The Long Twelfth Century 15 1.2 Chronological Survey of the Most Important Authors 22 1.3 Comparative and Methodological Remarks 37 2 The Context of Shared Learning 47 2.1 A Time for Learning? 47 2.2 The Physical Environment 61 2.3 The Social Environment 76 3 The Means of Shared Learning 96 3.1 Social Control and Peer Pressure 96 3.2 Imitation 105 3.3 Accusation, Admonition and Correction 116 3.4 Consolation and Exhortation 131 3.5 Sharing Ideas, Knowledge and Experience 145 4 The Effects of Shared Learning 156 4.1 Effects on the Individual 156 4.2 Effects on the Community 170 5 Shared Learning in Female Communities 188 6 Shared Learning in Other Religious Groups 206 6.1 Canons 206 6.2 Anchorites 219 Conclusions 227 Bibliography 233 Index 259

Acknowledgements This book is the result of a research project entitled “Learning as Shared Practice. Towards a New Understanding of Education in Monastic Communities of the High Middle Ages”, which was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Research Foundation – Flanders (fwo) from 2014 to 2018 at Ghent University: I am very grateful to both institutions. Crucially, I wish to thank Steven Vanderputten, who acted as my supervisor for this project. He has been the first to apply the notion of “communities of practice” to medieval monasteries, and the research project on shared learning was developed in close dialogue with him; during my time at Ghent University, he was always a source for inspiration and advice. He was also the first person to read a draft of this book, offering many insightful comments that greatly helped me to improve it. Within the research group “Religion and Society in the Early and Central Middle Ages”, I also learned a lot from my exchanges with Tjamke Snijders and Johan Belaen. The conference “Horizontal Learning within High Medieval Religious Communities” (organized by Tjamke Snijders, Steven Vanderputten and me and funded by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts in Brussels, Ghent University’s Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies, Department of History, and Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, and the Leuven Centre for the Study of the Transmission of Texts and Ideas in Antiquity) offered an opportunity to put to the test the notion of peer-to-peer knowledge transfers in high medieval religious communities. It also allowed me to establish or renew enriching intellectual contacts with Cédric Giraud, Jay Diehl, Marc Saurette, Karl Patrick Kinsella, Stephen Jaeger, Babette Hellemans, Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Neslihan Şenocak and Sita Steckel. I am particularly grateful to Stephen Jaeger for entertaining a lively e-mail exchange with me through the years and for kindly commenting on many of my drafts. While Mia Münster-Swendsen ultimately could not contribute to the “Horizontal Learning” conference or the book which resulted from it, and which was published by Amsterdam University Press in 2019, she has helped this book project take shape by sharing her expertise on multiple occasions and ways. At the Department of History of Ghent University, and also thanks to the presence of the Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies, I enjoyed a warm and intellectually stimulating environment: special thanks go to Marianna Mazzola, Lorenzo Focanti, Brianne Dolce, Tineke Van Gassen, Rayek Vereeken, Linde Nuyts, Claudia Wittig, Pieter Bytterbier, Barbara Vinck, Stefan Meysman, Jeroen de Gussem, Jeroen Wijnendale, Erika Graham-Goering, Frederick Buylaert, Jan Dumolyn, Jeroen Deploige and Els De Paermentier.

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I also benefitted from short stays at the Centre for Medieval Literature in Odense and the Academia Belgica of Rome in 2016: in both places I found friendly people, exciting ideas and excellent libraries. I am particularly grateful for the feedback that I received in Odense following a presentation of my research on shared learning and during insightful conversations with Aglae Pizzone, Lars Boje Mortensen, Elizabeth M. Tyler, Shazia Jagot, Réka Forrai, Steffen Hope, Christian Høgel, Dale Kedwards and Kristin Bourassa. The people with whom I came in contact at conferences and from whose presentations I learned are too numerous to be listed here, but I would like to mention that it was for me both pleasant and profitable to attend the conferences organized in the contexts of the research projects “Marginal Scholarship: The Practice of Learning in the Early Middle Ages (c. 800–1000)”, “Monks around the Mediterranean. Contacts, Exchanges and Influences in East and West from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (4th–15th c.)” and “MISSIVA. Lettres de femmes dans l’Europe médiévale (Espagne, France, Italie, Portugal, VIIIe–XVe s.)”. I also wish to thank the Board of the “Education and Society in the Middle Ages” series and the editorial team at Brill for their faith in this publication, and the anonymous reviewers for their thorough readings and many useful comments, which allowed me to improve the text. Of course, responsibility for all errors remains my own. Last but not least, I am very grateful to my husband Tommaso, who has always supported my career and my work, for making the relocation to Belgium not only possible but also joyful, and for helping me maintain a healthy work/ life balance. Little Alessandro arrived too late to have a significant impact on this book, although my plan to send off the manuscript days before giving birth was thwarted by his early arrival, so I ended up doing some of the final polishing with a newborn asleep on my lap. Watching our eldest, Marianna, grow and learn, and learning from her and with her as much as she learned from us, has been – and still is – a source for inspiration. To her this book is – quite appropriately – dedicated.

Introduction The precise meaning of the terms “education” and “learning”, both in the Middle Ages and today, is ambiguous.1 Do they refer exclusively to the situations where a recognized body of knowledge is intentionally transmitted, or do they include the acquisition of any kind of knowledge, even self-taught or unintentionally acquired, for example through unconscious imitation? And what is the difference between the two terms?2 This ambiguity is one cause of the broad and diverse nature of the field of history of medieval education and learning: within it, scholars have studied subjects as different as grammatical education, liturgical training and moral formation, as well as the acquisition, transmission and (more rarely) exchange of factual knowledge and practical skills. Approaches in this field have changed noticeably over time. Traditional approaches were strongly centered on institutional structures, often referred to as “schools”.3 Scholars’ understanding of what happened in these schools 1 As observed by Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler and Marvin Döbler, « The ambivalence of “education” goes back to its very roots in European culture, namely the Greek discourse of education and culture under the umbrella term paideia. “Education” is a label applied to a vast and sometimes ambiguous semantic field subject to constant negotiation on the object level as well as on the scholarly meta-level » (Ilinca Tanaseanu-Dobler and Marvin Dobler, Toward a Theoretical Frame for the Study of Religious Education: an Introduction, in Religious Education in Pre-modern Europe, ed. by Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler and Marvin Döbler, Leiden: Brill 2012, p. 3). 2 In the title of this study and in most of its pages, I use “learning” as opposed to “education” to refer to the individual’s perspective in the process of acquiring or sharing knowledge: see below for more details. In contrast, I interpret “education” as the formal and institutionalized transmission of a recognized and mostly written body of knowledge; I tend to use this latter term with reference to the historiography because, as argued below, formal and hierarchical teaching has received the most scholarly attention so far. 3 See, for example, classical works such as Gérard Paré, Adrien Brunet, Pierre Tremblay, La renaissance du XIIe siècle. Les écoles et l’enseignement, Paris: Vrin 1933; Émile Lesne, Les écoles, de la fin du VIIIe siècle à la fin du XIIe, Lille: Facultés catholiques 1940; Philippe Delhaye, L’organisation scolaire au XIIe siècle, New York: Metropolitan Science & Art Service 1947; Henri Irénée Marrou, Histoire de l’éducation dans l’Antiquité, Paris: Seuil 1948; La scuola nell’occidente latino dell’alto medioevo, Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo 1979 (Settimane di studio del centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo 19); Pierre Riché, Education and Culture in the Barbarian West, Sixth Through Eighth Centuries, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press 1976; Schulen und Studium im Sozialen Wandel des hohen und späten Mittelalters, ed. by Johannes Fried, Sigmaringen: Jan Thorbecke Verlag 1986. There were, of course, exceptions, often in studies which focused on monastic culture, such as Jean Leclercq, Pedagogie et formation spirituelle du VIe au IXe siecle, in La scuola nell’occidente

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004466494_002

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was influenced by a paradigm that represented the disciple or pupil as recipient of a consolidated body of texts, transmitted and, if necessary, explained to him by a master. Studies of the education processes in these contexts focused primarily on the contents of learning (for example, the trivium and the quadrivium4), with relatively little attention paid to how the individuals involved in the learning process perceived it and how the educational experience was shaped by interpersonal relationships. Since the 1980s, scholars increasingly have pointed out the importance of the role of the master, arguing that these individuals were more than the mere caretakers of the schooling system. Particular attention so far has been granted to the spiritual and emotional aspects of the relationship between master and disciple(s)5 and to the question of authority and its transfer, but the focus on individual and hierarchical relationships has often overshadowed the reality of more complex interchanges in the learning process, where multiple learning agents could play distinct roles. Recent years have witnessed increased attention to informal and shared processes of knowledge transmission in groups, for example in friendship circles or in religious communities.6 The notion of community has played a crucial latino dell’alto medioevo cit., pp. 255–290. On the importance for the present research of the tradition of study ushered in by Jean Leclercq, see below. 4 See Mariken Teeuwen, Artes liberales, trivium, quadrivium, in Id., The Vocabulary of Intellectual Life in the Middle Ages, Turnhout: Brepols 2003, pp. 364–366. 5 See Brian Stock, The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth centuries, Princeton: Princeton University Press 1983; C. Stephen Jaeger, The Envy of Angels. Cathedral Schools and Social Ideals in Medieval Europe, 950–1200, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1994; Giovanni Filoramo, Maestro e discepolo. Temi e problemi della direzione spirituale tra VI secolo a.C. e VII secolo d.C., Brescia: Morcelliana 2002; Mia Münster-Swendsen, Medieval Virtuosity: Classroom Practice and the Transfer of Charismatic Power in Medieval Scholarly Culture c. 1000–1230, in Negotiating Heritage: Memories of the Middle Ages, ed. by Mette B. Bruun and Stephanie Glaser, Turnhout: Brepols 2009, pp. 43–64. Mia Münster-Swendsen, The Model of Scholastic Mastery in Northern Europe c. 970–1200, in Teaching and Learning in Northern Europe: 1000– 1200, ed. by Sally N. Vaughn and Jay Rubenstein, Turnhout: Brepols 2006, pp. 306–342; Sita Steckel, Kulturen des Lehrens im Früh- und Hochmittelalter. Autorität, Wissenskonzepte und Netzwerke von Gelehrten, Köln / Weimar / Wien: Böhlau 2011; Communities of Learning. Networks and the Shaping of Intellectual Identity in Europe, 1100–1500, ed. by Constant J. Mews and John N. Crossley, Turnhout: Brepols 2011. Studies which specifically address learning in monastic environments are omitted here and discussed below. 6 For an overview of the historiography on medieval education, with particular reference to monastic culture, see Sita Steckel, Concluding Observations: Horizontal, Hierarchical, and Community-Oriented Learning in a Wider Perspective, in Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages: Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Transfer in Religious Communities, ed. by Micol Long, Tjamke Snijders, and Steven Vanderputten, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University

Introduction

3

role in many of these studies, whereas other scholars preferred to use that of “network”. However, much remains to be done in reconstructing how learning processes worked on a daily basis in medieval “communities of learning” (according to the recent and useful notion developed by Constant J. Mews and John N. Crossley).7 In particular, the “horizontal” learning exchanges between peers, the possibility of learning from someone’s subordinates in a bottom-up way, the simultaneous and often synergistic educational roles played by different members of a “community of learning” and, in general, the communal and shared dimension of learning have received less attention than they deserve. This book aims to remedy this gap by studying the ways in which members of a monastic community in the period 1070–1180 learned from each other in a continuous, informal and reciprocal manner during daily life. Rather than assuming that knowledge was simply acquired or transmitted, the book explores how knowledge was shared, exchanged, jointly processed and developed: the hierarchical master/disciple learning model is thus replaced by a more complicated picture of knowledge exchanges which can be horizontal and bottom-up as well as vertical, with the same individuals assuming different educational roles depending on the circumstances and the subject matter. For this, a broad definition of learning is used: as the individual’s perspective in the processes « by means of which a person develops abilities, attitudes, and other forms of behaviour of positive value in the society in which [s/]he lives ».8 While this might be dismissed as a natural part of socialization, the attestations collected here will show that in high medieval monasteries it was perceived as “learning”, as evidenced by use of a specific vocabulary and the Press 2019 (Knowledge Communities 7), pp. 235–256: here pp. 239–240 and Sita Steckel, Wissensgeschichten. Zugänge, Probleme und Potentiale in der Erforschung mittelalterlicher Wissenskulturen, in Akademische Wissenskulturen. Praktiken des Lehrens und Forschens vom Mittelalter bis zur Moderne, ed. by Martin Kintzinger and Sita Steckel, Berne: Schwabe 2015 (Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft für Universitätsund Wissenschaftsgeschichte 13), pp. 9–58, George Ferzoco, The Changing Face of Tradition: Monastic Education in the Middle Ages, in Medieval Monastic Education, ed. by George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig, New York: Leicester University Press 2000, pp. 1–6 and Sally N. Vaughn and Jay Rubenstein, Introduction: Teaching and Learning from the Tenth to the Twelfth Centuries, in Vaughn and Rubenstein, Teaching and Learning in Northern Europe cit., pp. 1–16. 7 Communities of Learning. Networks and the Shaping of Intellectual Identity in Europe, 1100– 1500 cit. 8 Carter V. Good, Education, in Dictionary of Education. Prepared under the Auspices of Phi Delta Kappa, ed. by Carter V. Good and Winifred R. Merkel, New York: McGraw-Hill 1959, p. 202, recently used in Norbert Kössinger and Claudia Wittig, Prodesse et delectare – An Introduction, in Prodesse et delectare: Case Studies on Didactic Literature in the European Middle Ages, ed. by Norbert Kössinger and Claudia Wittig, Berlin: De Gruyter 2020, pp. 1–12, here p. 1.

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Introduction

rhetoric of education. One type of informal and potentially reciprocal learning which has received considerable scholarly attention is learning by example,9 but this book will show that it was but one of the various ways through which the sharing of learning could take place. Medieval monasteries are a particularly suitable context in which to study informal, continuous and shared learning processes, not only because they represent relatively closed environments where newcomers needed to acquire specific knowledge and skills but also because monks and nuns were supposed to continuously progress along their personal path towards God through the help of their fellow brothers and sisters. While many studies of medieval monastic education have focused on the training of novices and children, and therefore on a phase of learning clearly delimited in time and purpose, as preparation for monastic life and for adulthood in general, here I approach learning as a lifelong process, focusing in particular on adult and mature learners. This is based on the observation that in medieval monasteries there existed a broad perception of learning as an informal, continuous and potentially endless process of personal improvement, a process which deserves more attention than it has received so far. In fact, in my opinion, the importance of novices and children in the history of high medieval monastic education has been overemphasized, possibly because of the widespread association of education with young age. Because of the approach adopted, this study situates itself in the tradition of study ushered in by Jean Leclercq, which considers the whole monastic life as functioning, in many ways, as a school, through all its spiritual, intellectual, social and manual activities. In his well-known 1957 book The Love of Learning and the Desire for God (L’amour des lettres et le désir de Dieu: Initiation aux auteurs monastiques du Moyen Âge),10 he had argued that in monastic learning, practice and experience played a crucial role, which set it apart from “scholastic learning”. Even more importantly for the purpose of the present study, in a lesser-known article from 1980, Leclercq explicitly argued that in 9 See especially Caroline Walker Bynum, Docere Verbo et Exemplo: an Aspect of Twelfth-Century Spirituality, Missoula: Scholars Press 1979, and C. Stephen Jaeger, The Envy of Angels. Cathedral Schools and Social Ideals in Medieval Europe, 950–1200 cit.; recent examples include some articles in Nachahmen im Mittelalter: Dimensionen  – Mechanismen – Funktionen, ed. by Andreas Büttner, Birgit Kynast, Gerald Schwedler, and Jörg Sonntag, Köln: Böhlau 2018 and Münster-Swendsen, The Model of Scholastic Mastery in Northern Europe cit., pp. 306–342. 10 Jean Leclercq, L’amour des lettres et le désir de Dieu, Paris: Éditions du Cerf 1957, transl. by Catharine Misrahi as The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: a Study of Monastic Culture, New York: Fordham University Press 1982.

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5

twelfth-century Clairvaux the whole community played an educational role for newcomers, asserting that simply by living in a monastery and by interacting with the other members, a newcomer would be formed and prepared for the role of monk.11 Richard Southern was more successful in advertising these ideas; in an article about the schools of Paris and the school of Chartres, he mentioned that the traditional idea of a school had been an organized community providing instruction in its functions to beginners and practice and rehearsal for its more advanced members. The schola of a monastery or cathedral was originally the whole community at its work of worship in the choir.12 In 1984, Marjorie Chibnall quoted this statement by Southern and argued that the monastic community served as a school through all of its activities, not only through worship in the choir.13 Recently, some scholars of monastic education have followed this path by illustrating how the acquisition of knowledge, beliefs, skills and habits took place through oral, visual and other non-written ways of learning.14 Examples include studies on monastic orality, liturgical and musical monastic training15 and on the important role of images and of body language in monastic learning.16

11 Jean Leclercq, La communauté formatrice selon St. Bernard de Clairvaux, in Collectanea Cisterciensia 42 (1980), pp. 3–21, republished in Jean Leclercq, Recueil d’études sur saint Bernard et ses écrits, vol. 5, Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura 1992, pp. 279–98. 12 Richard W. Southern, The School of Paris and the School of Chartres, in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. by Robert L. Benson and Giles Constable with Carol D. Lanham, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1982; repr. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1991, pp. 113–137: here p. 115. 13 Marjorie Chibnall, The World of Orderic Vitalis. Norman Monks and Norman Knights, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1994; repr. Woodbridge: Boydell 1996, p. 86 and pp. 886– 114, as observed by Sally N. Vaughn and Jay Rubenstein, Introduction: Teaching and Learning from the Tenth to the Twelfth Centuries cit., p. 4. 14 Medieval Monastic Education cit., Understanding Monastic Practices of Oral Communi­ cation (Western Europe, tenth-thirteenth centuries), ed. by Steven Vanderputten, Turnhout: Brepols 2011. 15 Susan Boynton, Training for the Liturgy as a Form of Monastic Education, in Medieval Monastic Education cit., pp. 7–20. 16 Respectively, Miriam Gill, Monastic Murals and Lectio in the Later Middle Ages, in The Culture of Medieval English Monasticism, ed. by James G. Clark, Rochester, NY: Boydell 2007, pp. 55–71 and Mette Birkedal Bruun, Wandering Eyes, Muttering, and Frowns: Bernard of Clairvaux and the Communicative Implications of Gesture, in Vanderputten, Understanding Monastic Practices of Oral Communication cit., pp. 337–363.

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Introduction

This book will contribute to the collective effort aimed at reconstructing how monastic learning worked on a day-to-day basis by approaching learning on the one hand as a social process, made up of daily interactions between various “learning agents”, and on the other hand as a “situated” phenomenon that can never be decontextualized from the social and even physical environment in which it took place. For this, I rely upon studies in the field of psychology and social cognitive theory, in particular on the theory of the “community of practice” formulated by social anthropologist Jean Lave and artificial intelligence expert Étienne Wenger.17 According to it, newcomers moved gradually from peripheral to full (and from elementary to increasingly complex) participation in the socio-cultural life of the community, until they became revered elder members and interacted as such with other newcomers. Thus, learning is not a separate and specific activity in the life of the community but, rather, plays a crucial role in how the community reproduces itself, through the continuous and shared processing of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, which shapes the social and intellectual identity of all the actors involved and of the community itself. Although the concept of “community of practice” has enjoyed remarkable success when used to analyze present-day societies, it has rarely been applied to study of the past.18 The first scholar to apply it to the study of medieval monasteries has been Steven Vanderputten, who in “Communities of Practice and Emotional Aspects of Loyalty in Reformist Circles of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries” used it to study the transmission and acquisition of leadership, as described by eleventh-century biographers.19 He showed that this theory is particularly useful to understand the processes through which the élite in medieval monastic communities perpetuated itself, by having future leaders increasingly participate in the exercise of authority before their formal 17 See Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory, Oxford: Prentice Hall 1977 and Jean Lave and Étienne Wenger, Situated Learning. Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991. The concept has been further developed in Étienne Wenger, Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1988. There have been other subsequent uses of the notion of community of practice, but they are less relevant to the theme of learning. 18 One of the few examples is Communities of Practice in the History of English, ed. by Joanna Kopaczyk and Andreas H. Jucker, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company 2013. 19 Steven Vanderputten, Communities of Practice and Emotional Aspects of Loyalty in Reformist Circles of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries, in Loyalty in the Middle Ages. Ideal and Practice of a Cross-Social Value, ed. by Jörg Sonntag and Coralie Zermatten, Turnhout: Brepols 2015, pp. 279–303. I am very grateful to Professor Vanderputten for introducing me to the notion of “community of practice” and its application to medieval monastic communities.

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appointment to power. The potential of applying the notion of “community of practice” to the study of learning processes in high medieval religious communities has subsequently been pointed out in the collective volume Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages. Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Transfer in Religious Communities, edited by the author of the present book together with Steven Vanderputten and Tjamke Snijders. That volume focused on learning exchanges between peers in different types of medieval religious communities, whereas this book focuses on monasteries, with the broader aim of studying the practice and perception of shared learning as it took place in a variety of ways: through “horizontal” learning exchanges between peers but also through “bottom-up” learning exchanges between subordinates in the monastery and their hierarchical superiors as well as, more in general, through the educational role played by the whole community. In order to study social interactions,20 this study relies primarily on the analysis of Latin letters written by monastic authors (or, in some cases, addressed to monks or nuns by their secular correspondents) in the eleventh, twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.21 This period, as is well known, produced a wealth of Latin epistolary sources and was characterized by a peculiar cultural and religious dynamism.22 Many of the authors whose letters are used here are very well-known figures, such as Bernard of Clairvaux or Abelard and Heloise, while others are less known or even virtually unknown. Collectively and comparatively studying the writings of such a wide and heterogeneous group of authors with regard to shared learning practices has never been attempted before, and it allows observation of trends as well as peculiarities. Of course, letters are but one of the many types of sources which inform us about monastic learning, but this study intends to demonstrate that they are a particularly useful source for studying the shared nature of learning. A vast array of non-narrative and non-written sources offer information on the learning process, but this information, which tends to be fragmentary, rarely

20

I use here N.P. Gish’s definition of social interaction as « the reciprocal influence human beings exert on each other through inter stimulation and response », see Noel P. Gist, Social Interaction and Social Process, in Fundamentals of Sociology; A Situational Analysis, ed. by Seba Eldridge, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company 1950, pp. 361–380: here p. 363. 21 I have included monks who later were appointed to a position in the Church – such as Lanfranc, who became archbishop of Canterbury, or Gilbert Foliot  – but not secular authors such as Arnulf of Lisieux, John of Salisbury, Peter of Blois or Thomas Becket. 22 Giles Constable, Letters and Letter Collections, Turnhout: Brepols 1976 (Typologie des sources du moyen âge occidental 17), p. 31. See below for more details.

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permits insights into how interpersonal relationships affected the learning process and into the perceptions of the actors involved in it. Among textual sources, medieval pedagogical writings differ greatly from each other in both content and form; some of the letters analyzed in this book actually fit the definition of « works that deal with the nature of learning and teaching and how these activities should be carried out »23 and can therefore be considered medieval pedagogical writings, which have received less attention than they deserve as sources for the study of medieval education. The few educational treatises which are relevant for monastic education are also considered here.24 Other sources appear scarcely suitable for the study of informal and shared learning because of the aim with which they were written, which inevitably influences their representation of learning. For example, normative sources such as rules and customaries tend to emphasize the formal dimension of teaching, while biographies and hagiographies often privilege the relationship between one master and one pupil (often destined to take his master’s place) over complex group dynamics, with the goal of representing a simplified and uninterrupted chain of transmission of knowledge and authority. Nonetheless, some of these sources are used in this book as supporting evidence or for comparison. In contrast, letters are very suitable sources for studying shared learning, for various reasons. First of all, they often contain references to relationships, especially positive ones, since friendship is a recurrent theme in medieval letters, especially in the High Middle Ages.25 In the context of these discussions of relationships, letter-writers sometimes referred to what they learned or hoped to learn from their friends or, more in general, to how they had been helped by their friends to progress on the path of intellectual, moral and spiritual perfection. While it is necessary to take into account the goals with which 23 See Sarah B. Lynch, Medieval Pedagogical Writings: An Epitome, Epitomes 3. Leeds, UK: Kismet Press 2018, p. 1. 24 Aelfrid Bata’s Colloquies, the pseudo-Bernard of Clairvaux’s Meditationes, Hugh of Saint-Victor’s De Institutione Novitiorum and Didascalicon and Aelred of Rievaulx’s De Spiritali Amicitia. The Meditationes, the Didascalicon and the De Spiritali Amicitia are comparatively analyzed as sources for the theory and practice of learning in medieval religious communities by Cédric Giraud, Ut Fiat Aequalitas: Spiritual Training of the Inner Man in the Twelfth-Century Cloister, in Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages cit., pp. 65–80. 25 See Constable, Letters and Letter Collections cit., p. 32, Jean Leclercq, Le genre epistolaire au Moyen Âge, in Revue du Moyen Age Latin 2 (1946), pp. 63–70; Julian P. Haseldine, Friendship and Rivalry: The Role of Amicitia in Twelfth-Century Monastic Relations, in Journal of Ecclesiastical History 44 (1993), pp. 390–414.

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the letters had been written (for example, to praise and blandish someone, to celebrate and strengthen a relationship, to offer an example of one’s literary talent or an edifying representation for a wide audience, or all of these aims together), the attestations of how help was offered and received (either in person, often by means of a friendly conversation, or by letter) are very useful for the purpose of the present research. Letters themselves could be the means for such help, as well as a way to thank someone for the help received. In some cases, letters also allow us to study relationships as they evolve through time, and from more than one point of view, thanks to the preservation of replies and, in general, to the fact that various letter-writers also appear as addressees in other authors’ letter collections. This is crucial for study of the reciprocal nature of learning exchanges and the evolution of educational interactions and of learning exchanges over time, observing how each correspondent was embedded in his or her own network of relationships, outside and inside the monastery, which represented a “knowledge and expertise tank”. Second, letters of spiritual direction and advice often contain exhortations and warnings regarding what someone should learn and how. These exhortations and warnings are tailored to the addressee or addressees of the letter, but they usually acquire a more general value when they are copied as part of a work intended for a wide circulation, such as a letter collection. In this sense, as mentioned previously, letters have been underused as sources for the study of the conception and practice of medieval education, even with specific reference to monastic formation: texts such as a letter addressed by Anselm of Canterbury, then prior of the abbey of Bec, to the novice Lanzo of Cluny to warn him against the temptations typical of the novitiate (which became a point of reference on the subject, at least in Anselm’s circle)26 or Adam of

26 See Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 37 to Lanzo, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1. Priore e abate del Bec, ed. by Inos Biffi and Costante Marabelli, Milano: Jaca Book 1988, pp. 180–186. Anselm himself referred to this letter many years later while writing to another novice, Warner of Christ Church in Canterbury, suggesting that Warner read the letter to Lanzo for advice on how to behave at the beginning of his monastic life and on how to face temptations typical of monastic life (ep. 335 to Warner, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2. Arcivescovo di Canterbury, t. 2, ed. by Inos Biffi, Aldo Granata, and Costante Marabelli Milano: Jaca Book 1993, p. 230). Eadmer, Anselm’s secretary and biographer, also mentioned the letter to Lanzo in his Life of Anselm and reproduced it in part, explaining that it could serve as example of the whole epistolary production of the saint (Eadmeri Vita sancti Anselmi, cap. 20 Epistola Quam Scripsit Lanzoni, ed. by Richard W. Southern, London / Edinburgh / Paris Melbourne / Toronto / New York: Nelson and Sons 1962, p. 32). See also Adam of Perseigne, ep. 5 to Osmond (Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1, ed. by Jean Bouvet, Paris: Le Cerf 1960 [Sources Chrétiennes 4] pp. 110–130) and ep. 17 to

10

Introduction

Perseigne’s two letter-treatises on monastic formation are equally or more rich in information than the few traditionally cited treatises on the subject.27 Third, letters sometimes contain representations of daily monastic life, including different situations which offered opportunities for learning. They usually appear either in an autobiographical narrative or in a polemical context, either celebrating or criticizing the way of life in a specific monastery – especially in the context of the growing variety of forms of monastic and religious life in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In fact, monastic letters written in the eleventh and twelfth centuries are a particularly valuable source for approaching the theme of learning because of the particular cultural and religious context, as will be illustrated in the first chapter. On the one hand, the formation of many new movements which practised distinctive forms of religious life led many monastic authors to reflect on their traditions, practices and beliefs, on how they could be transmitted and how they compared with those of other groups. On the other hand, the growth of secular schools and the appearance of the first universities pushed many authors to intervene in the debate over the distinctive approaches and aims of secular and monastic models of learning. All of this was often expressed in letters, although, of course, the representations of learning differed depending on the aim with which the letters had been written. I will address the challenges presented by working with twelfth-century monastic letters, specifically with literary letter collections put together for edifying purposes, in the first chapter. Lastly, it is worth clarifying that this work focuses on the wide trends that can be observed in the representation of shared learning in different authors; this approach allows for an impression of homogeneity, whereas, of course, important differences existed between individual authors and their communities. There are different reasons behind this approach. First of all, it is shaped by the belief that there were far more things that united high medieval monks – despite the differences between communities – than things which divided them. This belief was expressed in a particularly eloquent way by Jean

27

G. of Pontigny (Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2, ed. by Jean Bouvet, Placide Deseille, Paris: Le Cerf 2015 [Sources Chrétiennes 571], pp. 34–70). Jean Leclercq, Deux opuscules sur la formation des jeunes moines, in Revue d’ascétique et de mystique 132 (1957), pp. 387–399; Jean Leclercq, Pédagogie et formation spirituelle du VIe au IXe siècle cit., pp. 255–290; Jean Leclercq, Textes sur la vocation et formation des moines au moyen âge, in Corona gratiarum. Miscellanea patristica, historica et liturgica Eligio Dekkers oblata (Instrumenta patristica 11), Brügge / Gravenhage 1975, pp. 169–194, and Pierre Riché, Les traités pour la formation des novices XIe–XIIIe siècle, in Papauté, monachisme et théories politiques 1 (1994), pp. 371–377.

Introduction

11

Leclercq, whose work, as also mentioned above, represents a major source of influence for this study. More recently, studies of monasticism in the eleventh and twelfth centuries often have focused on the distinction and competition between different religious movements, especially between “new ones” and “old” or “traditional” ones. However, this approach is influenced by a need to label and compartmentalize authors and communities, which risks overshadowing a reality which was more complex and more fluid, with authors influencing each other despite belonging to different religious groups, and even transferring from one community to another, as will be discussed in this book. Of course, much depends on the sources used: while studies focusing on the differences between religious groups rely heavily on polemical sources, other sources – such as the letters used here – offer more insights into similarities than into differences. Focusing on similarities appears to be a particularly justifiable choice in a study about shared learning. Although differences in practices and perceptions obviously existed, the similarities that can be observed among different authors and different communities are striking. Furthermore, the differences that can be observed in the representation of learning are the result of the interplay of a variety of factors, among which the author’s affiliation is hardly the most important, if compared with factors such as the author’s personality, background, mindset and interests, the nature and goal of the specific letters and the characteristics of the letter collection. This makes the identification of differences in the practice and perception of shared learning an incredibly delicate work, and it should caution us against establishing direct correlations between a certain practice or perception of shared learning and a specific author or a specific religious group. The research presented in this book reconstructs the wide trends which emerge across different sources and authors. This constitutes a necessary preliminary foundation upon which further studies focusing on the differences and peculiarities in the practices and perceptions of shared learning can – and hopefully will – build. The first chapter has an introductory character: it prepares the ground for the analysis of the sources in the following chapters by offering some necessary contextualization and some methodological reflections. First, the notion of a “long twelfth century” is briefly introduced, granting particular attention to the educational and monastic dimensions of the renewal which characterizes this period. Subsequently, the most important authors for this study are presented in chronological order, with particular attention to their letter-writing. Lastly, their letter collections are considered in a comparative way, in order to offer some methodological remarks. The second chapter aims to illustrate the notion of learning as shared practice by reflecting on its context: temporal, spatial and social. First, it focuses

12

Introduction

on the moments in the life of a monk which were particularly associated with learning, not only formally but also, and especially, informally: the entrance into monastic life, the appointment to new roles and the transfer (temporary or not) to a different monastery. On the basis of this, I ultimately argue that monastic life in its entirety often was represented as a lifelong learning process, with individuals progressing every day along the path of moral and spiritual perfection simply by living in that specific environment and by interacting profitably with the other members of the community. The second subchapter shows that this kind of continuous and endless learning had a “situated” character, that is, it was tightly linked to the environment in which it had been acquired and in which it was meant to be used. The third and last subchapter illustrates that social interactions and social relationships played a crucial role in these learning processes: not only between master and disciples but also between the individual and a variety of learning agents. The third chapter aims to reconstruct how the type of learning which is in question in this book, and which can be called “shared learning” for short, took place on a daily basis in high medieval monasteries on the basis of the evidence offered by letters. After reflection on the crucial role played by social control and peer pressure in shaping individual behaviour, various means through which shared learning took place are taken into account: for each one, several attestations are analyzed and compared. Imitation emerges as being both an important means of learning and a guiding principle for action (since individuals were pushed to act virtuously by the awareness that they would be a source for imitation by others); it could work in both a deliberate and an unconscious way and could lead to the acquisition of both desirable and non-desirable skills and attitudes. Means through which negative behaviours could be discouraged included admonition, correction and punishment, and while they could be the means of hierarchical and vertical teaching, they could also be used by peers (for example, by friends) and in an informal way (for example, through more or less widespread and more or less strong ostracism in the community). Consolation and exhortation are tightly linked and appear to be practised especially in the context of friendly relationships. Lastly, advicegiving and sharing one’s expertise and experience were ways to help others progress, sometimes in a reciprocal way. The fourth chapter analyzes how shared learning affected both the individual and the community. After looking at the perception of the learning process as a transformation and a renewal of the individual and at the emotional implications of learning, the analysis focuses on the elements which marked a successful learning process, both from the perspective of the individual and from that of the community. The forging of affective bonds is often presented

Introduction

13

as the marker of a successful learning process, but this was not solely a matter of integration in a community through adaptation to its behaviours and mindsets. Adopting the point of view of the community rather that of the individual in looking at the same processes allows to observe the importance of the active contribution that each member offered to his or her community, transforming it in a continuous way. The fifth chapter moves away from the focus on wide trends in shared learning which characterizes the previous three chapters to address a peculiarity which can be observed only in some specific authors and with reference to specific environments. In particular, it explores the hypothesis that authors may have perceived shared learning as particularly befitting female communities. This perception, which is clearly attested in the letters of Peter the Venerable and Osbert of Clare, was influenced by the specific perception of women (weaker and more in need of help, but also more patient and loving), of the kind of teaching that they could offer (mostly informal and reciprocal) and of the nature of female religious communities (more homogeneous and cohesive and therefore more likely to function along horizontal lines). The sixth and last chapter approaches shared learning as practised and perceived by religious practitioners who were similar to monks in many ways: canons who practised communal living and anchorites. Beyond the intrinsic interest, this focus helps to pinpoint the specific character of shared learning in monastic communities. Despite the challenging nature of a comparison between monks and canons, a sample comparison of the ways in which authors belonging to the monastic or the canonical world expressed the obligation that a member of their religious order had towards others allows us to observe some differences. First and foremost, monks did not normally represent themselves as teachers of their neighbors outside of the monastery by word and example, whereas canons did. With regard to reciprocal help within the community, monks in describing it tended to refer to specific means of shared learning (such as correction, consolation, exhortation, advice and so on) rather than, in a more general sense, to the act of teaching, instructing or moulding someone through words and example – which, in contrast, is associated with monastic leaders (and, at least in one case, to senior members of the monastery). Considering that shared learning is social in nature, it comes as no surprise that the importance of reciprocal help between members of the monastic community was often stressed in the context of a comparison between coenobitic and anchoritic life. However, reality is more complex, and there was not always a radical opposition and even a clear distinction between these two forms of life: rather, there could be fluidity and hybridity. Furthermore, anchoritism did not necessarily mean absence of social

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Introduction

contacts, and therefore shared learning could be recommended and practised in anchoritic contexts as well. The conclusion, while summarizing the most important research results, recalls some of the reasons why it is useful to study learning as shared practice next to vertical and hierarchical forms of teaching. On the one hand, it sheds light on the process through which individuals were continuously integrated into high medieval monastic communities and, therefore, on the process through which high medieval monastic communities perpetuated themselves. On the other hand, by showing how the shared processing of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes in high medieval monasteries continuously shaped the social and intellectual identity of all its members and of the community itself, it contributes to our understanding of the cultural life of some of the most important learning enclaves of the medieval period.

chapter 1

The Authors and Their Letters Appropriate contextualization for each author and source is obviously necessary to interpret the attestations of learning as shared practice. In order to avoid having to introduce each author and each source at length while referring to them for the first time in the context of a reflection on shared learning, I shall use this first chapter to sketch the cultural and religious background against which the authors mentioned in this book move, and to briefly introduce the most important authors and letter collections discussed in the following chapters.1 Some of the information contained in this chapter will be useful to readers who are less well acquainted with the cultural and religious context of Western Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and with its letter-writers, while others may prefer to skip some sections of the chapter. In introducing the authors, particular attention is paid to the dimension of learning and letter-writing and to the reasons why these letters are a valuable source for the study of shared learning. I shall follow a rough chronological order, which will help place the analysis of shared learning in a diachronic perspective. Lastly, I shall conclude with some comparative methodological reflections on the authors and their letters. 1.1

The Long Twelfth Century

Most of the authors used in this study were active from around 1070 to 1180. This period has long been acknowledged as a peculiar moment in Western European history. As it is well known, in 1927, Charles Homer Haskins sparked a long-lived debate on the notion a « Renaissance of the Twelfth Century »,2 clarifying that he used the notion of “century” « very loosely so as to cover not only the twelfth century proper but the years which immediately precede and follow, yet with sufficient emphasis on the central period to indicate the outstanding characteristics of its civilization ». Despite the limits of 1 I only focus on authors whose letters have proven to be valuable sources for the purpose of the present study, and which are cited multiple times in this book, whereas authors who are only mentioned once or twice and are not important for a discourse on shared learning are briefly introduced in the following chapters the first time that they are mentioned. 2 Charles Homer Haskins, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press 1927.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004466494_003

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Haskins’s approach, some well-founded criticism of the notion of a medieval “renaissance”3 and differences in periodization,4 the concept of a “long twelfth century” with peculiar features is now widely accepted, as shown by its appearance in titles of multiple academic publications.5 This period was an era of economic and demographic growth, of social, political, religious and cultural transformations. I will now briefly recall the changes at hand in education and monasticism – two areas of obvious importance for this study – and reflect on their interplay. This will help contextualize the sources used in this study and their authors. Since Gérard Paré, Adrien Brunet and Pierre Tremblay’s 1933 work La renaissance du XIIe siècle : Les écoles et l’enseignement, considerable scholarly attention has been granted to the educational context of the literary, philosophical and theological production of the twelfth century.6 This and subsequent books about education in the Middle Ages granted particular attention to the development of urban schools and of the first universities in the eleventh century and especially the twelfth.7 In such works, the focus is almost exclusively on bookish learning, and often enough on lay  – or at least secular  – literature: learning in monastic contexts therefore receives little attention, with “monastic schools” often presented as inferior to secular ones. Haskins himself had focused on Latin culture  – especially on the revival of Classical Latin along with Classical literature, jurisprudence, science and philosophy – but subsequent studies have expanded this narrow definition of 3 For an overview, see Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. by Giles Constable, Robert L. Benson, and Carol D. Lanham, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1982 and Jacques Verger, Il Rinascimento del XII secolo, transl. by Antonio Tombolini, Milano: Jaca Book 1997. 4 See European Transformations: The Long Twelfth Century, ed. by Thomas F.X. Noble and John Van Engen, Notre Dame (Ind.): University of Notre Dame 2012, pp. 4–5 for a survey and reflection on the issue of periodization. 5 Beside the works mentioned above, some examples include John D. Cotts, Europe’s Long Twelfth Century: Order, Anxiety and Adaptation, 1095–1229, Basingstoke: Red Globe Press 2012; Historical and Intellectual Culture in the Long Twelfth Century. The Scandinavian Connection, ed. by Mia Münster-Swendsen, Thomas K. Heebøll-Holm, and Sigbjørn Olsen Sønnesyn, Turnhout: Brepols 2017, and the Cambridge History of the Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West, vol. 1. The High and Late Middle Ages, ed. by Alison I. Beach and Isabelle Cochelin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2020, whose part 3 is entitled « The Long Twelfth Century ». 6 Paré, Brunet, Tremblay, La renaissance du XIIe siècle : Les écoles et l’enseignement cit. 7 Lesne, Les écoles, de la fin du VIIIe siècle à la fin du XIIe cit.; Delhaye, L’organisation scolaire au XIIe siècle cit., La scuola nell’occidente latino dell’alto medioevo cit.; Pierre Riché, Éducation and culture in the barbarian West cit.; Schulen und Studium im Sozialen Wandel des hohen und späten Mittelalters cit.; and C. Stephen Jaeger, The Envy of Angels. Cathedral Schools and Social Ideals in Medieval Europe 950–1200 cit.

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knowledge to include a wider range of subjects and have called attention to the importance of the religious dimension of the renewal.8 The twelfth century also witnessed important changes in the practice and perception of literacy and written culture, with important implications for the history of medieval literature, law, philosophy and religion.9 Given the importance of epistolary sources for this book, it is also worth mentioning that the eleventh and twelfth centuries have been called « the Golden Age of medieval epistolography »,10 both because of the surge in the number of letters preserved and because of their variety. While the causes for this phenomenon are not yet fully known, it was certainly linked to the spread of literacy, the more extensive travelling, the political and religious transformations and the cultivation of classical language, literature and culture (including a new valorization of friendship, which contributed to bringing letter collections back into fashion). Of particular importance for the purpose of the present study is the fact that Latin letters – and even more so, letter collections – preserved from this period are often characterized by « a personal and more self-revelatory tone » in comparison with the previous and following period.11 Not only do they contain more autobiographical and introspective reflections; the very decision to collect, select, revise and arrange someone’s letters for publication in a letter collection was often aimed at presenting the author’s character, ideas and action in the world.12 The eleventh and twelfth centuries were also characterized by profound religious transformations. With specific reference to the monastic word, established models of religious life increasingly came under scrutiny and criticism. There seemed to arise a « quest for the primitive », that is, in this context, a renewed interest in the model of the early Church and in the early instances of monasticism – or at least in the original model of the Benedictine

8 Robert L. Benson and Giles Contable, Introduction, in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century cit., pp. xvii–xxx: here p. xxiii and Verger, Il Rinascimento del XII secolo cit., pp. 19–21. 9 Henry John Chaytor, From Script to Print: An Introduction to Medieval Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1945; Stock, The Implications of Literacy cit., Michael T. Clanchy, From Memory to Written Record. England 1066–1307 [1979], Oxford / Cambridge (Mass.): Blackwell 1993; Ivan Illich, In The Vineyard of the Text: A Commentary to Hugh’s Didascalicon, Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press 1993. 10 Constable, Letters and Letter Collections cit., p. 31. 11 Ibidem, p. 33. 12 As observed by Colin Morris, The Discovery of the Individual, 1050–1200, New York / London: Harper and Row, 1972 (on which see below), p. 79.

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monastery.13 Traditional monasticism was criticized  – both outwardly and inwardly – for having relaxed its standards for austerity, for having become too involved with the secular world and for upholding ritual and religious practices only outwardly, while neglecting internalized belief and the individual search for God. Thus this period has been described as experiencing a “crisis of monasticism”; however, we should not forget that it was actually a period of great vitality for medieval monasticism.14 In fact, it witnessed the emergence of many new religious movements, whose criticism of traditional monasticism were met by a robust apologetic response and by transformations in traditional monasticism, which continued to play a central role in medieval society until at least the late twelfth century. An eremitical revival first emerged in late tenth-century Italy, and it led not only to the increase in isolated eremitical practitioners but also to the creation of new semi-eremitical monastic orders, such as the Carthusians or the Camaldolenses. Among the many new movements which practised distinctive forms of religious life, some eventually turned into established “religious orders”.15 The most famous and most influential case is that the Cistercian order: as is well known, a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded the new monastery of Cîteaux in 1098, where they intended to practice a way of life based on a more rigorous respect for the Benedictine Rule than had become the norm in Benedictine monasteries. In the 1110s, Bernard of Clairvaux embraced monastic life in Cîteaux and quickly became a prominent figure in the order, helping it to recruit new converts, gain recognition in the outside world and eventually become a powerful congregation.16 The Cistercians were not alone: the crusades led to the creation of new 13 14

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16

Clifford Hugh Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, New York: Longman, Inc. 1984, p. 125. See Jean Leclerq, La crise du monachisme aux XIe et XIIe siècles, in Bullettino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo 70 (1958), pp. 19–42; Norman F. Cantor, The Crisis of Western Monasticism, 1050–1130, in The American Historical Review 66 (1960), pp. 47–67, and John Van Engen, The “Crisis of Cenobitism” Reconsidered: Benedictine Monasticism in the Years 1050–1150, in Speculum 61 (1986), pp. 69–304. For a recent overview see Gert Melville, The Institutionalization of Religious Orders (Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries), in The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2020, pp. 783–802. See Giles Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1996, Giles Constable, Cluny – Cîteaux – La Chartreuse: San Bernardo e la diversità delle forme di vita religiosa nel XII secolo, in Studi su S. Bernardo di Chiaravalle nell’ottavo centenario della canonizzazione: Convegno internazionale Certosa di Firenze (6–9 novembre 1974), Roma: Editiones Cistercienses 1975, pp. 93–114. Constance Hoffmann Berman, The Cistercian Evolution: The Invention of a Religious Order in 12th-Century Europe, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2000.

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monastic military orders such as the Knights Hospitaller or the Templars; canons started practising regular life (that is, life according to a rule), for example as Premonstratensians or Augustinians; and the thirteenth century would witness the birth of the mendicant orders. Existing monastic orders also experienced transformations, often labelled as “reforms”. As Steven Vanderputten has argued, these reforms should not be seen as top-down initiatives and “flashpoint” events but, rather, as cumulative processes, the result not only of the objectives and efforts of multiple generations of reformers but also of the concrete needs and unique conditions of each specific monastery.17 The widespread awareness of the transformations that monasticism was undergoing18 has important implications for a study of shared learning for at least two reasons. Firstly, comparisons were often being made between communities, movements and orders – always with the ultimate goal of identifying the best one: in the context of this comparison, we often find references to the processes through which monks progressed along the path of behavioural, moral, spiritual and sometimes also intellectual improvement. For example, the practice of reciprocal help between well-chosen companions of religious life could be celebrated in apologetic and polemical texts, including letters, as we will see. Secondly, there arose a specific interest in how newcomers in a monastic community could best be instructed in the way of life that was practised there, as also shown by the appearance of the first monastic treatises for novices,19 by the presence of sections dedicated to this theme in monastic customaries20 and by the importance of this theme in several letters and letter 17 Steven Vanderputten, Monastic Reform as Process: Realities and Representations in Medieval Flanders, 900–1100, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 2017, especially p. 9 for an explanation of the main argument. 18 On which see Giles Constable, Cluny – Cîteaux – La Chartreuse cit., pp. 241–63. 19 See Leclercq, Deux opuscules sur la formation des jeunes moines cit., Leclercq, Pédagogie et formation spirituelle cit., Leclercq, Textes sur la vocation et formation des moines cit., and Riché, Les traités pour la formation cit. 20 See for example in the Liber Tramitis Aevi Odilonis Abbatis, chap. 18 De Novitiis (ed. by Peter Dinter, Siegburg: Franz Schmitt 1980); Bernard of Cluny’s Ordo Cluniancensis’s six chapters on novices, in particular cap. 18 De Novitiis Instruendis, and cap. 19 De Instruendo Novitio (ed. by Marquard Herrgott in Vetus Disciplina Monastica [1726] Siegburg: Schmitt 1999, pp. 134–164); Udalrich (Ulrich) of Zell, Consuetudines Antiquiores Cluniacenses, Epistola Noncupatoria: « Pars Prima de Opere Divino per Annum Universum ; Secunda de Eruditione Novitiorum ; Tertia de Obedientiis » (ed. in Patrologia Latina, vol. 149, ed. by Jacques-Paul Migne, Paris: 1853, coll. 643–778); William of Hirsau, Constitutiones Hirsaugienses: cap. 1 De Diversitate Noviciorum, cap. 2 Quomodo se Habeant in Cella Noviciorum et Quomodo Ibi Instruantur, cap. 41 Qua Lege Novicii Habeant Ante Consacrationem Eorum, Quando Ablatis Capellis Incedunt, cap. 41 De Iterata Peticione Noviciorum, 43 De Benedictione Noviciorum, 44 De Habitudine Noviciorum in Illo Triduo

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collections of this period. This was due to several reasons. First of all, while in the early Middle Ages most monks had entered the monastery as children, oblati or nutriti, and had absorbed its customs and values little by little,21 from the late eleventh and especially the twelfth century, adult converts became the majority, which posed new challenges in terms of monastic formation. Second, the greater variety in forms of religious life created more opportunity for intramonastic transitions, and this meant that monastic communities were confronted with new members who had previously been affiliated with a different religious or monastic institution: while they certainly knew more about religious and monastic life in comparison with converts who came directly from the secular world, they also needed to learn to adapt to different customs and to embrace different values. Lastly, the development of enormous networks of monastic institutions stimulated monastic mobility, with some monks called to hold positions of responsibility, to perform tasks or to receive instructions in other monasteries. As we will see, such monks also needed to learn to adapt, either temporarily or permanently, to life in a new monastic community. The intersections between the religious and the cultural history of the twelfth century are numerous. At a theoretical level, the question of renewed attention to the individual conscience, the individual intention and the inner self in general deserves to be mentioned. In 1969, Marie-Dominique Chenu had placed what he called the « awakening of the conscience » (« l’éveil de la conscience ») in medieval thought in the twelfth century, and in 1970, Richard W. Southern identified 1050 as a turning point for the development of what he called “medieval humanism”, observing that in the monasteries the change « took the form of a greater concentration on man and on the human experience as a means of knowing God ».22 In 1972, Colin Morris published his The Discovery of the Individual, 1050–1200, in which he argued that the period 1050–1200 was characterized by « a concern with self-discovery; an interest in the relations between people, and in the role of the individual within society; an assessment of people by their inner intentions rather than by their external Post Benedictionem (Willehelmi Abbatis Constitutiones Hirsaugienses, ed. by Candida Elvert, Pius Engelbert, Siegburg: Schmitt, 2010) and the long section on novices in the Decreta Lanfranci (The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc, ed. by David Knowles and Christopher N.L. Brooke, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2002, here pp. 104–110). 21 See Anita Guerreau-Jalabert, Nutritus / oblatus: parenté et circulation d’enfants au Moyen Âge, in Adoption et fosterage, ed. by Mireille Corbier, Paris: De Boccard 2000, and Mayke De Jong, In Samuel’s Image: Child Oblation in the Early Medieval West (Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History, 12) New York: Brill 1996. 22 Richard W. Southern, Medieval Humanism, in Medieval Humanism and Other Studies, Oxford: Blackwell 1970, pp. 29–60: here p. 33.

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acts ».23 This tendency is particularly visible in monastic texts and makes them more likely to contain autobiographical references to learning experiences and reflections on the way in which the learning process was perceived at the time. Furthermore, the fact that reflection on oneself is often linked to reflection on one’s relationships with others (for example, in the context of friendship relationships24) explains the relative frequency of references to how monks and nuns could help each other to progress. It should be recognized that the chances for employment which increasingly opened for those who had acquired knowledge and skills in the new or renewed schools created a competition between the schools and the monasteries to attract accomplished and talented individuals. One feature of this competition was the development of monastic discourses about the respective differences between the learning of secular schools and the learning of the cloister. Such discourses often appear in letters, especially letters of vocation, and in references to people of letters who had embraced monastic life. In some of these texts monastic and secular learning are presented as radically different, both in their goal and in their methods.25 Of course, we should not believe letters such as these uncritically. The opposition between « the school and the cloister », as it has been demonstrated, is no way absolute.26 Bernard of Clairvaux was not always hostile to the school masters and their learning, and secular schools and monastic environments actually influenced each other. However, there can be no doubt that learning in secular schools and in the monastery was different and that the competition between these two worlds stimulated the reflection on the matter. The characteristic features of the cultural and religious context help us understand why it makes sense to study shared learning in monastic contexts in the long twelfth century. However, it is important to clarify that I do not intend to argue that this period is the sole or even the most suitable context for the practice of shared learning. As it will become clear in the following chapters, shared learning is closely linked to the core values and practices of 23 Morris, The Discovery of the Individual 1050–1200 cit., p. 158. 24 Brian Patrick McGuire discussed the fortune of the theme of friendship in medieval monastic culture between 1050 and 1250 in his Friendship and Community: the Monastic Experience 350–1250, Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications 1988. 25 I have analyzed some examples in Micol Long, High Medieval Monasteries as Communities of Practice: Approaching Monastic Learning Through Letters, in Journal of Religious History 41 (2017), pp. 42–59, here pp. 47–50. 26 Jacques Verger and Jean Jolivet. Bernard Abélard ou le cloître et l’école, Paris: Fayard-Marne 1982; Wim Verbaal, The Council of Sens Reconsidered: Masters, Monks, or Judges?, in Church History 74 (2005): pp. 460–493.

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medieval monasticism – and of medieval religious life in general. In this book, I chose to focus on the period 1070 to 1080 simply because it offered a wealth of attestations of shared learning. To reconstruct whether there existed characteristic features of shared learning in this period in comparison with the previous and the following periods would require a targeted comparative study, for which the present work may offer a point of departure. 1.2

Chronological Survey of the Most Important Authors

Peter Damian (1007–1072) is the earliest author considered in this volume.27 He studied at the schools of Ravenna, Faenza and Parma and was briefly a teacher himself before entering the hermitage of Fonte Avellana, whose members practised a form of life which combined the teaching of the Benedictine monastic rule with the eremitical life. Peter Damian was eventually named prior of the community and later cardinal-bishop of Ostia.28 He was a prolific author, and 180 letters by him have survived, although some only in fragments. Peter Damian used letter-writing for both practical (diplomatic and administrative) and theoretical purposes: promoting ideals of monastic reform and circulating letter-treatises of various length and on a variety of subjects. He kept copies of at least some of his letters, since he was able to quote past ones.29 The latest editor, Kurt Reindel, set forth the hypothesis that during his life Peter had entrusted someone with the task of correcting the manuscript of his letters, but this is not certain, and the letters circulated in various forms, either independently or in groups.30 Peter Damian’s letters are useful for study of shared learning especially for the idealized portrait that he painted of the religious community of Fonte Avellana, whose monks – according to him – helped each other and even their abbot – that is, Peter himself. Peter also had a tendency to share autobiographical details, often as examples to support his arguments 27

He is the only author active before 1070 (the letters preserved in his letter collection date from 1040), but because of the concentration of authors active from ca. 1070 to 1180, I have indicated this period as the context for this research. 28 For a brief profile see Giuseppe Fornasari, Petrus Damiani, in Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 6, Stuttgart: Metzler 1993, coll. 1970–1972. 29 Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Introduzione, in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 1, ed. by Guido Innocenzo Gargano and Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Roma: Città Nuova 2000, p. 98 and Owen J. Blum, Introduction, in Peter Damian, Letters, vol. 1, Washington: The Catholic University of America Press 1989, pp. 3–33, here p. 18. 30 Kurt Reindel, Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani, München: Monumenta Germaniae Historica 1983 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit 4.1), p. 13, footnote 105.

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and his teaching, and he used his letters as a means of spiritual direction and a way to foster friendly relationships. Lanfranc of Canterbury (ca 1010–1089) was educated in civil law in the schools of northern Italy.31 He became a monk (and later prior) in the Benedictine abbey of Bec, where he gained renown as a teacher. In 1066 he was appointed abbot of the new monastery of Saint-Étienne at Caen, and in 1070 he became archbishop of Canterbury. Lanfranc authored several exegetical and theological works: his greatest contribution to the theology of his time was his defense of the doctrine of transubstantiation against the attacks of Berengar of Tours. He also wrote the first customary of Bec, which represents an important source of information about novices at Bec in Lanfranc’s time.32 Sixty letters by Lanfranc have been preserved as part of a collection which was put together at the monastery of Christ Church of Canterbury, probably shortly after Lanfranc’s death.33 The order of the letters is not chronological but, rather, thematic: they offer an example of Lanfranc’s relationships (with the papal court, with Bec or Caen, with English monasteries …) and of his field of action (politics, canonistic decisions, exercise of primacy, doctrine). Most of the letters in this collection are of administrative or diplomatic nature, with little room for the expression of feelings or the description of everyday life, and they do not contain useful information for the theme of shared learning. However, a few letters of the “monastic” group are very useful for the present research, notably one letter containing practical advice to Lanfranc’s nephew, who had recently entered monastic life in Bec. Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (ca 1035–1107) became a monk in the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Bertin, in Flanders.34 Around 1058/65, he went to England with 31

For a brief and recent profile see Véronique Gazeau, Lanfranc, Abbot of Saint-Étienne of Caen, c. 1010–1089, transl. by Susan Spitzer, in International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online. A Supplement to LexMA-Online, Turnhout: Brepols Publishers 2008, in Brepolis Medieval Encyclopaedias, available at http://www.brepolis.net (last accessed November 12, 2020), first published in Véronique Gazeau, Normannia monastica (Xe– XIIe siècle). Princes normands et abbés bénédictins. Prosopographie des abbés bénédictins, Caen: Publications du Centre de recherches archéologiques et historiques anciennes et médiévales 2008, pp. 38–41. 32 Knowles and Brooke, The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc cit. 33 For information about the letter collection, see Margaret Gibson, Introduction, in The Letters of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, ed. by V. Helen Clover and Margaret T. Gibson, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1979, pp. 1–27: here pp. 10–15 and Roland Zingg, Die Briefsammlungen der Erzbischöfe von Canterbury, 1070–1170. Kommunikation und Argumentation im Zeitalter der Investiturkonflikte, Köln / Weimar / Wien: Böhlau 2012, pp. 113–117. 34 For this brief profile, I use David W. Rollason, Goscelinus v. Canterbury, in Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4, München / Zürich: Artemis 1989, coll. 1567–1568, and Monika Otter, Introduction, in Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, The Book of Encouragement and Consolation

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the newly appointed bishop of Ramsbury, Herman, of whose household he became a member. During this time, he often visited the female monastery of Wilton, where he met a young woman called Eve, to whom he later addressed his Liber Confortatorius. After Herman’s death in 1078, Goscelin travelled the country, spending time at various monasteries – where he was often entrusted with the composition of hagiographical works – before settling at St. Augustine’s in Canterbury. The Liber Confortatorius, composed around 1082 or 1083, has been called « a letter of guidance to a female recluse by her male spiritual adviser, a guide to meditation and prayer, and an anthology of spiritual and meditative texts », as well as « a personal letter and an account of a deep, desperate, only half sublimated love between a man and a woman in religious orders ».35 It is interesting for the purpose of the present study because of the representation of the relationship between Goscelin and Eve as one of reciprocal influence and help. Goscelin was technically a representative of “old” or “traditional” monasticism, but his works attest to his fascination for solitary life, and his personal path was characterized by a mobility which went against the monastic ideal of stability. In this sense, he can be compared to other monks who transferred to other monasteries multiple times, such as Rodulfus Glaber, Peter Abelard or Guibert of Gembloux. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) is also called Anselm of Aosta, from the name of the place where he was born, or of Bec, from the name of the monastery where he first entered monastic life. He studied dialectic and rhetoric under Lanfranc (mentioned above), whom he later succeeded as abbot of Bec and later as archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm has been considered the earliest representative of medieval humanism because of his attention to the human dimension of God and to the pursuit of self-knowledge and because of his renovation of the language of monastic friendship.36 The modern edition of his letters includes 475 texts, mostly sent by him.37 Based on both Anselm’s words and the textual traditions of his letters, Samu Niskanen recently argued that, as abbot of Bec, Anselm collected his letters twice and as archbishop of [Liber Confortatorius], transl. by Monika Otter, Cambridge: D.S. Brewer 2004, pp. 1–16: here p. 5. 35 Otter, Introduction, in Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, The Book of Encouragement cit., p. 6 and 1. 36 Richard W. Southern, Medieval Humanism cit., p. 33; Richard W. Southern, Saint Anselm and his Biographer: A Study of Monastic Life and Thought 1059–c. 1130, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1963, pp. 42–47; McGuire, Friendship and Community cit., p. 210–220 and Brian Patrick McGuire, The Charism of Friendship in the Monastic Institution. A Meditation on Anselm and Bernard, in Institution und Charisma. Festschrift für Gert Melville, ed. by Franz Felten, Annette Kehnel, and Stefan Weinfurter, Köln: Böhlau 2009, pp. 425–36. 37 The most recent study of Anselm’s letters is Samu Niskanen, The Letter Collections of Anselm of Canterbury, Turnhout: Brepols 2011.

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Canterbury probably had a further collection made, although no authorial manuscript survives.38 His letters are useful for the present study for various reasons. First, they attest to the exchanges of monks between Bec and Christ Church of Canterbury and how Anselm perceived them. Second, he wrote many letters of friendship which attest to the important links between monastic friendship and monastic formation. A life of Anselm was composed by his pupil and friend Eadmer (ca 1060–1128): this represents an important source on Anselm as teacher and religious leader, written by someone who knew him firsthand. Baudri of Bourgueil (ca 1046–1130) was prior and later abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil-en-Vallée and later bishop of Dol-en-Bretagne.39 In addition to composing a history of the First Crusade, he authored 256 poems, which are attested to us by a single manuscript, two-thirds of which were almost certainly produced under the control of Baudri himself, who revised and corrected the texts.40 Most of his poems are addressed to individuals, and some can be considered letters, although written in verse. These poetic letters fully adhere to the topical conventions of the epistolary genre and deal with usual topics such as vocation, consolation, love and friendship. They reveal details both of everyday monastic life and of the perception of monastic friendship, and they attest to a specific interest in the theme of teaching and learning in monastic contexts. Guibert of Nogent (c. 1060–c. 1125) was a monk and, for the last twenty years of his life, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Nogent-sous-Coucy.41 Born into a family of minor nobility, from the age of six to twelve years he was educated at home by a private tutor; when he was twelve years old, his mother became an anchoress near the abbey of Saint-Germer-de-Fly, where he eventually became a monk. Anselm of Canterbury (mentioned above), then abbot of Bec, visited the monastery of Saint-Germer several times and, according to Guibert himself, paid particular attention to him and taught him new ways of interpreting the Bible, which Guibert later applied in his works. Guibert 38 Ibidem, p. 73. 39 For a brief profile, see Jean-Yves Tilliette, Baudri de Bourgueil, in Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: le Moyen Âge, ed. by Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, Paris: Fayard 1992, pp. 132–134. 40 See Jean-Yves Tilliette, Introduction, in Baudri de Bourgueil, Poèmes, ed. by Jean-Yves Tilliette, vol. 1, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 1998, pp. v–lx: here xxxviii–xlv. 41 For a brief profile see Jay Rubenstein, Guibert of Nogent, Benedictine Abbot, c. 1060–c. 1125, in International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online. A Supplement to LexMAOnline, Turnhout: Brepols Publishers 2006, in Brepolis Medieval Encyclopaedias, available at http://www.brepolis.net (last accessed November 12, 2020); for a longer recent work see Jay Rubenstein, Guibert of Nogent: Portrait of a Medieval Mind. New York: Routledge 2002.

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experienced difficulties in adapting to monastic life and came into conflict with fellow community members both in Saint-Germer and in the monastery of Nogent after having been elected as abbot. Guibert would be unknown to us if not for what he told us about himself in his works: he never obtained fame during his life, but his works display some unusual features which have attracted the attention of modern scholars. Of particular interest for the present study is his autobiography De Vita Sua, which represents one of the very few openly autobiographical works in the West since Augustine’s confession, rich with introspective reflections and information about the everyday life of both Guibert and his mother. Guibert wrote his works with his own hand (as opposed to dictating them to a secretary) as long as he could before his eyesight deteriorated, and we are lucky enough to have both draft and fair copies of his hand or annotated by him.42 Geoffrey of Vendôme (ca 1070–1032) was monk and later abbot in the Benedictine community of La Trinité at Vendôme.43 Issue of a noble family, he studied at the cathedral school of Angers before becoming a monk. He had excellent relations with the papal court and was created a cardinal-priest by Urban ii, with the titular church of Santa Prisca on the Aventine. In addition to a Commentary on the Psalms, he left 195 letters, which were collected and arranged for publication during Geoffrey’s life and under his supervision. They were arranged thematically rather than chronologically, on the basis of the identity of the addressees: popes, archbishops and bishops, abbots, members of the community of La Trinité and, lastly, secular religious and lay lords. The collection attests a wealth of smaller and bigger problems which could be encountered in monastic life and of information regarding how – according to Geoffrey – they should be dealt with, which makes it a useful source for the study of monastic life and of shared learning. Peter Abelard (1079–1142), often called simply Abelard, and Heloise (ca 1110– 1164) are probably the most famous couple of the Middle Ages.44 He gained renown as a teacher of dialectic in Paris, where Heloise was famous for 42

See Monique Cécile Garand, Guibert de Nogent et ses secrétaires, Brepols: Turnhout 1995 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 2). 43 See Louis Gaillard, Geoffrey of Vendôme, in Dictionnaire de spiritualité, vol. 6, Paris: Beauchesne 1967, coll. 234–235 and Geneviève Giordanengo, Introduction, in Geoffrey de Vendôme, Oeuvres, ed. by Geneviève Giordanengo, Paris / Turnhout: cnrs / Brepols 1996, pp. vii–xviii: here pp. viii–xxx. 44 For brief and recent biographical profiles see John Marenbon, Life, Milieu and Intellectual Context, in The Cambridge Companion to Abelard, ed. by Jeffrey E. Brower and Kevin Guilfoy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2004, pp. 13–44, here pp. 14–18 and Pascale Bourgain, Héloïse, vie et œuvres, in Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes 23 (2012), pp. 211–222.

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her learning. She became his pupil, his lover, the mother of his child and  – secretly and briefly  – his wife. Following Abelard’s castration by order of Heloise’s uncle and tutor, they embraced monastic life in different Benedictine monasteries: Abelard at Saint-Denis and Heloise at Argenteuil. Due to disagreements with the monks of Saint-Denis, Abelard left the monastery and founded a new settlement which he dedicated to the Paraclete. When the nuns of Argenteuil, where Heloise had become the abbess, were driven out of their convent, they found shelter in the Paraclete, effectively creating a new monastic foundation for which Abelard was asked to compose a Rule. Abelard became abbot of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys and had resumed his public teaching when he was accused of having expressed in his works heretical ideas and was excommunicated. The abbot Peter the Venerable of Cluny welcomed Abelard into his monastery and managed to obtain the lifting of the excommunication. Abelard ended his days as a monk of the Cluniac priory of Saint-Marcel Saint-Marcel-lès-Chalon, near Chalon-sur-Saône, and as an example of piety, according to Peter the Venerable’s account in a letter to Heloise, to whom he also sent Abelard’s body and – at her request – a written absolution of him. A number of philosophical and religious works authored by Abelard have been preserved: of Heloise, only the authorship of two letters addressed to Peter the Venerable has not been questioned. The famous letter collection of Heloise and Abelard is composed of eight letters arranged in sequence: their authorship and authenticity is still debated, but most scholars agree that the letters are indeed a product of the couple, or at least of one of them.45 The first is Abelard’s Historia Calamitatum, a letter in which he recounted his life to an anonymous friend (who may not be an actual person). The remaining seven letters are addressed from Heloise to Abelard and from Abelard to Heloise: letters 2–5 have a more personal tone and reflect on the correspondents as individuals, whereas letters 6–8 deal with the community of the Paraclete, for which Abelard composed, at Heloise’s requests, a letter-treatise on the origin of the religious life of nuns (ep. 7) and a Rule, which was sent along with ep. 8. The first part of the collection has received particular attention because it offers information about the fascinating life of Abelard and Heloise, their feelings and their ideas: for the purpose of the present research, I am mainly interested in the representation of an intellectual and spiritual relationship whose apparent hierarchy is questioned if not downright subverted. The second part of the collection is even more useful for the purpose of the present research, since Abelard, in describing his hopes for the community of the Paraclete, paid 45 See the recent critical edition The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise, ed. by David Luscombe, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2013.

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particular attention to the question of reciprocal help between the nuns and to the issue of education. I will not use here the collection of anonymous love letters known as Epistolae Duorum Amantium and attributed by some to Heloise and Abelard,46 because the letters do not contain useful information for the theme of shared learning. Peter “the Venerable” (1092–1156) was the ninth abbot of the monastery of Cluny, the single most important monastery in Western Europe at the time, and head of a network of subordinate monasteries.47 Peter was born into the noble family of Montboissier; his mother, Raingard, later went on to become a nun herself in the Cluniac female monastery of Marcigny. He was a frequent traveler and a fine diplomat, as his letter collection attests, and he actively contributed to the intellectual history of his time by commissioning a comprehensive translation of Islamic source material and by composing literary works himself. Peter had to manage Cluny at a time when it faced both internal and external challenges: he both defended it from external criticism (notably that of the Cistercian Bernard of Clairvaux) and reformed it from the inside.48 Of particular interest for the purpose of the present research is the fact that he tried (and in many cases, succeeded) to attract at Cluny wealthy and powerful men (often bishops and archbishops) and intellectuals, in a « recruiting campaign » which is well attested by his letter collection.49 According to the modern editor Giles Constable, all the letters included in the collection had already 46 See Epistolae Duorum Amantium. Briefe Abaelards und Heloises?, ed. by Ewald Könsgen, Leiden / Cologne: Brill 1974, Constant J. Mews, The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Perceptions of Dialogue in Twelfth-Century France, New York: Presse Saint Martin 1999. For a recent overview of the status quaestionis see David Luscombe, Introduction, pp. xxxii– xxiv and Jeroen de Gussem, Collaborative Authorship in Twelfth-Century Latin Literature. A Stylometric Approach to Gender, Synergy and Authority, PhD thesis, Ghent University / University of Antwerp 2019, pp. 246–253. 47 For a brief and recent profile, see Neithard Bulst, Petrus (Mauricius) Venerabilis, in Lexikon des Mittelalters, Stuttgart: Metzler 1993, coll. 1985–1987. The classic introduction to Peter is still Jean Leclercq, Pierre le Vénérable, Abbaye S. Wandrille: Éditions de Fontenelle 1946; a more recent contribution is Jean Pierre Torrell, Denise Bouthillier, Pierre le Vénérable et sa vision du monde: sa vie, son œuvre, l’homme et le démon, Louvain: Spicilegium sacrum lovaniense 1986. Anyone interested in Peter and his circle should keep an eye on the ongoing and freely accessible collaborative resource “The Petrus Project” (https://petrus -project.gitbook.io/petrus-project/, last accessed 13 November 2020). 48 Glauco Maria Cantarella, I monaci di Cluny, Torino: Einaudi 1997, p. 264. 49 See Giles Constable, Cluniac Administration and Administrators in the Twelfth Century, in The Abbey of Cluny: a collection of Essays to Mark the Eleven-hundredth Anniversary of Its Foundation, Münster: Lit Verlag 2010, pp. 339–360: here p. 352. Examples include epp. 9–10 to an unknown schoolmaster who may or may not be Abelard, ep. 77 to Robert de Sigillo, former chancelor of the king of England, ep. 105 to Arnold of Levenon, archbishop of Narbonne, and the many letters to Henry of Blois and Hatto bishop of Troyes, as

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been written « with an eye to future publication »,50 and some letters may even have been chosen « for inclusion in the collection at the time they were written ». We know from references contained in the letters themselves that some were kept, copied or recovered, and that Peter of Poitiers played an important role in this effort.51 About half of the 193 letters are addressed to monks, and the theme of friendship features prominently in the collection: in particular, Peter’s perception of friendship as a force which challenges the formal hierarchies of power makes his letters interesting for the study of shared learning.52 Bernard of Clairvaux (1090/91–1153) hardly needs an introduction.53 Born into a noble family, he was destined for the Church by his parents and began his education among the canons of Saint-Vorles at Châtillon. In 1112, together with his brothers and friends, he entered the new monastery of Cîteaux, which had been founded with the goal to practice a stricter observance of the Benedictine Rule. Bernard was later sent by his abbot to found the daughter house of Clairvaux, and as abbot of Clairvaux he became the figurehead of the new Cistercian movement and a key player in the religious life of twelfthcentury Western Europe. He was a charismatic preacher and a talented writer who put his golden pen in service to many of the important campaigns and controversies of his time, from the Second Crusade to the condemnation of the works of Peter Abelard. He famously criticized traditional Benedictine monasticism, especially as exemplified in the powerful and rich monastery of Cluny, with whose abbot, Peter the Venerable, he entertained a relationship that rose above the occasional clashes and long-standing differences of opinions and world views and was grounded in reciprocal respect. In the correspondence between the two, the intense and at times hyperbolic use of the rhetoric of well as the below mentioned letters discussing the entrance into Cluny of Noel of Rebais and of Peter Abelard. 50 Constable, Introduction, in The Letters of Peter the Venerable, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press 1967, vol. 2, p. 13. 51 Ibidem, vol. 2, p. 15–17, 48–55 and 80. 52 See Marc Saurette, Thoughts on Friendship in the Letters of Peter the Venerable, in Revue Bénédictine 120 (2010), pp. 321–346 and Micol Long, Pratiques et conceptions de l’amitié dans le recueil des lettres de Pierre le Vénérable (première moitié du XIIe siècle), in Freundschaft. Eine politisch-soziale Beziehung in Deutschland und Frankreich, 12.–19. Jahrhundert (8. Sommerkurs des Deutschen Historischen Instituts Paris in Zusammenarbeit mit der Universität Paris-Sorbonne, der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg und der École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 3.–6. Juli 2011), ed. by Bertrand Haan and Christian Kühner, available online at: www.perspectivia.net/content/publikationen/discussions/ 8-2013/long_pratiques (last accessed January 11, 2021). 53 For a recent biographical profile, see Brian Patrick McGuire, Bernard’s Life and Works: a Review, in A Companion to Bernard of Clairvaux, Leiden: Brill 2011, pp. 18–61.

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love and affection makes it hard for the reader to discern the development of personal feelings of friendship.54 Bernard was a prolific letter-writer: more than 500 letters by him have been preserved, which represent possibly around a half of his epistolary production.55 We know that he employed secretaries to write letters for him, with various degree of autonomy: one of these secretaries was Nicholas of Clairvaux, who is discussed below.56 The letters were carefully selected, arranged and sometimes revised for the creation of an official letter collection under the direction of Bernard himself.57 The latest form of the collection, known as perfecta (which features 310 letters), was completed shortly after Bernard’s death by his former secretary Geoffrey of Auxerre, who made some changes which, in all probability, aimed at offering a more polished and unequivocally positive representation of Bernard in view of his canonization.58 It is organized by themes and by types of addressees rather than chronologically, to indicate the multiple ways in which Bernard performed his role as abbot and as a man engaged in and for the Church. Bernard’s letter collection contains the most references to shared learning out of all the collections mentioned here: but this is also linked to the sheer number of letters available and to the fact many of them have a didactical and edifying nature, which makes them particularly likely to contain information regarding how, according to Bernard, monks and nuns were supposed to behave. Bernard also offers an example of the above-mentioned tendency toward introspection and self-expression, which makes him a suitable author to study as we explore the perception of learning processes in medieval monasteries. William of Saint-Thierry (1085/90–1148/9) probably studied at the cathedral school of Reims before becoming a Benedictine monk at Saint-Nicaise 54 This relationship has been interpreted in very different ways: compare Leclerq, Pierre le Venerable cit. pp. 67–87 with Gillian Knight, The Correspondence Between Peter the Venerable and Bernard of Clairvaux: a Semantic and Structural Analysis, Aldershot: Ashgate 2012. See below for a reflection on the rhetoric of affection. 55 Jean Leclercq, Recherches sur la collection des épîtres de saint Bernard, in Cahiers de civilization médiévale 14 (1971), pp. 205–18: here p. 205. 56 Peter Rassow, Die Kanzlei St. Bernhards von Clairvaux, in Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens und seiner Zweige 34 (1913), pp. 63–103. 57 See See Jean Leclercq, Introduzione, in San Bernardo, Lettere, ed. by Ferruccio Gastaldelli, vol. 1, Milano: Scriptorium Claravallense, Fondazione di studi cistercensi 1986, pp. xiii–xx and more recently Wim Verbaal, Voicing your Voice: The Fiction of a Life. Early Twelfth-Century Letter Collections and the Case of Bernard of Clairvaux, in Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures 4 (2018), pp. 103–124: here p. 116–121. 58 See Jean Leclercq, Introduzione, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. xiii, where Jean Leclercq cites as example the suppression of the last paragraph of ep. 70, in which Bernard admitted having fallen prey to a fit of rage against his brother Bartholomew, and having later regretted it.

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and eventually abbot of Saint-Thierry.59 During his time as abbot, William met Bernard of Clairvaux, with whom he remained in contact and of whom he would later become a biographer.60 In 1135, William renounced his abbatial charge to become a simple monk in the Cistercian monastery of Signy. William authored some letters and a number of spiritual and polemical works, in which the theme of monastic formation is very important.61 The letter-treatise which he addressed to the Carthusians of Mont-Dieu praising their life, known as the Golden Epistle, is a particularly valuable source for the study of William’s perception of learning; for this study, I also used some autobiographical references from his Life of Bernard of Clairvaux and from his Meditations. Osbert of Clare (or de Clare) was a monk and later (from 1134) prior of Westminster abbey whose works extended from the mid-1120s to the mid1150s.62 He was born into a family of noble origin in the town of Clare, in Suffolk. The letters attest that during his life he went into exile and that he failed to be elected as abbot of Westminster. He is known especially for his hagiographical works and as a forger of charters. He left us forty-three letters, attested by a single twelfth-century manuscript, London, bl Cotton ms Vit. A lxii, which also contains Osbert’s sermons;63 unfortunately, no reconstruction of the origin of this manuscript has been attempted so far. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) is chiefly known as a visionary and as the author of a number of eclectic works which range from music to medicine, from

59 See Brian Patrick McGuire, A Chronology and Biography of William of Saint-Thierry, in A Companion to William of Saint-Thierry, ed. by F. Tyler Sergent, Leiden: Brill 2019, pp. 11–34 and specifically on his early years, Philippe George, Liège, cadre de la jeunesse de Guillaume de Saint-Thierry (vers 1075–1095) and Patrick Demouy, Années rémoises: école épiscopale, formation monastique à Saint-Nicaise, both in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, de Liège au Mont-Dieu: actes du colloque “Guillaume de Saint-Thierry: histoire, théologie, spiritualité” (4–7 juin 2018 Reims-Saint-Thierry), ed. by Laurence Mellerin as special issue of Cîteaux Commentarii Cistercienses 69 (2018), pp. 17–35 and 51–60 respectively. 60 On their relationship, see the recent article by Brian Patrick McGuire, The Friendship of William and Bernard: The Development of Human Feeling, in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, de Liège au Mont-Dieu cit., pp. 101–109. 61 Micol Long, Guillaume de Saint-Thierry et le chemin de la formation monastique, in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, de Liège au Mont-Dieu cit., pp. 351–364. 62 For a brief profile see Karl Schnith, Osbert v. Clare, in Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 6, Stuttgart: Metzler 1993, col. 1492 and Brian Briggs, The Life and Works of Osbert of Clare, PhD thesis, University of Saint Andrews, 2004. 63 Introduction, in The Letters of Osbert of Clare, ed. by Edward William Williamson, London: Oxford University 1929, pp. 1–37 and Briggs, Appendix I: The Extant Manuscripts of the Writings of Osbert of Clare, in The Life and Works of Osbert cit., pp. 194–195.

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liturgy to hagiography, from homiletics to exegesis.64 Born into a noble family, she was entrusted to the religious woman Jutta, who practised the anchoritic life. Jutta served as superior to a small women’s Benedictine community dependent on the abbot of Disibodenberg, and at her death, Hildegard succeeded her. Hildegard eventually founded two monasteries near Bingen: Rupertsberg and Eibingen. More than 300 letters from Hildegard have been preserved, most of them rearranged for publication according to the status (ecclesiastical or secular) and rank of the addressee. One part of the letter collection was written and compiled with the help of her first secretary, the monk Volmar, whereas another part appears to have been written or transmitted under Guibert of Gembloux’s supervision.65 Hildegard used her letters to instruct and advise a variety of individuals, who often held positions of power, usually by presenting her message as based on a divinely inspired vision. While prophetic letters such as those of Hildegard and of Elisabeth of Schönau (discussed below) tend to contain fewer reflections on friendship and references to daily monastic life in comparison with the other letters used here, some useful references for the topic of shared learning can be found, especially when the two authors offer advice on how the members of a monastic community should behave. Peter of Celle (c. 1115–1183) was born into a noble Champenois family.66 We know that in his youth he spent some time in the Cluniac priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs: he later became abbot of Montier-la-Celle, then of Saint-Rémi of Reims and lastly bishop of Chartres, succeeding his long-time friend John of Salisbury. He was also in contact with some of the other letterwriters listed here, namely Peter the Venerable and Nicholas of Clairvaux. He authored several sermons and treatises and a letter collection, which was the result of careful selection and editing, in all probability under the direction of Peter himself.67 As observed by the modern editor of the letters, Julian 64 For a brief profile, see Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Hildegard of Bingen, in Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Margaret Schaus, New York / London: Routledge / Taylor&Francis 2006, pp. 364–367. A recent point of reference on Hildegard is A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen, ed. by Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Debra L. Stoudt, and George P. Ferzoco, Leiden: Brill 2014. 65 Lieven Van Acker, Einleitung, Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium, vol. 1 Turnhout: Brepols 1991 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 91), pp. xxvi and p. xxvii and Mike Kestemont, Sara Moens, and Jeroen Deploige, Collaborative Authorship in the Twelfth Century: a Stylometric Study of Hildegard of Bingen and Guibert of Gembloux, in Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 30 (2015), pp. 199–224: here p. 203 and footnote 1. 66 For a brief profile see Julian P. Haseldine, Introduction, in Id., The Letters of Peter of Celle, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2001, pp. xix–lviii, here pp. xxviii–xxxiii. 67 See Julian P. Hasedine, The Creation of a Literary Memorial: The Letter Collection of Peter of Celle, in Sacris Erudiri 37 (1997): pp. 333–79 and Julian P. Haseldine, Introduction, in Id., The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., pp. xix–lviii.

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Haseldine, « the dominant theme is the promotion of the monastic order through moral exhortation, spiritual edification, the cultivation of friendship (especially with members of different orders), active support for new foundations and fearless criticism of the failings of the established [ones] ».68 The collection is a valuable source for the study of shared learning in at least two respects. On the one hand, it offers us precious insights into monastic administration and everyday monastic life at Peter’s own monasteries and monasteries that he visited (for example, the Chartreuse of Mont-Dieu). On the other hand, his many friendship letters69 attest to us the way in which friends could help each other and share ideas. Elisabeth of Schönau (1129–1164), at a young age, entered the Benedictine double monastery (that is, a monastery which had both a male and a female community) of Schönau, where she rose to become the presiding nun, the magistra.70 She is known for her visionary works, which she produced with the help of her biological brother Ekbert, who became a monk in the same religious house and served as her secretary until her death, when he became abbot. Much like Hildegard, with whom she came into contact, Elisabeth also shared her visions in her letters, twenty-two of which have survived, most of them addressed to monastic communities (nine to religious women, ten to abbots or monks, two to archbishops and one to an unknown person) and some dealing with how the members of a monastic community should behave toward each other. Most of these letters were collected by Ekbert, who prefaced the collection with an account of how Elisabeth was first inspired to compose and send prophetical letters. Other letters were incorporated in visionary texts. After Elisabeth’s death, Ekbert compiled a collection of her most important prophetic works – including the twenty-two letters – to which he prefaced a letter of his describing Elisabeth’s death.71 Guibert of Gembloux (ca 1124/5–1214, not to be confused with the homonymous tenth-century founder of the abbey of Gembloux) began his religious career in the Benedictine monastery of Gembloux, of which he eventually

68 Haseldine, The Creation of a Literary Memorial cit., p. 374. 69 On which see Julian P. Haseldine, Understanding the Language of Amicitia. The Friendship Circle of Peter of Celle (c. 1115–1183), in Journal of Medieval History 20 (1994), pp. 237–234. 70 For a brief profile see Peter Dinzelbacher, Elisabeth, 18. E. v. Schönau, in Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 3, Stuttgart: Metzler 1985, coll. 1842–1843. For more information see Anne L. Clark, Elisabeth of Schönau: A Twelfth-Century Visionary, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1992. 71 See Anne L. Clark, Introduction, in Elisabeth of Schönau: the Complete Works, transl. and introd. by Anne L. Clark; preface by Barbara Newman, New York: Paulist Press 2000, pp. 3–35, here pp. 19–20.

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become abbot, after having been abbot of Florennes.72 In his letters, he stressed that he entered the monastery of his own free will, which suggests that, although a representative of traditional monasticism, he was influenced by the sensibility of the new monastic orders, which regarded adult converts as superior to oblates, who had been offered to the monastery since childhood.73 Guibert recalled in a letter that he clashed with his fellow monks at Gembloux, which helps us understand why he spent a lot of time away from his monastery. He seized the opportunity to visit Hildegard of Bingen in Rupersberg and, from there, answered his abbot’s order to return by arguing that he was doing useful work there, both before and after Hildegard’s death.74 He eventually came back to Gembloux, only to leave again, having obtained permission from the papal legate, Peter of Pavia, and from the archbishop of Cologne, Philip of Heinsberg, to go on a pilgrimage to several places of particular interest to the saint Martin cult. During this pilgrimage, he stayed for eight months in the abbey of Marmoutier. There, his main occupation was to collect material from different libraries of Tours for his Vita Sancti Martini. His letter collection, which is the product of a careful selection and revision process, contains fifty-nine letters, forty-two written by Guibert, twelve addressed to him and the remaining five exchanged by individuals who in one way or another played a role in his life.75 Guibert is of interest to this study because of the way in which he represented his exchanges with Hildegard and her community as well as the life in the abbey of Marmoutier. Nicholas of Clairvaux (ca 1125–1178) entered monastic life as a young man in the Benedictine monastery of Montiéramey, where he either studied or perfected his education.76 During this period, he also engaged in teaching and 72

See Monika Klaes, Guibert von Gembloux: Vorbereiter des Vita S. Hildegardis und Autor einer ( fragmentarischen) Vita der Heiligen, in Vita Sanctae Hildegardis, ed. by Monika Klaes, Turnhout: Brepols 1993, pp. 24–59; Moens, De Horizonten Van Guibertus Van Gembloers (ca. 1124–1214) cit., and Sara Moens, Twelfth-Century Epistolary Language of Friendship Reconsidered: The Case of Guibert of Gembloux, in Revue Belge de philologie et d’histoire 88 (2010), pp. 983–1017. 73 De Jong, In Samuel’s Image cit., pp. 294–295. 74 See Moens, De horizonten van Guibertus van Gembloers cit., and in particular on his stays in other monasteries pp. 88 e sqq. 75 See Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae: Quae in codice B.R. BRUX. 5527–5534 Inveniuntur, 3 voll., ed. by Albert Derolez, Eligius Dekkers, and Roland Demeulenaere, Turnhout: Brepols 1988–89 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 66–66A) and Sara Moens, Twelfth-Century Epistolary Language of Friendship Reconsidered cit., pp. 983–1017. 76 The most important recent contribution about Nicholas is the critical edition of his letter collection, whose introduction also contain a biographical profile: The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux, ed. by Lena Wahlgren-Smith, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2018. Older studies about him include John Benton, Nicolas de Clairvaux, in Dictionnaire de spiritualité,

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worked for Bishop Hatto of Troyes, who was a friend of Peter the Venerable, and eventually retired to Cluny. Sometime after Hatto’s retirement, Nicholas expressed a desire to transfer to the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux: this was not easy to obtain, but after remarkable struggles, Nicholas saw his wish granted, and he began working as one of the secretaries of the abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux. However, after around five years, Bernard expelled Nicholas from the monastery, accusing him of fraud and treachery and, more specifically, of having composed and sent letters in the name of his master without his knowledge. Nicholas was protected by friends in the papal court and was able to return to his old monastery of Montiéramey, eventually becoming prior of one of its dependencies, St-Jean-en-Chatel. Nicholas authored sermons and other works and two letter collections: the first is monastic in tone and themes, whereas the second – preserved in half-finished form and dedicated to Count Henry the Liberal of Champagne, is much less so. The first one is especially useful for the purpose of the present research: it contains letters of friendship and of vocation and provides an idealized but nevertheless vivid representation of daily life at Clairvaux. Nicholas also had a distinct penchant towards self-analysis and self-expression, which makes him an interesting object of study for understanding the perception of the learning process and the social exchanges through which it took place. Aelred (or Ailred) of Rievaulx (1110–1167) is another Cistercian monk interested in friendship and learning.77 He spent ten years at the court of King David i of Scotland before entering the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx, where – still a young man – he eventually became novice master and, later, abbot. He was a prolific author, notably composing a treatise On Spiritual Friendship, which is used as source here because of its importance for the theme of monastic friendship. It is worth mentioning that Aelred also collected his letters, but no manuscript of it has survived to our times.78 This loss is perhaps less tragic than it may seem for the purpose of the present analysis, as Aelred’s vol. 9, Paris: Beauchesne 1982, coll. 255–259; John Benton, The Court of Champagne as a Literary Center, in Speculum 36 (1961), pp. 555–557, Augustin Steiger, Nikolaus, Mönch in Clairvaux, Sekretär des hl. Bernhard, in Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 38 (1917), pp. 45–50 and Luanne Meagher, The Letters of Nicolas of Clairvaux, in Heaven on Earth. Studien in Medieval Cistercian History, ed. by E. Rozanne Elder, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications 1983, pp. 128–142. 77 On Aelred, see the recent A Companion to Aelred of Rievaulx (1110–1167), ed. by Marsha L. Dutton, Leiden: Brill 2017. 78 Anselm Hoste, Bibliotheca Aelrediana. A Survey of the Manuscripts, Old Catalogues, Editions and Studies concerning Saint Aelred of Rievaulx, The Hague: M. Nijhoff / Steenbrugge, Sint-Pietersabdij 1962, p. 15 and 137–139.

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biographer described the collection as comprised of administrative and political letters rather than literary letters of friendship and spiritual advice.79 Lastly, the name of Adam of Perseigne, the second abbot the Cistercian monastery of Perseigne between 1188 and 1221, deserves to be mentioned, even if he was active slightly later than the letter-writers mentioned above.80 The only irrefutable facts about his life are those which he himself mentioned in his letters, such as the fact that he was first a regular canon and then a Benedictine monk before becoming a Cistercian. Some charters attest that he attended the court of Richard i of England “the Lionheart”, and he may have taken part in the Fourth Crusade. He authored several sermons and letters, including a long letter-treatise known as Liber de Mutuo Amore ad Sacras Virgines. Two of his letters are entirely devoted to the theme of monastic formation, and the theme of learning emerges as an important one in other letters as well. His perception of learning shows a mixture of elements typical of monastic and especially Cistercian spirituality and of elements which are rather usually associated with the spirituality of regular canons. This peculiarity, which sets Adam apart from the other monastic authors of his time, is probably the result of his complicated religious career, and in particular of his experience as a regular canon.81 Unfortunately, very little is known about the first phase of the collection and circulation of Adam’s letters: various thirteenth-century manuscripts show that multiple collections were made, although almost certainly not by Adam or by people close to him.82 However, it is worth noting that most of the letters preserved were literary and edifying letters of advice and lettertreatises on spiritual and monastic matters, while nearly all the administrative and diplomatic letters have been lost. Whether this is the result of a conscious decision of the letter-writer or of someone in his entourage or of the interests of copyists is impossible to determine. 79 Cfr. Walter Daniel, The Life of Ailred of Rievaulx, ed. by Frederick Maurice Powicke, London: Thomas Nelson and Sons 1950, p. 42: « Inter hec epistolas ad dominum papam, ad regem Francie, ad regem Anglie, ad regem Scotie, ad archiepiscopos Cantuariensem et Eboracensem, et fere ad omnes episcopos totius Anglie atque ad illustrissimos viros regni eiusdem et maxime ad comitem Leicestrie, illustri stilo exaratas transmisit, et ad omem ordinem ecclesiastice, » discussed in McGuire, Friendship and Community cit., pp. 329–330. 80 For a recent contribution of Adam’s life, see Micol Long, Adam de Perseigne chanoine, moine noir et moine blanc. Pour une réévaluation critique de sa biographie, in Revue Mabillon, n. s., 29 (= t. 80), 2018, p. 83–100. 81 See Micol Long, Entre spiritualité monastique et canoniale : le thème de la formation dans les lettres d’Adam de Perseigne, in Cahiers de civilisation médiévale 60 (2017), p. 247–260. 82 The best manuscript contains twenty-nine letters mistakenly attributed to an « Adam of Saint-Victor »; it was probably produced at Marchiennes, see Bouvet, Introduction, in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., pp. 30–32.

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Comparative and Methodological Remarks

Considering these authors and their letters collectively allows us to make some comparative and methodological remarks. First of all, it can be observed that many of the authors mentioned above knew each other, and some were very close for a period of their lives, such as Lanfranc and Anselm of Canterbury or Bernard and Nicholas of Clairvaux, and may have influenced each other also with respect to the perception of shared learning. I initially aimed to include in my study canons who practised communal life, but there are only a few letter collections authored by this kind of religious preserved for the period in question, and they did not turn out to be valuable sources for the study of shared learning, with the exception of the seven letters of Odo of Saint-Victor, which will be discussed in a targeted way in the chapter 6.1, where I reflect on the differences between monks and canons. Of course, this is at least in part due to the fact the monastic epistolary sources are more abundant (because monks were more prone to letter-writing and more likely to see their letters preserved than were canons), but the question of whether shared learning may be more typical of the monastic context than the canonical one is worth addressing. While the monastic focus on hierarchy and obedience may seem to invite hierarchical and vertical teaching more than horizontal or bottom-up exchanges of knowledge, the foundational text of Western coenobitism, the Rule of Saint Benedict, also leaves room for reciprocal help between peers and even from inferiors to their superiors.83 In fact, it states that the abbot should ask the whole community for advice before making a decision on an important matter because « The Lord often reveals to the younger what is best ».84 Furthermore, it states that when the abbot helped others, through his warnings, to correct themselves, he emerged himself freed from his own faults,85 which suggests that learning was a reciprocal exchange rather than a vertical and one-way transmission of knowledge. Lastly, the Rule represents monks as a well-disciplined army in which everyone helps and protects his neighbor and, at the same time, is helped and protected by him, especially 83

I have addressed the question of the roots of horizontal and shared learning in medieval monastic culture in Micol Long, “Condiscipuli Sumus”. The Roots of Horizontal Learning in Monastic Culture, in Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages cit., pp. 47–63. 84 Regula Benedicti cap. 3: « quia saepe iuniori Dominus revelat quod melius est », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto e le regole dei Padri, ed. by Salvatore Pricoco, Milano: Fondazione Lorenzo Valla 1995, p. 142. 85 Regula Benedicti cap. 2: « cum de monitionibus suis emendationem aliis subministrat, ipse efficitur a vitiis emendatus », in ibidem, p. 142.

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in the context of a comparison (and polemic) with eremitical life. These elements help us understand the wealth of attestations of shared learning in monastic letters of the long twelfth century, but a comparison with different religious groups is needed in order to draw some conclusions with regard to a possible monastic specificity concerning shared learning, as will be attempted in the last chapter. The fact that all of the monastic authors listed above sooner or later rose to become leaders in their communities is not surprising, since they belonged to an élite inside the monastery as well as outside: most of them had received a good education by their day’s standards (which left some of them with a specific interest in teaching and learning) and found themselves in a position where they needed to write letters and could enjoy the liberty to do so if they wished. This also helps explain why their letters were deemed worthy of preservation. However, it should also be recognized that the abbot, his associates and friends enjoyed more freedom than ordinary monks in how they cultivated social interactions, and therefore they probably had more opportunities to practice shared learning. Only two of the letter collections mentioned above are ascribable with relative certainty to women,86 as a result of the male dominance in literary production and preservation. A further problem is offered by the fact that the letter collections of Hildegard of Bingen and of Elisabeth of Schönau are peculiar because of the focus on the visionary gift of their authors, which makes any comparison with non-visionary letter-writers difficult. And yet, working not only with letters authored by women or attributed to them but also with letters addressed to women allows us to reflect about the differences in perceptions of shared learning in female communities as opposed to male communities, as will be illustrated in chapter 5 “Shared Learning in Female Communities”. The majority of the authors listed above were affiliated to a Benedictine institution, but this should not be taken as proof that shared learning was more typical or more important in Benedictine environments. Firstly, it should be considered that new monastic orders only began to grow in the twelfth century (Cîteaux Abbey was founded in 1098), so a quantitative comparison between letter-writers is inevitably affected by the inequality in numbers of members and, even more so, of individuals whose epistolary production was deemed worthy of preservation. Furthermore, the reference to a medieval author’s affiliation to a specific monastic order should not be used as a quick 86 That is, Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth of Schonaü, whereas the debate about the degree to which Abelard and Heloise’s letter collection (not to mention the Epistolae Duorum Amantium) attests Heloise’s own voice is still open.

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way of labelling individuals. Among the authors mentioned above, there are many examples of complicated paths, from Abelard and Heloise to Adam of Perseigne, from William of Saint-Thierry to Nicholas of Clairvaux. Lastly, some authors who were formally affiliated with Benedictine monasteries were, in practice, very close to new monastic movements, like Peter Damian, or very original thinkers, such as Anselm of Canterbury or Peter Abelard, or eccentric personalities like Guibert of Nogent or Guibert of Gembloux. In fact, among the authors whose letters are used for this study are many of the most memorable thinkers of their time, but this is at least partly due to the fact they had a specific interest in learning and that many letters authored by them have been preserved because of their importance in the cultural context of the long twelfth century. Good examples of this are Bernard of Clairvaux and Anselm of Canterbury, whose letter collections are particularly rich (548 letters for Bernard including the ones extra corpus, and 475 letters for Anselm), which partly explains why they contain the most references to shared learning. However, differences between authors are not only quantitative but also, and most importantly, qualitative. If we compare the type of references to shared learning and the contexts in which they appear, we can observe some important differences. The fact that Peter the Venerable and Osbert of Clare (and, in part, Abelard) refer to shared learning particularly with reference to female communities will be discussed in a dedicated chapter (chapter 5). With this exception, Peter the Venerable discussed shared learning almost exclusively in the context of friendly relationships, as did Peter of Celle. In contrast, both Bernard of Clairvaux and Anselm of Canterbury refer to shared learning in a variety of contexts, and often in a general sense. Geoffrey of Vendôme hardly ever reflected on shared learning on a theoretical level; instances of shared learning can rather be deduced by some of his references to practical measures, such as the dispatch of monks to a specific monastery. Adam of Perseigne, in contrast, only referred to shared learning while describing the ideal role of the novice masters and of the novices themselves, and while offering descriptions of exemplary spiritual friendship. However, these differences are at least in part due to the respective characteristics of the letter collections, such as the facts that letters of friendship are prominently featured in both Peter the Venerable’s and Peter of Celle’s letter collections and that most of Geoffrey of Vendôme’s letters deal with practical issues of monastic life, whereas Adam of Perseigne’s letters are either lettertreatises or letters of spiritual direction. The influence of the nature of the letter collection on the presence, type and content of the references to shared learning is even more evident in the letter collections which have a peculiar

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character, such as Hildegard of Bingen’s and Elisabeth of Schönau’s prophetic letter collections or Abelard and Heloise’s correspondence. Therefore, a targeted study of the differences between authors must necessarily rely on a variety of sources. Jean Leclercq’s attempt to analyze Bernard of Clairvaux’s perception of the educational role of the community confirms that Bernard had a specific interest in informal and shared learning, and a recent study about William of Saint-Thierry illustrated his belief in the necessity of an endless process of personal improvement.87 All in all, considering the cultural and religious transformations outlined above, it would not be surprising to find that the notion of shared learning was particularly popular among pioneers of a new religious sensibility, such as Anselm, or early representatives of new religious orders, such as Peter Damian, Bernard of Clairvaux, Aelred of Rievaulx or Adam of Perseigne, and also among eccentric personalities such as Peter Abelard and Guibert of Nogent, and less so in the work of more traditional thinkers. It is also possible that informal and shared learning may have played a particularly important role in smaller and newer religious groups, where training was not, or not yet, institutionalized. This must be taken into account while approaching shared learning in the period in question and in the letters used in this study; however, further targeted studies are necessary to verify these hypotheses. At this stage, a comparison of the letter collections appears not only safer, but also more useful, since it also allows some methodological remarks. All the letter collections mentioned above as having turned out to be suitable sources for the study of shared learning share some key features: they are personal letter collections intended for the edification and spiritual (and often, specifically monastic) instruction of a broad audience. Before discussing how I approach these letter collections, it may be useful to offer some examples of letter collections of a different nature for comparison.88 Among the personal letter collections preserved from the period 1070– 1180, an interesting case is that of the abbot Wibald of Stavelot (1098–1153). Composed of 451 letters, it was probably meant to serve as a sort of portable archive for practical and administrative reasons, and for the use of its author 87

Jean Leclercq, La communauté formative cit.; Long, Guillaume de Saint-Thierry et le chemin de la formation monastique cit. 88 As it is well known, most of the letters preserved for the long twelfth century are personal letter collections preserved in copies. When only a handful of letters have been preserved for one specific monastic author, as in the case of Otloh of Saint Emmeram, Gilbert Crispin, Odon of Ourscamp, John of Fécamp or the first Carthusians, there is too little critical mass to make it likely that they contain much useful materials for the purpose of the present research.

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alone.89 In fact, there are no known copies of it, and it is only by a stroke of luck that the twelfth-century original manuscript has survived. This greatly influences the content of the collection: the letters have a business-like quality, and there is no attempt at building an autobiographical monument or at offering an edifying reading to a wide audience. This applies, at least partly, to the letters of Gilbert Foliot, too: as the editors admit, his collection (to whose creation Gilbert himself contributed) « does not contain a self-conscious literary monument like the letters of St. Bernard », and is rather « an assortment of the contents of the bishop’s files and pigeon-holes ».90 The letters of Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis offer another example of a letter collection which does not seem to have been put together as edifying reading for a monastic audience. The longer collection (whose original manuscript is now lost), contains only twenty-six letters by Suger and 159 letters addressed to him, almost exclusively by men in positions of power: rather than shedding light on Suger’s character and opinions or his administration of the abbey of Saint-Denis, the letters deal with the administration of the most important affairs of the kingdom of France.91 A last example includes the letters of Thomas Becket, which were collected by different people for a variety of purposes, including « as records, as propaganda, as pious memorials »,92 but always with specific relation to Becket’s famous controversy with the king and assassination. None of these letter collections, despite their size, contain attestations of shared learning, and this is probably due to the fact that they rarely contain introspective reflections about the letter-writers and their social contacts, detailed descriptions of everyday monastic life or advice targeted at a monastic audience. The same applies to small anonymous letter collections put together to serve as models for practical purposes, such as the letter collection of the nuns of Admont, Tegernsee and Reinhardsbrunn.93 89 See Martina Hartmann, Timothy Reuter and the Edition of Wibald of Stavelot’s Letter Collection for the MGH, in Challenging the Boundaries of Medieval History: the Legacy of Timothy Reuter, ed. by Patricia Skinner, Turnhout: Brepols 2009, pp. 185–208. 90 Adrian Morey, Christopher Nugent Lawrence Brooke, Gilbert Foliot and His Letters, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1965, p. 28. 91 Françoise Gasparri, Introduction, in Suger, Œuvres, vol. 2, Lettres de Suger – Chartes de Suger – Vie de Suger par le moine Guillaume, ed. by Françoise Gasparri, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 2001, here p. xx, and Michel Nortier Michel, Étude sur un recueil de lettres écrites par Suger ou à lui adressées (1147–1150), in Journal des savants 1 (2009), pp. 25–102. 92 Anne Duggan, Introduction, in The Correspondence of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1162–1170, vol. 1, ed. by Anne Duggan, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2000, pp. xxi– cx, here p. xxi. 93 Alison I. Beach, Voices from a Distant Land: Fragments of a Twelfth-Century Nuns’ Letter Collection, in Speculum 77 (2002), pp. 34–54, Die Tegernseer Briefsammlung

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In contrast, the letter collections which emerged as the richest sources for this study bear traces of having been written, selected or revised with a wide audience in mind, as shown, for example, by the presence of clarifications which would not have been necessary for the addressee or of revisions in the manuscripts. In general, most if not all of these texts are, as Giles Constable observed, « self-conscious, quasi-public literary documents, written with an eye to future collection »,94 but this does not diminish their value for the purpose of the present study. On the contrary, this makes these texts all the more useful, as a deliberate effort to depict and set before the audience an ideal of social, spiritual and cultural monastic life.95 In such letter collections, messages and themes to which broad and long-lasting value was attributed were privileged over messages and questions of ephemeral interest. The latter kind of messages were often entrusted to the carrier of the letter, and letters or parts of letters dealing with such matters were not selected for inclusion and copying in collections. Obviously, differences between these letter collections emerge, especially if we consider them collectively and comparatively: for example, some (Guibert of Gembloux’s, Peter of Celle’s) have a more distinct monastic character than others, meaning that they contain more letters addressed to monks and more frequently discuss problems linked to monastic life, in comparison with others, such as Bernard of Clairvaux’s.96 In some, the theme of friendship is very des 12. Jahrhunderts, ed. by Helmut Plechl and Werner Bergmann, Hannover 2002 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica Epistolae. Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit 8) and Die Reinhardsbrunner Briefsammlung, ed. by Friedel Peeck, Weimar: H. Bohlaus Nachfolger 1952. 94 Constable, Letters and Letter Collections cit., p. 11. 95 On this matter see the reflections of two very different scholars. Jean Leclercq stated that: « there are lies and falsifications in its [monastic] literature. But that is not all there was. And, after all, the monks’ truest self, the self they wished to be, is what was best in them » (Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God cit., p. viii), and Mia Münster-Swendsen observed that in using letters for the study of high medieval scholastic culture, « we need not worry about whether these letters were actually sent, whether they reflect a “real”, private correspondence. If they were indeed exemplary and publicized, if they were used for emulation and imitation, they would in fact suit our purpose even better […] while pretending to be strictly confidential, intimate communications, these letters in fact belong to the sphere of public performance and the deliberate broadcasting of individual acumen […] constituting the central part of a deliberate, performative pedagogical strategy » (Mia Münster-Swendsen, The Model of Scholastic Mastery in Northern Europe c. 970–1200, in Vaughn and Jay Rubenstein, Teaching and Learning in Northern Europe cit., pp. 306–342: here p. 310). 96 However, it should be considered that Bernard of Clairvaux’s collection is the longest of all, which means that there are still plenty of monastic letters even if they represent only a part of the collection.

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important, even predominant (Peter of Celle’s, Peter the Venerable’s, Nicholas of Clairvaux’s first collection), while others are focused on spreading the letter-writer’s prophetic words (Hildegard of Bingen’s, Elisabeth of Schönau’s). However, most of these letter collections ultimately aim at offering an idealized portrait of the letter-writer and of his or her action in the world, and to contribute to the promotion of monasticism, specifically the form of life practised in the author’s community or described in his or her letters. This helps understand why the same themes and types of letters recur in the collections of so many different authors. Another reason for this recurrence is, of course, the highly formalized nature of letter-writing in this period. One of the most evident elements is the fact that letters were supposed to be brief and structured in five parts: salutatio (which could in turn be divided into intitulatio, inscriptio and actual salutatio), exordium or captatio benevolentiae, narratio, petitio and conclusio,97 although, of course, this was not always respected. Furthermore, letters made of use of a specific rhetoric, with its typical commonplaces, or topoi. Of particular interest for the present research is the rhetoric of friendship, affection and love,98 which was used not only when the correspondents enjoyed a close personal relationship but also when they did not, and even when they had never before been in contact.99 This poses a challenge in the interpretation, as well as in the use of the category of “letters of friendship”. In this book, I will use this category in a broad sense, to indicate letters whose main goal is the creation or furtherance of a social bond between the letter-writer and the addressee. In fact, as sources for the perception of shared learning, theoretical statements about friendship in letters to strangers can be almost as useful as references to social interactions which took place or were supposed to take place in real life. Both kinds of statement can bear witness to the perception of the way in 97 On the rules of letter-writing in this period see James Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from Saint Augustine to the Renaissance, Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press 1974, p. 225 and Martin Camargo, Ars Dictaminis Ars Dictandi, Turnhout: Brepols 1991 (Typologie des sources du Moyen Âge occidental 60), pp. 22–23. 98 It is often very difficult to distinguish between the expression of feelings of love or of friendship in high medieval religious contexts (see Nicole Bériou, L’avènement des maîtres de la Parole. La prédication à Paris au XIIIe siècle, Paris: Institut d’Études Augustiniennes 1998, p. 561). See Haseldine, Understanding the Language of Amicitia cit., pp. 237–260. 99 See Julian P. Haseldine, Monastic Friendship in Theory and in Action in the Twelfth Century, in Friendship in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age: Explorations of a Fundamental Ethical Discourse, ed. by Albrecht Classen and Marilyn Sandidge, Berlin: De Gruyter 2010, pp. 349–393; Knight, The Correspondence between Peter the Venerable and Bernard of Clairvaux cit.

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which friends were supposed to help each other along the path of spiritual progress, acting as guardians of each other’s soul.100 Such statements suited the goal of celebrating the relationship, pointing out how it could be useful for both parties, and thus presenting it as attractive for the addressee, but also of offering to a wide audience an example of how friendly interactions, both within the monastery and without, could help monks and nuns along the path of spiritual progress. It should be considered that in monasteries, friendship had long been regarded with suspicion because it created divisive “communities within communities” which could disrupt the discipline, for example, by fomenting conspiracy; in addition, especially some Eastern Fathers of the Church had feared that it could led to homosexual relationships.101 However, by the twelfth century, the mistrust of friendship in monasteries seems to have been largely overcome, and the fact that important monastic leaders such as Peter the Venerable and Peter of Celle granted an important place to friendship in their letter collections is very telling in this respect.102 In all probability, they expected their friendship letters to be read by a wide monastic audience, to whom they would show that friendship relationships within the monastery not only were admissible but could even be useful, since friends  – when aptly chosen  – would help each other to progress spiritually. Spiritual direction was thus an important component of medieval monastic conceptions of spiritual friendship. While people who were older and higher in ranks naturally came to play the role of spiritual director for their younger friends and protégés, the representation of the latter as exceptionally gifted often brought at least some theoretical reciprocity in the exchanges, as we will 100 For an introduction to monastic friendship, see Edmond Vasteenberghe, Amitié, in Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et histoire, Paris: Beauchesne 1932–37, vol. 1, coll. 500–529; Brian Patrick McGuire, The Cistercians and the Transformation of Monastic Friendship, in Friendship and Faith: Cistercians Men, Women, and Their History, 1100–1250, Aldershot: Ashgate 2002, pp. 1–63; McGuire, Friendship and Community cit.; Reginald Hyatte, The Arts of Friendship: The Idealization of Friendship in Medieval and Early Renaissance Literature, Leiden: Brill 1994, Adele Fiske, Paradisus Homo Amicus, in Speculum 40 (1965), pp. 436–459, Haseldine, Monastic Friendship in Theory and in Action cit., Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Amicitia monastica. Considerazioni introduttive, in Reti Medievali Rivista 11 (2010), pp. 123–129, and Wim Verbaal, L’amitié et les lettres: le douzième siècle et le cas de Bernard de Clairvaux, in La société des amis à Rome et dans la littérature médiévale et humaniste, ed. by Perrine Galand-Hallyn, Sylvie Laigneau, Carlos Lévy, and Wim Verbaal, Turnhout: Brepols 2008, pp. 351–381. 101 McGuire, Friendship and Community cit., pp. xli and 30. 102 These letter collections were realized under the supervisions of their authors, see Giles Constable, Introduction, in Id., The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., vol. 2, p. 13 and Haseldine, The Creation of a Literary Memorial cit. pp. 333–378.

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see. Of course, spiritual direction and advising in general could take place also outside of friendship relationships, but in many cases, the language of friendship and affection is still used. Particularly useful for the purpose of the present research are letters containing advice aimed at helping the addressee (who is often a novice or recent convert) along the path of spiritual progress and which, as mentioned in the introduction, have been underused as sources to study medieval and monastic education. Another useful source are letters of vocation, written to convince someone to join monastic life.103 They were powerful tools: take, for example, Bernard of Clairvaux’s promotion of the Cistercian ideal or Peter the Venerable’s “recruitment campaign” aimed at bringing powerful and rich men or renowned intellectuals to Cluny. These letters often contain idealized description of monastic life which are very useful for the present purpose, because they attest to how monks were supposed to obtain salvation by living in a community. In this sense, they share some similarities with letters of praise, written to support someone’s election to a religious office, for example, or to offer an idealized portrait of a recently deceased person. These letters allow us to observe which characteristic traits or behaviours were valued, both in and of themselves and also because they were considered useful for others and for the community at large. References to everyday monastic life can be found in other letters as well, sometimes in passing, for example when the letter-writer refers to past events or describes his or her present situation. While references to social and intellectual monastic activities can be useful in themselves, this study will pay particular attention to the instances when the letter-writer shares his or her personal opinions and feelings in relation to an educational event, because this helps us reconstruct the perception of the shared learning process. This must be understood in the context of the above-mentioned tendency toward autobiographical expression in the long twelfth century, particularly in monastic letters and even more specifically in authors who were a part of the socalled “medieval humanism” or were influenced by it. References to everyday monastic life could also serve the purpose of painting an idealized picture of that specific monastery or order in order to attract people to it (for example, in letters of vocation) or for polemical purposes (for example, in the context of the controversy between Cistercians and Cluniacs). As can be expected, the 103 The classic reference is still Jean Leclercq, Lettres de vocation à la vie monastique, in Analecta Monastica. Textes et études sur la vie des moines au Moyen Âge, 3 s., ed. by Marie-Madeleine Lebreton, Jean Leclercq, and Charles Hugh Talbot, Roma: Herder 1955 (Studia Anselmiana 37), pp. 168–197.

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representations are polarized: we tend to find either enthusiastic praise and therefore very positive representations, or bitter criticism and therefore very negative ones. This must always be kept in mind while trying to grasp what must have been the reality of learning practices, which can only be reconstructed through a careful evaluation and, whenever possible, by comparing a large number of sources. Lastly, most of the letter collections in question contain letters which deal with specific problems that presented themselves in monastic life, such as conflicts between the monks, a newcomer’s difficulty to adapt to monastic life or an abbot’s struggles to manage his monks. Some of them are letters of advice on how to deal with these problems, while others are written to inform the addressee that a certain problem has been solved (or, more rarely, has not). Details about specific affairs are often absent, either removed or entrusted orally to the carrier of the letter: what is left is a general description from which a wide audience could learn how specific challenges in monastic life should be dealt with. These letters often reveal the role played by various members of the community as a whole. In using such texts as sources for the study of shared learning, it is important to remember that they only offer representations of learning practices and perceptions which serve specific purposes. For this reason, it is necessary to compare many different letters by different authors to be able to observe the existence of wide trends, which will be summarized in the following chapters.

chapter 2

The Context of Shared Learning This chapter illustrates the context of shared learning: temporal, spatial and social. In doing so, it will outline the characteristic features of this type of learning, namely the fact that it was the informal, continuous and potentially endless process through which monks and nuns were supposed to progress along the path of behavioural, moral, spiritual and sometimes intellectual improvement. This process emerges as tightly linked with the physical context in which the knowledge is acquired and is supposed to be used, and as taking place through everyday social interactions with the various members of the community, and not solely the hierarchical superiors. 2.1

A Time for Learning? When I first entered the discipline of your service, I seemed to see a new earth and new heavens, for you make all things new for me. I am a countryman, Lord, who comes from the country of the world. Teach me your city’s ordered ways, the courtesies and gracious manners of your court. Remove from me the likeness of the world, on which I had been modelling myself, and make me like your citizens, lest in their midst I seem as one deformed. And teach me too the language that I do not know, the language I began to hear when I came out of Egypt, but do not understand because I had grown up in an alien land. Teach me the language you speak with your sons, and they with you, and make me understand those little signs, by which you give understanding hearts to know what is your good, acceptable and perfect will.1

1 William of Saint-Thierry, Meditativae Orationes, oratio 4, par. 17: « ingrediens novam servitutis tuae disciplinam, videor mihi videre caelos novos et terram novam, et ecce mihi nova facis omnia. Doce me, Domine, hominem rusticanum de rare saeculi venientem, civitatis tuae mores disciplinatos, et curiae tuae venustas urbanitates ; deforma me a forma saeculi, cui me conformaveram ; conforma me civibus tuis, ne inter eos deformis appaream », in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Oraisons méditatives, ed. by Jacques Hourlier, Paris: Cerf 1986 (Sources Chrétiennes 324), p. 90. I rely here on the English translation in William of Saint-Thierry, On Contemplating God; Prayer; Meditations, transl. by sister Penelope, Shannon: Irish University Press 1971 (Cistercian Fathers Series 3), p. 117, but I adapt it freely.

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This quote from William of Saint-Thierry (†1148) offers a particularly telling example of the representation of the first admittance to monastic life as a learning experience. It is taken from one of his eleven Meditations (Meditativae Orationes), composed probably while he was abbot of Saint-Thierry between 1119 and 1134. The fourth Meditation, from which this quote is taken, focuses on the theme of divine Mercy. In it, shortly before this passage, William had referred to the fact that he had long lived a secular life, until God showed him the distance between that life and a life spent in divine service.2 In referring to his entrance into the new discipline of God’s service, he was therefore referring to his conversion to monastic life, when he became a monk at Saint-Nicaise sometimes after 1111.3 A novice in monastic life had to learn what was expected of him or her, not only in terms of factual knowledge (Latin, liturgy, chant …) but also, and perhaps even more important, of how to behave in order to integrate with the new community. In the passage, William of Saint-Thierry aptly uses the metaphor of a peasant having to adapt to a completely different life in a city to describe this learning process, which is a “formation” in the sense that it transforms the individual and shapes him into a new – or renewed – being. It is not surprising that the term “formation” has specifically been associated with monastic education.4 William of Saint-Thierry is not the only high medieval author to represent the process of preparation for, and adaptation to, monastic life as a learning experience, as it will become clear. Of course, monasteries had traditionally been places of schooling for children of both sexes, and people who entered a monastery without knowing Latin were trained in at least the rudiments 2 William of Saint-Thierry, Meditativae Orationes, oratio 4, par. 16: « iugum quidem tuum suaue et onus leve imposuisti mihi, et cum ostendis mihi servitutis tuae distantiam et servitutis saeculi, blande et leniter me interrogas utrum melius sit servire tibi Deo viventi, an diis alienis. […] Multum enim et multo tempore possederunt me domini absque te, quorum iugum non est suave, nec onus leuve », in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Oraisons méditatives cit., p. 90. 3 As general references about William of Saint-Thierry, see Saint-Thierry: une abbaye du VIe au XXe siècle. Actes du colloque international d’histoire monastique, Reims-Saint-Thierry, 11 au 14 octobre 1976, ed. by Michel Bur, Saint-Thierry: Association des amis de l’abbaye de Saint-Thierry 1979, pp. 261–278; A Companion to William of Saint-Thierry, ed. by F. Tyler Sergent, Leiden / Boston: Brill 2019, and Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, de Liège au Mont-Dieu: actes du colloque « Guillaume de Saint-Thierry : histoire, theologie, spiritualité » (4–7 juin, Reims-Saint-Thierry), edited by Laurence Mellerin as a special issue of Cîteaux, Commentarii Cistercienses 69 (2019), fasc. 1–4 (2018). 4 See for example E. Rozanne Elder, Formation for Wisdom, Not Education for Knowledge, in Tanaseanu-Döbler and Döbler, Religious Education in Pre-Modern Europe cit.; Jean Leclercq, La communauté formatrice cit., pp. 3–21.

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of it.5 But entering a monastery was perceived and represented as a learning process for adult converts, well-educated people and even men who were already priests or had already practised a form of religious life (for example, as hermits).6 The principal verbs used to describe the education received in a monastery, such as studere, discere, proficere, erudire, docere, instituere and instruere, were used regardless of the age of the learner in question, as were the verbs more specifically connected with monastic formation, such as formare, informare and reformare.7 To indicate that a person had been raised (and educated) in a monastery since childhood, a different, more specific term was used: nutritus or enutritus, from the verb nutrire or enutrire (to nurse).8 And yet, high medieval monastic sources show that even the verb enutrire was not solely used for oblates: among the Benedictines, Peter of Celle used it to declare that he had, for a certain time, instructed (aliquantisper enutrivi) a monk from another monastery who spent some time in his abbey of Saint-Rémi.9 In the Vita Maioli brevior, the hagiographer referred to the fact that Maiolus, when he had converted to monastic life as an adult, had been instructed in the divine service (in Christi domini servitum enutriens) by the prior of Cluny « for many days »,10 which shows that even short educational experiences could be perceived as close to the process of being raised in a monastery. 5

Julie Barrau, Did Medieval Monks Actually Speak Latin?, in Vanderputten, Understanding Monastic Practices of Oral Communication (Western Europe, Tenth-Thirteenth Centuries) cit., pp. 293–317. 6 For this latter case, a very interesting description can be found in the Life of Stephen of Obazine, where the saint’s disciples, after having lived as hermits, needed to be instructed in coenobitic life. In the description, the vocabulary of teaching and learning is ubiquitous, see Vita Sancti Stephani Obasiniensis, book 2: « fratres Obazine monachi ex eremitis effecti, novis legibus novisque institutionibus quotidie informabantur; et quamquam essent in coelesti militia veterani, monasticis studiis adhuc videbantur indocti; erantque rudes monachi, qui iam fuerant in religione perfecti. Instituebantur autem ad arbitrium Dalonensium magistrorum qui eos vitam et conversationem monachorum docebant et regularis preceptis erudiebant » and the rest of the chapter, in Vie de saint Étienne d’Obazine, ed. by Michel Aubrun, Clermont-Ferrand: Institut d’études du Massif central 1970, p. 106, cited in Jean Leclercq, Les études dans les monastères du Xe au XIIe siècle, dans Los Monjes y los estudios, Pöblet: Abadía de Poblet 1963, pp. 105–117: here p. 110. 7 Leclercq, Les études dans les monastères du Xe au XIIe siècle cit. which analyzes the verbs studere, erudire and instituere. 8 Guerreau-Jalabert, Nutritus / oblatus cit. 9 Peter of Celle, ep. 125 to the abbot of Villers: « fratrem quem ego aliquantisper enutrivi », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 470. 10 Vita Maioli brevior: « qui ipsum patrem Maiolum secum per multos dies in Christi domini servitum enutriens, prefectum athletam Dei protulit » (Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, ed. by Martin Marrier and Andreas Duchêne, Paris: Protat 1614, col. 1767B).

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Among the Cistercians, Bernard of Clairvaux wrote to his young cousin Robert of Châtillon, who famously decided to join Cluny after having become a monk in Clairvaux under Bernard’s rule: « I nourished you with milk when, while yet a child, it was all you could take. And I would have given you bread if you had waited until you grew up. But alas! How soon and how early were you weaned ».11 The choice to use the metaphor of parenthood to express the notion of education is linked to the superposition between the roles of abbot, teacher and father. In fact, Bernard told Robert: « I begot you in religion by word and by example » (« et verbo et exemplo meo in religionem ego te genui »). The expression per evangelium gignere is, of course, biblical; and yet it is telling that Bernard develops it by inserting the reference “by word and example”, which is intimately connected with medieval models of teaching.12 The same idea of spiritual parenthood, with all the responsibilities it entails, can be observed in Bernard’s first letter to a former monk of his (also called Bernard), who had just been elected Pope Eugene iii: the abbot used the same biblical expression « I begot you in the Gospel » (per evangelium te genui)13 and stressed that he still felt the need to counsel and guide his spiritual son (« although I have laid aside the name of father, neither fears nor the anxieties of a father have left me, least of all the affection and heart of a father »).14 Neither Robert nor the future Pope Eugene iii had entered the monastery as children; as is well known, while in the early Middle Ages most monks had 11

Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon: « et haec dico, fili, non ut te confundam, sed ut tamquam filium carissimum moneam, quia, etsi multos habeas in Christo paedagogos, sed non multos patres. Nam, si dignaris, et verbo, et exemplo meo in religionem ego te genui. Nutrivi deinde lacte, quod solum adhuc parvulus capere poteras, daturus et panem, si exspectares ut grandesceres. Sed heu quam praepropere et intempestive ablactatus es! Et vereor ne totum quod foveram blandimentis, roboraveram adhortationibus, orationibus solidaveram, iamiamque evanescat, deficiat, pereat, et lugeam miser, non tam cassi laboris damnum quam damntae sobolis miserabilem casum » (San Bernardo, Lettere cit., vol. 1, p. 18). This whole passage is modelled on i Cor 4, 14–15: « non ut confundam vos haec scribo sed ut filios meos carissimos moneo, nam si decem milia pedagogorum habeatis in Christo sed non multos patres nam in Christo Iesu per evangelium ego vos genui » (« I write not these things to confound you: but I admonish you as my dearest children. For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you »). 12 For a nuanced reflection on the theme see Caroline Walker Bynum, Docere Verbo et Exemplo: An Aspect of Twelfth-Century Spirituality cit. 13 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 238 to pope Eugene iii, in San Bernardo, Lettere, ed. by Ferruccio Gastaldelli, vol. 2, Milano: Scriptorium Claravallense, Fondazione di studi cistercensi 1987, p. 92. 14 Ibidem, p. 94. On this theme see Marvin Döbler, Bernard of Clairvaux and religious education: an approach from the perspective of the history of religion, in Tanaseanu-Döbler and Döbler, Religious Education in Pre-Modern Europe cit., pp. 213–245: here 238–240.

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entered the monastery as children, as oblati or nutriti,15 from the late eleventh century and especially the twelfth, the tide turned, with adult converts becoming the majority. Therefore, the widespread use, in high medieval monastic sources, of the expression in religionem/per evangelium gignere to indicate the role played by a spiritual director’s role in a person’s first admittance to monastic life clearly applied to adult converts.16 The use of metaphors of parenthood to describe the process of monastic formation, even for adults, suggests that entering monastic life, regardless of one’s age and situation, was perceived as a transformative process (often called conversio) by which novices were guided in their transformation (rebirth) from their old selves (perceived as inferior) to their new (renewed, reformed) selves.17 Other metaphors which have a similar function are that of agriculture and medicine: in this case, the person who helps the monk (or monks) is a farmer who toils to help a seed or a sprout become a fruitful plant, or a doctor who helps a sick person regain health.18 As observed by Adam, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Perseigne between 1188 and 1221 and author of two letter-treatises on the monastic formation of novices,19 the word “novice” itself (novitius, novicius) came from novus, “new”. He made clear that this transformation required a delicate process which involved training (literally, “reforming”) the novices with great care so that they could be transformed into new individuals through their effort to live a better life.20 Adam was writing for the monks of a Cistercian 15 See Guerreau-Jalabert, Nutritus / oblatus cit. and De Jong, In Samuel’s Image cit. 16 See for example the fact that Peter of Celle presented a former monk of him as « dominus Fulco, quem per evangelium in Christo ego genui monachum », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., ep. 96 to Eskil of Lund, p. 400. 17 Karl F. Morrison, Understanding Conversion, Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, xii. 18 For some examples of agricultural metaphors see below; for the metaphor of the doctor see Peter Damian, ep. 3: « saluti monachorum pastoralis oculus vester invigilat et occulta diu vulnera in lucem producere et disciplinae cyrurgio secare non cessat » (Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 236), and Peter of Celle, ep. 24 to Peter the Venerable: « Dedisti ei et licentiam ut secundum cor tuum operetur, et laborantium officinas ingressus manibus tuis confectam medicinam pro cuiusque valetudine dispenset fideliter » in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 70. 19 For an introduction to Adam and his life see Long, Adam de Perseigne chanoine cit., pp. 83–100. 20 See for example Adam of Perseigne, ep. 5: « tu me compellis de novitate vitae philosophari, quomodo scilicet noviter conversi de saeculo in novum hominem valeant reformari » ; « revera necesse est ut convertentes de saeculo multa diligentia novae vitae splendoribus informentur, ut secundum sui nominis rationem deposito veteri homine, recte novitii nominentur » (Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., p. 112), and ep. 17: « novitius enim,

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monastery, and therefore for men who were at least fifteen; moreover, he clearly stated that he himself had not yet achieved the renewal that he was describing, which already offers an example of the conception of monastic formation as a lifelong learning process. Before addressing this theme, however, I would like to focus for a moment on the differences between entering a monastery for the first time and entering it as a monk who had been formed in another monastery. The text which has been mentioned above, in which Peter of Celle described a monk from another monastery who stayed for a time in his abbey of Saint-Rémi as « a brother whom I nourished (enutrivi) for a time » helps introduce the idea that, from the point of view of learning, there is surprisingly little difference between the representation of the learning process of an individual who entered monastic life for the first time and the adaptation process required by the entrance of a monk from another monastery to a new monastery, even if the stay was just temporarily. A good example of this is offered by a letter written by Anselm, then prior of Bec, to the archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc.21 In it, Anselm referred to two monks – one entering monastic life, one sent to spend some time in a different monastery – in remarkably similar terms. The first was the archbishop’s own nephew (also called Lanfranc), about whom Anselm stated: « he is so on his guard (cavet) against those things which he should avoid that he justifiably appears to none of us to be censurable, he so strives (studet) toward humble benevolence and benevolent humility, toward peace and silence and prayer that he is deservedly lovable to everyone ».22 The use of the verbs caveo and, even more, studeo, implies an individual effort of adapting to the expected behaviour. The successful adaptation to life in the community was marked by the creation of friendly bonds: the young man is described as amiable to everyone because of his merits, and it is stated that he made Anselm (as monastic

si rem sui nominis tenet, eo a veteris hominis deformitate exuitur, quo in novi hominis pulchritudiem per correctioris vitae studium reformatur » (Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., pp. 34–36). 21 On the relationship between the two men, see Richard W. Southern, Saint Anselm. A Portrait in a Landscape, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1990, pp. 39–66. 22 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc: « sic utique cavet a quibus est cavendum, ut nulli nostrum iure videatur reprehensibili; sic studet humili benignitati et benignae humilitati, sic quieti et silentio atque orationi, ut merito sit omnibus amabilis. Unde certe cotidie et ipse me de se laetum facit laetiorem, et ego illum – ut de communi proximorum dilectione taceam – vestro et suo merito dilectum habeam dilectorem », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190, transl. by Walter Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, vol. 1, Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercians Publications 1990 (Cistercian Studies series 96), p. 140.

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superior and, presumably, as spiritual mentor) happier of him every day, which also suggests a process of continuous improvement.23 The other monk, Osbern, was a monk of Christ Church who had been sent to spent two years in Bec because of the bad behaviour that he had displayed in his monastery. Anselm described his condition as follows: Your Dom Osbern, in fact, daily develops (pinguescit – literally, to grow fat or rich) admirably, both in his fervor for prayer seasoned with a sense of joy in his progress in knowledge (scientiae profectu) through perseverance in study, coolness of thinking, and a tenacious memory.24 Both texts refer to the monk’s individual progress, which suggests that adapting to a new monastery required a learning process similar to the one for novices. It may be objected that Osbern only had to learn because he had to redeem himself from his faults, but Anselm also wrote to Maurice, a monk of whom he was particularly fond and whom he had sent for a temporary stay at the monastery of Christ Church of Canterbury, inviting him to seize the opportunity to learn some things that he did not learn in Bec.25 He also declared that in planning the length of the stay they had to take into account what was advantageous for him (quod tibi expedit).26 Similarly, concerning the monk Guy of Bec, who was staying for a time in Canterbury, Anselm declared: « I admonish and entreat that, in the midst of other activities, he earnestly examine his life and daily progress in the good things which I hear about him from all who come here; and if any traces of the old man still remain in him he should abandon them unremittingly ».27 23

Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc of Canterbury: « unde certe cotidie et ipse me de se laetum facit laetiorem », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190. 24 Ibidem, p. 190: « domnus Osbernus vester utique et pietatis affectu hilaritate conditio in dies venerabiliter pinguescit, et scientiae profectu per studii instantiam et ingenii serenitatem tenacemque memoriam cotidie laudabiliter crescit. Non solum igitur ideo, quia nos vestra pariter copulat paterna, qua nos fraterne iactamus, dilectio; sed et eius exigentibus meritis tanta dilectionis mutae iucundamur conglutinamurque delectatione, ut iam separari non possimus absque utriusque animae scissura quadam et cordis laesione », transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury cit., p. 140. 25 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 64 to the monk Maurice, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 240. 26 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 43 to the monk Maurice and ep. 69 to the same, in ibidem, p. 300 and p. 254 respectively. 27 Anselm, ep. 75 to Lanfranc: « moneo et precor, ut studiose inter ipsas suas occupationes vitam su am discutiat, et in bonis, quae de illo ab omnibus inde venientibus audio, cotidie proficiat, et si qua in eo adhuc veteris hominis supersunt vestigia, ab iis assidue deficiat », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 268, transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury cit., p. 140.

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Being sent for a certain time to another monastery was but one of the many challenges that a monk (or, more rarely, a nun) could be called to face and that often involved a learning process. Particularly gifted individuals could be encouraged to further develop their skill, for example in singing or writing, but also their knowledge and intellectual abilities as well as leadership skills. This could be done by sending the person to a certain place to learn or by appointing them to specific duties in the monastery. Some example of the former have been mentioned above, and more will be given while discussing the role played by the physical environment in learning process.28 An example of the latter can be found in Goscelin of Saint-Bertin’s Liber Confortatorius, which mentions that a monk had made such exceptional progress (summe proficientem) that the abbot sent him to manage a small monastic dependency at Wormhoudt near Dunkirk.29 This would probably have served to develop the man’s leadership skills: it is well known that abbots selected, tested and trained their prospective successors by associating them with the management of the monastery and by allowing them to contribute to it in an increasingly active way.30 The archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury’s request that his nephew – who had just entered the monastery of Bec – be allowed to share as much as possible in the conversations of Prior Anselm may have been intended as a first step in this direction.31 An appointment, either formal or informal, to specific responsibilities and duties in the community, for example in the library, or as cellerarius, porter, masters of the novices or even prior or abbot, clearly required new knowledge and skills. Sometimes their acquisition is presented as directly caused by God, as in the letter addressed by an unknown monk to an abbot who had perhaps been a pupil of his, where it is stated that God has already taught the addressee 28 See also Micol Long, “Visiting Monks”. Educational Mobility in 11th and 12th Century Monasteries, in Mobilités monastiques de l’Antiquité tardive au Moyen Âge, ed by Olivier Delouis, Annick Peters-Custot, and Maria Mossakowska-Gaubert, Rome: École française de Rome, 2019 (Collection de l’École française de Rome 558), pp. 409–425. 29 « Sub sancto patre nostro Bertino, inclitus Dei agonista Winnocus militabat, iamque summe proficientem pater in quadam cella fratribus prefecerat » in Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Liber Confortatorius, book 4, chapter Humilitate Ascendendum (The Liber Confortatorius of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, ed. by Charles Hugh Talbot in Analecta Monastica, 3 s. cit, pp. 1–117: here p. 100), on which see Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, The Book of Encouragement and Consolation [Liber Confortatorius], transl. by Monika Otter, Cambridge: D.S. Brewer 2004, p. 125 and footnote 56. 30 Steven Vanderputten, Communities of Practice and Emotional Aspects of Loyalty cit., pp. 279–303. 31 Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 18 to Anselm: « ut vestri eum colloquii participem sepissime faciatis » (in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 99).

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many things, including how to attend to his office (quomodo intenderes tibi officio tuo).32 Sometimes, however, there is an explicit reference to the sudden need to acquire new skills, as in the letter where Peter the Venerable summarized the life of his mother, Raingard, who had become a nun in Marcigny, on the occasion of her death.33 The abbot of Cluny recalled how, after having led a rather contemplative life, she was called to active life, and specifically to the office of celleraria.34 To carry out her duties, she was forced to learn many things she did know, including how to cook (inexperta coquinae disciplinam addiscere cogebatur). We are not offered information about the way in which Raingard learned to cook: she was probably taught by the previous celleraria, who would have showed her the duties connected with the role, but it also likely that some of her fellow sisters – especially those who had more experience in the kitchen, possibly because they came from less noble families – would have helped her become proficient in the art of cooking. The help of fellow community members and friends was clearly crucial for people who had just been appointed to new roles, as attested by many letters. On the one hand, there is a subgenre of letters of advice, comparable in nature to that of the letters that counsel young novices, which focus on the challenge offered by the specific role which the addressee had recently taken on. For example, Adam of Perseigne wrote to a friend of his who had just been promoted to abbot, telling him that a new appointment deserved friendly congratulations as well as a « consolatory exhortation » (consolatoria exhortatione), since the difficult and delicate nature of all beginnings called for soothing care.35 Peter of Celle wrote to Hugh of Preuilly on the occasion of the latter’s election as abbot, and offered advice on the responsibilities and 32 William of Dijon (?), Letter to i. (=John of Fécamp?), in Jean Leclercq, Lettres spirituelles, in Analecta Monastica, 1 s., Città del Vaticano: Libreria Vaticana 1948 (Studia Anselmiana 20), p. 116. The letter is found in the f. 150–150v of the manuscript 1485 of the Biblioteca Angelica of Rome, a miscellanea copied toward the end of the thirteenth century, together with texts dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, including texts by John of Fécamp, which led the editor of this letter, Jean Leclercq, to speculate that it may have been addressed to him by William of Dijon. 33 Paolo Lamma, La madre di Pietro il Venerabile, in Bullettino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo, 75 (1963), p. 173–188. 34 Peter the Venerable, ep. 53 to his brothers: « ad Marthae eam ministerium transtulerunt, et propter singularem industriam, cellerariam esse monasterii praecaeperunt », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 165. 35 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 56 to the abbot of Saint Pierre of Couture: « amica congratulatione et consolatoria exhortatione eger novella creatio, et quidquid de suis initiis rude vel tenerum, congruis est delinitionibus confovendum » (Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 3, ed. by Jean Bouvet, Placide Deseille, Paris: Le Cerf 2015 [Sources Chrétiennes 572], p. 230).

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duties of the position. He declared that Hugh’s friends, in electing him, carried him « out from the security of the most tranquil port to the danger of the sea », implying that his new situation would be both dangerous and difficult,36 and he instructed Hugh on how to find a good balance between excessive severity and indulgence in dealing with his monks. This seems, indeed, a good example of a skill that was developed through practice and experience, and it is easy to understand how the advice of another abbot in this matter could be very useful. On the other hand, many letters also attest to the way in which friends could help each other in a practical way. The same Peter of Celle, in a letter addressed to the abbot of Cluny Hugh iv de Clermont, explained that he was sending one of his own monks, Stephen, together with his brother, so that he could be entrusted with the care of a certain religious house in Provence.37 Peter stressed that the men’s brother and the addressee himself were to act as guarantors, because Stephen was « new in this office and it is necessary that he have good helpers and counselors until he learn to walk by himself ».38 In general, and from a practical point of view, it has been widely acknowledged that training of a medieval monk or nun extended well beyond the time of the novitiate. Both the Benedictine Rule and the Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc of Canterbury (a set of monastic customs composed in the late eleventh century) considered the possibility of someone making his monastic profession while not knowing how to write and even read, despite having completed the novitiate.39 Such people would, in all probability, perfect their reading and writing skills in later years. Monks were also supposed to learn a good number of psalms, if not all of them, by heart and would recite them at fixed times.40 According to George H. Brown, « religious especially gifted by nature or grace may learn the Psalter within a year, but most took two to 36

Peter of Celle, ep. 36 to abbot Hugh of Preuilly: « de statione quietissimi portus ad marina discrimina transtulerunt amici tui » (in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 136). In the same letter collection, see also the letter of advice to Villain de Choiseul, recently appointed abbot of Molesme, in ibidem, as ep. 30, pp. 106–112. 37 Peter of Celle, ep. 127 to H. abbot of Cluny: « mitto fratrem Stephanum quem diligitis cum fratre suo B. quatinus eo pacto sub fratre suo domus nostre de Provincia curam habeat ut vos et fratrem eius eius fideiussores habeam de indemnitate bonorum nostrorum » (ibidem, p. 476). 38 « Est enim in hoc officio novus, et necesse est ut habeat bonos adiutores et consiliarios, donec per se ambulare didicerit ». 39 See Regula Benedicti cap. 58: « si non scit litteras […] » in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 244 and Lanfranc of Canterbury, Decreta, in Knowles and Brooke, The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc cit., p. 160: « si ignarus litterarum est […] ». 40 See in the Benedictine Rule, chapter 9: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office.

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three years ».41 The Regula Magistri explicitly recommends that the monks help each other in memorizing the Psalter.42 Training in music could also go well beyond the novitiate, especially in monasteries in which liturgy was important and particularly rich, diverse and difficult. According to Derek A. Olsen, who uses Gregory of Tours’ testimony, learning the Psalms by heart seems to have taken between six month and three years;43 Guido of Arezzo (d. after 1033) mentioned that it took roughly ten years to master the entire musical corpus of the Mass and the Office.44 As Scott Bruce argued, some of the intricacies of Cluny’s liturgy « were notoriously difficult to learn, unless one had grown up in the abbey ».45 Susan Boynton pointed out that Guido of Arezzo, like Agobard of Lyon two centuries earlier, complained that monastic singers (as well as secular ones) spent all of their time learning the art of singing « with assiduous and most foolish labor », instead of pursuing other more useful studies.46 Listing all the things that monks and nuns may need or happen to learn would be impossible, from how to exercise self-control in different aspects of life to acquiring practical skills (cleaning, practising artisanal crafts  …) and learning how to peacefully live and interact with others. Furthermore, some monks, especially under the wave of monastic reforms, seem to have perceived life as a continuous struggle not only to progress spiritually but also to surpass one’s limits again and again, for example in the mortification of their bodies, as shown by Peter Damian’s stories concerning how the monks of Fonte Avellana exhorted each other and helped each other to whip themselves more and more.47 On a theoretical level, the monastic ideal of humility meant that many authors represented themselves as learners, disciples on the path of spiritual 41 The Place of the Psalms in the Intellectual Culture of the Middle Ages, ed. by Nancy Elizabeth Van Deusen: Albany: State University of New York, 1999, p. 4 and Pierre Riché, Le Psautier: livre de lecture elementaire, in Études merovingiennes. Actes du colloque de Poitiers, Paris: Picard, 1952, p. 253–256. 42 La regle du Maitre, ed. by Adalbert de Vogue, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1964 (Sources chretiennes 106), p. 260; for an English translation see The Rule of the Master, transl. by Luke Eberle, Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications 1977 (Cistercian Studies Series 6). 43 Derek Olsen, Reading Matthew with Monks: Liturgical Interpretation in Anglo-Saxon England, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press 2015, p. 91. 44 Ibidem, p. 96. 45 Scott G. Bruce, Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism: The Cluniac Tradition, c. 900–1200, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2007, p. 87. 46 Boynton, Training for the Liturgy cit., p. 7. 47 Peter Damian, ep. 66 to Countess Bianca, par. 26 and 27 (Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3, ed. by Guido Innocenzo Gargano and Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Roma: Città Nuova 2002, p. 384).

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progress, claiming that they could not be considered masters or teachers because they still had a lot to learn. This is often applied to the author’s relationship with the addressee of the letter; for example, the letter-writer who had been asked to teach and instruct instead protested that he was still a learner.48 While it is often a passing reference, sometimes it is developed in a personal manner. An example of the latter case is Adam of Perseigne’s objection to the request to compose a treatise on monastic formation, based on the claim that had not yet achieved that salutary transformation into a new man that, according to him, novices had to undergo.49 Although the claim to be unsuitable to compose the requested work is almost omnipresent in monastic literary production, the way in which Adam developed it attests that full monks (and, indeed, even abbots) were not always perceived as having learned everything that was required for the role of monk simply because they completed the novitiate or because they had been monks for a long time: they could still have a lot to learn. Moreover, in a more general sense, all monks were supposed to be engaged in a lifelong learning process, where the monastery itself was a school and God the ultimate teacher. The conception of the monk as learner can be observed 48 See for example Peter Damian ep. 8 to G. presbyter of Ravenna: « super hoc kapitulo ego ipse interim scribo quod sentio, nimirum non ut magistrum discipulus doceam, sed utrum mei intellectus sententia tenenda sit discam » (Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 254–256) and Stephen of Chalmet, Epistola ad Novicios Sancti Sulpicii: « non ego tanquam emeritae militiae veteranus, tyrones instruo, sed quasi milies adhuc ad nova bella rudis, quae ad meam aeque sicut ad vestram vel confirmationem vel exhortationem valeant, profero » (Lettres des premiers premiers Chartreux, vol. 2. Les Moines de Portes. Bernard – Jean – Etienne, Paris: Cerf 1999 [Sources chrétiennes 274], p. 212), Peter of Celle, ep. 24 to Peter the Venerable: « Sapientiorem me non dolceo, sanctiorem non instruo, ferventiorem non excito, studiosiorem non provoco » (in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 76), Peter the Venerable, ep. 150 to Bernard of Clairvaux: « Videor, ut dicitur, docere Minervam. Verum ego Minervam non doceo; sed ut his, quae animo insederunt, perficiendis totam, quam poteris, operam impendas, toto nisu admonere satago », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 367. 49 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 17: « Rem certe postulasti difficilem, ut quo modo novitii instituantur edoceam, qui nec fui in mea conversione novitius, nec adhuc in mea hac conversatione maneo innovatus. Cum enim aliquando canonicae sinceritatis albedine infelici commercio in monachum denigra erim, et nunc, Deo volente, de plena illa et peregrina nigredine ad candorem virginis liliosae reversus sim, licec me paenicentem misericors illa susceperit, non tamen in novitium mel recepit. Et certe cum veteratae deformitatem nigredinis nondum a me praesumptae institutio novitatis obliteret, quo pacto tu me philosophari compellis de sanctae splendoribus novitatis? Novitius enim, si rem sui nominis tenet, eo a veteris hominis deformitate exuitur, quo in novi hominis pulchritudinem per correctioris vitae studium reformatur. Ego, ego nondum exutus a veteri, nescio tibi excidere formam novi », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., p. 34.

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in a particularly clear way when monastic life is compared with secular religious life: while secular priests had to preach and teach others, monks were supposed to only be concerned with their selves and their progress on the path of Salvation.50 The self-representation of many high medieval monastic letterwriters testifies to their struggle between the desire to teach and instruct and the need to justify it, because it was perceived as not appropriate for a monk. At the same time, the letters offer evidence of the crucial importance, in monastic culture, of the notion of individual progress, often expressed through the verb proficio (to progress).51 Letters written to advise monks on how to better progress on the path of spiritual progress as well as references to spiritual progress (or, more frequently, to a perceived lack of it) are numerous. Epistolary relationships themselves could be explicitly framed as either an opportunity to help someone progress or to be helped by him or her along the path of progress.52 Some authors seem to have been more sensible to the perception of monastic life as a lifelong learning process, theorizing it as an endless journey toward perfection. This is the case of Bernard of Clairvaux, who used de bono in melius semper proficere as an epistolary salutatio53 and famously declared: Anyone who does not advance in the school of Christ is not worthy of his teaching, especially when we are so placed that if we do not advance we must inevitably fall back. Let no one say: I have had enough. I shall stay where I am. It is good enough for me to remain the same as I was yesterday and the day before. Anyone who thinks like that pauses on the way and stands still on the ladder where the patriarch saw no one but those who were going up or coming down. Therefore I say: “He who thinks he stands firmly should beware a fall”.54

50 As argued by Caroline Walker Bynum, Docere verbo et exemplo cit., p. 107 and Gaelle Jeanmart, Génealogie de la docilité, Paris: Vrin 2007, p. 93 e sgg, esp. 226. 51 To give some examples: Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 119 to abbot Bernier of Bonneval: « de virtutibus animae vestrae quaerere superfluum aestimavi, quia illam de die in diem proficere credo », in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 230. 52 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 107 to Thomas of Beverley: « aut proficere ex te cupimus, aut prodesse tibi », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 500. 53 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 254 to Guarinus of Aulps, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit, p. 170. 54 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 385 to the monks of Saint-Bertin, par. 1, in ibidem, transl. in The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, transl. by Bruno Scott James, introd. by Beverly Mayne Kienzle [1953], Kalamazoo: Institute of Cistercian Studies 1998, p. 491.

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To explain this, he used the metaphor of Jacob’s ladder (Genesis 28: 10–19), which the angels of God ascended and descended, to point out that none stood still. William of Saint-Thierry also declared in his Golden Epistle addressed to the Carthusians of Mont-Dieu that every religious condition was characterized by three degrees, that of the beginners, of those who are making progress, and of the perfects, and that each of these states has its own goals. According to William, every religious person was supposed to continuously ask themselves what they were missing, and continuously strive toward spiritual progress, without ever considering oneself satisfied.55 The ideas of William of Saint-Thierry and of Bernard of Clairvaux on the matter of endless learning are therefore very similar, which is not surprising considering their long-lasting friendship and the reciprocal influence that they exerted upon each other.56 As is well known, William left his Benedictine monastery of Saint-Thierry to pursue a more austere life in the Cistercian monastery of Signy, and he subsequently fell under the charm of the semi-eremitical life of the Carthusians.57 A strong focus on the individual’s quest for spiritual progress may offer a reason to transition to a community which practised a more austere lifestyle, and it is not surprising to see that the theme of the endless research of spiritual progress was popular among Cistercian authors, as well as in the works of the monastic reformer Peter Damian. However, it can be found in the work of representatives of more traditional Benedictine orders, too: for example, it is richly attested in Anselm of Canterbury’s letter collection.58 While Bernard and Anselm would have differed regarding an individual’s right to pursue perfection outside the boundaries of their own monastery,59 the two great monas55 This idea appears both in the Letter to the Brethren at Mont Dieu or Golden Epistle (in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Lettre aux frères du Mont-Dieu [Lettre d’or], ed. by Jean Déchanet, Paris: Cerf 1976 [Sources chrétiennes 223], p. 174) and in the De Contemplando Deo (in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, La contemplation de Dieu, ed. by Jacques Hourlier, Paris: Cerf 1968 [Sources Chrétiennes 61 bis], p. 81). 56 See Brian Patrick McGuire, Bernard and William of Saint-Thierry, in A Companion to Bernard of Clairvaux, ed. McGuire, Leiden: Brill 2001, pp. 108–132. 57 Long, Guillaume de Saint-Thierry et le chemin de la formation monastique cit. pp. 351–364. 58 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 184 to the nun M.: « Nullus igitur, filia dulcissima, virtutum profectus cardi tuo sufficiat, quin semper ad maiora proficere studeat. Nullus enim potest vitare defectum, nisi qui se semper extendit ad profectum », and ep. 167 to Ida of Boulogne: « Qui enim dixit: “pauci sunt electi”, non utique dixit quam pauci, ut quantumcumque nobis videamur profecisse, semper iudicemus nos nondum nisi ad initium proficiendi pervenisse », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2. Arcivescovo di Canterbury, t. 1, ed. by Inos Biffi and Costante Marabelli, Milano: Jaca Book 1990, p. 216 and 166 respectively. See also ep. 98, 178, 183, 189, 205, 230, 231, 375, 420, 403. 59 In a famous letter, Anselm warned a novice against the temptation of being unsatisfied with his monastery and of seeking transfer to a better one: ep. 37 to the novice Lanzo,

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tic thinkers would have agreed that monastic life was a lifelong process of personal improvement, where the help received by others, and in particular by the other members of the community, was crucial. 2.2

The Physical Environment

The physical environment was crucial for monastic life and its various activities.60 In many high medieval sources, the reference to the enclosed physical space of the monastery (monasterium, claustrum) or the building (domus) or physical place (locus) played an important part in defining what it meant to be a monk. After all, in both Latin and several modern languages, the term “cloister” (claustrum), which in itself designated a very specific part of a building,61 is often used to designate, metonymically, the whole monastery, and “cloistered life” can be used as a synonym for monastic life. For example, Peter Damian defined monks as those who lived in a monastery (in claustris), under the authority of one abbot (sub abbatis imperio) and according to a rule (regulariter).62 References to the perceived importance of the physical environment in monastic life can be found in different kinds of letters: letters of vocation, letters written to congratulate someone who recently embraced monastic life, letters written persuade someone from leaving their community and letters written to recall them back. Such texts often refer to the physical environment of the monastery (monasterium, claustrum, domus, locus), frequently in conjunction with the social environment (the brothers and/or the abbot). Typical

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in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 180. He also advised against a transfer in ep. 355 to Farmann, Ordwi, Benjamin, monks of Canterbury, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2. Arcivescovo di Canterbury, t. 2, ed. by Inos Biffi, Aldo Granata, and Costante Marabelli, Milano: Jaca Book 1993, pp. 270–272. On this theme see Glauco Maria Cantarella, Lo spazio dei monaci, in Uomo e spazio nell’alto medioevo: 4–8 aprile 2002 (Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo, 50), Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo, 2003, pp. 805–847; Monastères et espace social. Genèse et transformation d’un système de lieux dans l’Occident médiéval, ed. by Michel Lauwers, Brepols: Turnhout 2014; Megan Cassidy-Welch, Monastic Spaces and their Meanings: Thirteenth-Century English Cistercian Monasteries, Turnhout: Brepols 2001, and Megan Cassidy-Welch, Space and Place in Medieval Contexts, in Parergon 27 (2010), pp. 1–12. That is, the « the broad passage or gallery or covered arcade [covered with tiles or lead] surrounding an open square or rectangular space and giving direct access to all the buildings and apart », see Paul Meyvaert, The Medieval Monastic Claustrum, in Gesta 12 (1973), pp. 53–59. Peter Damian, ep. 44 to the hermit Teuzo, in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 176.

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metaphors used to refer to the monastery are that of a school, a safe port where the person can find peace, or a garden of delights, a heavenly paradise.63 The goal was to highlight the pleasantness of monastic life as well as the notion of a physical environment which, while not bringing salvation by itself, offered the best possible conditions to facilitate an individual’s ability to achieve salvation, whereas other environments hindered the individual’s chances to do so. An example of this can be found in a verse letter of vocation written by the abbot Baudri of Bourgueil, in which he described in idyllic terms his monastery of Bourgueil and stated that it protected the monks from the concerns of the secular world and fostered in its lap the disciples of perpetual peace.64 Similarly, Peter Abelard, in his Rule for the nuns of the Paraclete, introduced his description of the suitable location of the monastery by saying: « although a place (locus) cannot bring salvation, it still provides many opportunities for easier observance and safeguarding of religion, and many aids or impediments to religion depend on the place ».65 It must be considered that there is often a close connection between living in a certain place and practising a specific form of religious life. The bishop Ivo of Chartres rhetorically wondered which was the right way of life (aptus vitae modus) for his correspondent Robert, and which place (locus) he should 63 On the representation of the monastery as a garden see Jean Leclercq, La vie parfaite. Points de vue sur l’essence de l’état religieux, Turnhout: Brepols 1948, pp. 161–169 and Prédicateurs bénédectins aux XI et XII siècles, IV. Sermon anonymes sur la vie claustrale, in Revue Mabillon 33 (1943), pp. 71–72. For some examples see Odo of Ourscamp (or of Soissons), ep. 8 to the abbot Alexander of Citeaux: « In paradiso voluptatis, de vepribus et mundi spinis ereptum, me Dominus posuerat: in horto quidem deliciarum ubi cypri cum nardo, nardus et crocus, fistula et cinnamonium myrrah et aloes cum universis primis unguentis; in horto quidem deliciarum, ubi malorum emissiones punicorum cum pomorum fructibus, ubi fons vel puteus aquarum viventium quae fluunt impetu de Libano, ubi pulchritunis varietas et odor agri pleni cui benedixit Dominus », ed. by Jean Leclercq in Analecta Monastica, 3 s. cit., p. 156 and Nicholas of Clairvaux, ep. 7 to Ranier of Therouanne, prior of Clairvaux, and the senior monks, where he describes Clairvaux as « vallis nemorosa, vallis habuns, paradisus deliciarum, gratiarum orto » (Wahlgren-Smith, The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., p. 28). 64 Baudri of Bourgueil, ep. 77 to Gerard of Loudun: « Ipse locum novi qui floridus ocia gignit, / Libros et cartas et cuncta studentibus apta. / Burgulius locus est et Cambio clicitur amnis, / Flumine perpetuo qui vitreus irrigat ortos. / Hocque loco locus est, a turbis paene remotus, / Qui tutat fratres a sollicitudine mundi / Et fovet in gremio diuturnae pacis alumnos / Prata virent iuxta, quibus est contermina silva », in Baudri de Bourgueil, Poèmes, ed. by Jean-Yves Tilliette, vol. 1, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 1998, p. 75. 65 Peter Abelard, Institutio seu Regula Sanctimonialium par. 12: « Quamvis locus non salvet, multas tamen praebet opportunitates ad religionem facilius observandam et tutius muniendam et multa religionis auxilia vel impedimenta ex eo consistunt », in The Letter Collections of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 370.

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choose to walk in God’s path (« quis sit aptus vitae modus vel quis locus “ad ambulandum in via Dei” eligendus sit »).66 Even if he did not mention it explicitly, he was alluding to monastic life, to which his addressee eventually converted. The use of the conjunction vel suggests that choosing a way of life and choosing a place to practice it are on the same level and are complementary: had they been opposed, the author would have used aut. In fact, in the case of monastic life, to choose a way of life also meant to choose the place to practice it, and vice versa. While in this letter Ivo did not have any particular interest in recommending one specific order rather than another, letters of vocation written by abbots are much more explicit in identifying one specific type of monastic observance (or even a specific monastery) as the best – or even the only right – choice. Peter the Venerable declared in a letter: « the place and the path to beatitude is found [here] » (« inventus est locus et via beatitudinis »),67 meaning, of course, his own monastery of Cluny. Similarly, Bernard of Clairvaux wrote to some recent converts that Clairvaux offered a place suitable and agreeable (« locus autem apud nos idoneus et delectabilis »), not to rejoice like in the secular world, to cry over what had been committed in the secular world, where evil was destroyed and good was taught.68 In a world of competing observances, choosing a particular place to lead one’s monastic life also meant adopting a certain approach to the monastic ideal and lifestyle, and this strengthened the interdependency between what a monk learned and the environment in which he learned it. References to the importance of the physical context for monastic life also appear specifically in discourses about learning. On the one hand, we find references to the belief that residing in one place, without wandering around, was an important condition for a successful learning process. On the other hand, letters contain evidence that monks (or, more rarely, nuns) could be sent to another monastery specifically because it was believed that a change of scenery would trigger a new learning process.69 Of course, it was the institutional 66

Ivo of Chartres, ep. 37 to Robert, with reference to Psalmi 127: 1 (« beati omnes qui timent Dominum qui ambulant in viis eius »), in Yves de Chartres, Correspondance, ed. by Jean Leclercq, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 1949, p. 154. 67 Peter the Venerable, ep. 9 to a certain Peter scholasticus, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 15. 68 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 462 to some recent converts: « Locus autem apud nos idoneus et delectabilis, non ad gaudendum sicut in saeculo, sed ad lugendum quod commissum est in saeculo: ubi quidem multum subtiliter et utiliter praedicatione seniorum, sed multo subtilius et utilius examinatione conversationis eorum, et in malo destruimur, et instruimur ad bonum », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 644. 69 See the examples mentioned above of the monk of Saint-Rémi and of Osbern of Canterbury pp. 52–53 and Long, Visiting Monks cit.

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and social environment that really mattered, but the fact that the physical environment is often mentioned suggests that from a symbolic point of view it played an important role.70 These two elements are not incompatible: rather, together they corroborate the hypothesis of a strong connection between the learning process and its environment. The idea that physical place played an important role in learning processes leaves traces in the rhetoric, particularly in the use of metaphors. For example, some authors represented the physical space as being able to teach in itself: in this sense, one could learn simply by living in a certain place, just as one could be saved simply by living in a certain place. Peter Damian, in composing a praise of eremitical life, celebrated the cell as a « wondrous workshop of spiritual effort » (spiritalis exercicii mirabilis officina), as a « Chaldean furnace (caminus ille Chaldaicus), where holy young men by their prayers curb the passion of raging fires, and by the ardor of their faith extinguish the massive flames cracking around them: where indeed the bonds are burned away and the limbs do not feel the heat », as a « kiln in which the vessels of the heavenly king are fashioned (fornax, ubi superni regis vasa formantur), where they acquire an everlasting luster under the hammer blows of penance and the shaving file of wholesome correction » and as a « storehouse of heavenly merchants » (negotiatorum caelestium apotheca) and « tent of the holy army » (sacrae miliciae tabernaculum).71 All of these notions (workshop, furnace, storehouse and army tent) suggest the ideas of the cell as a place ideally suited and equipped for a very specific activity: to forge, to commerce or to fight. In the case of the first two, the notion of transformation or exchange is crucial, suggesting that there the old individual will be replaced by a newer and better one; the war metaphors are, of course, linked to the idea of fighting against the devil. Peter Damian even addressed the cell as a sentient being, with “you” (tu), listing the many things the cell – by itself, it would seem – accomplished:

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See for example Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon; « you left your Order (Ordinem tuum), your brethren ( fratres), your place (locum), and myself (me) » and ep. 87 to the regular canon Oger: « I praise you also that you did not seek out a new master (non novum magistrum vel locum requisisti), but returned to the familiar cloister from which you had set out and to the father whom you had left (ad patrem sub quo profeceras) », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit. p. 18 and p. 430 respectively. Peter Damian, ep. 28 to the hermit Leo of Sitris, in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 2, ed. by Guido Innocenzo Gargano and Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Roma: Città Nuova 2001, p. 142. I use here on the English translation in Peter Damian, Letters, transl. by Owen J. Blum, Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1989, vol. 1. Letters 1–30, pp. 281–282.

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O cell, a dwelling totally devoted to the spirit, where you make proud men humble, gluttons sober, cruel men kind, angry men mild, and hateful men fervent in fraternal charity. You are the curb of an idle tongue, and you bind lustful joints with the cincture of the brightest chastity. You inspire light-hearted men to again become serious, jesters to give up their buffoonery, and garrulous men to restrain themselves in strictest silence.72 The cell is explicitly presented as a teacher (magistra), who « knows how to lift men to the heights of perfection and to bring them to the pinnacle of complete holiness »,73 and shapes individuals so that they can be a dressed stone fit for building the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem. Peter is not the only author who styled the cell as an active teaching agent in itself: William of Saint-Thierry also defined it as a workshop (officina) of piety, able to lead the man to the fullness of perfection, explaining that the cell was able to detect if the person who lived in it was unworthy, and not its “true son”, in which case it would quickly expel him as an abortion, like useless and harmful food.74 According to him, the cell would turn into a hostile environment, a prison, a tomb. William subsequently explained that in reality there are two cells, an exterior and physical one and an interior and spiritual one: the hermit must love them both and must give to each the honour it is due. Elsewhere in his work, William also described the cell as an infirmary (valetudinarium) for the ill, which again suggests it perception as a place which makes possible a change for the better.75 72 « O cella spiritale prorsus habitaculum, quae de superbis humiles, de gulosis sobrios, de crudelibus pios, de iracundis mites, de odiosis reddis in fraterna caritate ferventes. Tu ociosae linguae frenum, tu luxuriosis renibus nitidae castitatis adhibes cingulum. Tu facis, ut leves quique ad gravitatem redeant, ut iocosis scurrilitatibus parcant, ut vaniloqui se sub districta silentii censura constringant » (Pier Damiani, Lettere cit., vol. 2, p. 148). For more examples, see the rest of the text, as well as p. 144. 73 « tu purissimae simplicitatis magistra ac omnino fraudulentae duplicitatis ignara. Tu facis, ut vagos quosque Christi catena coerceat, ut indisciplinati moribus a sua se pravitate compescant. Tu nosti homines ad perfectionis culmen evehere atque ad consummatae sanctitatis fastigium sublimare ». 74 William of Saint-Thierry, Letter to the Brothers of Mont-Dieu: « Ideo sicut dictum est, alienum qui non est filius, citius a se proiicit quasi abortivum, evomit tamquam inutilem ac noxium cibum » (Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Lettre aux frères du Mont-Dieu cit., p. 172). I rely here on the English translation in William of Saint-Thierry, The Golden Epistle. A letter to the Brethren at Mont Dieu, transl. by Theodore Berkeley, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications 1971, p. 23. 75 « Valetudinarium tuum, o aegrote, o languide, cella tua est » (Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Lettre aux frères du Mont-Dieu cit., p. 220).

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This exaltation of the cell is not surprising in the works of authors who were discussing eremitical life. In the case of coenobitic life, the discussion of the role of the physical space as a learning agent is more articulated, because of the presence of very different “learning spaces”. I would now like to explore some examples of how different spaces of the monastery could be the natural setting of specific kinds of learning. Of course, to the idea that the various spaces of the monastery could be “learning spaces”, one could object that, according to the Benedictine Rule, the novices had to have their own separate spaces in the monastery, for meditating, eating and sleeping.76 However, as I have argued in section 2.1 above, learning did not stop when a monk or a nun officially joined the community. In addition, it is not yet clear to what extent the Rule’s prescriptions had been implemented in any particular medieval monastery. Well into the eleventh century, Lanfranc of Canterbury’s Monastic Constitutions, with practical good sense, stated that novices should sleep in the cell of the novices « or if there is not such a cell, in the dormitory »,77 showing that not all monasteries had separate quarters for novices. This was true not solely for small monasteries: Isabelle Cochelin has convincingly argued that at Cluny, well into the eleventh century, there were no separate quarters for novices. Adult newcomers must therefore have been incorporated in the community, where they would learn precisely by imitating the monks, and thanks to their help.78 This may explain why certain monasteries seem to have welcomed a fixed, small number of new recruits every year: this was probably done on purpose, to make it easier to integrate them, without having them form a separate group in the monastery.79 In any case, even for the monasteries which did have separate quarters for novices, or which, like Cluny, built them in the late eleventh or twelfth century, only some activities were performed by the novices as a separate group, such as sleeping or eating (for evident disciplinary reasons). Apart from some educational moments with the novice master, for a large part of the day they were, as a rule, integrated in to the ordinary life of the monastery and, in particular, its liturgical dimension.80 This allowed them to learn the customs of 76 Regula Benedicti, cap. 58: « cella noviciorum, ubi meditent et manducent et dormiant », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 242. 77 Knowles and Brooke, The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc cit., here pp. 104–110. 78 Isabelle Cochelin, Peut-on parler de noviciat à Cluny pour les Xe-XIe siècles ?, in Revue Mabillon, n.s. 9 (1998), pp. 17–52, here at pp. 33–35. 79 Steven Vanderputten, Monastic Recruitment in an Age of Reform: New Evidence for the Flemish Abbey of Saint-Bertin (10th–12th centuries), in Revue Benedictine 112 (2012), pp. 232–251. 80 The fundamental reference here is Mirko Breitenstein, Das Noviziat im hohen Mittelalter : zur Organisation des Eintrittes bei den Cluniazensern, Cisterziensern und Franziskanern, Lit: Wien, Berlin 2008 (Vita regularis; Abhandlungen, 38). See also Mirko Breitenstein,

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the community, making almost any area of the monastery a potential space for learning. The fact that a strong link could be established between the teaching and learning of specific elements of monastic life and specific physical spaces of the monastery has already been demonstrated. Mette Birkedal Bruun showed how Hélinand of Froidmont, in his second sermon for Palm Sunday, used the references to the various spaces of the monastery touched by the Palm Sunday procession to structure his discourse and tie his teaching to the daily life of the monks, making them more memorable.81 A comparable method is used by the abbot of Cluny Peter the Venerable in one of his miracle stories, as pointed out by Marc Saurette, who observed that: Cluniac monasteries are the primary site of miracles recorded in Peter’s Book on Miracles, with specific places highlighted as central to the narratives. Solitary monks sleeping in the workshops without permission or new arrivals in the novices’ cells, for example, seem to receive the most fearful demonic visitors. Monks in the cemetery encounter the undead. Frustrated demons have a disgusting impulse to leave the monastery through the latrine.82 Sermons and accounts of visions are but two of the type of sources which attest to us this practice of anchoring knowledge intended for transmission to physical spaces, especially if they are familiar to the audience. Letters, like other narrative sources such as chronicles, can also contain examples of “anchored story-telling”. For example, Guibert of Gembloux praised the life of the monks of Mortemer, with whom he lived for eight months, by constantly referring to the physical context of the monastery.83 And Peter of Celle, while describing The Novice Master in the Cistercian Order, in Generations in the Cloister: Youth and Age in Medieval Religious Life, ed. Sabine von Heusinger and Annette Kehnel, Lit Verlag 2008, pp. 145–155. 81 Mette Birkedal Bruun, Mapping the Monastery. Hélinand of Froidmont’s Second Sermon for Palm Sunday, in Prédication et Liturgie au Moyen Âge, ed. by Nicole Bériou and Franco Morenzoni, Turnhout: Brepols 2009, pp. 183–199. The use of physical spaces (real or imagined) for mnemonic purposes has famously been studied by Mary Carruthers, who referred to the role of spaces in medieval monasteries in Mary Carruthers, The Craft of Thought: Meditation, Rhetoric and the Making of Images, 400–1200, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998, p. 276. 82 Marc Saurette, Making Space for Learning in the Miracle Stories of Peter the Venerable, in Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages cit, p. 111– 140, here p. 127–139. 83 Guibert of Gembloux, ep. 8 to Philip Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae : Quae in codice B.R. BRUX. 5527–5534 Inveniuntur, ed. by Albert

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the life of the Carthusian monks of Mont-Dieu, compared the monks to busy ants bringing back from the church (ab oratorio) to their caves or dens (that is, to their cells) all sorts of spiritual treasures, and to doves when they entered their tabernacles. He also described and praised their appropriate behaviour in the various spaces of the monastery: in the choir, in the cells at night, in the cloister and in the refectory, stating, for example: « their eyes in the monastery are like “the fish pool in Esebon”, in the sky like the eagle, in the cloister like the dove, in the refectory like the mole ».84 Here, however, I would like to focus on some elements which are characteristically typical of the epistolary genre, first of all the use of references to physical spaces as a way to bridge the gap between letter-writer and addressee, in the context of a reflection on learning and progressing spiritually. A first interesting example in this sense is offered by a letter addressed by Basil, prior of La Grande Chartreuse from 1151 until 1173/4, to Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, in 1151. In this letter, aimed at fostering the relationship between the letter-writer and the addressee and between their two communities, Basil recalled that he himself had entered monastic life in Cluny.85 The theme of learning is important in this letter, since Basil thanked Peter (and, probably, the whole community of Cluny) for the instruction that he received in Cluny and praised the community’s discipline based on his personal experience. He rhetorically wondered whether anyone could take away the discipline of the choir, the cloister, the dormitory, the refectory of Cluny, and of all the other Derolez, Eligius Dekkers, and Roland Demeulenaere, vol. 1, Turnhout: Brepols 1988 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 66), pp. 122–123: « in claustro non fabulis et otio, sed lectioni et discendis cantibus vacatur […]. Hospites quoque religiosi ad communem mensam omnes coguntur, reliqui extra claustrum in caminatis aularum similibus decentissime disponuntur. Porro in refectorio non edacitati aut epotandis calicibus intenditur, sed naturali in simplicitate necessitati consulitur et propensiori diligentia quorundam mentes lectione magis quam corpora carnali refectione pinguescunt […]. In dormitorio autem omnia nuda et aperta et tanta omnium conventionum amputatio, ut pro sacrilegio imputetur ibi quemquam alium vel respexisse. Lectisternia prorsus nulla nisi regularia; lectuli ipsi non pannorum protensione obumbrati, sed feni stipula adeo respersi, ut nichil in eis possit abscondi ». 84 Peter of Celle, ep. 28 to the abbot Hardouin of Larrivour, « Videres singulos tanquam formicas impigras ad speluncam suam ab oratorio, tanquam de agro, manipulos iustitie referre, spicas orationum, fasciculos mirre, id est congeriem passionis Christi dilecti sui inter ubera in principali cordis sui collocantes » and: « Oculi eorum in monasterio comparantur “piscine in Esebon”, in celo aquile, in claustro columbe, in refectorio talpe », in ibidem, p. 94 and 98 respectively. 85 Basil prior of La Grande Chartreuse, ep. 187 to Peter the Venerable: « Nonne enim sum ego ille quern pauperem et inopema non spernebatis, sed amabatis, fouebatis, et ad onus suaue religionis, piis studiis insrruebatis? », Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 436.

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laboratories (officina) from a man whose soul was subject to God.86 It is clear that by listing the physical environments, Basil was immediately calling to mind the activities that took place in them, based on the knowledge that he shared with his addressee and with the presumably monastic listeners or readers of the letter. A similar attitude is shown by the abbot Peter of Celle in the two letters that he addressed to his monks of Montier-la-Celle while he was temporarily away from the monastery. In the first one, written to exhort his monks to good conduct, he stated that his soul did not withdraw from them, neither by day or by night. Instead, he would, in spirit, « go now around the oratory, now the cloister, now the chapter house, now the refectory, now the dormitory, now other parts of the monastery », and while he would be troubled by any irregularity, he would « cheerfully and joyfully join in thanksgiving at good living ».87 I think that this passing reference shows not only, once again, that important physical environments of the monastery could stand for the activities that took place in them but also that these activities were always subject to evaluation to identify and correct irregularities – and therefore continuously offered learning opportunities to the monks. In a second letter, which is also addressed to his community while he was away, Peter admonished his monks and reiterated that his mind continually went out to them. What is particularly interesting is that the abbot recounts a dream that he had and that powerfully disturbed him: On a certain night I seemed to be present with you in the monastery with certain of the brothers and, so far as one can speak in this way about a dream, the community by chance was in the choir and the high altar was prepared as if for the mass, and on the altar cloth, by I know not which accident, the body of the Lord was laying where it had fallen out of the phyx. When therefore it had been sought out and it was found again, it was discovered to have been nibbled by mice and flies and polluted with fly droppings.88 86 Ibidem: « Potest avelli a homine cuius anima deo subiecta Est, chori, claustri, dormitorii, refectorii Cluniacensis, ceterarumque nobilium officinarum omni homini emulanda disciplina? ». 87 Peter of Celle, ep. 41 to the prior and community of Montier-la-Celle: « modo oratorium, modo claustrum, modo capitulum, modo refectorium, modo dormitorium, modo cetera officia circuibo, ut ad inordinationem quidem molestabor, ad bonam vero conversationem hylaris et gaudens congratulabor » in ibidem, p. 158. 88 Peter of Celle, ep. 42 to brother A. and the community of Montier-La-Celle: « Quadam nocte videbar adesse vobis in monasterio presens cum quibusdam fratribus et, quantum de sompnio dici potest, conventus forte in choro, altareque maius paratum quasi ad missam, et super pallam altaris, nescio quo casu, corpus Domini de pyxide elapsum iacebat.

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Like the previous one, this letter attests to Peter’s desire to breach the physical separation and to be present, at least in spirit, with his community. The attention to physical spaces and objects must be understood in this context. The monastery, the choir, the high altar, the altar cloth and the phyx which normally contains the consecrated host were clearly spaces and objects that Peter knew so well that he could see them before him even if he was away from the monastery, and he knew that he shared this familiarity with the recipients of his letters. On the basis of this shared knowledge, Peter translated in visual terms a perceived threat to the heart of the community. He stated that he immediately feared that some of the celebrants might have celebrated the ritual with consciences « less pure than it is fitting ».89 He then proceeded to offer teachings about the body of Jesus, and he concluded by identifying the « fly droppings » of his dream with irregularities in the monastery. Once again, the reference to the physical spaces is crucial in expressing this: What then of the apparitions of vanity heard or seen, that is of clamor from the chapter, of the general or the pittance from the refectory, of sleep from the dormitory, of sign language or laughter from the cloister, of the sight of unseemly dalliance of men and women outside the cloister?90 Again, all these crucial spaces are the witnesses, and perhaps the training grounds, of the monks, who were supposed to show the behaviour appropriate to each space: for example, talking was allowed in some spaces but not in others.91 Adapting to these behaviours would undoubtedly have been a kind of situated learning. Other more specific kinds of learning would also have been closely linked to the physical setting: learning about writing in the scriptorium (or in the spaces normally used for copying books, if there was not a specific room for that purpose), about singing in the choir, about the affairs of the monastery and their management in chapter, about cooking in the kitchen and gardening in the garden. The example of the mother of Peter the Venerable, who had Cum ergo quesitum reperiretur, inventum est a muribus et muscis corrosum et infectum stercoribus muscarum », in ibidem, p. 163. 89 Ibidem, p. 163. 90 « quid tunc phantasmata vanitatis audite vel vise, clamoris scilicet de capitulo, generalis vel pitatie de refectorio, sompnii de dormitorio, signi vel risus de claustro, speciei male blandimentis viri vel femine de foro ». 91 The idea that there is an appropriate behaviour for the difference spaces of the monastery is clearly present in Peter’s description of the Carthusian monks of Mont-Dieu in his ep. 28 to abbot Hardouin of Larrivour, in ibidem, pp. 94–100.

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to acquire « the art of the kitchen » (« coquinae disciplinam »), has already been mentioned.92 The kitchen (or, more precisely, the cloistered kitchen, if the monastery had two kitchens93) would of course have been the natural context for such learning; the fact that all monks and nuns were supposed to take turns there94 already means that they would all acquire some kitchen skills. Although in the bigger monasteries most of the cooking was actually done in the lay kitchen, the importance attributed to the monk’s activities in the coquina regolaris should not be underestimated, as it was considered an important occasion to learn humility.95 This offers a good example of the way in which all the activities that took place in the monastery, including the most practical and humble, were considered part of the lifelong learning process through which monks and nuns were supposed to perfect themselves and get closer to God. An informal training process can also be presumed for the role of porter of the monastery. According to the Benedictine Rule, if the porter of the monastery needed help, he had to be given a younger monk as an assistant.96 The specific reference to the helper’s young age could be linked to the fact that he was supposed to help the older porter (who, according to the Rule, had to be a wise older monk, senex sapiens) with the tasks that required physical strength, but it is also possible that the “assistant porter”, having learned the duties connected with the office (and with the physical environments where it was performed), was expected, one day, to replace the previous porter. The role of the porter was one of the many points for controversy between Cluniacs and Cistercians in the twelfth century, as attested by Peter the Venerable’s letter 28 to Bernard of Clairvaux. In this text, the abbot of Cluny defended himself from the accusation that in Cluniac monasteries the porter was not always a senex (by arguing that it is far more important that he is a wise man, a sapiens) 92 Peter the Venerable, ep. 53 to his brothers: « inexperta coquinae disciplinam addiscere cogebatur », Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 165. 93 Isabelle Cochelin, Deux cuisines pour les moines : coquinae dans les coutumiers du XIe siècle, in Enfermements II. Règles et dérèglements en milieu clos (IVe–XIXe siècle), ed. by Isabelle Heullant-Donat, Julie Claustre, Élisabeth Lusset, and Falk Bretschneider, Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne 2015, p. 89–113. 94 Regula Benedicti chap. 35, 1: « Fratres sibi invicem seruiant et nullus excusetur a coquinae officio ». 95 Bernard de Cluny, Ordo Cluniacensis: « Qui doctrina summae humilitatis ad plenum edoceri desiderat, non sunt ei ignoranda ars ac documenta coquinae regularis », in Vetus Disciplina Monastica, ed. by Marquart Herrgott, Paris: Osmont 1726, Pius Engelbert, Siegburg: Schmitt 1999, pp. 134–364: here p. 236. 96 Regula Benedicti chap. 66, par. 5: « qui portarius si indiget solacio, iuniorem fratrem accipiat ».

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and that the porter did not answer to the people knocking by saying « Deo gratias »: even such small details could therefore give room to accusations. So could the porter’s attitude in receiving guests: for example, the abbot Geoffrey of Vendôme wrote a hot-blooded letter to the abbot of Saint-Florent to complain about the bad attitude that the porter of that monastery had shown toward him, Geoffrey, when he had been forced to make an unforeseen stop there because of a storm. Geoffrey recommended that William tie up this discipline of Satan (i.e., the porter) with the reins of monastic severity (« discipulus Satanae […] loris monasticae severitatis alligate »).97 We know very little about the acquisition of the skills necessary to take care of the vegetable garden of the monastery,98 but it was certainly of a situated character. Walafrid Strabo’s famous poem about his vegetable garden begins with the statement that learning to cultivate a vegetable garden requires going outdoors and not being afraid to dirty one’s hands. Walafrid actually stated: « I didn’t learn about this from people’s chatter, or from looking at a lot of old books, or spending long days doing nothing – I gained my expertise through hard work and experience ».99 Lastly, the training of medieval monks as scribes is a very clear example of the tight bond between the content and the context of learning. While for the early Middle Ages there does not seem to have been a specific term to describe the room in which the scribes worked (and, indeed, in some cases there may not have been a separate room),100 in the twelfth century we find the first attestations of the word scriptorium in this sense, for example in the work of Aelfric of Eynsham, Adelhard of Bath and Peter Abelard.101 Nicholas of Clairvaux, in his letter to a friend, described what he calls his « little scriptorium » (scriptoriolum), explaining that it was « surrounded on all side by heavenly workshop » (officinis celestibus).102 Nicholas then proceeded to describes these 97

Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 54 to the archdeacon Warner, in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 96. 98 See Paul Meyvaert, The Medieval Monastic Garden, in Medieval Gardens, ed. by Elisabeth Blair MacDougall, Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks 1986, pp. 23–53. 99 Walafrid Strabo, 335–350: « hæc non sola mihi patefecit opinio famæ vulgaris, quæsita libris nec lectio priscis, sed labor et studium, quibus otia longa dierum postposui, expertum rebus docuere probatis », English translation in On the Cultivation of Gardens. A Ninth Century Gardening Book by Walafrid Strabo, transl. by James Mitchell, San Francisco: Ithuriel’s Spear 2009, p. 25. 100 Alison Stones, Scriptorium: the Term and Its History, in Perspective 1 (2014), pp. 113–120. 101 Scriptorium, Scriptorium, in Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis, ed. by Charles du Fresne sieur du Cange et al., rev. ed., Niort, 1883‑1887, vol. 7, col. 370A. 102 Nicholas of Clairvaux, ep. 35: « est michi scriptoriolum in mea Claravalle, vallatum unique officinis celestibus et celantibus illud », in Wahlgren-Smith, The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., pp. 132–134.

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workshops: the door of the scriptoriolum « opens on the novice’s cell, where a dense crowd of both noble and learned men bring forth the new man to a new life ».103 On the right, there was the cloister, where « that flowery community walks who have progressed in blissful security and secure bliss to something better and happier » and where the monks « open the books of divine eloquence one by one under the most chastised discipline, not in order to winnow the treasures of their learning, but in order to elicit love, compunction, devotion ».104 Lastly, on the left there is the infirmary, where monks worn and weakened by monastic discipline were revived « until they are able to fly back either cured or improved ».105 The theme of learning and progressing is clearly crucial in the description of these three physical environments, which are conjured before the reader to bridge the gap between letter-writer and addressee in a similar way to the examples mentioned above. This description, beyond giving a positive representation of Clairvaux as a heavenly place where one progresses, offers a perfect context for Nicholas’ presentation of his own scriptoriolum as a place of learning and of spiritual progress. In fact, he declared: « nor should you despise my little cell », and he explains that the room is « full of the choicest godly books, in the sweet contemplation of which I learn to despise the vanity of this world » (« despectionem mundane huius vanitate agnosco »).106 The activities that Nicholas associates with this scriptoriolum are solitary ones (reading, writing, composing, meditating, praying); and yet, Nicholas may well have been aiming to create the illusion that the whole description of the scriptorium and of its surrounding was only aimed at conjuring up before his correspondent the context in which he opened and read his letter.107 This place of letter-writing and of letter-reading ultimately emerges as an ideal context for friendship, and therefore for the sharing of one’s inner 103 Ibidem: « Ostium eius aperitur in cellam novitiorum, ubi frequens numerositas tam nobilium quam litteratorum novum hominem in novitate vite parturiuntur ». 104 Ibidem: « A dextra parte claustrum monachorum excrecit, ubi floridior ille conventus obambulat qui felici securitate vel secura felicitate in aliquid melius et letius profecerunt et defecerunt in atria Domini. Ibi divinorum eloquiorum libros sub castigatissima disciplina sigillatim aperiunt, non ut eventilent thesauros scientie sue, sed ut dilectionem, compunctionem eliciant et devotionem ». 105 Ibidem: « A leva prominet domus et deambulatorium infirmorum, ubi corpora disciplinis regularibus lassata atque atque quassata cibis lautoribus refoventur, donec vel sanata vel meliorata revolent ad laborantium gregem ». 106 Ibidem: « Nec contempnendam putes domuncolam meam, quia et desiderabilis est ad affectum et delectabilis ad aspectum et reclinabilis ad secessum. Plena est libris electissimis et divinis, ad quorum iocundam inspectionem despectionem mundane huius vanitatis agnosco ». 107 This long description of monastic spaces ends rather abruptly with the sentence « Here I opened your letter », after which Nicholas focused on the letter and on his relationship with the addressee.

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thoughts with one’s friend, and of reciprocal help to progress. A similar connection between the notion of privacy in the monastery and the cultivation of friendship can be found in the letters of Peter the Venerable (who was, for a time, a close friend of Nicholas), which introduced a recollection of friendly conversation by saying: « how often we closed the doors and admitted no other mortal within ».108 The link between friendship and shared learning will be addressed further; with reference to the role of the scriptorium as a learning context, it is important to stress that more frequently, writing was a collaborative work,109 and since writing was a craft, « as was true for other medieval crafts, it was taught and practiced in a group setting, with the scriptorium as its workshop space ».110 A Cistercian statute of 1134 declared that the monks were to keep silent in the scriptorium;111 but this statement could only be the reaction to a situation of intense interactions between monks in the scriptorium. And even where the statute would have been fully enforced, non-verbal interactions, either through the use of monastic sign language112 or simply through imitation and reciprocal help, would have continued. We know that monks who copied books received instruction and help from more experienced copyists and that scribes sometimes travelled to practice

108 Peter the Venerable, ep. 58 to Peter of Poitiers: « O quotiens clausis ianuis, nullo nobiscum admisso mortalium » in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 182, transl. in McGuire, Friendship and Community cit., p. 260. 109 La collaboration dans la production de l’écrit médiéval. Actes du XIIIe colloque du Comité international de Paléographie latine, Weingarten, 22–25 septembre 2000, ed. by Herrad Spilling, Paris: École des Chartes 2003. Examples include the famous scriptoria of Saint Gall, where « a codex was rarely written entirely by a single hand » (Walter Horn and Ernest Born, The Plan of Saint Gall: A Study of the Architecture and Economy of and Life in a Paradigmatic Carolingian Monastery, Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press 1979, vol. 1, p. 151) and Monte Cassino in the twelfth century, about which Francis Newton argued for the « self-conscious collaboration of a group of masters » (Id., The Scriptorium and Library at Monte Cassino, 1058–1105, Cambridge, U.K./New York: Cambridge University Press 1999, p. 63). 110 Ulrike Wiethaus, Collaborative Literacy and the Spiritual Education of Nuns at Helfta, in Nuns’ Literacies in Medieval Europe: The Kansas City Dialogue, ed. Virginia Blanton, Veronica O’Mara, and Patricia Stoop, Turnhout: Brepols 2005, p. 36. 111 Anno 1134, n. 85 De Scriptoriis: « In omnibus scriptoriis ubicumque ex consuetudine monachi scribunt silentium teneatur sicut in claustrum » in Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis Ab Anno 1116 ad Annum 1786 […] Tomus I. Ab anno 1116 ad Annum 1220, ed. by ed. Joseph Marie Canivez, Louvain: Bureaux de la revue d’histoire ecclésiastique 1933, anno 1134, p. 32. 112 As shown by the fact that there were signs for “ink” (incaustum), “red lead” (minium), “pumice stone” (pumex), “feather quill” (penna), “compass” (circinus), see Bruce, Silence and Sign Language cit., pp. 140–141.

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their craft.113 The case of the “visiting monk” Maurice has already been mentioned above, along with the fact that he must have been an expert scribe who spent a considerable part of his stay in Canterbury copying books.114 Otloh of Saint Emmeram recalled that as a young boy he was sent to another monastery « for the sake of writing » (« scribendi causa »),115 while the Life of Beatrice of Tienen states that she was sent by her abbess to another monastery to learn the art of writing (« ubi scribendis facultatem addisceret »).116 In all probability, these travels led to the sharing of expertise between local and foreign scribes. Many of the examples mentioned above suggest that the close connection established in some letters between the spaces of the monastery and the activities which took place in them was due to the wish to conjure these spaces before the reader as a way to bridge the gap of the physical distance between the correspondents by stressing the shared nature of their memories. Furthermore, this virtual reconstruction of spaces serves as a mnemonic tool, since the content of the letters is then “anchored” to different physical spaces. Of course, the connection between the physical environments and the contents of learning should not be understood in a too rigid way. Broadly speaking, any part of the monastery could be a learning space, since abbots, priors, sub-priors and even senior monks could interrogate and correct the monks whom they encountered. However, even these corrections were often linked to the space in which they took place: a monk could be reprimanded for how he sang in choir, ate in the refectory, walked too fast to reach the latrine, and so on. Considering the importance played by space in the forging of individual as well as communal memory in the Middle Ages, it can be argued that such corrections would often end up being associated, in the minds of the monks, to the physical spaces in which they took place. All in all, it seems that in the minds of the monastic authors who have been considered, certain spaces of the monastery (the church and, in particular, 113 See for example Rodney Thomson, Scribes and Scriptoria, in The European Book in the Twelfth Century, ed. by Erik Kwakkel and Rodney Thomson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2018, pp. 68–84: here p. 71. 114 It seems likely that Maurice wrote manuscript Lat. 2342, as argued by Benjamin Pohl, Who wrote MS Lat. 2342? The Identity of the Anonymus Beccensis Revisited, in France et Angleterre: manuscrits médiévaux entre 700 et 1200, actes du colloque Paris, 21–23 novembre 2018, ed. by Francesco Siri, Turnhout: Brepols 2020, pp. 153–189. 115 Otloh of Saint Emmeram, Liber Visionum, vision 5: « cum puer adhuc ad monasterium Herveldense scribendi causa transmissus fuissem », ed. by Paul Gerhard Schmidt, Weimar: Böhlau 1989 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Quellen Zur Geistesgeschichte 13), p. 61. 116 Vita Beatricis: de autobiografie van de Z. Beatrijs van Tienen O. Cist. 1200–1268: in de Latijnse bewerking van de anonieme biechtvader der abdij van Nazareth te Lier, ed. by Léonce Reypens, Antwerp: Ruusbroecgenootschap, 1964, book 1, chapt. 10, par. 50.

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the choir, the cloister, the chapter house, the refectory and dormitory) played an important role in the lifelong learning process of monks and nuns. This suggests that this type of learning had a “situated” nature, being inextricably linked to the context in which it was acquired and in which it was supposed to be applied. The notion of “situated learning” as formulated Jean Lave and Étienne Wenger goes beyond the notions of “learning in situ” and of “learning by doing”: it refers to a knowledge which is an integral part of the social practice in that specific community and which can never be decontextualized from the social and physical environment.117 2.3

The Social Environment

When high medieval monastic authors referred to the context of monastic life and learning, the physical context and the social one very often went together;118 sometimes, however, they refer specifically to the fact that living together with a certain person or with a certain community could be perceived as being able to naturally trigger a learning process. To add just one example to the ones already mentioned, the monk Avesgot wrote to Anselm of Canterbury that he wished for his nephew to stay with him so that he could grow wise from his instruction (« desidero eum manere tecum, tuo ut grammate erudiatur »).119 In medieval monastic culture, it was believed that living in a community was much safer than living alone, because fellow monks (or nuns) helped each other. The biblical passage « If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up »120 was often used to support this idea. Bernard of Clairvaux referred to it and, according to Bruun, shows in several of his works a distrust toward solitude and a wish to stress « the martial force of the monastic community in comparison with the vulnerability of the single monastic soldier ».121 Gilbert Crispin, 117 118 119 120

Lave, Wenger, Situated Learning cit., p. 31. For some examples, see footnote 70. Avesgot, ep. 19 to Anselm of Canterbury, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 150. Ecclesiastes 4: 10: « si unus ceciderit ab altero fulcietur vae soli quia cum ruerit non habet sublevantem ». See also Ecclesiastes 4: 9: « melius ergo est duos simul esse quam unum habent enim emolumentum societatis suae ». 121 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 2 to Fulk: « Your brother soldiers, whom you have deserted by running away, are fighting and conquering, they are knocking on the gates of heaven and it is being opened unto them, they take the kingdom of heaven by force and are kings, while you trot around the streets and market places on your horse, clothed in scarlet and fine linen. But these are not the accoutrements of war! » (« Commilitones tui, quos fugiens deseruisti, pugnant et vincunt, pulsant et intrant, caelum rapiunt et regnant, et

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former monk of Bec and later abbot of Westminster, in his letter-treatise on monastic life praised the Benedictine Rule by stating that before it was written, religious men lived alone or in small groups (“by four”) in an hermitage;122 this, according to Gilbert, went against the biblical precept cited above, on the basis of which he argued that it was more reasonable to live together, under a judge and a master (« visum est rationabilius, ut simul sint, sub iudice et sub magisto agant quicquid egerint »).123 More specifically, it was believed that associating oneself with worthy individuals was an effective way of progressing along the path of Salvation. We can, for example, look at a letter addressed by Anselm of Canterbury to a monk, Robert: When I consider, valiant soldier of God and my dearest friend, when I consider the progress of your efforts and the fruitlessness of my own laziness, then I hardly dare put to your holiness any mention of our mutual friendship. Since there is nothing in all the actions of my lukewarm life that can be equaled by the kindness of your affection, I blush either to exact from you a friend’s debt or even to be called your friend. On the other hand, when I see others running along easily on their way back to the heavenly home and myself veritably weighted down by sins and lethargy, scarcely advancing on this path, I am forced by the realization of my great need to call out from the bottom of my heart to those ahead of me. Not that their speed should be slowed down by my sluggishness, but that my slow pace, accelerated by the runners, should be made faster. Wherefore, my prayers are such that they are of little or no use to me, I dare not offer them for you as I intended, but I do pray that they may be inflamed by the fervor of yours, that they may effectively serve you and me.124 tu, sedens super ambulatorem tuum, indutus purpura et bysso, circuis plateas, vicos perambulas? » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 44), on which see Mette Birkedal Bruun, Bernard of Clairvaux’s Mapping of Spiritual Topography, Leiden / Boston: Brill 2007, p. 236. 122 Gilbert Crispin, Letter-treatise on Monastic Life (De Monachatu), probably addressed to Ralph D’Escures: « conversationis autem in claustro beatus Benedictus institutor extitit […] Nam ante vel soli vel quatterni per heremum vivevant, sed quia scriptum est “Vae soli quoniam si ceciderit non habet qui allevet eum” (Ecclesiastes 4: 10), visum est rationabilius, ut simul sint, sub iudice et sub magistro agant quicque egerint », in The Works of Gilbert Crispin Abbot of Westminster, ed. by Anna Sapir Abulafia and G.R. Evans, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1986 (Auctores britannici medii aevii 8), p. 91. 123 Ibidem, p. 91. 124 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 3 to the monk Robert: « Cum considero, strenue miles dei et mihi carissime, cum considero tuae provectus strenuitatis et meae sterilitatem inertiae, vix suggerere sanctitati tuae praesumo mutuae nostrae mentionem amicitiae. Quia enim

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Despite Anselm’s show of humility, it is clear that he conceived this friendship as something which was at least potentially beneficial for both parties.125 In this letter, he actually asked Robert to put him into contact with a holy man, Anastasius, with whom Robert enjoyed a friendly relationship. Anselm used the expression cuius desiderabili societatis frueris to express the idea that Robert benefitted from the societas, that is, from the friendly association, with this man, and he expressed the hope that, since he was Robert’s friend and Robert was a friend of Anastasius, he could become Anastasius’s friend too, through Robert’s recommendation. This offers an interesting example of the perception of interpersonal relationships, which could exist beyond established hierarchies, as very useful to help individuals along the path of personal progress. The important role of the monastic community and the importance of the social context of monastic learning have been acknowledged by numerous scholars, but most attention has so far been devoted to master–disciple relationships. The nature of the sources used obviously plays an important role in this sense: chronicles and saints’ lives grant abundant attention to master–disciple relationships in order to justify a transfer of authority or to grant legitimacy, while letters, for the reasons mentioned in the introduction, are particularly suitable sources to try and reconstruct the many informal and shared learning process which took place in the monastery. In order to illustrate, on the basis of letters, the existence of much more complex social dynamics in monastic learning, I will first of all offer some examples of the fact that in master–disciple relationships, the roles could be more fluid and less fixed than is often assumed. Subsequently, I will address the existence of bottom-up learning exchanges when a superior in the hierarchy of the monastery learned from an inferior and, lastly, of “horizontal” learning exchanges between peers. If we look at master–disciple roles as attested by high medieval letters, we can first of all observe that the terms magister, discipulus and alumnus could be used in a remarkably loose way, sometimes without taking into account in cunctis tepidae vitae meae actionihus nihil est quod beneficiis tuae dilectionis possit compensari, erubesco vel a te debitum amici exigere, vel saltem amicum tuum nominari. Sed rursus, cum in reditu patriae supernae alios facile currere, me vero peccatis et torpore gravatum in eadem via vix moveri intueor, magna necessitate cogente ad praecurrentes me ex intimo corde clamare compellor. Non ut velocitas eorum praestolata lentum reddatur tardior, sed ut tarditas mea a currentibus rapta fiat velocior », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 114. 125 See also in ibidem: « Sic enicoram deo vult cor meum et sic ad deum orat os meum, ut quidquid prodesse debet mihi, non minus prosit tibi quam mihi » (« For before God, this my heart desires, and so my lips pray God that whatever might be good for me may not be any less good for you than for me »).

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the age and rank of the people involved or even their actual educational experiences. This tendency is well visible in the letter collection of Peter of Celle, who in the salutation of a letter styled himself as a disciple of his friend John of Salisbury (« carissimo amico suo et magistro Iohanni de Saresberia Petrus suus amicus et discipulus »), while stating in another that John had been a pupil of his.126 He also presented himself as a disciple of Bernard of Clairvaux, something he never formally was.127 It seems that in these cases the terms “master” and “disciple” were used to characterize a mutually beneficial relationship, or to indicate the influence of one individual over another even in the absence of a formal teaching experience. A possible parallel is offered by the way in which the vocabulary of friendship was used to characterize the relationships between people who did not know each other personally.128 Some authors also played with the words “master” and “disciple” in reference to the same person, often to stress their humility: Peter the Venerable praised Heloise as a « discipula veritatis » and a « magistra humilitatis » and described Abelard as a great magister who went back to the discipleship of Christ.129 This was not solely wordplay: some authors reflected on the difference between being a master for others and a master for oneself. Bernard of Clairvaux declared that the latter was much harder for him than the former (« facilius imperare, et securius possum praeesse aliis multis quam soli mihi »).130 He also stated that those who appointed themselves as their own masters made themselves disciples to a fool (« qui se sibi magistrum constituit, stulto se discipulum subdit »). Therefore, he wrote to his friend Oger that he had been wise to refuse to be his own disciple and to decide to subordinate himself to someone else’s authority, since he had judged himself not apt at governing others.131 Of course, the role of humility is crucial again, since Bernard praised his correspondent for not blushing over the fact that he was becoming

126 Peter of Celle, ep. 169 to John of Salisbury and ep. 143 to the prior and community of Canterbury (« fuit enim noster alumnus magister Iohannes »), in Hasedine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., respectively p. 540 and p. 528. 127 Peter of Celle, ep. 147 to the general chapter of the Cistercian order (« recolat igitur sanctissimum vestrum collegium, unum me esse de alumnis beatissimi Bernardi »), in ibidem, p. 652. 128 On which see Haseldine, Understanding the Language of Amicitia cit., pp. 237–260. 129 Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Héloïse, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., pp. 304–305 and 306. 130 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 87 to Oger, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 430. 131 « Sicut aliis dominari renueras, sic tibi quoque praeesse timuisti. quique ut magister esses aliorum, minus te iudicabas idoneum, nec te quidem tibi credens, tuus fieri discipulus contempsisti ».

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a disciple again after having been a master (de magistro fieri denuo discipulus non erubuisti). In general, the need to show or recommend humility often influenced the representations of learning. One particularly clear example is the tendency, attested by several monastic letter-writers, to refuse, or pretend to refuse, the title and role of teacher or spiritual mentor, claiming that they were rather on an equal level with their would-be pupil or mentee, as co-learners. For example, Bernard of Clairvaux wrote to Thomas, provost of Beverley, trying to convince him to enter Clairvaux: « accept as your fellow disciple the one whom you have chosen as your teacher » (« accipe condiscipulum, quem magistrum eligis »). « One master in Christ we will both have » (« unus sit ambobus magister Christus »).132 Similarly, the monk Nicholas of Clairvaux – who worked as a secretary for Bernard for a time,133 called another monk his disciple, but immediately corrected himself, adding « or rather co-disciple » (« discipulus, potius autem condiscipulus »). They were – he explained – both pupils of God, whose school was on earth and whose cathedra was in heaven.134 In these two cases, the link with humility is particularly clear: the letter-writer does not want to assume the title of magister (a term which indicated both leader and teacher)135 because the only real magister is God. In his De Spiritali Amicitia, the Cistercian Aelred of Rievaulx (who was also in contact with Bernard) portrayed a dialogue with a pupil of his, during which he declared that he could not teach the young man, only converse with him (« non quidem te doceam sed tecum potius conferam »).136 Statements of this kind are not unique to Cistercian authors, since we can find similar ones in the work of representatives of other religious orders: the Carthusian Stephen of Chalmet wrote to the novices of the priory of Saint-Sulpice that he counselled 132 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 107 to Thomas of Beverley, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 515. 133 Bernard may have influenced Nicholas or Nicholas may have derived this idea directly from Augustine (see below): the editor of Nicholas’ letters, Lena Wahlgren-Smith has recently challenged traditional assumptions about the degree to which Nicholas was influenced by Bernard, see Lena Wahlgren-Smith, Introduction, in The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux, ed. by Lena Wahlgren-Smith, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2018, pp. xi–xcvii: here xlii–xlix. 134 Nicholas of Clairvaux, ep. 38 to Lecelin, in Wahlgren-Smith, The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., p. 152. 135 Mariken Teeuwen, Magister, in Id., The Vocabulary of Intellectual Life in the Middle Ages cit., pp. 95–97. 136 Aelred of Rievaulx, De Spiritali Amicitia, ed. by Anselm Hoste in Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia. 1: Opera Ascetica, ed. by Anselm Hoste and Charles Hugh Talbot, Turnhout: Brepols 1971 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 1), pp. 287–350: here p. 291.

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them not as a veteran would counsel young recruits but, rather, as a soldier who still struggled in war and merely wanted to offer some words of exhortation and encouragement, and that the things that he was going to say were useful for both his and the novices’ exhortation and fortification.137 Moreover, the notion of co-discipleship can be traced back to Augustine of Hippo, who explicitly linked it to the idea that God is the only true teacher, whose all-encompassing “school” coincides with life on Earth.138 The way in which high medieval authors used the notion of co-discipleship must, of course, be understood in the context of the wider trend of refusing the honours received and instead claiming for oneself the status of peer (for example, as brother or co-servant)139 or even of inferior to the one who had bestowed the praise, to show humility and to point out that only God deserved to be and could be represented as a true teacher.140 In addition, this trend is linked to the alreadymentioned idea that every monk should be a lifelong learner, endlessly striving to improve himself and to progress along the path of salvation. There are also more practical elements which complicate the elementary master–disciple learning model. First of all, high medieval monks did not learn from a single master but from a plurality of learning agents. This is especially true if one uses a broad definition of learning, which includes not only bookish learning but also behavioural training, in which the whole community played 137 Stephen of Chalmet, Epistola ad Novicios Sancti Sulpicii: « non ego tanquam emeritae militiae veteranus, tyrones instruo, sed quasi milies adhuc ad nova bella rudis, quae ad meam aeque sicut ad vestram vel confirmationem vel exhortationem valeant, profero » (Lettres des premiers chartreux, vol. 2 cit., p. 212). See Katherine Allen Smith, War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture, Woodbridge, Boydell 2011, p. 119 for an English translation and analysis. 138 See for example Augustine of Hippo, ep. 44 to Celestine: « unum enim magistrum, apud quem condiscipuli sumus, per eius apostolum dociles audire debemus praecipientem ac dicentem: nemini quicquam debeatis, nisi ut invicem diligatis » (Augustine, Select Letters, ed. by Jeffrey Henderson, transl. by James Houston Baxter, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1930, p. 239) and his Enarrationes in Psalmos 126: « tamquam uobis ex hoc loco doctores sumus; sed sub illo uno magistro in hac schola vobis cum condiscipuli sumus » (Sancti Aurelii Augustini Enarrationes in Psalmos, ed. by Eligius Dekkers and Iohannes Fraipont, Turnhout: Brepols, 1956 [Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 40], p. 1859). 139 For example, Anselm of Canterbury often represented himself as conservus, see his ep. 98 to the monks of Bec (in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 316), and his ep. 156 to prior Baldric and the other monks in Bec, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1, p. 124. 140 See Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 72 to Rainald of Foigny: « iuxta verbum Domini, unus sit pater noster in caelis, nos autem omnes fratres simus, non immerito domini patrisque celsa nomina, quibus me honorandum, sed non honerandum, scuto a me veritatis repuli, congruentius pro his fratrem me nominans et conservus » (San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 330).

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a role. The Benedictine rule stated that all the monks had a responsibility to supervise and disciple the young boys.141 Monastic officials, members of the entourage of the abbot and older monks142 could all play a role in supervising and training children and new recruits, and monks in general: they were usually referred to as seniores, maiores or priores. As Giles Constable explains, « senior normally seems to mean any monk who was older than another monk, or senior in the date of this profession », while seniores in the plural referred to the older monks; priores could be used in the same sense.143 Next to monastic officials, older monks could be entrusted with tasks of supervising other monks, for example in the dormitory or in the refectory.144 Moreover, their role was not only coercive: according to Anselm of Canterbury, the praelati of the monastery should support their eager subordinates with benevolence, stimulate the less eager through exhortation, in addition, of course, to correcting the bad ones with discipline.145 In a letter addressed to some recent Cistercians converts, Bernard of Clairvaux stated that they would be instructed (literally: ruined for evil and prepared for good: « in malo destruimur, et instruimur ad bonum ») by the discourses of the older monks and by their good example.146 Monastic letters are rich with references to monks being helped by other monks, as the next chapter will show. 141 Regula Benedicti chap. 63, par. 9: « pueris per omnia ab omnibus disciplina conservata » and chap. 70, par. 4 « Infantum vero usque quindecim annorum aetates disciplinae diligentia ab omnibus et custodia sit » (Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 252 and p. 266). 142 Obviously, these three groups could overlap. 143 Giles Constable, Seniores et pueri à Cluny aux Xe, XIe siècles, first published in Histoire et société: Mélanges offertes à Georges Duby, Aix-en-Provence 1992, vol. 3, pp. 17–24, republished in The Abbey of Cluny: A Collection of Essays to Mark the Eleven-hundredth Anniversary of its Foundation, Münster: Lit Verlag 2010 (Vita Regularis, 43), pp. 113–1120: here p. 113 and Prior, in Jan Frederik Niermeyer, Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill 1976, p. 852. 144 See Regula Benedicti chap. 48: « Ante omnia sane deputentur unus aut duo seniores, qui circumeant monasterium horis quibus vacant fratres lectioni et videant ne forte inveniatur frater acediosus, qui vacat otio aut fabulis et non est intentus lectioni » (Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 226). On the specific role of monastic roundsmen, see Scott Bruce, Lurking with Spiritual Intent: A Note on the Origin and Functions of the Monastic Roundsman (Circator), in Revue Bénédictine 109 (1999), pp. 75–89. 145 Anselm, ep. 178 to the abbot William and the monks of Bec: « Praelati subditos studiosos benignitate sustineant, tepidos exhortatione accendant; si qui sunt pervicaces, disciplina coerceant », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1. cit., p. 204. 146 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 462 to some recent converts: « ubi quidem multum subtiliter et utiliter praedicatione seniorum, sed multo subtilius et utilius examinatione conversationis eorum, et in malo destruimur, et instruimur ad bonum », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 644.

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Even in the strictest sense, the magistri were often enough more than one: Aelfric Bata’s Colloquies, written around the year 1000, contain several references to “masters” in the plural,147 as does Hildemar of Corbie’s Commentary on the Rule of Benedict.148 Anna Grotans, in her work Reading in Medieval Saint Gall, points out that the necrology of Saint Gall (Sankt Gallen) for 1022 « lists three other magistri who died of the plague at the same time as Notker Labeo » and that, according to its plan, Saint Gall offered lodging for three teachers.149 These masters also interacted with each other, sometimes on an equal level but probably more frequently according to internal hierarchies,150 which further complicates the dynamics of the learning process within the monastery. Lastly, it should be considered that all master–disciple roles were temporary. Disciples were supposed to progress, ideally up to the point that they could become masters themselves.151 Many master–disciple relationships developed over time into relationships in which the two parties were essentially on an equal level, as shown, for example, by the correspondence between Anselm and Lanfranc of Canterbury or Wibald of Stavelot and Reinald of Reinhausen. Stephen of Tournai wrote two letters in favour of a former teacher of his, whom he presented as « as his friend and former master » (« amicus este meus est et aliquando magister meus »), to try and obtain that he may be welcomed 147 « Rogo vos, pueri, et iubeo, ut duriter et instanter legatis quicquid heri didicistis a magistris vestris » (« I beseech and command you, boys, read with concentration and vigour what you learned from your teachers yesterday »), « cavete, ne nullus cras fratrum nostrum accuset vos ad magistros vestros » (« take care that none of our brothers accuses you to your masters tomorrow »), and « numquam ego te sic docui fari, nec nullus ex doctoribus nostris » (« I never taught you to speak like that, nor did any of your teachers »), respectively in Aelfricus Bata, Colloquia, 3, 6, and 25 (Anglo-Saxon Conversations: The Colloquies of Ælfric Bata, ed. by Scott Gwara and David W. Porter, Woodbridge: Boydell 1997, pp. 82–83, 92–93, and pp. 142–143). 148 Klaus Zelzer, Von Benedikt zu Hildemar: Zu Textgestalt und Textgeschichte der Regula Benedicti auf ihrem Weg zur Alleingeltung, in Frühmittelalterliche Studien 23 (1989), pp. 112–130, here at p. 126. 149 Anna Grotans, Reading in Medieval Saint Gall, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2006, p. 64. 150 As attested for example in the already mentioned colloquies, see Micol Long, Monastic Practices of Shared reading as a Means of Learning, in The Annotated Book. Early Medieval Practices of Reading and Writing, ed. by Mariken Teeuwen and Irene Van Renswoude, Turnhout: Brepols 2017 (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy 38), pp. 501–528. 151 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 56 to the abbot of Saint Pierre de la Couture: « Nunc igitur, amantissime, quia favente Deo assumptus es de filio in patrem, de discipulo in magistrum, de subdito in praelatum », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 3, ed. by Jean Bouvet and Placide Deseille, Paris: Le Cerf 2015 (Sources Chrétiennes 572), p. 232, and more in general the whole letter, where Adam stated that the instruction that the addressee had received prepared him for his new role.

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again in the monastery which he had left to become a Cistercian,152 and Wibald of Stavelot wrote a recommendation for his ancient master Reinhard.153 Not all masters and disciples remained on good terms, of course: Geoffrey of Vendôme addressed a letter to his former master to criticize the latter’s interpretation of a biblical passage and to propose what he believed to be the correct one;154 in this case, the former pupil aimed to correct his former master, reversing the roles. The sources attest that certain monastic leaders sometimes represented a member of their flock at the same time as their subordinate (usually by using the metaphor of parenthood) and their peer, or even their superior, because of his or her merits, playing with the idea of a subversion of the established hierarchy. Anselm of Canterbury referred to a former pupil of his, Maurice, as his master for his merits, his brother in faith, and his son for the solicitude he inspired him;155 Hildegard of Bingen called her dearest friend, the nun Richardis, both her mother and her daughter;156 the abbess Sophie of Kitsingen, in a letter to Hildegard, represented one of her nuns, who was to accompany her to visit Hildegard, as her peer;157 and Bernard of Clairvaux described his brother Gerard as his brother by blood, his son for religious 152 Stephen of Tournai, ep. 58 to the sub-prior of la Charite sur Loire and ep. 59 to a monk of the same monastery, in Lettres d’Étienne de Tournai, ed. by Jules Desilve, Valenciennes: Lemaître / Paris: A. Picard 1893, p. 73 and 74 respectively. 153 Wibald of Stavelot, ep. 21 to the papal chancellor and cardinal deacon Guido: « Lator presentium, vir venerabilis Reinehusensis, abbas, nostrę adolescentię magister ac preceptor et in divinis obsequiis institutor, privilegia ecclesię suę, cui primus preest, confirmari petit, vir pauper rebus, sed meritis dives, qui in lege dei meditatur die ac nocte, et voluntas eius in ea scrutando, scribendo, vir utique magnę abstinentię et carni suę inimicus. Quem pro dei dilectione et nostra commendatione clementer exaudietis » in Das Briefbuch Abt Wibalds von Stablo und Corvey, ed. by Martina Hartmann, Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung 2012 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit 9), vol. 1, p. 36. 154 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 7 to his former teacher William, in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., pp. 112–114. 155 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 32 to Lanfranc of Canterbury: « De meo meritis domino, fide fratre, sollicitudine filio Mauritio », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 174. 156 Hildegard of Bingen, ep. 13 to Hartvig of Bremen: « filia mea Richardi, quam et filiam et matrem meam nomino », in Hildegard of Bingen, Epistolae, in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium, vol. 1 cit., p. 30. 157 Sophie of Kitsingen to Hildegard of Bingen: « Adduco mecum nobile par, monialem scilicet laudabilem, perfectissimamque sororem acceptabilem, quam spiritu mihi generavit coelestis Pater non minus illi quam mihi, cupiens tui notitiam, veneranda et omni laude dignissima mater », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium, ed. by Lieven Van Acker, vol. 2, Turnhout: Brepols 1993 (Corpus christianorum. Continuatio mediaevalis 91A), as ep. 150, p. 338.

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profession, his father for solicitude, his companion in spirit, his intimate for the affection.158 I believe that these are more than simple rhetorical virtuosities: in both cases, the underlying idea is that an exceptionally good monk or nun could be beneficial even to his or her superior. Correspondence of spiritual direction is a particularly useful source in this respect. For example, the abbot Adam of Perseigne wrote letters of advice and instruction to the virgins Margaret and Agnes; and yet he described the latter as superior to him spiritually159 and implied that both were able to help him. In fact, he asked them, when they would reach mystical union with God, to intercede on his behalf.160 More famously, Abelard represented Heloise as superior to him spiritually, despite her protests that she was his inferior.161 I will address the role played by gender in such subversion of established hierarchy in the fifth chapter. In more practical terms, many letters refer to the fact that monastic superiors could learn specific things from their subordinates. Peter Abelard, in his Rule for the nuns of the Paraclete, foresaw the possibility that the deaconess could be lacking in the knowledge of the letters, and he declared that, in that case, she should not be ashamed to ask the more educated nuns of the

158 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26, par. 9: « frater sanguinis fuit, professione filius, sollicitudine pater, consors spiritu, intimus affectu », in Sermones supra Cantica Canticorum, ed. by Jean Leclercq, Henri Rochais, and Charles Hugh Talbot, in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2, ed. by Paul Verdeyen and Raffaele Fassetta, Paris: Cerf 1998, p. 302. 159 See for example Adam of Perseigne, ep. 22 to Agnes, where he compared her to the divine bride and himself to a slave, see Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., p. 154. 160 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 45 to the virgin Agnes: « Obsecro te, dulcissima, ut cum te ad tam beatae coniuntrionis nuptias splendor gloriae festivus receperit, sive interdum per mentis excessum, sive quandoque post vitae terminum, sive semper per bonae voluntatis desiderium, ne tuum foris deseras dilecrorem. Licer habitatio gloriae non recipiat peccatorem, impetra iniquitatibus meis veniam » (in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 3 cit., p. 162). See also ep. 22 to Agnes « Cum illuc perveneris, et bene tibi fuerit, vide ne sis immemor meae infelicitatis, cum teneriori amplexu Sponsum strinxeris, suscipe apud eum causam servi ut de vestibulo timoris in thalamum introducatur amoris » (vol 2, p. 145), ep. 44 to Agnes « Orationum suffragia pro me ne cesses quaerere, quia nondum destiti indigere » (vol 3, p. 152) and ep. 4 to Margaret: « Obsecro te, dilectissima, ut cum in Iesu tuo bene tibi fuerit, pro meis apud ipsum excessibus depreceris » (vol. 1, p. 109). 161 See for example Abelard, ep. 5 to Heloise, par. 3: « De ipso autem nostrae salutationis, ut dicis, ordine prepostero, iuxta tuam quoque, si diligenter attendas, actum est sententiam. […] Te vero extunc me superiorem factam intelligas quo domina mea esse coepisti, Domini mei sponsa effecta », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 180.

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community and learn from them.162 Geoffrey of Vendôme sent to a prior of an unknown religious house the monk Herbert, whom he described as well versed in the business of the secular world, so that he could help the abbot in the practical matters of the administration. Clearly, this man mastered things that prior Andrew knew not, and the two needed to collaborate for the good of the abbey: it is not surprising that Geoffrey dwelled on their relationship, mentioning that Herbert must love and obey prior Andrew who should – in turn – act toward Herbert and all of the monks entrusted to his care in such a way that God cannot find the slightest fault in them.163 Bernard of Clairvaux, in the sermon upon the occasion of the death of his biological brother and fellow monk Gerard, also referred to the fact of having benefitted from Gerard’s help. Gerard was a cellarer at Clairvaux, and Bernard praised him according to the rhetoric of the laudatio funebris, declaring that he was very talented at managing practical matters in the abbey.164 He stressed the contribution that Gerard offered to the community and to him, Bernard, personally, by saying that he was « helpful to me (mihi utilis) above all others 162 Abelard, Institutio, par. 29: « Si de aliquibus melius cognoscendis ad Scripturam recurrendum esse censuerit, a litteratis hoc requirere et addiscere non erubescat », in ibidem., p. 390. 163 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 82 to prior Andrew: « Ad te, dilectissime, dilectum filium nostrum Herbertum misimus, quem in rebus seculi providum esse cognoscimus et ut ea quae foris agenda sunt sapienter et tuo consilio agat praecimus, hoc sibi specialiter injungentes quatinus te toto corde diligat et tibi quamquam priori suo diligenter oboediat. Tu vero te talem circa ipsum et ceteros tuae dilectioni commissos frates cura pastorali exhibe, ne quod minus perfectionis in eis pastor aeternus valeat invenire », in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 158. 164 In the sermon upon the occasion of the latter’s death: see Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones supra Cantica Canticorum, sermo 26, par. 7: « Quid, verbi gratia, in aedificiis, in agris, in hortis, acquis, cunctis denique artibus seu operibus rusticorum, quid, inquam, vel in hoc rerum genere Girardi subterfugit peritiam? Caementariis, fabris, agricolis, hortulanis, sutoribus atque textoribus facile magister erat », ed. by Jean Leclercq, Henri Rochais, and Charles Hugh Talbot, in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2, ed. by Paul Verdeyen and Raffaele Fassetta, Paris: Cerf 1998, p. 294 (« Did anything ever escape the skilled eye of Gerard in the buildings, in the fields, in gardening, in the water systems, in all the arts and crafts of the people of the countryside? With masterly competence he supervised the masons, the smiths, the farm workers, the gardeners, the shoemakers and the weavers »). It is worth noting that other sources depict Bernard’s and Gerard’s relationships in less idyllic terms, see for example the Vita prima cap. 27, where Gerard is represented as complaining to Bernard in a rather harsh way that many supplies were lacking and that there was not enough money to buy them (« Gerardus frater eius, cellerarius domus, apud eius durius queretur ad necessaria domus et fratrum multa deesse, nec habere se unde ea coemeret », in Vita Prima Sancti Bernardi Claraevallis Abbatis, Liber Primus, ed. by Paul Verdeyen, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011 [Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 89B], p. 53).

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and in every situation, helpful on small occasions and great, in private and in public, inwardly and outwardly ».165 More specifically, he stated that Gerard helped, comforted, encouraged and even admonished him when he needed it.166 This interaction is even explicitly framed in educational terms: Bernard mentioned that if he had progressed, he owed it to Gerard,167 and recalled that many times, while talking to Gerard, he had learned things that he did not know, stressing the subversion of hierarchy by saying that, having approached Gerard as a teacher, he had come away having learned instead.168 Bernard was obviously demonstrating humility by representing himself as constantly needing Gerard’s help, but this description is important for the purposes of the present book because it attests that, for the abbot of Clairvaux, some abbots could be helped by their subordinates. This does not mean that, according to Bernard, all abbots needed to be helped by their monks at all times. Bernard’s position on the matter is nuanced, sometimes even ambivalent, as shown by one letter addressed to Rainald, a former monk of Clairvaux who had become the first abbot of the third daughterhouse of Clairvaux, Foigny.169 The letter in question reveals that Rainald had complained to Bernard that he had found some of the monks to be more of a burden than a comfort. To this, Bernard objected that Rainald, as abbot, was not supposed to be comforted but to offer comfort, not to be helped but to help: being stronger than his monks, he should have been able to comfort them without needing to be comforted by any of them. This might be interpreted as a rejection of any possibility of a monk helping his abbot, but Bernard’s opinion on the matter was more nuanced. Bernard openly acknowledged that this 165 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones supra Cantica Canticorum, sermo 26, par. 7: « mihi utilis in omnibus, et prae omnibus; fuit utilis in parvis et magnis, in privatis et publicis, foris et intus » (in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 296). The same Bernard referred to a bad novice by saying that he was « non solum inutilem, sed etiam onerosum » (ep. 325 to Robert abbot of Dunes, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., pp. 354–356). 166 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26, par. 4: « Infirmus corpore eram, et ille portabat me; pusillus corde eram, et confortabat me; piger et negligens, et excitabat me; improvidus et obliviosus, et commonebat me » (in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 284). 167 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26, par 6: « gratias tibi, frater, de omni fructu meorum, si quis est, in Domino studiorum! Tibi debeo si profeci, si profui », in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 292. 168 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26, par 7: « Quoties cum eo disserens ea didici quae nesciebam; et qui docturus adveneram, doctus magis abscessi? », Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 294. 169 On Bernard and Rainald’s relationship see San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., footnote 1, pp. 324–325.

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bottom-up help could indeed happen, by telling Rainald: « If there is anyone so spiritually healthy that he benefits you more than he is benefitted by you, you are not so much his father as his equal, not so much his abbot as his fellow ».170 However, this letter attests that Bernard perceived bottom-up help as exceptional, whereas the normal situation was that of an abbot helping his monks. According to him, Rainald should have not complained about this, because in helping his monks he was performing his duty and gaining a reward in Heaven. The greater his burden, the greater would be his gain. Therefore, Rainald should have been careful: those who helped him may actually be robbing him of his merit, while those about whom he complained were actually helping him to obtain a reward in Heaven!171 This text plays with the absurd to convince the addressee that his complaints were unjustified and that he should cease to ask Bernard to help him and support him by letters;172 the implication (confirmed by the other letters addressed to Rainald and preserved in Bernard’s collection)173 is that, according to Bernard, Rainald should stop acting as if he were still Bernard’s pupil and begin acting in a more independent and confident way as abbot. Bernard was not successful in this endeavour, considering that Rainald eventually resigned his abbatial charge in Foigny to go back to Clairvaux. Other monastic leaders also represented themselves, humbly, as inferior to at least some members of their flocks and in need of their help or at least advice. Peter Damian gave thanks to God for the fact that the community entrusted to him was so good that he did not need to lead the way for them 170 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 73 to Rainald abbot of Foigny: « Si quis vero ita sanus est ut magis iuvet te quam iuvetur a te, huius te non patrem, sed parem, comitem, non abbatem agnoscas », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 332. 171 Ibidem: « Consolando, exhortando, increpando agis opus tuum, portas onus tuum, et portando sanas quos sanantos portas […] Denique in quantum gravaris, in tantum lucraris, et in quantum iuvaris, in tantum tua tibi praemia minuis. Elige ergo quos eligas, an qui gravando iuvant, an qui iuvando gravant. Hi tibi promeritores, illi fraudatores meritorum exsistunt ». 172 Ibidem: « Sciens ergo te missum iuvare, non iuvari, illius te agnosce vicarium qui venit ministrare, non ministrari. Plura tibi ad tui consolationem scribere volebam; sed non fuit necessarium. Nam quid opus est verbis superfluis mortuam chartam implere, ubi viva praesens loquitur? Viso siquidem Priore, puto quod ista tibi sufficiant, et ad eius praesentiam spiritus tuus revixerit, ita ut iam consolationem scriptorum non requiras, cui interim licet verborum illius solatio relevari, in quo et per quem meum quoque spiritum, quem tibi in tuis litteris mitti postulasti, si quo modo tamen mittere potui, missum esse non dubites; cui quippe, ut bene nosti, idem mecum consilium, eadem solet esse voluntas ». 173 See especially ep. 72 to Rainald of Foigny, pp. 324–330, where Bernard rejected the paternal authority that Rainald attributed to him, and declared that he and Rainald were rather brothers in Christ.

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but, rather, could be content to follow in their footsteps.174 He also offered a practical example of this, recalling in one of his letters how he consulted a saintly (and illiterate) monk about the problems caused by his frequent travels, obtaining very good advice which he decided to follow.175 In the letter in question, Peter Damian was illustrating the good qualities of his monks of Fonte Avellana, while at the same time representing himself as a sinner. In this sense, the purpose of the text is remarkably similar to that of Bernard’s sermon upon the death of Gerard; the two authors were at the same time demonstrating humility and teaching their monks that each member of the community could – if he needed it – benefit from the support of another member, regardless of their reciprocal rank. Lanfranc of Canterbury, former abbot and monastic legislator himself, wrote to the abbot Odo of Chertsey to inform him that he had denied his monk Gregory permission to leave his monastery and cross the sea, perhaps to transfer to another monastery. Odo himself had granted this permission, but Lanfranc declared that he had acted unwisely in doing so and that this showed how badly he took care of the souls entrusted to him. Lanfranc ordered Odo to receive back the monk Gregory with honour and to show him the kind of fatherly love that a son deserved. What is particularly interesting here is that the archbishop told the abbot that if he desired to take his monastic profession seriously, he would find the monk Gregory to be « a source of advice and help both in spiritual affairs and in secular ».176 A monk was thus openly presented as a potential source of help and advice for his abbot, although in this case for an abbot who, according to Lanfranc, was failing to live up to his monastic 174 Peter Damian, ep. 18 to the community of Fonte Avellana, par. 3: « Quapropter inmensas creatori meo gratia retero, qui me indignum locum ministerii habere voluit in conventu non multorum sed bonorum, quos michi non necesse sit ad patriam redeundo praecedere sed gaudendum est si fraterna possim vestigia parili conviatione tenere » in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 328. 175 Peter Damian, ep. 44 to the hermit Teuzo, par. 11: « Saepe rogatus, ut pro necessitatibus aecclesiasticis vel foederanda pace procederem, cum mihi detrimentum esse pernoscerem, licet aliis proveniret, hunc fratrem ea fide consului, ut illi divina gratia dignaretur infundere, quid mihi decerneret expedire. Protinus sancta simplicitas ad id, quod propositum erat, compendiosae responsionis clausulam fixit. “Quid”, inquit, “candelae prodest, si aliis luceat, dum se interim edax flamma consumat?”. Hoc responsum, fateor, laetus arripui, et tamquam divinitus datum salva tantummodo charitate et obedientia servare decrevi », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 62. 176 Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 48 Odo, abbot of Chertsey: « Credimus enim per misericordiam Dei, si sollicitus tui ordinis esse volueris, quod consilium et auxilium tam in causis spiritualibus quam in secularibus per eum habere valebis », in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 154.

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profession.177 Another abbot who was apparently experiencing some difficulties with his role, Bernard of Cerne, was told by Gilbert Foliot that his “son”, the monk Iocelinus, was a very rich source for good advice.178 Peter the Venerable, for his part, referred to the possibility that an exceptionally good leader may be helped by his or her subordinates and may learn from them. In his famous letter to Heloise, whom he praised as both a scholar and an abbess, he declared that had she lived in a Cluniac monastery, she would have benefitted the nuns but also would have derived no little benefit from them (« retulisses et ipsa ab ipsis non modicum quaestum »).179 Considering that, as already mentioned, Abelard also referred to the case of a deaconess of the Paraclete being helped by her most literate nuns, we may wonder if the possibility of a monastic leader being helped by a subordinate could have been more readily accepted in the case of women than in that of men; this question will be addressed in the fifth chapter. In the last part of this chapter, I would like to argue that, despite the hierarchical organization of high medieval monasteries and the importance of obedience in monastic culture, which point to vertical, hierarchical, master–disciple or superior–inferior relationships, there was place for “horizontal” exchanges, too.180 The idea that monks were supposed to help each other to progress can be inferred from some of the foundational texts of monasticism: according to the Benedictine Rule, the monks were supposed to be like a well-disciplined army, in which each one helped and protected his neighbor and, at the same time, was helped and protected by him. In contrast, hermits were people who no longer needed to be helped by others in their struggle against the devil.181 177 Ibidem: « Laetificavit me multum quod timorem Dei te habere et bonum hominem esse perhibuit, sed tamen pro simplicitate tua neglegentem te esse nostri ordinis negare non potuit ». 178 Gilbert Foliot, ep. 39 to Bernard abbot of Cerne: « Habes et filium carissimum Iocelinum quem quia timet Dominum sano credimus habundare consilio », in The Letters and Charters of Gilbert Foliot, Abbot of Gloucester (1139–48), Bishop of Hereford (1148–63) and London (1163–87), ed. by Zachary Nugent Brooke, Adrian Morey and Christopher Nugent Lawrence Brooke, London: Cambridge University Press 1967, pp. 77–78. 179 Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise: « Praetulissem opes religionis ac scientiae maximis quorumlibet regum thesauris, et illarum sororum illud praeclarum collegium cohabitatione tua clarius rutilare gauderem. Retulisses et ipsa ab ipsis non modicum quaestum », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 306. 180 On this topic see also Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages. Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Transfer in Religious Communities cit. 181 Regula Benedicti chap. 1: « deinde secundum genus est anachoritarum, id est heremitarum, horum qui […] ad singularem pugnam eremi, securi iam sine consolatione alterius, sola manu vel brachio contra vitia carnis vel cogitationum, Deo auxiliante, pugnare sufficiunt », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 134.

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Moreover, the Rule stated that hermits reached this state of maturity after a long probation in a monastery, where they learned to fight against the devil through the help of their brothers.182 In the twelfth century, the abbot Peter the Venerable of Cluny cited this passage of the Rule in a letter to a hermit, declaring that a monk labored at the same time for himself and for his fellow monks (« laborant ibi singuli, et salutis suae insidiantes perimere, et coadiutores modis omnibus dispensare »).183 The notion of reciprocal help therefore appears to be linked with the idea of equality, in particular in connection with military metaphors: it was often implied that reaching salvation was a matter of teamwork. One important keyword in this sense is invicem, which can be translated, depending on the content, as either “by turns” or “reciprocally”: monks were expected to obey each other, serve each other, and compete with each other in honour (« oboedire invicem, servire invicem, honore invicem praevenire »).184 This was supposed to mirror what the New Testament stated about the life of the very first Christian communities.185 Anselm of Canterbury, writing to the abbot and the monks of his old monastery of Bec, next to some advice tailored to the praelati of the monastery and to the ordinary monks, also offered some general advice which seems to have been addressed to the whole community, telling the monks to guard each other charitably (« invicem vos caritative custodite »), to admonish, correct each other and kindly accept such things from each other as great favours bestowed on them (« monete, corrigite, et haec ab invicem velut magna beneficia vobis impendi benigne sustinete »).186 References to reciprocal help between peers in the monastery can be identified in several letters written to instruct or counsel young monks or nuns in the High Middle Ages. Anselm, then prior of Bec, told some monks of his who were 182 Ibidem: « monasterii probatione diuturna, qui didicerunt contra diabolum multorum solacio iam docti pugnare, et bene exstructi fraterna ex acie […] ». 183 Peter the Venerable, ep. 20 to the hermit Gilbert, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 31. 184 Regula Benedicti, chap. 7: « Ut Oboedientes Sibi Sint Invicem », chap. 25, par. 1: « fratres sibi invicem serviant », cap. 63, par. 17: « Scriptum est: “Honore invicem praevenientes” », and chap. 72, par. 4 « ut “honore invicem praeveniant” », with reference to Romans 12: 10 (in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., respectively p. 268, 202, 254 and 268–270). 185 Iohannes 13: 34 (« mandatum novum do uobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi uos ut et vos diligatis invicem »); Ad Ephesios 4: 2 (« cum omni humilitate et mansuetudine cum patientia subportantes inuicem in caritate »), Ad Ephesios 4: 32 (« estote autem invicem benigni misericordes donantes invicem »); James 5: 16 (« confitemini ergo alterutrum peccata vestra et orate pro invicem »), Galatians 5: 13 (« per caritatem servite invicem »), and Ephesians 5: 21 (« subiecti inuicem in timore Christi »). 186 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 178 to abbot William and the monks of Bec, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1 cit., p. 204.

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staying at the monastery of Christ Church of Canterbury that to progress they could rely not only on the advice and exhortation of Archbishop Lanfranc but also on the frequent kindling of their holy fervor through reciprocal conversation (« mutuae quoque in sancto fervore collocutionis frequens accensio »).187 Lanfranc of Canterbury advised two novices entering a monastery at the same time to comfort each other when in distress and to consider each other as a pattern of exemplary life.188 Peter the Venerable told his nieces, who were nuns in a Cluniac monastery, to imitate their “mothers” (that is, their superiors in the monastery) but also their sisters, that is, their peers.189 Bernard of Clairvaux tried to discourage a nun from practising the solitary life by saying that if she were a saint, she needed to help, by her example, her fellow sisters to acquire sanctity (« sancta es? stude tuo exemplo tuae socias acquirere sanctitatis »190). The theme of reciprocal help between equals is also prominently featured in high medieval discussions of monastic love and friendship. For example, an unknown twelfth-century monk of Bec declared in a letter to a friend that they should strive to nurture each other (« confovere studeamus alterultrum »),191 and Bernard of Clairvaux wrote in a letter to a friend that he wished to either profit from him or benefit him (« aut proficere ex te cupimus aut prodesse tibi »).192 It is does not matter that the letter is not really addressed to a close personal friend of Bernard, and that the sentence above is a typical example of captatio benevolentiae, the part of a letter aimed at putting the reader into a 187 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 51 to the monks Herluin, Gundulf and Maurice: « licet igitur reverendi domini et patris nostri archiepiscopi praesens vobis consilium et admonitio, singulorumque vestrum continua quid suus habitus profiteatur meditatio, mutuae quoque in sancto fervore collocutionis frequens accensio sufficiant, quibus vestra studia bene incepta cotidie ad meliora proficiant », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 214. 188 Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 19 to Lanfranc the Younger and Wido: « Alter alteri sit in tribulatione solatium; alter ab alterius vita sumat sanctae conversationis exemplum », in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 98. 189 Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces: « Imitamini sorores vestras et matres, cum quibus deo servitis », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 434. 190 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 115 to a nun of Saint Mary of Troyes, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 550. For an analysis of this letter, see chapter 3.1 “Social Pressure and Social Control” pp. 97–98 191 Anonymous monk of Bec, ep. 1 to an unknown friend. While I use the Latin text edited in Alain de Lille (?), Lettres familières, 1167–1170, ed. by Françoise Hudry, Paris: Vrin 2003, p. 90, but I am not convinced by her identification of the letter-writer as Alain of Lille, which is why I used Leclercq’s definition in Les lettres familières d’un moine du Bec, in Analecta Monastica. Textes et études sur la vie des moines au Moyen Âge, 2 s., Roma: Pontificium Institutum S. Anselmi 1953 (Studia Anselmiana 31), pp. 141–173: here p. 152. 192 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 107 to Thomas, Provost of Beverley, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 500.

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benevolent frame of mind, thus paving the way for a request (petitio).193 This statement clearly belonged to an acceptable repertoire of ideas, proving that interpersonal interactions were considered an important means of fostering personal improvement. Friends can be considered peers by definition, since the notion of equality is crucial in many high medieval conceptions of friendship. Bernard of Clairvaux, describing his friendship with his brother Gerard, stated that he was similar to him spiritually and morally,194 and in this context mentioned that social interaction (socialis conversatio), especially between friends, was not useless, as evidenced by the fact that the interruption of this interaction was a source of pain.195 Peter the Venerable, who openly quoted Cicero’s De Amicitia,196 also stated that his friend and secretary, the monk Peter of Poitiers, was his equal (« michi vel moribus meis consimilem vel conformem »), despite his inferior rank in the monastery, and Peter represented their friendly conversation as taking place on equal terms.197 He also expressed his admiration and affection for Heloise and addressed her both by letter and in person as “sister” – as she herself recalled – and claimed that he was not her superior.198 Lastly, he 193 On the captatio benevolentiae in medieval letter-writing see Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages cit., p. 225 and Camargo, Ars Dictaminis Ars Dictandi, pp. 22–23. 194 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26, par. 9: « iunxit societas spiritus, consensus animorum, morum conformitas », and par 4: « homo unanimis, homo secundum cor meum » (Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 300 and p. 284 respectively, the latter one echoing Psalms 54,14 and Acts 13,22). 195 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 26, par. 10: « Non erit otiosa socialis conversatio, praesertim inter amicos: et quid effecerit mutuus amor in sibi praesentibus, horror indicat separationis, et dolor de invicem separatis », in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 302. 196 For example, he cited Cicero’s definition of friendship as « “divinarum humanarumque rerum cum benivolentia et caritate consensio” », in ep. 81 to Hatto of Troyes, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 117. It has been argued that Bernard of Clairvaux knew this treatise too, although he did not cite it explicitly, see Verbaal, L’amitié et les lettres cit., pp. 351–381. 197 Peter the Venerable, ep. 58 to Peter of Poitiers, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 181. On Peter the Venerable and Peter of Poitiers’s conversations, see chapter 3.4 “Consolation and exhortation” p. 133. 198 See letters 115 and 160 from Peter the Venerable to Heloise and ep. 167 from Heloise to Peter: « Michi quoque, quam nec ancillae nomme dignam, sublimis humilitas vestra tam scripto quam verbo sororem vocare non dedignata est, singulare quoddam velut amoris et sinceritatis privilegium donastis », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 400 (« To me also, whom, unworthy though I am of the name of servant, you in your sublime humility have not disdained to call sister in both writing and speech, you gave as a token of love and sincerity a certain rare privilege, that is, a tricennarium », in The Letters of Heloise and Abelard. A Translation of Their Collected Correspondence and Related

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wrote to his friend the bishop Hatto of Troyes that he loved in him his spiritual qualities, not his rank, power or riches.199 All these examples suggest that Peter conceived spiritual friendship as based on moral and spiritual equality – an idea in all probability influenced by Cicero. Close examination of the letters exchanged by Peter and by Hatto reveal that there is not clear spiritual hierarchy, with one of the two always acting as a mentor and advisor; rather, they called each other “pater”, which may be more than a simple sign of respect and may suggest that they advised and helped each other reciprocally and in turns.200 William of Saint-Thierry recalled how Bernard had taught him while they were together in the infirmary, explaining to him the moral meaning of the Song of Songs,201 and also mentioned that they had « discussed for the whole day the soul’s spiritual well-being, that is, the remedies of the virtues against the flagging of vices », which suggests the existence between them, at least at times, of a reciprocal learning exchange. And indeed, Ellen Rozanne Elder has argued that Bernard relied on William for theological advice.202 In conclusion, I think that the examples mentioned here show that taking into account the complex nature of the social relationships that monks and nuns entertained with people inside or outside of their monastery allows us to observe how a plurality of different “educational agents” could play a role in the lifelong learning process of monastic life. The idea that each member of the monastic community was supposed to interact in the appropriate way with each other member, whether superior, inferior or peer, is attested, for example,

199 200

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Writings, transl. and ed. by Mary Martin McLaughlin and Bonnie Wheeler, New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009, p. 299). Peter the Venerable, ep. 38 to Hatto of Troyes: « dilexi in te non antistis dignitatem, non divitis divitias, non potentis potentiam », Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 125. See ep. 6, p. 12 (« gravis venerandam paternitatem vestram semper dilexi ») and ep. 18, p. 25 (« cum dulcedine recolendo, cum honore nominando, domino et patri Atoni Trecensium episcopo ») from Peter to Hatto and ep. 71 and ep. 85, p. 222 from Hatto to Peter, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 12, 25, 203 and 222 respectively. On the friendship between Peter and Hatto, see Marc Saurette, Thoughts on Friendship in the Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., and Gillian R. Knight, Uses and abuses of amicitia: the correspondence between Peter the Venerable and Hato of Troyes, in Reading Medieval Studies 23 (1997), pp. 35–67. Vita Prima, book 1, par. 59: « in quo cum benigne et sine invidia exponeret mihi et communicaret sententias intelligentiae et sensus experientiae suae, et multa docere niteretur inexpertum, quae nonnisi experiendo discuntur », in Vita Prima Sancti Bernardi Claraevallis Abbatis, Liber Primus cit., p. 75. On the relationship between Bernard and William see E. Rozanne Elder, Bernard and William of Saint-Thierry, in A Companion to Bernard of Clairvaux, ed. by Brian Patrick McGuire, Leiden: Brill 2001, pp. 108–132 and especially pp. 116–118.

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by a letter that Bernard of Clairvaux addressed to his already-mentioned friend Oger, in which he advised Oger to dwell with simplicity among his brothers (conversare simpliciter inter fratres), devoted to God, submitted to his master (magistro), obedient to his superiors (senioribus), and obliging towards the younger (iunioribus).203 Sources such as these show that the social dynamics through which learning took place in high medieval monasteries were much more complex than may be assumed by sources which tend to represent knowledge as a one-way transmission of knowledge from a teacher to a learner. Still, it is one thing to claim that learning could be shared, reciprocal and horizontal, and it is another to reconstruct how these shared learning practices took place on a day-to-day basis by focusing on the concrete means through which the learning exchanges took place. This is what I aim to achieve in the next chapter. 203 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 87 to Oger, par. 8: « conversare simpliciter inter fratres, devotus Deo, magistro subditus, senioribus oboediens, iunioribus contemperans, angelis placens, verbo utilis, humilis corde, mansuetus ad omnes » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 432.

chapter 3

The Means of Shared Learning This chapter aims to reconstruct how shared learning took place in monastic communities in the period 1070–1180 by looking at the different means through which a member of the community could be helped to progress on a daily basis: social control and pressure, imitation, accusation, admonition and correction, consolation and exhortation, and the sharing of ideas, knowledge and experience. The examples, especially taken together, show the educational role played by various members regardless of their rank, and by the community as a whole. Even more importantly, they demonstrate that these informal learning interactions often had a reciprocal dimension. 3.1

Social Control and Peer Pressure

A valuable starting point to illustrate the role of social control and peer pressure in medieval monasteries is offered by a letter addressed by Bernard of Clairvaux to a nun of the monastery of Saint Mary of Troyes.1 It is part of a group of nine letters which show Bernard’s role as a spiritual director to women; the first five are addressed to nuns and the rest to laywomen.2 Among the former, according to the guiding principle of the variatio, we find first a letter written in praise of a “good nun”; then a letter which aims at encouraging a nun who, after having sinned, wished to reform herself; and subsequently the letter in question, addressed to a nun who, according to Bernard, was on the verge of committing a sin. The series of letters to religious women closes with two letters of praise and friendship addressed to Ermengarde of Anjou, countess of Brittany, who had embraced monastic life in the priory of Larrey. From such examples, the readers of the letter collection were indubitably supposed to learn how a nun or monk could progress along the road of salvation, avoiding sins or making amends for them. 1 Indicated as « Sancta Maria Trecensis » in the text: it is probably Notre-Dame-aux-Nonnains de Troyes. 2 Bernard of Clairvaux, epp. 113–121, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 534–562. The ep. 119 is actually addressed to the duchess of Lorraine together with her husband, but the following ep. 120 is addressed to the duchess alone, and ep. 121 is addressed to the duchess of Bourgogne; all in all, these nine letters constitute a well-defined series.

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In the letter to the nun of Saint Mary of Troyes, Bernard discussed her wish to abandon the monastery to pursue the eremitical life. Apparently, her mother superior and fellow nuns tried to dissuade her, and since she would not abandon her plan, they reached the compromise that she would obey Bernard’s judgement on the matter; in this case, the abbot of Clairvaux acts at the same time as an external party, a respected authority figure and an expert on monastic issues.3 Bernard began by declaring that he did not dare judge the matter: he was of course displaying humility, but also showing that the matter was not of immediate and easy solution. He then reviewed the arguments in favour of the nun’s departure, but quickly turned to disproving them. Solitude – he argued  – allows one to sin without being publicly accused, whereas in the cloister, he or she is discouraged from sinning and encouraged to behave in a good way by what would today be called “peer pressure”:4 soon everyone would find out about it [the bad deed], it would soon be blamed and corrected (comperitur, arguitur, emendatur), just as on the other hand all would admire, revere, imitate the good they saw (mirantur, venerantur, imitantur).5 In the final part of the letter, Bernard exhorted the nun not to leave the monastery and envisaged two opposite scenarios: either his addressee was a bad nun, and in this case she needed the community (like a sheep who, by separating herself from the flock, exposed herself to the risk of being “stolen”6); or was a good nun, in which case she was necessary to the community.7 The monastery is therefore represented as superior to an eremitical environment because sinning is not permitted there and because there, good actions are rewarded more and faults are corrected more promptly because of the crucial importance played by example: « for amongst others you set an example by a good life and 3 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 115 to a nun of Saint Mary of Troyes, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 546. 4 Kevin Durkin, Peer Pressure, in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, ed. by Anthony S.R. Manstead and Miles Hewstone, Oxford: Blackwell University Press 1996, p. 434. 5 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 115 to a nun of Saint Mary of Troyes: « Mox etenim a pluribus comperitur, arguitur, emendatur, sicut, e contrario, bonum cum vident, omnes mirantur venerantur, imitantur », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 548. 6 « noli te separare a grege “nequando rapiat et non sit qui eripiat” », with reference to Psalms 49, 22, in ibidem, p. 550. 7 « Denique, ut ex illa evangelica partitione omnem tibi auferam tui excusationem erroris, aut de fatuis virginibus una es, si tamen virgo es, aut de prudentibus. Si de fatuis, congriegatio tibi necessaria est; si a prudentibus, tu congregationi » in ibidem.

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give offence by a bad one ».8 If the nun is indeed a saint – concluded Bernard – she should try and bring her sisters to sainthood through her example; if she is not, she should not add more sins to the existing ones and give scandal to her sisters and to the world in general.9 This letter contains references to several key elements that were used in a medieval monastic community to shape an individual’s behaviour and mindset, often in informal, continuous and shared ways. Social control and social pressure were exerted through both positive and negative reinforcement, such as the expression of admiration or of blame; of course, more direct forms of admonishment and correction could also take place. It is important to note that, according to the abbot of Clairvaux, as attested by this letter, and, as we will see, for many other high medieval authors, this social pressure was exerted regardless of established hierarchies and of formal educational and disciplinary procedures. The letter itself, after all, is an example of an attempt to influence the nun’s behaviour from someone who, despite being a powerful man and a revered charismatic figure, had no direct authority over her: therefore, it is not surprising that the letter uses informal means of steering the nun in the desired direction, alternating persuasion, blandishment and more or less veiled threats. To understand how social control worked in a medieval monastery, it is useful to focus for a moment on the notion of custodia (literally “custody”). While it is not explicitly mentioned in the passage above, elsewhere in his work, Bernard of Clairvaux stated that the fact that some monks were staying in a foreign land without the custody of the abbot or of their brothers (« sine custodia vel abbatis vel aliorum fratrum suorum ») constituted a danger for them and the whole monastic order, even if the undertaking was a saintly one, in this case preparing the foundation of a new monastery.10 Guarding each 8

« In conventu vero bona si qua facis, nemo prohibet; malum autem facere si vis, non licet. […] vides ergo, filia, quod et tua merita immanior in conventu gloria sequitur, et citior culpas correctio, quando ibi sunt, et quibus de bonis exemplum praebeas, et quas de malis offendas ». 9 « Sancta es? stude tuo exemplo tuae socias acquirere sanctitatis. Peccatrix es? Noli addere peccata peccatis, sed age paenitentiam ubi es, ne discedens cum tui quidem periculo, ut ostensum est, et sororibus scandalum relinquas, cum multorum in te provoces detrahentium linguas ». 10 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 44 to Henry, Archbishop of Sens: « periculum est religionis et ordinis, sicut vestra providentia novit, fratres sine disciplina, sine custodia vel abbatis vel aliorum fratrum suorum, versari in terra aliena », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 668. For another example of the idea that leaving the monastery, even temporary and for a good reason, represented a risk, see William Firmatus’ treatise on the love of the cloister (eleventh century), especially chapter 21, ed. by Jean Leclercq, L’exhortation de Guillaume Firmat, in Analecta Monastica, 2 s. cit., pp. 28–44.

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other was perceived by several monastic authors to be an important monastic duty, as shown by the letter which Anselm, then archbishop of Canterbury, addressed to the monks of his former community of Bec, advising them to guard each other with charity (« invicem vos caritative custodite »).11 In a more practical sense, in his dialogues On Miracles, Peter the Venerable imagined a monk tempted by the devil to leave his monastery, answering that for him it was impossible not only because it was forbidden but also because he was surrounded by the multitude of his fellow monks.12 The notion of custody is often used and understood in the sense of preventing someone from sinning, but it also could carry a more positive meaning, viz., as care and help from one’s peers. Peter Damian, in describing the daily life of his community in Fonte Avellana, praised his monks for the mutual love that they demonstrated and recounted that when one of the monks appeared weaker, all his brothers would try to find out what he was suffering from and would assist him so that he would moderate the observance of the rule, not only through their suggestion but also, indeed, by gladly offering themselves « ad eius custodiam », literally “for his custody”, which can best be translated here as “to care for him”.13 In this context, it is perhaps useful to recall the fact that in the Middle Ages, the friend was often described, according to a tradition which goes back to Gregory the Great and Isidore of Seville, as a custos animi, a guardian for the other’s soul.14 This meant that a friend was supposed to worry about his friend’s soul as for his own and act having in mind the best interests of his friend’s soul at heart. Keeping this in mind may help interpret Cesarius of Heisterbach’s story of a nun who attempted suicide and who was thereafter watched over (by her community) with greater care (than before): « diligentiorem ei custodiam adhibuerunt ».15 Believing that this statement 11 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 178 to the abbot William and the monks of Bec, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1 cit., p. 204. 12 Peter the Venerable, De Miraculis, book 1, chap. 13: « ego hinc exire nullo modo possum, quia et clausura monasterii prohibet, et fratrum me multitudo circumdat », in Petri Cluniacensis abbatis De miraculis libri duo, ed. by Dénise Bouthillier, Turnhout: Brepols 1933 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 83), p. x. 13 Peter Damian, ep. 18 to the hermits of Fonte Avellana, par. 14: « Hoc mihi etiam non mediocriter placet, fratres mei, quia si quis inter vos debilior apparuerit, mox omnes certatim quid patiatur inquiritis, ut se a solito rigore remittere non moretur, instatis et non solum necessaria quaeque suggerere, sed etiam vosmetipsos ad eius custodiam ultroneos gaudetis offerre », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 334. 14 Cfr. Luigi Pizzolato, L’idea di amicizia nel mondo antico classico e cristiano, Torino: Einaudi 1993, p. 335. 15 Caesarius Heisterbacensis, Dialogus Miraculorum, distinctio 4, cap. 40, in Caesarius von Heisterbach, Dialogus Miraculorum – Dialog über die Wunder, ed. by Horst Schnideider and Nikolaus Nösges, Turnhout: Brepols 2009, p. 774.

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refers only to the effort in preventing the nun in question from attempting to take her own life would be restrictive: helping her to live her monastic life would have been an important part of the fellow sisters’ duty. As the examples mentioned above already show, the need for custody was stressed especially when monks or nuns were in a condition of particular frailty (for example, because they were ill or young)16 or in a situation involving potential dangers (for example, while meeting laypeople or people of the opposite sex). Presumably, in the former cases, the monks or nuns were considered less capable to lead the life which was expected of them (or, in any case, more in need of help to do so), whereas in these latter cases, the problem seem to have been the exposure to temptations (for example, sexual temptations due to interactions with someone of the opposite sex but also temptations of gluttony when one shared a layman’s meal17). A letter addressed by Peter the Venerable to his brother Pontius, future abbot of Vézelay and Souvigny,18 helps us further understand the reasons why it was believed to be safer for monks and nuns to stay within the walls of a monastery. The letter was written to exhort Pontius, who had gone on a pilgrimage to visit the tombs of some martyrs (probably to Rome), to come back to his monastery. Peter explained that each individual ought to live together with people of the same status: a monk with monks, a cleric with clerics, a 16 As pointed out by Isabelle Cochelin, various medieval customaries refer to the « iuniores sub custodia », young professed monks who were entrusted to the supervision of a senior monk (see Le dur apprentissage de la virginité: Cluny, XIe siècle, in Au cloître et dans le monde. Femmes, hommes et sociétés (IXe–XVe siècles). Mélanges en l’honneur de Paulette L’Hermite-Leclercq, ed. by Patrick Henriet and Anne-Marie Legras, Paris: Presses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne 2000, pp. 119–32: here p. 119). The decrees of the Council of London (1074/1075, presided by Lanfranc of Canterbury) also stated that « in particular the children and the young monks (infantes precipue et iuvenes) shall everywhere be under supervision, with suitable masters being allotted to them (sibi idoneis magistris custodiam habeant), and they shall carry lights at night », ed. by David Wilkins in Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae a Synodo Verolamiensi A.D. CCCC XLVI. ad Londinensem A.D. M DCCXVII. Accedunt Constitutiones et Alia ad Historiam Ecclesiae Anglicanae Spectantia, vol. 1, Londini 1937, English translation in Documents Illustrative of English Church History, ed. by Henry Gee and William John Hardy, London: Macmillan 1914, document n. 14, p. 55. 17 The Benedictine Rule mentions that a traveling monk should not accept invitations to share a meal, unless he has his abbot’s permission (Regula Benedicti, chap. 51 De Fratribus Qui Non Longe Satis Proficiscuntur: « Frater qui pro quovis responso dirigitur et ea die speratur reverti ad monasterium, non praesumat foris manducare, etiamsi omnino rogetur a quovis, nisi forte ei ab abbate suo praecipiatur. Quod si aliter fecerit, excommunicetur », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 230). 18 On Peter the Venerable’s family see Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerabile cit., vol. 2, pp. 233–246.

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layman with laymen.19 The opposite would be against the laws of nature itself, like a centaur or a mermaid. This was linked to very practical reasons: each order had its own type of clothing and food and a variety of different habits, which made mixing in the same place a challenge.20 Not being exposed to the temptations of different clothing, foods and habits was clearly the best option, but if a monk had to leave the monastery or meet with laypeople, having at least one companion would be of help, since it allowed for reciprocal accountability and reciprocal imitation. Within the monastery, social control would have worked in an effective way during communal activities, whereas more risk would be perceived in the occasions when the monks were alone, for example during the hours dedicated to private reading or when they visited the latrines. The insistence that the monks should sleep together shows the importance attributed to peer control, as do the many references to the use of lights at night:21 ensuring that the monks would be visible at all times to their fellow brothers was expected to discourage wrong behaviours. Of course, the duty of checking whether any irregularity was being committed ultimately fell to the leader of the monastic house, but it was often shared with monastic officials entrusted, for example, with patrolling the monastery.22 19

Peter the Venerable, ep. 16 to his brother Pontius: « Monachum monachis, clericum clericis, laicum laicis, cohabitare, nec ordines proprios confundere decet », Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 24. 20 Ibidem: « Nec ego sacros aecclesiae ordines, quos unum vera fides et sincera caritas facit, sibi contrarios dico, sed propter vestium, ciborum, consuetudinum varietatem, in eadem domo sibi non congruere iudico ». 21 Beside the example given in footnote 15, the chapter 22 of the Benedictine Rule mentions that a candle should always burn in the dormitory. For the twelfth century, a particularly interesting reference can be found in a letter where Guibert of Gembloux praised the community of Mortemer, with whom he had stayed for eight months, stating that in that monastery lamps always burned at night, discouraging wrongdoers, see Guibert of Gembloux, ep. 7 to Philip Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae vol. 1 cit., p. 123. 22 See Scott G. Bruce, “Lurking with Spiritual Intent”: a Note on the Origin and Functions of the Monastic Roundsman (circator), in: Revue bénédictine 109, 1999, pp. 75–89. Scott G. Bruce observed that there is no evidence for the presence of roundsmen in houses of religious women, and speculated that their duties may have fallen to the head of the house herself, as seems to be suggested by Abelard in his Institutio seu Regula Sanctimonialium, par. 34: « so now here, now here, like a watchful and tireless captain, let our deaconess go carefully round her camp and watch lest through any negligence a way is opened to him who “like a lion prowls around looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5: 8). She must be the first to know all the evils of her house, so that she may correct them before they are known to the rest and taken as a precedent » (« Nunc igitur huc, nunc illuc deambulans,

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Furthermore, numerous sources attest that any member of the monastic community could play a role in the prevention of behaviours perceived as undesirable. An interesting example of this appears in Baudri of Bourgueil’s letter collection, in the context of a poetic epistolary exchange between Baudri himself and a nun called Constance. The fact that scholarly opinions are divided on the question of whether a woman actually wrote the reply or whether Baudri himself composed it23 does not make it a less valuable source for the study of monastic mentalities. “Constance”, in her letter, expressed the wish that Baudri and she could meet, but clarified that two or three of her companions would be surrounding her (« at circumstarent comites mihi vel duo, vel tres »). Although she declared that Baudri’s trustworthiness alone would prevent any risk, Constance still wished to avoid any complaint and suspicion, so at least her trusted sister should be present at their meeting.24 Two potential issue are mentioned here: the risk that something wrong may happen, which Constance claims does not exist in reality because of Baudri’s honest intentions; and the risk of complaints and suspicion in the monastery: even if nothing wrong could ever happen, Constance (or her fictional character) felt it is best to have someone present as witness, to avoid complaints and suspicion. In this case, the role played by the peer was not to prevent actual wrongdoing but, rather, to act as witness that no wrongdoing occurred. This is clearly another important role which members of a monastic community could play in turn and reciprocally. The community as a whole could also act as witness to someone’s behaviour. We can, for example, look at the letter in which Peter the Venerable informed Heloise of the death of her former husband Peter Abelard. If one considers more providi et impigri ducis, castra sua sollicite giret vel scrutetur, ne per alicuius negligentiam ei “qui tamquam leo circuit quaerens quem devoret” aditus pateat. Omnia mala domus suae prior agnoscat ut ab ipsa prius possint corrigi quam a ceteris agnosci et in exemplum trahi », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., pp. 396–397). 23 See Peter Dronke, Donne e cultura nel Medioevo: scrittrici medievali dal II al XIV secolo [1984], Milano: Il saggiatore 1986, p. 123, Belle Tuten, Who was Lady Constance of Angers? Nuns as Poets and Correspondents at the Monastery of Ronceray d’Angers in the Early Twelfth Century, in Medieval Perspectives 19 (2004), pp. 255–268. 24 Ep. 201 from Constance to Baudri: « utinam noster nunc hic dilectus adesset,/Qui sensum proprii carminis exprimeret – / At circumstarent comites mihi uel duo, uel tres, / Quamuis ipse suae sufficiat fidei ; / Ne tamen ulla foret de suspitione querela/ Saltem nobiscum sit mea fida soror », in Baudri de Bourgueil, Poèmes, ed. by Jean-Yves Tilliette, vol. 2, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 2002, p. 132. The expression « de suspitione querela » has been identified by Jean-Yves Tilliette as a juridical expression (footnote 27, p. 296).

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that the philosopher had been the object of many accusations, it is easier to understand the importance of Peter the Venerable’s statement that the whole community of Cluny bore witness of the holy, humble and devout life among them, and that the monks of Saint-Marcel-lès-Châlon (where Abelard has been sent when he became ill) could attest to his Christian death.25 Another example is offered by the already-mentioned letter addressed by Anselm, then prior of Bec, to Lanfranc of Canterbury, in which he described the successful integration of three people into the community of Bec: the archbishop’s own nephew Lanfranc, his friend Wido, and Osbern, a monk of Christ Church of Canterbury. With reference to Lanfranc the Younger, Anselm stated: « he so avoids all the things that he should avoid that he justifiably appears to none of us to be censurable, he so strives toward humble benevolence and benevolent humility, toward peace and silence and prayer that he is deservedly lovable to everyone »,26 which shows that, according to him, the whole community played an important role as judge and witness to someone’s good behaviour. In his shorter references to the other two monks, Anselm also stressed the general satisfaction produced by their presence of the community, which is proof of their good behaviour and successful integration.27 The role of the community as witness could also be institutionalized, as attested by Lanfranc of Canterbury’s Monastic Constitutions, which mention as a necessary condition for the successful conclusion of the novitiate the community’s approval of the novice’s life, as well as – interestingly – his approval of theirs (« si vita

25

Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise: « cuius sanctae, humili ac devotae inter nos conversationi, quod quantumve Cluniacus testimonium ferat, brevis sermo non explicat » and « tunc vero quam sancte, quam devote, quam catholice, primo fidei, dehinc peccatorum confessionem fecerit, quanta inhiantis cordis affectu, viaticum peregrinationis, ac vitae aeternae pignus, corpus scilicet redentoris domini accaeperit, quam fideliter corpus suum et animam hic et in aeternum ipsi commendauerit, testes sunt religiosi fratres, et totus illius monasterii, in quo corpus sancti martyris Marcelli iacet, conventus » in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 306 and 307. 26 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc of Canterbury: « Sic utique cavet a quibus est cavendum, ut nulli nostrum iure videatur reprehensibili; sic studet humili benignitati et benignae humilitati, sic quieti et silentio atque orationi, ut merito sit omnibus amabilis », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188. 27 Ibidem: « Domnum vero Widonem, quem magisterio puerorum addidimus, sic suavis commendat oboedientia et in strenuilate humilitas, ut pariter gloriari possimus et vos per quem, et nos qui eum talem habemus », and « eius exigentibus meritis tanta dilectionis mutae iucundamur conglutinamurque delectatione, ut iam separari non possimus absque utriusque animae scissura quadam et cordis laesione » in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190.

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eius fratribus, et fratrum conversatio sibi placuerit »):28 the reciprocal dimension of this judgement and approval is noteworthy for the purpose of this study. In a second phase, the novice needed the recommendation and help of some specific members of the community: he had to ask the prior and some of the elders to intercede for him with the abbot that he may be blessed and make profession.29 Lastly, it should be recognized that some people played a specific role in helping others to adapt their behaviour to the desired standard. An interesting example is offered by what Aelred of Rievaulx recalled about a friend of his who was particularly prone to outbursts of anger, that he: so observes the rights of friendship that sometimes when he is disturbed and on the verge of a public outburst I restrain him with only a nod. He never broadcasts the reasons for his displeasure but only waits for privacy to air what is on his mind.30 In the dialogue, the monk with whom Aelred is talking expressed the belief that only Aelred’s patience allowed him to obtain such a result in a person who is known to be quick-tempered. But Aelred objected, arguing that « in no way will another person’s patience if one’s own attachment does not curb it »: otherwise, patience in another would only excite anger.31 He therefore attributes a very active role to the individual in learning to manage his own emotions, while at the same time acknowledging the important role of social bonds in

28 Decreta Lanfranci, capp. 102–104: On Novices, in Knowles and Brooke, The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc cit., p. 158. 29 Ibidem: « Transactis plerisque diebus, si vita eius fratribus, et fratrum conuersatio sibi placuerit, monendus est a magistro suo quatenus roget priorem, et aliquos maiores fratres, ut et ipsi pro eo intercedant apud abbatem pro benedictione tribuenda et professione suscipienda ». 30 Aelred of Rievaulx, De Spiritali Amicitia, book 3, chap. 37: « ita mihi amicitiae iura conservat, ut commotum aliquando et iamiam prorumpentem in verba, solo nutu cohibeam; et ea quae displicent numquam producat in publicum; sed ad evaporandum suae mentis conceptum, semper expectet secretum », in Hoste and Talbot, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia, vol. 1 Opera ascetica cit., p. 324, transl. in Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, transl. by Lawrence C. Braceland, ed. by Marsha L. Dutton, Collegeville: Cistercian Publications 2010, p. 96. 31 Aelred of Rievaulx, De Spiritali Amicitia, book 3, chap. 38: « Nullo modo enim iram quam non refrenat affectus, cuiusquam patientia refrenabit, cum patientia iracundum magis excitet in furorem, in hoc aliquid sibi vel modicum solatium praestari cupiens, si in iurgiis se illi aliquis parem exhibeat », in Hoste and Talbot, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia, vol. 1 Opera ascetica cit., p. 324.

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this process. In fact, he expressed his belief that « were it not friendship but nature that guided him, he would not be so virtuous or so worthy of praise ».32 It should be kept in mind that in the same passage, Aelred made clear that he did not perceive such a friendship as a means for him to teach this friend but, rather, as something which offered him a continuous opportunity for reciprocal learning exchanges. In fact, he recalled that « when it sometimes happens that my idea differs from his, we know how to defer to one another in such a way that sometimes he prefers my will to his, but more often I prefer his to mine ».33 According to such idealized descriptions, friends acted indeed guardians of each other’s souls, both in public and in private. In the following pages, I will examine some of the means through which negative behaviours could be discouraged and corrected in the monastery and positive behaviours could be inspired and encouraged. First I will look at the crucial importance of imitation for shared learning, then at the informal and shared dimension of admonition, correction and punishment. Subsequently, I will focus on consolation and exhortation as means of shared learning and, lastly, at advice-giving and advice-receiving as ways of sharing one’s expertise and personal experience to help others to progress. 3.2

Imitation

Imitation was one of the most important elements that shaped the behaviour of the members of a monastic community in an informal and often reciprocal way. On the one hand, as the attestations will show, a monk or nun was supposed to learn from a fellow community member’s good example, whereas a bad example was believed able to lead others into sin. On the other hand, each community member had to pay attention to the example that he was offering to others; in fact, invitations to offer a good example to others (or to be careful not to offer a bad example) are often present in didactical discourses aimed at instructing someone by influencing their behaviour in the desired way. Bernard of Clairvaux’s letter to the nun of Troyes already offers an example of this latter element; another attestation can be found in a letter of vocation

32 Ibidem: « Quod si non ei amicitia, sed natura praescriberet, nec ita virtuosum, nec ita laude dignum iudicarem ». 33 Ibidem: « Si vero, ut assolet, ab eius aliquando meus sensus dissentiat, ita alterutro nobis deferimus, ut aliquando ille meam suae, plerumque ego suam meae praeferam voluntatem ».

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composed by Gilbert of Hoyland, where he declared the addressee, in joining monastic life, would set a wonderful example for others to follow: how wide a window will you open for the emulation of others, soon to become an example for others yourself and to interject a text of our own, how wide a door will you open upon the road to virtue. I seem to hear this verse of the Canticle being sung about you: « draw us after you; we shall run in the fragrance of your perfumes ». Happy obviously and doubly happy will you be, if you make your entrance an occasion of salvation for others, if you attract towards life and truth those who run after you now.34 Similarly, Baudri of Bourgueil told his friend Gerard to come join him in the monastery to show to many the vigorous appearance of Salvation and to offer to his disciples an example that they could follow.35 References to imitation in monastic sources range from very abstract and general to quite specific and descriptive of actual day-to-day learning practices. With reference to the former, it should of course be considered that to be a Christian had long been defined as imitating Jesus Christ’s example: as Augustine stated in an often-quoted passage of the De virginitate, to follow (Jesus) meant to imitate him.36 This was particularly true for monks and nuns, who were often told to imitate examples from Scripture (first and foremost 34

Gilbert of Hoyland, ep. 2 to an unidentified Adam: « Quam latam et patentem ad aemulandum fenestram dederis, mox aliis futurus exemplo; et, ut de nostris interseram, ingens ostium ad virtutis viam! Denique audire mihi videor de Canticis illud tibi decantatum iri: Trahe nos post te, in odore unguentorum tuorum curremus. Felix plane, et bis felix, si conversionem tuam salutis occasionem aliis effeceris: si ad vitam veritatemque traxeris, qui post te currunt modo », in Patrologia Latina, vol. 184, ed. by Jacques-Paul Migne, Paris: Imprimerie catholique 1854, col. 291B. English translation in Lawrence C. Braceland, Treatises, Epistles, and Sermons: with a Letter of Roger of Byland; the Milk of Babes; and an Edition and Translation of the Works of Master Gilbert, Abbot, from MS Bodley 87, the Bodleian Library, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications 1981, p. 92. 35 Baudri of Bourgueil, ep. 77 to Gerard of Loudun: « Huc ades ut multis sis strenua forma salutis », « Praebe discipulis exempla sequenda magister », in Baudri de Bourgueil, Poèmes, vol. 1 cit., p. 75. 36 Augustine of Hippo, De Virginitate, 27: « Quid est enim sequi, nisi imitari? » cited for example by Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 (« quid enim sequi nisi imitari? Quia Christus pro nobis passus est, nobis relinquens exemplum, sicut ait apostolus Petrus, ut sequamur vestigia eius. Hunc in eo quisque sequitur in quo imitatur, non inquantum ille filius dei est (…) sed inquantum filius hominum quae oportebat in se prebuit imitanda » (Constable, The letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 429). On the importance of imitation for high medieval hagiographers, see Priscilla D. Watkins, Lanfranc at Caen: Teaching by Example, in Vaughn and Jay Rubenstein, Teaching and Learning in Northern Europe cit., pp. 73.

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Jesus, but also the apostles, and characters of the Old and New Testament), from saints and from fellow community members.37 Here I will focus on the latter, many examples of which appear in letters. It is interesting to note that some high medieval authors argued (or implied) that the closest in time and place the examples were, the more effective they would be. This idea appears, for example, in a letter by Peter Damian,38 as well as in Bernard of Clairvaux’s famous consolatory epistle upon the death of Malachy of Ireland, in which he declared that the monks of the communities founded by Malachy should follow in his footsteps with particular zeal because they knew from daily experience his holy way of life (« studiosus quo vobis certius sancta eius conversatio diuturnis experimentis innotuit »).39 In the letter, Bernard explained that in the short time when he had lived together with Malachy, he himself had begun to be transformed for the better by the good example of Malachy’s conduct (conversatio, which, as we will see, is very often presented as the object of the imitation).40 How much more effective – one deduces – would have been his example for those who lived with the future saint for years! Bernard also mentioned his hope that Malachy – now in Heaven – will draw Bernard after him, so that he may run willingly and eagerly in the fragrance of Malachy’s virtues, while the memory of them is still fresh, suggesting that following in the Irish abbot’s footsteps would become increasingly more difficult as time passed. The letter to Malachy’s community also offers some insight into the effect that a particularly holy individual was supposed to have on the members of his or her monastic community. Bernard mentioned that the example 37 See the Benedictine Rule, where it is stated, for example, that the abbot must imitate the Good Shepherd (cap. 27: « et pastoris boni pium imitetur exemplum », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 192). On imitation of heavenly examples by medieval monks see Leclercq, The Love of Learning cit., pp. 162–163, who cited Bernard of Clairvaux’s references to « those who, in this world, lead the religious life; they imitate, according to their powers, by a virtuous and orderly life, the way of life of the Jerusalem above » (Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones super Cantica Canticorum, sermo 55, chap. 1, par. 2, ed. by Jean Leclercq, Henri Rochais, and Charles Hugh Talbot in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 4, ed. by Paul Verdeyen, Raffaele Fassetta, Paris: Cerf 2003, p. 130). On the examples set forth for imitation by medieval hagiography see also Watkins, Lanfranc at Caen: Teaching by Example cit., pp. 73. 38 See Peter Damian, ep. 50 to the hermit Stephen par. 74: « Efficatius enim modernorum cohortantur exempla quam veterum » (Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 194). 39 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 374 to the brethren of Ireland, San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 468. 40 On the meaning of the term conversatio see Philibert Schmitz, Conversatio (conversio) morum, in Dictionnaire de spiritualité, t. 2, vol. 2, Paris: Beauchesne 1953, coll. 2211–2212 and Christine Mohrmann, Études sur le latin des chrétiens, vol. 2. Latin chrétien et médiéval, Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura 1961, pp. 325–345, here pp. 341–345.

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of perfection set by Malachy began to stir him from his sloth and imbue him with reverence (« excutere desidiam et reverentiam incutere coepit praesens nobis tantae perfectionis exemplar »). Bernard was obviously showing humility by representing himself as a sinner, a monk who, like many others, was afflicted by sloth, but for the purpose of the present analysis it is interesting to note that someone’s example was believed to be able to have this twofold effect. Being freed from sloth and imbued with reverence constituted, according to the abbot of Clairvaux, two necessary steps along the path of personal improvement. A similar idea of the effectiveness of the example of good conduct, expressed through the same metaphor of perfume, can be found in another of Bernard’s letters, in which he exhorted a community of monks to imitate their abbot, referring to the fact that, since they lived with him, they could perceive close to them the fragrance of the abbot’s zeal, which had spread so far that it had reached Bernard himself and perhaps even Heaven.41 The metaphor of perfume, which is used by other letter-writers in the same sense,42 helps us understand how imitation was believed to be triggered as a natural reaction to someone’s example. The person who, by offering the example, acted as learning agent did not need to actively engage with the learners, which represents a remarkable difference from other means of informal and shared learning such as admonition, correction and advice. For this reason, the study of the perception and practice of imitation offers us unique insight into the perception of informal and shared learning processes in high medieval monastic communities. Observation and imitation were particularly important as a means of learning in a monastic community, as had long been observed by Jean Leclercq.43 Recently, Isabelle Cochelin and Susan Boynton illustrated it with reference to the monastic education of children,44 and Scott Bruce later argued that many of Cochelin’s insights about learning applied to adult novices as well.45 Sources such as rules, customaries and theoretical treatises offer us invaluable 41 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 254 to the abbot Guarinus and the monks of Aulps: « Nam ut taceam de vobis, qui praesentes comminus percipitis fragrantiam, tanta ad nos usque, qui longe absumus, ex studiis eius bonis pervenit huius suavissimae respersionis ubertas, ut nobis certissime fiat “odor vitae ad vitam”. Puto quod et in caelestibus iam persenserint odorem suavitatis », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 178. 42 See the above mentioned (p. 106) passage in a letter by Gilbert of Hoyland and, below (p. 113), the example of Peter the Venerable’s ep. 175 to Bernard of Clairvaux. 43 See Leclercq, The Love of Learning cit., pp. 282–283. 44 See Isabelle Cochelin, Besides the Book: Using the Body to Mould the Mind – Cluny in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries, in Ferzoco and Muessig, Medieval Monastic Education cit., pp. 21–34 and especially pp. 28–30, Boynton, Training for the Liturgy cit., pp. 7–19. 45 Scott G. Bruce, Silence and Sign Language cit., pp. 69–70 and footnote 71.

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information about the role of the senior official responsible for the instruction of the novices: while the Benedictine Rule and other earlier sources tend not to stress the pattern offered for imitation, sources dating from the twelfth century onwards seems to be more explicit in this respect. For example, the Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc of Canterbury stated that the novice master should « be such a one as may, by the example of his life and by the words of his teaching, give him good advice for his soul and teach him our way of life ».46 Adam of Perseigne, in his letter-treatise about monastic formation, listed the six things which he believed to be necessary for the novice to be able to successfully transform into a renewed man. Among these was « the pious behaviour of the master » (« religiosa magistri conversatio »); with reference to it, Adam explained that novices should be able to mirror their master’s behaviour, because having such a close good example was very effective in stimulating careful imitation (« dum ei exemplum honestatis e vicino proponitur, ad imitationis studium efficacius provocatur »). An extreme example of imitation of a senior community member by a newcomer can be found in Guibert of Nogent’s account of his mother’s entrance into a monastery. It is particularly valuable to us because it describes a somewhat ambiguous situation which was not codified by rules and customaries. From Guibert’s account, we learn that his mother retired to the monastery of Saint-Germaire-de-Fly, probably around 1067, on her own terms. Saint-Germaire was actually a male institution, which might have functioned as a sort of family monastery for the family of Guibert of Nogent. Several members of the household entered the monastery in the same period: two of the sons (including Guibert himself), two chaplains and the house tutor, and Guibert’s mother had a little house (or a cell) built for herself there, next to the church.47 Here, according to her son’s description: coming therefore to that convent she found an old woman in the habit of a nun, whom she compelled to live with her, having declared she would submit to her discipline (ad sibi cohabitandum, discipulari quadam 46

See Lanfranc of Canterbury, Decreta: « magister talis sit, qui exemplo vitae et verbo doctrinae possit eum de anima sua monere et ordinem docere » (in Knowles and Brooke, The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc cit., p. 106). 47 Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua Sive Monodiae (Monodiarum Libri Tres), book 1, cap. 14: « Inibi igitus consistens ad Flaviacense monasterium sese deliberaverat concessuram. Extructis itaque inibi aediculis prope ecclesiam […], tandem a loco in quo morabatur emersit » (Guibert de Nogent, Autobiographie, ed. by Edmond-René Labande, Paris: Le Belles Lettres 1981, pp. 100–102), see Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker, The Mother of Guibert of Nogent. The Age of Discretion, in Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe, Philadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2005, pp. 26–27.

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exhibita ei subiectione coegit) as she had all the appearance of great piety. « Compelled », I say, because she exerted all her powers of persuasion, when she knew her character, to get her companionship (sodalitium). And so she began gradually to copy the severity of the older woman, to imitate her meagre diet, to choose the plainest food, to give up the soft cushions in her bed, to which she had been accustomed, to sleep in contentment on corn straw covered with a little linen sheet. And since she still had much beauty and shewed no sign of age, she purposely strove to assume the appearance of age with an old woman’s wrinkles and bowed form. Therefore her long flowing locks, which above all things make a woman beautiful, were frequently cut short with the scissors, her dress was black and unpleasing with its excessive width adorned with countless patches, her cloak of natural color and her shoes pierced with many a hole past mending, since there was one within her whom she tried to please with such mean apparel.48 According to her son’s account, Guibert’s mother imitated the older woman to adopt a saintly way of life: in practical terms, how to adapt to a meagre diet, to a simple bed, and to show a modest and humble appearance. The text makes clear that much of the difficulty in this process of adaptation came from the fact that Guibert’s mother, as a noblewoman, had been accustomed to a more comfortable life. The description of the learning process is lengthy and includes mention of the fact that, thanks to her association with the woman, Guibert’s mother learned very practical things, such as the seven penitential psalms. Guibert even clarified that she learned them not by sight but by ear:49 this offers a very good example of the way in which imitation represented an 48

Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua Sive Monodiae, book 1, cap. 14: « Ad coenobium ergo illud veniens, anum quandam in sanctimoniali habitu reperit quam, quia plurimam religionis speciem prae se ferebat, ad sibi cohabitandum, discipulari quadam exhibita ei subiectione coegit; coegit, inquam, cum ipsa ambientissime, expertis eius moribus, sodalitium tale collegerit. Coepit itaque pedetentim antiquioris illius feminae rigorem imitari, victus parsimoniam sequi, pauperrima obsonia amplecti, consuetudinarii stratus mollia fulcra reiicere, linteolo et stramine frumentario contenta dormire. Et cum multa adhuc niteret specie, nullum que praetenderet vetustatis indicium, ad hoc ipsa contendere, ut rugis anilibus ad cernuos defluxisse putaretur annos. Defluentia ergo crinium, quae foemineis potissimum solent ornatibus inservire, crebro forcipe succiduntur, pulla vestis et amplitudine insolita displicans, innumeris resarcitionibus segmentata, prodebat, cum nativi coloris palliolo, et sutulari pertusuris incorrigibilibus terebrato, quoniam interius erat, cui sub tam inglorio apparatu placere gestibat », in Guibert de Nogent, Autobiographie cit., pp. 102–104, English translation by Charles Cooke Swinton Bland, The Autobiography of Guibert, Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy, London: Routledge / New York: E.P. Dutton 1925. 49 Ibidem, p. 104: « Septem poenitentiales psalmos sub praefata anu, non videndo sed audiendo, didicerat ».

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informal, shared and even horizontal means of learning, which could function as an alternative channel to formal and vertical learning. In fact, while the woman in question had more experience than Guibert’s mother, their relationship is described as taking place between equals: in addition to using the term sodalitium, Guibert also described the situation as « pariter ambae cohabitarent » and mentioned the mutual exchange of promises between the two women (« pepigerant mutuo sibi »).50 It is worth noting that Guibert did not describe the woman whom his mother chose to imitate as a saintly woman, but only mentions that she had the appearance of great piety. Indeed, later in the text, the reader learns that after the old woman’s death, Guibert’s mother dreamed that she was in hell, and wanted to warn her.51 Therefore, imitation is here conceived as a worthy undertaking regardless of the actual sanctity of the person in question: this echoes the idea that the value of the sacraments was independent from the worthiness of the priest who administered them.52 Guibert’s mother had learned useful things from the woman, but had also imitated things which are not valuable in themselves, for example the imitation of an older woman’s physical appearance, wrinkles included: the exaggeration of the extent of the imitation clearly had the goal of showing Guibert’s mother’s religious zeal in the context of an idealized representation of her by a loving son. At the same time, this text attests to Guibert’s conviction that what truly made the imitation a worthy undertaking was that it showed humility and discipline. More frequently, however, monks and nuns were told to imitate particularly shining examples: Bernard of Clairvaux told some recent Cistercian converts that the senior members of their community with their discourse, but even more so with the examination of their good behaviour (examinatione conversationis eorum), would instruct them for good and divert them from evil.53 50 Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua Sive Monodiae, book 1, cap. 18, in Guibert de Nogent, Autobiographie cit., p. 154. 51 Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua Sive Monodiae, book 1, cap. 18: « Vidit et in eadem serie visionis anum illam, quam in suae initio conversionis supra diximus cum ea conversatam, mulierem plane multis crucibus in superficie suo corpori semper infestam, at vero contra appetitum inanis, ut dicebatur, gloriae minus cautam; hanc inquam vidit a duobus ferri nigerrimis spiritibus, speciem que eius umbraticam » (in Guibert de Nogent, Autobiographie cit., p. 152–154). 52 The matter was a debated one in the Middle Ages, and in particular in the twelfth century, see for example Robert N. Swanson, Apostolic Successors: Priests and Priesthood, Bishops and Episcopacy in Medieval Western Europe, in A Companion to Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages, ed. by Greg Peters and C. Colt Anderson, Leiden: Brill 2015, pp. 4–42, Leiden: Brill 2016, here pp. 24–26. 53 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 462: « quod commissum est in saeculo: ubi quidem multum subtiliter et utiliter praedicatione seniorum, sed multo subtilius et utilius examinatione

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In general, high medieval monastic letters are particularly rich in references to the importance of imitation for all the members of the monastic community, and not specifically for newcomers; they are a particularly useful source of information for the purposes of the present research because they often refer to the specific qualities or habits that were considered worth imitating. For example, Geoffrey of Vendôme praised his friend, the archdeacon Hubert of Angers, by saying that he offered a model way of life (« multis vivendi forma proponitur ») and listing what he considered particularly admirable in his friend: his way of speaking and of being silent, his ability to conjugate secular life and the search for God and to counsel and instruct others.54 Likewise, in one of his letters written when he was abbot of Saint-Rémi, Peter of Celle praised John of Salisbury’s brother Richard by saying that he had been before him and before the eyes of the whole community a mirror of goodness and a perfect model of an imitation to be emulated (« forma integra emulande imitationis »).55 The qualities that, according to Peter, made Richard such a good example for the other monks were his honesty (honestas), maturity (maturitas), piety (pietas), charity (caritas) and religious observance (religio). It should be considered that the goal of this praise is probably to stroke Richard’s ego, perhaps to try and convince him to come back to Saint-Rémi, which he had abandoned (we know that he later became a canon). But regardless of this, this letter helps understand one of the reasons why a good monk (or nun) represented a useful human resource for the community in which he or she lived:56 it was believed that simply living together with him or her would have a positive effect on the other members of the community. A very clear example of this can be found in a letter written by John of Fécamp, in which he offered a detailed explanation of how a nun should act, declaring: « happy the community who deserved to receive and imitate such a nun » (« felix congregatio quae aliquam talem […] meruit accipere et imitari »).57 John stated that the conversatio of such a nun represents to the eyes of the people who observed it their return (reditus) of the celestial home, as well as an edifying reading and a contemplative conversationis eorum, et in malo destruimur, et instruimur ad bonum », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 644. 54 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 46 to the archdeacon Hubert of Angers, in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 82. 55 Peter of Celle, ep. 171 to John of Salisbury and his brother Richerd, in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 660. 56 See the notion of abbots and abbesses as human resources as presented in Abbots and Abbesses as a Human Resource in the Ninth- to Twelfth-Century West, ed. by Steven Vanderputten, Zürich: lit Verlag 2018. 57 John of Fécamp, Letter to a nun, ed. by Jean Leclercq and Jean-Paul Bonne in Un maître de la vie spirituelle au XIe siecle: Jean de Fécamp, Paris: Vrin 1946, p. 208.

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experience.58 More in general, mentioning that someone’s monastic behaviour was a model to be imitated by others seems to have been a relatively widespread way of praising a monk or a nun.59 This valorization of appropriate behaviour as a model for imitation and even a natural stimulus for it is not always expressed explicitly; it could be argued that there is an implicit reference to this every time someone mentions the benefic effect of living together (cohabitatio) with a certain person. Adopting such a broad approach to imitation allows us to go beyond the references which explicitly use the term imitatio, to include a broader variety of references to the effect of someone’s behaviour on others, and on the qualities or behaviour that could trigger such effect. Peter the Venerable referred in many of his letters to the usefulness of living together (cohabitatio) with an exceptional individual. Writing to Bernard to Clairvaux, he expressed the wish that he could live together with Bernard, and his conviction that such a cohabitatio could grant him eternal Salvation, because Bernard’s example would have attracted him like a perfume and pushed him to follow in his footsteps.60 To this Bernard answered by competing in humility with Peter, and on the subject of communal living espressed his own wish that he could enjoy Peter’s company, if not always or often, at least sometimes, and declared: It could not but be profitable for me to see such an example of all the virtues, such a model of regular observance, such a mirror of sanctity, and – what until know I admit that I have learned from Christ too little – nor

58 Ibidem: « Eius enim conversatio, ubicumque fuerit, intuentium oculis viva et efficacissima reditus nostri ad caelestem patriam est et lectio et contemplatio ». 59 See for example the letter 137 where Peter of Celle asked the abbot Gossuin of Anchin to pray that both his community and Peter’s may « cease from evil and pursue the good, following in the footsteps of your holy life and embracing the example of your most perfect religious life » (« sequentes vestigia tue sancte conversationis et amplectentes exemplum perfectissime religionis », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 510). 60 Peter the Venerable, ep. 175 to Bernard of Clairvaux: « Nonne regnis omnibus terrenis praeferri a me deberet grata non solum hominibus, sed et angelis ipsis cohabitatio tua? Concivem te illorum si dixero, licet nondum spes in rem transierit, per misericordis Dei gratiam mendax non ero. Si plane mihi datum fuisset usque ad ultimum spiritum tecum hic esse, daretur fortassis posthac, ubi et esses etiam perpetuo esse. Quo enim currerem nisi post te, tractus odore unguentorum tuorum a te? ». I used both the translation by Bruno Scott James in The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., ep. 306, p. 377 and the one by Gillian R. Knight in The Correspondence between Peter the Venerable and Bernard of Clairvaux, A Semantic and Structural Analysis, Aldershot: Ashgate 2002, p. 235.

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would it be in vain that I should see with the eye of faith how meek and humble you are.61 The exaggeration is part of the rhetoric of humility and of competing in praise, and one can wonder if Bernard was not being sarcastic. In any case, the theme of imitation is clearly crucial here, and Bernard even declared « would that I could imitate as well as I can admire such humility ». In writing to Heloise, Peter the Venerable had also wished that she had become a nun at Marcigny (the Cluniac priory which welcomed Peter’s female relatives) and declared that the community would have been made to shine more brilliantly by living together with Heloise (cohabitatione tua).62 The belief that imitation of one’s example happened spontaneously is also the reason why bad monks or nuns were perceived to be such a problem. The notion of the bad influence that a sinner could exert upon the monastic community is often expressed by using metaphors of venom and illness, or sometime of sowing.63 Peter the Venerable wrote a very angry letter to an otherwise unknown Cluniac monk who had expressed ideas that Peter considered to be heretical. In this letter, Peter declared that one reason which pushed him to write was the fear « that the simple lambs in fellowship with you be infected with your pestilence by dwelling together every day » (« diutina cohabitatione »).64 In fact, sinners were separated from the community (at least until they reformed themselves) not only as a punishment but also to prevent them from exerting a bad influence. A good example of this can be found in Bernard of Clairvaux’s answer to an abbot who had asked him for advice on how to deal with a monk who had been found guilty of a certain grave sin. Both abbots appeared concerned about the effect that this monk could have on his fellow brothers. Bernard wrote: « it is perhaps no longer 61

Bernardo di Chiaravalle, ep. 265 to Peter the Venerable: « Non, inquam, frustra conspicerem virtutis exemplar, disciplinae summam, speculum sanctitatis, quodque minus usque adhuc a Christo didicisse me fateor, non incassum fide oculata perciperem, quam sis et tu “mitis et humilis corde” », Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 204. 62 Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise: « illarum sororum illud praeclarum collegium cohabitatione tua clarius rutilare gauderem », in ibidem, p. 306. 63 See for example Bernard of Clairvaux ep. 79, pp. 396–398, ep. 102, p. 484, 143, 325, Peter the Venerable, ep. 37, p. 117. 64 Peter the Venerable, ep. 37 to an unnamed heretic: « quo consociatas tibi simplices oviculas, diutina cohabitatione tabe tua infectas esse formido », in ibidem, p. 117. I use here the English translation by Marc Saurette, to whom I am very thankful for sharing with me his translations of the letters at the time when I was writing; now they have been made freely available for everyone in the collaborative space of the website “The Petrus Project” (https://petrus-project.gitbook.io/petrus-project/, last accessed October 2, 2020).

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expedient that he should be suffered to remain with you lest, as you say in your letter, you have cause to fear, your young and immature flock should become infected ».65 He suggested that the monk in question should be sent away, and at the end of the letter he stressed once more that the monk could remain in the community only if there was a way to completely remove all opportunity for him to repeat the sin or to spread it (literally, to sow it).66 In another letter, Bernard advised another abbot, Robert of Dunes, on how to deal with a novice who seemed unfit to be a monk. Bernard advised Robert not to admit the novice in question, and to test him again after some time: if he did not prove himself to be ready, then he should be separated from the community, to avoid allowing « one sick sheep to corrupt the whole flock ».67 Letters dealing with these matters often do not mention the exact nature of the sin or of the problematic behaviour in question, both because it was often unnecessary, but probably also because mentioning the sin was believed to have a potential negative effect on the audience of the letter (and of the letter collection). While specific sins were sometimes mentioned in an educational context (for example, an edifying story of crime and redemption, or crime and punishment), there is evidence of the idea that mentioning a sin outside of such a discourse may have had what today we would call a “copycat effect”.68 A letter by Peter of Venerable offers remarkable insight into this belief; it was addressed to the bishop Milo i of Therouanne to warn him that his denouncing the sins of the Cluniac monks in public at a synod risked triggering imitation.69 Peter even offered a rare explanation of how this imitation could have worked, suggesting that learning of someone’s faults – in this case, the fault of pride of the Cluniacs – could have brought other monks to be more 65

Ep. 79 to the abbot Luke of Roucy: « Fortassis enim non expedit, ut ulterius apud vos remorari sinatur, ne forte, quod te non immerito quidem timere scripsisti, pusillus et novellus grex huiusmodi tabe contaminetur », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 396. 66 Ibidem: « si tamen persentiri potuerit, quomodo ibidem omnis ei occasio iterandi aut seminandi hanc turpitudinent penitus subtrahatur ». 67 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 325 to Robert of Dunes: « Sin autem, ferro abscissionis tune utendum est, ne una ovis morbida totum gregem contaminet », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 356. 68 The classic work which introduced this notion is Loren Coleman, The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow’s Headlines, New York: Simon & Schuster 2004. 69 Peter the Venerable, ep. 102 to the bishop Milo i of Therouanne: « non tamen erant peccata fratrum in aecclesia praedicanda, non erant delicta monachorum in exemplum populo proferenda, ne monachos superbos et maxime Cluniacenses populus audiens ad imitandum traheretur », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit, p. 263.

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lenient toward their own pridefulness. This is particularly interesting because it helps us understand how imitation of a bad example could have been triggered, especially considering that imitation of a bad example would always have been unconscious rather than deliberate.70 In conclusion, imitation emerges as a peculiar means of learning for many reasons. Firstly, as we have seen, it was important both as a means of learning and as a guiding principle that should be kept in mind to shape someone’s (including one’s own) behaviour. Secondly, as a means in itself it could lead to the acquisition of both desirable and non-desirable skills and attitudes. Thirdly, it could work both in a deliberate and an unconscious way. In the two next subchapters, I will focus on two deliberate ways of influencing someone’s behaviour: I will look first at how undesirable behaviour was pointed out and corrected and then at how desirable behaviour was stimulated and encouraged. In both cases, my goal is to highlight the educational role played by the whole community and the often-reciprocal nature of the learning interactions. 3.3

Accusation, Admonition and Correction

Determining how to deal with wrongdoing in the monastery was a recurrent preoccupation for monastic legislators.71 Abelard, in the rule for the nuns of the Paraclete, declared that « neither a monastery nor any home should be called irregular if irregularities occur there, but only if they are not afterwards carefully corrected. For is any place wholly faultless? ».72 70

Whereas the imitation of a good example, as the examples above have showed, could be both deliberate and unconscious. 71 In the Benedictine rule, see the chapters 23 De Excommunicatione Culparum, 24 Qualis Debeat Esse Modus Cxcommunicationis, 25 De Gravioribus Culpis, 26 De His Qui Sine Iussione Iunguntur Excommunicatis, 27 Qualiter Debeat Abba Sollicitus Esse Circa Excommunicatos, 28 De His Qui Saepius Correpti Emendare Noluerint, 29 Si Debeant Fratres Exeuntes De Monasterio Iterum Recipi 30 Pueri Minore Aetate Qualiter Corripiantur, 45 De His Qui Falluntur in Oratorio, 46 De His Qui in Aliis Quibuslibet Rebus Delinquunt; most of these themes are present, in one form or the other, in high medieval monastic rules and customaries, such as the Liber Tramitis, Bernard of Cluny’s Ordo Cluniancensis, Udalrich (Ulrich) of Zell’s Consuetudines Antiquiores Cluniacenses, William of Hirsau’s Constitutiones Hirsaugienses and the Decreta Lanfranci and Abelard’s rule for the nuns of the Paraclete. 72 Institutio seu Regula Sanctimonialium, chap. 68: « Sciendum vero nec monasterium nec domum aliquam inordinatam dici debere si qua ibi inordinate fiant, sed si cum facta fuerunt non sollicite corrigantur. Quis enim locus a peccatum penitus expers? », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 429.

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While admonition, correction and punishment are often perceived as inherently hierarchical and vertical, here I would like to illustrate some evidence to the contrary. After reflecting on the role of the individual conscience, I will look at different attestations of reciprocal admonition and correction; lastly, I will look at the social dimension of punishment. The role played by individual conscience is worth investigating here because it shows the very active role played by the individuals who were perceived as having failed to adapt to monastic life and needing improvement. First of all, high medieval monastic letters richly attest that self-accusation was part of a very widespread mental habitus73 of humility: several monastic authors accuse themselves of various faults in their letters, as monks could do before their brothers gathered in chapter. To understand this, it should be kept in mind that the most influential model of medieval autobiographical writings was that of the confession, from Augustine’s widely influential work to the few high medieval texts which most closely resemble an autobiography, such as Othlo of Saint Emmeram’s account of his own temptations, Guibert of Nogent’s soliloquy or Abelard’s Story of My Misfortunes. Moreover, letters, and in particular letter collections, were possibly the type of text most likely to contain instances of autobiographical expression,74 often in connection with the sharing of the results of one’s self-analysis with a friend. For example, Nicholas of Clairvaux declared in a letter to a friend from his old monastery of Montiéramey, Walter: « I often enter the solitude of my heart alone, crushed by the weight of my guilty conscience, and then reason is my judge, conscience my witness, fear my hangman, and I summon myself before myself, lest that terrible Majesty, into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall, should summon me before himself ».75

73

On the notion of “habitus” in this context, see Gilbert Rist, La notion médiévale d’“habitus” dans la sociologie de Pierre Bourdieu, in Revue européenne des sciences sociales 22 (1984), pp. 201–212. 74 Georg Misch, Geschichte der Autobiographie, vol. 3. 2. Das Hochmittelalter im Anfang. Frankfurt am Main: G. Schulte-Bulmke 1959, p. 523, Ambrogio Maria Piazzoni, Epistolari autobiografici?, in L’autobiografia nel Medioevo: Atti del 34. convegno storico internazionale, Todi, 12–15 Ottobre 1997, Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull’alto Medioevo 1998, pp. 164–176. 75 Nicholas of Clairvaux, ep. 35 to Walter of Montiéramey: « sepius infelici conscientie mole depressus solus solitudinem mei cordis ingredior, et est michi ratio iudex, conscientia testis, timor carnifex, statuoque me ante faciem meam, ne me statuat ante faciem suam terribilis illa maiestas in cuius manus est horrendum incidere », in The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., p. 134.

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To give a practical example of someone accusing himself before others of a specific fault, we can look at Peter Damian’s letter to an abbot called Albizo.76 In it, the letter-writer stated that since he last saw the addressee, he had been tormenting himself about the fact that when they had last met, Peter had heard Albizo complaining about a need for horses but did not at once dismount from his and freely offer him the two horses that he had, and compell him to accept them, whether the other wanted them or not.77 Now Peter wrote: « while my heart overflows with such remorse because of this fault and deeply grieves with sighs and groans, I am disturbed in conscience by a gnawing worm that I did not in charity fulfill my duty ». After briefly reflecting on the fact that in the afterlife, one could not make amends for his negligence, Peter explained that, if the addressee still needed a horse, he could send a monk to Peter’s community and he would receive one, along with a piece of cloth which could be used as a stake toward buying a second horse. The tone of this letter may seem exaggerated to the modern reader, considering the kind of fault in question, but it must be considered that this text served at least two purposes: firstly, to create or strengthen the friendly relationship with the addressee; and secondly, to offer to a wide audience an example of how a monk was supposed to behave. This public dimension of the letter is made particularly clear by the ending note: « I beg you not to let this short letter be destroyed, but [to let it be] copied in one your books, so that my affection for you may be remembered ».78 This already offers an example of a process of identification and correction of a wrong behaviour which does not involve a hierarchical authority in the monastery (since the reciprocal ranks of the letter writer and of the addressee 76

Other examples of someone accusing himself in a letter and asking for forgiveness or help can be found in Peter of Celle, ep. 24, Peter the Venerable, ep. 78; Bernard of Clairvax, ep. 65; Peter Damian, ep. 7. 77 Peter Damian, ep. 37 to Albizo: « Noverit ergo dulcissima sanctitas vestra, quia multum me paenituit, quoniam cum vas conqueri caballorum indigentiam audivi, de meo protinus non descendi, non ultroneus ambos optuli et velle nolle te suscipere non coegi. Sed inter haec illlud quoque non sine causa considero, quia dum nunc cor meum ex hac culpa tanto paenitentiae ardore decoquitur et non implesse caritatis officium suspirando gemendo et conscientia remordente tanquam verme rodente gravissime lamentatur. Post transirum huius vitae quid faciet, qui cempus impendendae caritatis effluxisse deflebit et carneo neglegentiam suam emendare non poterit, quia tempus acceptabile et diem salutis amisit 1? Si enim ram grave et amarum menti nostrae videtur hic peccasse, ubi possumus adhuc peccata corrigere, quid illic agendum erit, ubi reatum suum nemo poterit emendare? », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 252. I use here the translation by Owen J. Blum, in Peter Damian, Letters 31–60, p. 71. Scholars have so far not been able to determine to which monastery Albizo belonged. 78 « Queso autem ut breviculus iste non pereat, sed in libro quolibet transcribatur, ut devotionis meae circa vos memoria conservetur ».

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do not seem to matter). The guilty monk identifies the fault by himself, points it out and makes amends for it through a letter. In other cases, self-accusation could be directly linked to a request to the addressee for help and advice: Arnold, superior of Saint Andrew in Cologne, addressed to Hildegard of Bingen a letter full of self-loathing in which he declared that he did not seem to be making any progress toward God and asked her to command him what to do, either founded in divine revelation or in the gift of counsel of her wisdom.79 Formal hierarchies do not matter here, only perceptions of charismatic ones. The importance attributed to the wrongdoer’s own conscience, to his expression of remorse and to the fact of taking action to correct oneself is attested by the many letters containing advice on how to deal with monks who had sinned, including intercessions on their behalf. Bernard of Clairvaux stated in a letter that if a certain monk had confessed himself his fault, however serious, he should have been treated more leniently, but since he had not, he had to be treated differently.80 In other cases, the letters offer information concerning the nature of a monk’s (or a nun’s) sin: for example, according to a letter written by Anselm while he was abbot of Bec, a monk illicitly went to the royal court and lingered there, ignoring all advice from his prior to return.81 Anselm explained that, although he disapproved of the monk’s behaviour, which was in flagrant violation of the monastic rules, he had not yet ordered him to come back. Anselm explained that “some reason” forced him to tolerate the monk’s arrogance for the time being – it seems likely that the monk had powerful protectors at court. Anselm also pointed out an advantage for this waiting: it was much preferable for the man to correct himself of his own initiative rather than for Anselm to punish him.82 However, he said that if the monk did not correct himself soon, then he, Anselm, would enforce monastic discipline with severity. In another letter, Anselm sent back to his monastery a monk of Christ Church, Osbern, who had been removed from his community because of his bad behaviour. Now he asked the prior, Henry, to readmit Osbern, listing among the signs that he had truly reformed the fact that he had freely accused 79

Arnold praepositus of Saint Andrew in Cologne, ep. to Hildegard of Bingen: « nunc igitur quia deficio, et nullum profectum quantum ad Deum in me video, scripsi ad te, dominam meam, paratus facere quicquid mihi sive revelatione divinis sive consilii tui sapientia preceperis », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 2 cit., p. 80. 80 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 79 to Luke of Roucy, abbot of Cuissy: « Si frater suum casum, quantumlibet gravem, quantumlibet turpem, prior ipse confessus fuisset, et curandus foret, et non effugandus. Nunc autem quoniam tanti mali aliunde foetor emersit, […] » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 396. 81 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 97 to Maurice, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 313. 82 Ibidem: « Mallem tamen illius spontaneam correctionem, quam ullam ei inferre austenoris disciplinae correptionem ».

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and cursed the perversity of his former life (« pristinae vitae perversitatem sponte accusat et exsecratur »).83 Another reference to the importance of the individual conscience of the guilty monk is contained in a letter written by Bernard of Clairvaux to try and obtain readmittance for a novice who had been expelled from the monastery of Foigny: but, you tell me, I do not know what good reasons there were for his expulsion. I am not interested, and do not greatly care whether there were good reasons or not. What I complain about, what I protest against, what astonishes me, is that the man by his humble satisfaction, by his urgent prayers, by his patient waiting, by his promises of amendment (« humiliter satisfaciens, instanter petens, patienter sustinens, emendationem promittens »), has not deserved to receive from you that assurance of good will the Apostle advises and, in the words of our Master, to be tried again in all patience.84 Interestingly, this second letter was addressed not to the abbot of the monastery but to an ordinary monk, who – we learn – had been behind the expulsion of the novice, having convinced the prior to expel him, and who now was still opposing the novice’s return, although the prior and the abbot himself were ready to readmit him.85 This letter thus sheds light into the informal ways in which certain monks, regardless of formal ranks or appointments, played an important role in the correction of the faults of their fellow monks, on which I will now focus. 83 Anselm of Canterbury, letter 67 to prior Henry, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 250. 84 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 414 to the monk Arnald of Foigny: « Sed nescis, inquis, quam iuste expulsus sit. Sed iuste, an iniuste expulsus sit, non quaero, nec curo modo: sed hoc tantum queror, hoc causor, hoc vehementer admiror, quod humiliter satisfaciens, instanter petens, patienter sustinens, emendationem promittens, nec sic quidem exaudiri meretur, ut, iuxta Apostolum, confirmetur in eo caritas et, secundum Magistrum nostrum, probetur iterum in omni patientia », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 566, transl. in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 445 p. 510–511. 85 Ibidem: « at Prior, inquies, illum eiecit, non ego. Et hoc quidem ipse novi; sed te suadente, te omnimodis compellente. Unde et nunc cum eum, sicut audivi, ipse quoque Prior miseratus cupiat revocare, te in tua perdurante duritia, non sinitur emendare, quod compulsus est indiscretius egisse. Rogo: quae est haec securitas, ut, ceteris omnibus miserantibus, ipso quoque domino abbate propitio, tu solus implacabilis flecti non queas ut recipiatur? »

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In theory, the situation described in the letter above was not admissible,86 and the less-than-idealistic representation of daily life at the monastery of Foigny (to which Bernard did not object per se) could be one of the reasons why this letter was not included in Bernard’s official letter collection, which aimed at offering an idealized representation of his action in the Church. However, the idea that monks and nuns should not only point out each other’s faults but also correct them was widely acknowledged, as the examples below will show. Anselm, having become archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to express his enduring affection and to reiterate his willingness to offer guidance – to his former community of Bec. He told the monks that to be able to lead their monastic life in a more efficacious way, they should guard each other with charity (« invicem vos caritative custodite »), admonish and correct each other (« monete, corregite »), and benevolently accept these corrections and admonitions from each other as a great benefit offered to them (« et haec ab invicem velut magna beneficia vobis impendi benigne sustinete »).87 In one letter to his monks, Peter of Celle attributed to the whole community the responsibility to act against the sacrist, if he was not performing his duty correctly, and even explained why it was appropriate that this was a communal action: « if your sacrist is old or negligent, let him be rebuked by all, judged by all (« corripiatur ab omnibus, iudicetur ab omnibus »), because the salvation of all is endangered by these things. And a communal wound must be mended by communal endeavour ».88 In his rule for the nuns of the Paraclete, Peter Abelard declared that whoever witnessed a fault in another or in herself had to point it out. In fact, whoever witnessed a fault in another but concealed it was to be subjected to a harsher punishment than the one who committed the original fault,89 which, if applied, would have created enormous pressure for everyone to denounce 86

The Benedictine Rule mentions that no monk should be permitted to excommunicate or to strike one of his brethren unless the Abbot has given him the authority to do so (chap. 70. Ut Non Praesumat Quisquam Alium Caedere). 87 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 178 to the prior and monks of Bec, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1 cit., p. 204. He gave same advice (« invicem monete ») to the community of Bec in a later letter, ep. 205. 88 Peter of Celle, ep. 42 to brother A. and the community of Montier-la-Celle: « Si senex vel negligens est sacrista vester, corripiatur ab omnibus, iudicetur ab omnibus, quia salus omnium in his periclitatur », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 163. 89 Abelard, Institutio seu Regula Sanctimonialium, par. 58: « tanta igitur correctionis districtio sit, ut quecunque in altera viderit quod corrigendum sit et celaverit graviori subiaceat discipline quam illa que hoc commisit. Nulla igitur vel suum vel alterius delictum accusare differat », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 560.

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any wrongdoing in the monastery. In the Rule, Peter also offered two authoritative examples for the need of accepting correction from someone’s peer and even from an inferior. Firstly, he mentioned that even the apostle Peter took correction from his fellow apostle Paul; secondly, he quoted the Benedictine Rule: « The Lord often reveals what is better to the lesser man ».90 Peter Damian mentioned in many of his letters the need to correct one’s brother and to benevolently accept the corrections, even from one’s inferiors. For example, in the exordium of his letter to the hermit Teuzo, to prepare and justify his criticism, he observed that « the Lord did not say “If someone sins against you, bear it and keep silence” but “if your brother commits a sin against you, go and rebuke him” ».91 Furthermore, Peter stressed that there were two parties involved: the sinner, who was to be reprimanded; and the offended, who becomes the corrector. According to him, there had to be a delicate balance of equity between them, which respected their mutual rights: while the former should obviously correct himself, the latter should pay attention not to sin out of impatience in administrating the correction.92 Peter concluded by mentioning that the success of the correction and restoring the offender to the righteous path thus depended upon the « exchange of proper satisfaction » (« satisfactionis dignae commercium »), which shows the importance of the reciprocal dimension. The same Peter Damian, in a letter to Ariprandus, a member of the community of Fonte Avellana who sometimes served as a secretary for Peter, told him that of all the signs of saintly life, he should pay particular attention to accepting corrections benevolently, without being ashamed of being, on occasion, rebuked by someone younger than him.93 The letter-writer then reflected 90 Ibidem, par. 29: « ipse quoque apostolorum princeps coapostoli sui Paulo publicam correctionem diligenter exceperit. Ut enim beatus quoque meminit Benedictus: “Saepe minori revelat Dominus quod melius est” (with reference to Benedictine Rule, chap. 3 par. 3) », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 390. 91 Peter Damian, ep. 44 to the hermit Teuzo, par. 2: « Non enim dicit Dominus: “Si peccaverit in te quis, patere et tace”, sed, “si peccaverit in te, inquit, frater tuus, vade et corripe eum” », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 54. I use the English translation by Owen J. Blum, in Peter Damian, Letters 31–60 cit., p. 221. 92 Ibidem: « Sunt siquidem duo, lapsus et laesus. Charitas ergo, quae inter utrumque diiudicat, sic debet iusticiae lances appendere, sic inconcusso examine aequitatis inter eos iura servare, quatenus non enixius studeat, ne laesus, quod absit, per impatientiam corruat, quam ut per satisfactionis dignae commercium et is quoque, qui lapsus est, surgat ». 93 Peter Damian, ep. 54 to the monk Ariprandus, par. 4: « Inter caetera igitur sanctae conversationis insignia […] unum prae caeteris cave, ne correptiones aliquando graviter feras, ne qualibet occasione redargui a tuis quoque iunioribus erubescas », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 218.

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upon the importance of correction, comparing a spiritual community which did not apply frequent correction to the people of Israel who lacked a blacksmith when Saul became king.94 As in Peter Abelard’s Rule for the nuns of the Paraclete, the authoritative example of someone rebuking a peer, or even a superior, is that of the apostle Paul rebuking Peter. Although Peter declared that he wrote not so much for Ariprandus, who did not need these teachings, but rather for his peers who might profit from them, it is possible that the need to benevolently accept correction was particularly important for members of the élite of the monastery, who might be susceptible to showing arrogance or haughtiness in interacting with their inferiors, or their less talented and less fortunate peers. It is probably no coincidence that Peter Damian only mentioned this need in letters to two powerful addressees, Abbot Desiderius of Montecassino (who later became Pope Victor iii) and Bishop Cunibertus of Turin. In the first of these letters, Peter presented himself as an inferior who addressed a superior, but he invited Desiderius to still accept his correction, because it was the right thing to do and because it would benefit him.95 In the second letter, Peter referred to the context of friendship rather than to that of communal religious life, arguing that It is the norm of the true love and friendship that brothers should foster such mutual affection that if anything reproachful be found in either of them, one will not hide it from the other. Such urgency proves to be both useful and upright, for as it brings everything into the open, it repairs that which needs correction and safeguards what is conducive to their wellbeing by a pure and sincere exchange of love. And so it happens that as the delinquent’s fault is called to his attention, he who corrects amasses a greater amount of grace.96 94 Ibidem, par. 10: « Spiritalis plane quisque conventus, si fraterni zeli frequenti correptione non utitur ». 95 Peter Damian, ep. 95 to Desiderius of Montecassino, par. 3: « Ferulam igitur in te doctrinae tanquam magister arripiam, et velut supparem vel clientem, haec quae tibi forte quam michi notiora sunt, ammonere presumam. Et hoc sit meum pungere, doctiorem velle docere » and par. 5: « Fraternae correptionis zelum noli moleste ferre, sed gratulabundus amplectere ac velut certae curationis antidotum in animae languentis interiora diffunde. Memento itaque, quod per Salomonem dicitur: […] », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 5 ed. by Nicolangelo D’Acunto and Lorenzo Saraceno, Roma: Città Nuova 2011, respectively p. 85 and p. 86. 96 Peter Damian, ep. 112, par. 2: « Haec est verae caritatis et amicitiae regula, ut ita se fratres mutuae dulcedinis amore confoveant, quatinus si quid in utrovis reprehensibile est, alter alteri non abscondat. Illa quippe necessitudo probatur utilis et bonesta, quae dum cuncta producit in medium, et quod corrigendum est corrigit, et quod sanum est mutuo puritatis

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The need for friends to correct each other was mentioned by several high medieval monastic authors, such as Aelred of Rievaulx, Adam of Perseigne and Peter of Celle.97 Bernard of Clairvaux quoted the biblical proverb « the lashes of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy » to justify his harsh words in the letter to his relative Robert98 and did not hesitate to criticize his friend Oger’s decision to abandon the pastoral charge in the community of Saint-Medard, telling him: « behold how great is my confidence in you! I have scolded you sharply, and I have not hesitated to judge your conduct before knowing all the facts ».99 This somehow surprising statement seems to imply that Bernard was taking very seriously his duty to correct his friend by sending him a letter of admonishment without waiting to hear all the details about what had happened. The theme of friendly correction is very important in Peter of Celle’s letter collection, on which I will now focus. He declared in a letter to Matilda of Fontevrault that one should praise his friends more sparingly than others, and correct their wrongs more severely,100 and in a letter to Abbot Hugh of Preully he asserted that admonitions from friends were received more affectionately the more closely the mutual juncture of souls was consolidated.101 In both cases, Peter mentioned these things as universal truths which guided his actions; in Matilda’s letter, Peter presented it as a reason to cut short his praise of her, while in Hugh’s letter, the statement echoed the exordium, which ac sinceritatis amore custodit. Sicque fit, ut dum delinquentis culpa corrigitur, corripienti copiosior gratia cumuletur », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 5, ed. by Nicolangelo D’Acunto and Lorenzo Saraceno, Roma: Città Nuova 2011, p. 376. English translation by Owen Blum in Peter Damian, Letters 91–120 cit., p. 258. 97 Aelred of Rielvaux discussed the theme of friendly corrections at length in his treatise on spiritual friendship (De Spiritali Amicitia, book 3, par. 103–109 [Hoste and Talbot, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia, vol. 1 Opera ascetica cit., pp. 340–342]). For Adam of Perseigne, see his ep. 29 to the countess of Chartres: « amicorum parcere vitiis adulatio est, non dilectio ; nec eam amicitiam quam amentiam sapit, non redarguere quos amamus », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., p. 232. 98 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1, par. 2, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 8 with reference to Prob. 27, 6. 99 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 87 to Oger, par. 7: « Agnosce, frater, quantum de te confisus sim, qui te tam acriter increpare, tuum factum, nec mihi satis probatum, tam audacter diiudicare non dubitaverim », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 430, transl. in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., p. 132. 100 Peter of Celle, ep. 27 to Matilda of Fontevrault: « Parcius enim laudare amicos, amplius amare debemus, severius quoque mala eorum corrigere quam male sana palpando contrectare », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 88. 101 Peter of Celle, ep. 36 to Hugh of Preully: « Amicorum monita eo affectuosius suscipiuntur quo ambitiosius animorum compago adinuvicem consolidatur », in ibidem, p. 136.

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justified the warning and advice, presented as the consequence of the letterwriter’s friendship toward the addressee.102 These references to the need for reciprocal correction between friends may seem just empty declarations of principle, or even rhetorical devices, but Peter’s letter collection also contains references to real-life cases of friendly corrections. In a letter to Inganus, prior of Laplay, he recalled how useful it had been for him to have been once rebuked by Inganus, even if just in passing, because this had led him to correct himself.103 The letter in question can be considered a hybrid between a letter-treatise and a personal friendship letter. Peter began by referring to his friend’s request to send him a personal letter (literally, a letter from his pen and not from another’s);104 this probably meant a letter personally composed by him and not by a secretary, since important religious men often had secretaries who composed letters in their name.105 Peter initially protested by listing the reasons why he could not compose something worth reading (which constitutes a captatio benevolentiae), but finally complied with the request: the letter then turns into a letter-treatise containing an exhortation to think of the suffering of Jesus and a commentary on several verses of the Song of Songs. Only toward the end of the text does the tone change and become more personal: this break is made explicit by the letter-writer, who stated: « but enough of these matters for the time being ». He then gave his friend an update of his current situation and, in doing so, referred to their relationship. He stated that he was never going to forget how Inganus had once rebuked him, telling him that he strove to do other works and did not care for the monastery. He stressed that this rebuke had produced an effect upon him, and he listed the things that he 102 This is of course attested by other authors as well: see for example Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 75 to Lanfranc the Younger, monk in Canterbury « ut dilectus dilectum moneo et precor » (Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 268). 103 Peter of Celle, ep. 144 to prior Inganus of Lapley: « Non excidit a memoria quod aliquando michi quasi reprehensorie dixeris, studere alia opera facere et non curare de monasterio. Hoc verbo etsi perfunctorie fuit dictum, non transitorie fuit auditum », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 530. 104 Ibidem: « Postulas in litteris tuis nostrum stilum recipere non alienum ». 105 This is well-known, for example, for Bernard of Clairvaux, who had various writers at his disposal, see Jean Leclercq, Saint Bernard et ses secrétaires, originally published in Revue bénédectine 61 (1951), pp. 208–229 and reedited in Recueil d’études sur saint Bernard et ses écrits, vol. 1, ed. by Jean Leclercq, Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura 1962, pp. 3–25, and Rassow, Die Kanzlei St. Bernhards von Clairvaux cit. The editor of this letter puts forth the hypothesis that Inganus may have asked for an autograph letter, but although I agree that an autograph could be a token of friendship, the fact that Peter of Celle objected by listing his rustiness, rusticity, his age, and the fact that he was distracted by worldly concerns, makes me think that the request had been to compose a (literary) letter, rather than to write one.

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was currently doing for the monastery, in particular the money he had already spent and was planning to spend for it, to show his friend that could not (or no longer) be accused of neglecting his monastery for other affairs.106 While the expressions of friendship contained in this letter could be considered simply as rhetorical virtuosities, paying attention to the theme of reciprocal help between friends allows us to put forth the hypothesis of a link between the two different parts of the letter. Through the dissertation, Peter of Celle was exhorting and teaching his friend, and it may not be a coincidence that in the same letter he referred to how he himself had been helped by the same friend in the past, especially considering that the theme of the usefulness of friendly corrections reappears in other letters in Peter’s collection, put together and revised under the direction of Peter of Celle himself, with the ultimate goal of promoting monasticism.107 The letter in question served this aim by offering an example of how the friendly relationships that the abbot entertained with religious men outside of his monastery could be beneficial both to the addressees (who benefitted from Peter’s erudition and piety) and to the abbot himself (who is represented as being humble enough to accept their corrections). In addition, in this letter Peter masterfully used the reference to this episode of friendly rebuke as an opportunity to illustrate what he was doing for the smooth running and the prosperity of the monastery of Saint-Rémi. In this sense, friendship, an acceptable and even popular theme for a letter and a letter collection, offered the author an opportunity to talk about himself and his action. Some letters offer us insights into the difficulties that could be posed by corrections in everyday monastic life. Geoffrey of Vendôme consecrated a short treatise to the problems created by monks who accused each other in a disorderly way in chapter and of those who answered the accusations in an equally disorderly way.108 According to him, the troubles of souls, the bitter words and the tensions that resulted from this were caused not by evil but simply by ignorance, since the monks did not know the way in which accusations were to be made and the way in which they had to be answered. For example, accusations were to be made for hate of sin and for love of one’s brother, without insults or 106 Peter of Celle, ep. 144 to prior Inganus of Lapley: « Non excidit a memoria quod aliquando michi quasi reprehensorie dixeris, studere alia opera facere et non curare de monasterio. Hoc verbo etsi perfunctorie fuit dictum, non transitorie fuit auditum », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 530. 107 Haseldine, The Creation of a Literary Memorial cit., pp. 346–347 and 347 and Id., Introduction, in The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., pp. xxxiv–xxxviii. 108 De Illis Qui In Capitulo Inordinate Clamant et de His Qui Ibi Inordinate Respondent, published as ep. 185 in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., pp. 426–428.

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threats. Similarly, those who were accused should be patient and humble and not react with words of pride or by attacking their accusers and asking their peers for help to avenge an injury. Therefore, Geoffrey took upon himself the task of instituting how an accusation was to be made and answered in chapter; apart from attesting to the shared and reciprocal dimension of accusation, this also offers an example of a peculiar skill (how to make or answer an accusation in chapter) that may have to be learned. A specific example of someone handling corrections in a bad way can be found in a letter addressed by Anselm, then archbishop of Canterbury, to Antony, a sub-prior of Canterbury who was said to sometimes interpret in the most negative way possible faults of negligence which stemmed not from bad intention but solely from levity. Anselm admonished the prior against this tendency and advised Anthony to punish with severity only the faults which violated the monastic rule and, in the absence of proof, to refrain from giving a negative interpretation of the intention. In closing, he declared that if his addressee stopped behaving in this harmful way, he would be loved by the monks, and the monks would correct themselves without feeling shame.109 Peter of Celle, in a letter in which he complained in a quite hyperbolic way about of the bad state of his community of Montier-La-Celle, listed the bitter criticism of the faults of others (while neglecting one’s own) among the bad habits of monks.110 Although Peter was showing humility by representing himself as the shepherd of a faulty flock, I believe that many of his accusations derived from a long experience of monastic life, such as the problem of monks falling asleep as soon as the office began. Sometimes the source of the problem seems to have been the troublesome nature of specific monks. The case of Peter Abelard’s troubled monastic career inevitably comes to mind, especially if one considers that he himself recalled how he had made himself odious to the whole community of Saint-Denis because he often and boldly, both in public and in private, criticized what he 109 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 313 to Anthony, subprior of Canterbury: « dicunt enim quia sine mala intentione possunt intelligi et solius levitatis culpae imputari, dilectio vestra in pravam suspicionem in audientia eas interpretatur. Veluti sunt signa, aspectus et similia, in quibus nulla malitiae certitudo deprehendi potest. Moneo ergo vos ut dilectum dilectorem meum et consulo ut filio carissimo, ne hoc faciatis, nisi cum res ita aperta fuerit, ut a malitia excusari non possit. Nocet enim multum. Potestis enim culpam pro sola violatione ordinis acriter punire, et omnem pravam suspicionem, quando probari nequit, avertere. Sic autem et vos diligent et se sine verecundia corrigent », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 2 cit., pp. 168–170. 110 Peter of Celle, ep. 48 to prior H, G. the cellarer, H. his nephew and T. the infirmarer of Clairvaux: « mordax aliorum reprehensor, propriorum largus dissimulator », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 198.

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described as their intolerably foul practices.111 But Abelard was not a unique case: Guibert of Gembloux also experienced problems because he felt that it was his duty to criticize the behaviour of his fellow brothers and offer them advice aimed at correcting them.112 Lanfranc of Bec, while advising two novices (one of whom was his nephew), told them that they should restrain themselves from belittling their fellow monks, and instructed them on how they should act in the case of a monk who found « amusement in gnawing with Theon’s tooth at a brother’s way of life ».113 In such a case, according to the archbishop, the two novices needed to correct him and, if he did not improve, shun him from their conversations (« si correctus a vobis emendare neglexerit, a vestro colloquio arceatur »).114 Lanfranc did not mention the need to formally accuse this monk before the abbot or another monastic official, perhaps because his behaviour could not, strictly speaking, be considered an infraction of the monastery’s rule. And yet, it was clearly an undesirable behaviour which needed to be discouraged by the other monks for the well-being of the whole community. According to this letter, even two novices could be expected to take upon themselves the duty of trying to change the monk’s behaviour through correction and even punishment through ostracism  – which, after all, represented a smaller and informal version of the most important form of monastic punishment, that is excommunication. This measure served to avoid the sinner’s potentially harmful influence, to show the brother the sinful nature of his behaviour and to push him to change it, lest he become a pariah in the monastery, if all the other monks, following the two novices’ example, decided to ostracize him. Of course, in the case of graver faults, the whole community

111 Abelard, Historia Calamitatum, par. 33: « quorum quidem intolerabiles spurcitias ego frequenter atque vehementer, modo privatim, modo publice redarguens omnibus me supra modum onerosum atque odiosum effeci », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 50. 112 On Guibert of Gembloux, see his ep. 36 to Ida, abbess, and the nuns of Rupertsberg: « dum essem fratrem “draconum et socius strutionum”, habitaremque cum subversoribus et scorpionibus, sederemque in medio eorum, merens et suadens ut redirent prevaricatores ad cor, tollerent iugum Domini super se », and his ep. 28 to G., both in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae : Quae in codice B.R. BRUX. 5527–5534 Inveniuntur, ed. by Albert Derolez, Eligius Dekkers, and Roland Demeulenaere, vol. 2, Turnhout: Brepols 89 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 66A), p. 356 and pp. 309–310 respectively. 113 Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 19 to Lanfranc the Younger and Wido: « linguas vestras ab omni fraterna derogatione salubri censura compescite. Quis cuiuslibet fratris vitam Theodino dente rodere delectatur […] » (with a reference to Horace, Ep. 1, 18: 82), in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 98. 114 Ibidem.

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played a role, as witness of the wrongdoing (often enough) and certainly of the public shaming and excommunication. It is worth noting that there is a remarkable difference in the description of crime and punishment in letters, depending on the type of letter collection. As most of the examples mentioned so far show, letters preserved in collections which were put together for their literary and spiritual value tend to dwell on the reasons why the punishment is necessary or useful for the community and the individual.115 An interesting opportunity for comparison is offered by the letter collection of Wibald of Stavelot, which was not put together to serve an edifying purpose for a wide audience. Rather, it was probably meant to serve as a sort of portable archive for practical and administrative reasons, and for the use of its author alone.116 In fact, there are no known copies of it, and it is only by a stroke of luck that the twelfth-century original manuscript has survived. This greatly influences the content of the collection, as there is no attempt at building an autobiographical monument or at offering an edifying reading to a wide audience. The letters have a more business-like quality, and this is reflected in references to the punishment and excommunication of monks. Firstly, it can be noted that there is no attempt to offer an explanation of the reasons why a certain punishment was administered or should be administrated: for example, it is simply mentioned that Judith of Norheim, abbess of Kemnade, has been removed from her charge and expelled from her community, with no further explanation.117 A very interesting case is that of a letter in which Wibald rebuked one of his monks of Corvey,118 Walter, for his sins and determined his punishment. Walter was a priest monk who was guilty of 115 Further examples of this include Bernard of Clairvaux’s ep. 70, 79, 84, 86 and 101 and Anselm of Canterbury’s ep. 67 and 79. 116 See Hartmann, Timothy Reuter and the Edition of Wibald of Stavelot’s Letter Collection cit., pp. 185–208. 117 Wibald of Stavelot, ep. 117 to Thietbold, provost of Saint-Severin at Cologne: « [abbatissa] deposita fuit et remota a Kaminatensi ecclesia […] non sine contumelia fuit explulsa », in Hartmann, Das Briefbuch Abt Wibalds cit., vol. 1, p. 216. According to Fiona J. Griffith her accusation mixed economic mismanagement with sexual immorality, see Fiona J. Griffith, Women and Reform in the Central Middle Ages, in The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe, ed. by Judith M. Bennett, Ruth Mazo Karras, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013, pp. 447–463: here p. 457. 118 Since 1146 Wibald was abbot of both Stavelot and Malmedy, see Annalium Corbeiensium Continuatio Saeculi xii et Historia Corbeiensis Monasterii Annorum 1145–1147 cum Additamentis (Chronographus Corbeiensis). Fortsetzung des Corveyer Annalen des 12. Jahrhunderts und die Geschichte des Klosters Corvey der Jahre 1145–1147 mit zusätzen (der Corveyer chronograph), ed. by Irene Schmale–Ott, Münster: Aschendorff 1989, p. 68. On Wibald the standard reference is still Franz Jozef Jacobi, Wibald von Stablo und Corvey (1098–1158): Benediktinischer Abt in der frühen Stauferzeit, Münster: Aschendorff 1979.

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celebrating daily votive masses to obtain that Wibald himself and the provost of the monastery would be stricken in their health and prosperity.119 Walter had also excommunicated a certain merchant – which he did not have the power to do – who used to be his partner in shady business. Lastly, he was said to use diabolic incantations. It seems likely that the wealth of details about Walter’s various sins would have been omitted in a letter collection intended for a wide audience, because they presented a negative image of the monastery. Wibald recalled that in the past he had frequently warned Walter, who had refused to correct himself and even answered the corrections with curses, and now Wibald ruled that Walter would be forbidden from celebrating mass, going beyond the perimeter of the monastery and conversing with laypeople.120 The punishment would last until Walter showed obedience and humility (« donec obedientia et humilitate tua cognita »); if, however, Walter disregarded the rules of the punishment, he would no longer be allowed to live in the monastery or in any of the buildings linked to it.121 While the punishment may seem quite lenient and essentially aimed at preventing Walter from giving the monastery of Corvey and the entire monastic order a bad name among laymen,122 there is little doubt that Walter was being shamed in front of the whole monastic community. Wibald actually mentioned that his decision was supported by the judgement of the whole community, and a letter such as this would hardly have been private. It seems plausible that living in the community as a guilty monk, on probation to see if he deserved pardon or excommunication, would have been a quite harsh punishment in itself. In this letter, the role played by the community emerges as crucial: it is the monk’s fellow brothers who were witnesses (together with the laypeople) of 119 Wibald of Stavelot, ep. 154 to the monk Walter (of Eresburg): « Audivimus enim de te rem insanię iunctam, immo vero sacrilegio et detestatione plenam, quod videlicet cotidiano desperationis furore accensus missam de sancta trinitate sine intermissione celebres sub hoc cecatę mentis proposito, ut tam nostra persona quam tuus prepositus per hoc tam in temporali prosperitate quam in corporum nostrorum valitudine acerbius ledamur », in Hartmann, Das Briefbuch Abt Wibalds cit., p. 331. 120 « Et nunc, quoniam clamor tuus cotidie ascendit, per verbum sanctę obedientię tibi precipimus, ut ab altaris et missę officio abstineas et ut de quatuor parietibus claustri passum pedis non exeas et cum laicis et secularibus personis colloquium per te vel per submissam personam non habeas », in ibidem. 121 « Quod si nostri mandati, quod ex communi fratrum sententiaa iniungimus, contemptor et prevaricator extiteris, scias pro certo omnem cellę illius habitationem et reditum ad nos vel monasterii nostri domicilia penitus interdici », in ibidem. 122 A fear that Wibald mentioned in the very opening of the letter: « Multa sepe et gravia de tua conversatione ad nos referuntur tam a fratribus, cum quibus habitas, quam a laicis honestis, qui dolent nomen dei propter te blasphemari inter seculares nostramque personam ledi et Corb(eiense) monasterium infamari et totum monachorum ordinem per te vilem fieri », in ibidem.

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Walter’s bad behaviour (« multa sepe et gravia de tua conversatione ad nos referuntur tam a fratribus, cum quibus habitas, quam a laicis »). Wibald, who was not often in residence in one of his abbeys, relied entirely on these trusted testimonies: he introduced the description of Walter’s sins with verbs such as audimus and diceris (“we heard” and “you are said to”) and concluded by mentioning that his envoy and all people associated with the monastery had given unanimous testimony against him – and yet the guilty monk had denied everything and taunted specific individuals.123 Clearly, the monks played an important role in judging Water’s case, and they were supposed to act as witnesses of Walter’s respect of the rules set for this punishment and, presumably, of whether and when he showed sufficient humility and obedience. The public dimension of punishment and atonement in this and other cases was linked to the grave and public nature of the sins, as expressed with particular clarity by Geoffrey of Vendôme, who stated in a letter that the atonement of the graver sins should always be public, so that the transgressors could offer an example of reconciliation where they had previously given an example of perdition.124 To give a practical example, Geoffrey declared that in order for a monk who had abandoned his monastery to earn forgiveness, it was necessary for him to come back to the monastery and to do penance before his fellow monks (coram fratribus).125 These examples attest to the active role played by the whole monastic community in evaluating whether the individual’s behaviour was suitable and in discouraging and changing behaviours which were deemed unsuitable. 3.4

Consolation and Exhortation

Although it might not be evident at first sight, a tight link existed in high medieval monastic culture between admonition and correction on the one hand 123 « Cum ad cognoscendum hęc et alia quedam, super quibus in te et nos tota clamat provincia, secundum priorem monasterii nostri fratrem videlicet Isiconem Ersborch misissemus, fratres omnes tam illiterati quam litterati, sorores deo dicatę et reliqua cellę familia concors contra te tulerunt testimonium sed tu impudentia, qua omnes vincis, cunctis resistebas non vera dicendo sed singulis conviciando », in ibidem. 124 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 7 to his former master William: « Iustum est enim ut qui alios, diabolica praesumptionem, infidelitatem docent, eos etiam publica satisfactione in fide confirment: et quibus ante fuerunt occcasio et exemplo perditionis, forma et exemplum fiant reconciliationis », in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 14. 125 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 24 to Ivo of Chartres: « Circa fratrem pro quo rogasti […] utile sibi immo necessarium, iudicamus ut, ad monasterium suum venias, coram fratribus ad paenitentiam conpungatur et sic de sua transgressione veniam consequi mereatur », in ibidem, p. 42.

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and consolation on the other, as well as between consolation and exhortation. The Benedictine Rule stated that a brother who had been punished with temporary excommunication ought to receive consolation by some discreet elderly brother sent by the abbot for that aim.126 The goal of this was to cheer the brother up « lest he be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow » as well as to push him to give humble satisfaction for his sin.127 The importance of combining correction and consolation was also mentioned by Peter Damian in a letter to the hermit Teuzo, in which Peter stated that correction should sting the wrongdoers in such a way that the balm of meekness soothes the wound with a certain gentle alleviation.128 Similarly, Anselm told Prior Henry of Christ Church of Canterbury that showing kindness to the reformed monk Osbern was essential in the process of reforming himself,129 and Walter Daniel recalled admiringly how Aelred of Rievaulx had done everything in his power to soothe the anger of a monk who, acting in a deranged fashion, had viciously attacked him while he laid in the infirmary.130 The need for consolation in monastic life is obviously linked not only to correction; however, it does seem to be linked to the moments of difficulty that a monk or a nun was bound to experience. Bernard of Portes, in a letter addressed to the nuns of Saint-Pierre-des-Terreaux in Lyon, told them that if some nuns happened to fall prey to sadness because of their condition, their

126 Regula Benedicti, cap. 27: « et ideo uti debet omni modo ut sapiens medicus, immittere senpectas, id est seniores sapientes fratres, qui quasi secrete consolentur fratrem fluctuantem », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 192. 127 Ibidem: « et provocent ad humilitatis satisfactionem et consolentur eum », « ne abundantiori tristitia absorbeatur », with reference to Corinthians 2: 7. 128 Peter Damian, ep. 44 to the hermit Teuzo: « Sicque correptionis aculeus vulnus delinquentium pungat, ut et mansuetudinis oleum leniori quodam fomento demulceat », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 82. 129 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 67 to the prior Henry: « it is certainly known to your prudence that a display of kindness is never so necessary as in the case of a new, fresh conversion from sullied to unsullied behaviour, lest the good beginnings, which can be nourished and guided towards perfection by the warmth of goodwill be hindered or surely crushed by the harshness of severity » (« et vestrae quidem notum est prudentiae quia numquam tanta benignitate opus est exhibitione, quanta in nova et rudi de reprobis ad probos more conversione. Ne bona incepta, quae nutriri et ad profectum duci possunt per fomenta benignitatis, impediantur aut certe frangantur per austeritatem severitatis », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 187, transl. by Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm, p. 189). 130 Walter Daniel, letter to Maurice: « apprehendens caput eius vir beatissimus deosculantur, benedicit, amplectitur, et quasi dolor nil sensisset ex infirmitate corporea nullaque mestitudine tangeretur ex illata iniuria, ita dulciter lenire studuit furorem irascentis in se sine causa », in Walter Daniel, The Life of Ailred cit., p. 79.

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wiser and better sisters should comfort them and help them to reach the desired frame of mind.131 In the already-mentioned letter addressed to Lanfranc the Younger and Wido upon the occasion of their entrance into monastic life, the archbishop Lanfranc exhorted them to comfort each other in time of trouble (« alter alteri sit in tribulatione solatium »).132 Peter the Venerable described in a letter the positive effect that an encounter with his secretary and friend Peter of Poitiers could have on him in a moment of difficulty. In emphatic terms, he described how everything seemed to bother him and how he bemoaned and almost collapsed as if under the weight of a grave burden that he could not find rest anywhere or comfort in anyone until he turned to Peter and expressed to him his need.133 After meeting with his friend (somewhat secretly, as he recalled), and having exchanged a few words, as if comforted by a lot of nourishment for the mind, the abbot could rise up to face his work with renewed strength.134 A similar perception of consolation was expressed by the same Peter in describing the relationship with his biological brother Pontius, when they were living together at the monastery of Vézelay. Peter described Pontius as a safe haven in whom he could take refuge when he was overwhelmed by preoccupations, a metaphor which he later used in other letters of friendship.135 Bernard of Clairvaux described in similar terms the relationship with his biological brother Gerard, who had become the cellarer of Clairvaux, declaring in his eulogy that in every emergency he had looked to Gerard for help and that, without him, the cares rushed in upon him, troubles and manifold anxieties

131 Bernard of Portes, ep. 2 to, par. 2: « Quod si forte aliquae ex vobis adhuc tristes sunt de hac sancta et Deo placita, quae eis facta est, violentia, vos qui prudentiores estitis et meliores, debeatis eas in Verbo Dei consolari … », in Lettres des premiers Chartreux, vol. 2 cit., p. 83. 132 Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 19 to Lanfranc the Younger and Wido: « Alter alteri sit in tribulatione solatium; alter ab alterius vita sumat sanctae conversationis exemplum », in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 98. 133 Peter the Venerable, ep. 58 to Peter of Poitiers: « erant michi universa fastidio, onerosa omnia sentiebam, velut sub gravi fasce pene succumbens gemebam, illis sociatus de quibus in lob legitur, “ecce gygantes gemunt sub aquis”. Nulla uspiam requies, nullum a quolibet levamen, donec ad te reditum ipsa michi necessitas indicebat », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 182. 134 « At postquam aliquantulum secreti tecum nancisci poteram, ac brevia saltem miscere colloquia, quasi multo pabulo confortatus, viribus innovatis ad laborem acrior insurgebam ». 135 Peter the Venerable, ep. 16 to Pontius: « erat michi ad te recursus ab humanis, et a marinis fluctibus in te velut in portu tutissimo quiescebam, et ruinam mundi assidue minitantem, quasi hostis mei interitum prophetantem laetus audiebam », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 23. See also ep. 34 and ep. 58, p. 182.

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pressed about him on every side, making him groan under the burden.136 Gerard is represented as Bernard’s only source of consolation,137 and a reference to how Gerard used to comfort him appears in the context of Bernard’s description of the different ways in which Gerard helped him when he was not living up to the standard to which he aspired. With his usual self-debasement, Bernard represented himself as lacking in many ways, yet Gerard was always able to offer the right help: Bernard was frail in body, and Gerard sustained him; Bernard was weak of heart, and Gerard comforted him (« pusillus corde eram, et confortabat me »); Bernard was slothful and negligent, and Gerard stimulated him (« piger et negligens, et excitabat me »); Bernard was imprudent and forgetful, and Gerard admonished him (« improvidus et obliviosus, et commonebat me »).138 Comfort, exhortation and admonition are therefore listed together as three crucial ways in which monks could help one another along the path of spiritual progress. As these examples already show, consolation is often represented as taking place in the context of friendly relationships. Brian Patrick McGuire, outlining the evolution of monastic friendship in his Friendship and Community: The Monastic Experience, 350–1250, granted an important place to consolation. He showed that in medieval culture, in addition to biblical examples of the association between friendship and consolation, an important source for inspiration is Augustine’s statement that in the midst of the confusion and disappointments of human society, great consolation could be offered by the « mutual affection of genuine, loyal friends ».139 McGuire also analyzed several medieval monastic authors in whose works friendship is an important theme, from Gregory the Great and Alcuin to Aelred of Rievaulx. High medieval epistolary sources offer at least three kinds of attestations that are useful to investigate friendly consolation and its implications for shared learning processes. First of all, letters, particularly their exordia, sometimes contain statements of principle concerning friendly consolation. Second, 136 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermo 26, chap. 4, par. 8: « Iam curae irrunt, iam molestiae hinc inde pulsant, et “angustiae undique” solum me reperentur, solae mihi, te abeunte, remanserunt: solum sub sarcina gemeo » in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 296. 137 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, sermo 26, chap. 3: « Me vero quenam iam miserum consolatio manet post te unicum solatium meum? », in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 286. 138 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermo 26, chap. 2, par. 4, in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons sur le Cantique, vol. 2 cit., p. 284. 139 See McGuire, Friendship and Community cit., p. 54, quoting De Civitate Dei 19, 8.

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letters of consolation are a literary subgenre in themselves,140 in which the theme of friendship figures prominently; lastly and more important here, letters contain references to everyday episodes of friends comforting each other. Obviously, the three elements could overlap: for example, in a consolatory letter addressed by an anonymous twelfth-century monk to a friend, in which he declared that in the addressee’s absence he himself could not be consoled, he also reminded the addressee that he had with him two companions able to comfort him.141 The letter collection of Peter the Venerable contains several examples of consolatory epistles: while some of them are addressed to people with whom he did not enjoy a close personal relationship, and seem to be essentially demonstrations of his literary talent, biblical and patristic knowledge and piety, as well as opportunities to strengthen his diplomatic connections,142 others are addressed to people with whom the abbot of Cluny had a personal bond. Several of these attest that for Peter, the duty of friendship toward grieving friends did not stop at composing a consolatory letter: for example, in one case he promised a visit, despite the challenges offered by the journey.143 In the famous letter to Heloise in which he described to her the end of Abelard’s life, the decision to send his body to the Paraclete and to grant Heloise’s request of a written absolution of her former husband can be considered as a token of friendship toward her and as a concrete gesture aimed at consoling her for her loss.144 The request for, and offer of, prayers and other acts of remembrance of someone’s deceased loved one, attested by both this and other letters, can also be considered from this perspective.

140 See the classical reference work by Peter von Moos, Consolatio. Studien zur mittellateinischen Trostliteratur über den Tod und zum Problem der christlichen Trauer, Münich: Fink 1971, which for the High Middle Ages analyzes consolatory epistles by Peter of Celle, Anselm of Canterbury, Arnulf of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen and Abelard, and grants particular attention to Peter the Venerable, Bernard of Clairvaux and Aelred of Rievaulx. 141 Anonymous monk of Bec, ep. 4 to a friend: « miror tamen admodum quibus visceriubus officium tibi consolationis impendo, cum in tua absentia te ipsum non valeat consolari! » and « ad hoc accedit quod tecum duos habes quorum solacio non modice potes refoveri », in Alain de Lille (?), Lettres familières, 1167–1170 cit., here p. 156. 142 See for example the consolatory letter addressed to Adela of Blois (ep. 15), then nun in Marcigny, for the death of her brother, the king Henry i of England. Adela was also the mother of Henri of Blois, bishop of Winchester, with whom Peter was on friendly terms, see Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., vol. 2, pp. 103–104. 143 Cfr. ep. 48 to the Carthusians, in ibidem, pp. 146–148. 144 See Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise, in ibidem, pp. 303–308.

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Peter the Venerable’s famous letter to his biological brothers on the occasion of his mother’s death offers a particularly clear example of the benefit that one could obtain by offering consolation to others, since through it, the abbot seems to be at the same time offering consolation to his brothers while seeking (and finding) it for himself.145 He explained in the letter that he knew that they shared his pain, whereas others, however well-meaning, never could.146 Peter actually recalled in the letter that, when he received the sad news while travelling with some companions, he hid his pain (in accordance with the topos of the dissimulatio doloris) from those companions, who could not understand or share his pain; he even explicitly mentioned that he did not appreciate inopportune attempts to console him of his pain.147 His brothers were therefore his privileged interlocutors in this specific situation: brothers who were actually first of all friends, since Peter explained that his natural affection for them had transformed into a more spiritual form of love.148 In addition, Peter also wrote a letter to announce the death of his mother to a close friend of his, Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester. To him, too, Peter opened his heart to describe his pain; in addition, he asked for something: to have masses celebrated in memory of Raingard and that some poor be benefitted in her name.149 Taken together, Peter’s consolatory letters offer a very telling example of the link between friendship and consolation, and of the fact that friendship often involved a mutual exchange, either of words and thoughts or of concrete gestures of help. Of course, friendship letters also contain thanks for the help received: for example, Geoffrey of Vendôme declared that a letter from Hildebert of Mans had pacified his mind, which had been troubled by a certain problem – not mentioned in the letter but clearly known to Hildebert.150 145 The fact that consolatory epistles sometimes contain references to the benefit that the letter-writers themselves gained by writing them had been observed by von Moos, Consolatio cit., pp. 21–22. 146 Peter the Venerable, ep. 53 to his brothers: « elegi vos ex milibus, quibus mecum collacrimandi eadem possit esse affectio, quibus non dissimilis mecum probatur esse conditio », in ibidem, p. 156. 147 Ibidem: « nolo, nolo, ut luctui nostro se quilibet importunus consolator immisceat ». Peter von Moos had analyzed the use of rhetoric in this letter in Consolatio cit., vol. 3.1, pp. 224–260. 148 See Peter the Venerable, ep. 16 to this brother Pointius in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 23. 149 Peter the Venerable, ep. 56 to Henry of Blois: « ad finem ut melius insideat animo, sanctum beatae matris meae funus, carissimi et sublimi amico commendo », in ibidem, p. 178. 150 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 63 to Hildebert of Mans: « Formatae et formosae litterar prudentiae vestrae ad nos usque venerunt, quae et mentem nostram, pro causa quam nostis non mediocriter perturbatam, modulatione suae cytharae mitigaverunt », in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 110.

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Geoffrey used the metaphor of wiping away someone’s tears, which beyond symbolizing consolation also had the practical purpose of removing something which darkened the person’s vision;151 this hints at the fact that, by comforting Geoffrey, Hildebert actually helped him to act with a clear mind in order to solve the problem. The importance of this help is also shown by the fact that the letter-writer concluded by asking his friend to continue to support him until the matter had been solved. Lastly, a consolatory letter addressed by Peter the Venerable to Geoffrey, abbot of Les Roches, attests to the link between consolation and exhortation. In it, Peter exhorted the addressee to not be too afflicted by the death of his brother (« moneo igitur vos tu carissimum fratrem nostrum, et ut intimum amicum et amicus exhortor, ne […] plus nimio affligatis »),152 because the latter had led a virtuous monastic life and had therefore – it is implied – certainly gone to Heaven. More often, consolation and exhortation are represented as taking place in the context of a friendly conversation. An interesting example in this respect is Guibert of Gembloux’s representation of his conversations with Hildegard of Bingen in a letter addressed to his fellow monk and friend Bozo, written in 1177, while Guibert was away from his monastery to serve as a secretary for Hildegard of Bingen – against the wishes of the abbot of Gembloux.153 This letter was therefore written to illustrate why it was necessary, important and useful that Guibert stay in Rupertsberg. This helps us understand why he represented his interactions with Hildegard as incredibly advantageous for his spiritual progress. For example, he declared: « I am guided by her counsels, propped up by her prayers, brightened by her merits, sustained by her kindness and daily refreshed by conversation with her » (« consiliiis eius dirigor, orationibus fulcior, nitor meritis, sustentor beneficiis, et cotidie recreor colloquiis »).154 The importance of conversations is also shown by Guibert’s description of Hildegard’s ability to help and guide her community though conversations: « whenever this consummately prudent virgin was associated with 151 Ibidem: « et quibus oculus noster penitus obtundebatur manu suae lenitatis lacrimas deterserunt ». 152 Peter the Venerable, ep. 136 to Geoffrey, abbot of Les Roches: « novi quia doletis, novi quia hoc egre fertis », per poi tentare di confortarlo « sed si doletis, si egre fertis, consolamini, quia in his solus non estis », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 341 and p. 343. 153 See Anna Silvas, Jutta and Hildegard; the Biographical Sources, Turnhout: Brepols 1998 (Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts 1), pp. 92–94. 154 Guibert of Gembloux, ep. 38 to Bovo, par. 2, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 2 cit., pp. 366–79: 368, English translation by Anna Silvas in Jutta and Hildegard: the Biographical Sources cit., p. 100.

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anyone through friendship or conversation » (« quibuscumque ex familiaritate vel colloquio iungeretur »), « she did not less stimulate her hearers than soothe them by her words … » (« necque minus verbis et scriptis suis pro causarum rationes auditores suos pungeret quam ungeret »).155 As these examples show, offering comfort and exhortation are frequently linked in the description of friendly conversations; in both cases, the goal was to uplift the person’s spirit to facilitate his path of ascent toward greater moral and spiritual perfection. To understand the link and even the superposition, between consolation and exhortation we can also look at Goscelin of Saint-Bertin’s Liber Confortatorius, written in an epistolary form and addressed to Goscelin’s friend and former pupil, the anchoress Eve. As Monika Otter rightly observed in her recent translation of the work: Confortatorius, confortare, etc., are not quite like the English word “comfort”, but closer in meaning to the word fortis (strong) from which they are derived; they are perhaps more accurately translated as “encourage,” “strengthen,” “reinforce”, while at the same time observing that in the context of the presentation of the title, the meaning seems to her to be close enough to “consolation”.156 Therefore, in the translation of the work, she chose to render the title as « The Book of Encouragement and Consolation ». Both aspects are explicitly mentioned by the author, who in the prologue referred to his work as an exhortatory letter (exhortatoria epistola157) and later mentioned that its reading will be equivalent to the conversations that he and Eve used to have in person: as often as, mindful of me in Christ, you deign to look upon these remembrances of me, consider that I am seated with you at Wilton in the presence of our lady Edith or even in this chaste order, that I speak to you, that I exhort you, that I console you, that I pour Christ into your heart with the sights of the feelings of wounded love.158 155 Guibert of Gembloux, ep. 38 to Bovo, par. 2, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 2 cit., p. 375, English translation by Anna Silvas in Jutta and Hildegard: the Biographical Sources cit., p. 113. 156 Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, The Book of Encouragement and Consolation [Liber Confortatorius], transl. by Monika Otter cit., footnote 2, p. 152. 157 Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Liber Confortatorius, book 1, in The Liber Confortatorius of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin cit., p. 26. 158 « quotiens, in Christo nosti memor, dignaberis hec nostra monimenta respicere, estimato me tecum Wiltonie coram sancta domina nostra Eadgyda aut etiam in hac pudica serie

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Goscelin represented his relationship with Eve as based on mutual benefit: he taught Eve, but he was also benefitted by her.159 In addition, for him, comforting Eve often meant comforting or exhorting himself as well. For example, recalling the death of the bishop Herman of Sherborne, he declared: « after the death of our father, I assuaged our shared orphanhood with you more frequently ».160 Likewise, the aim of the Liber Confortatorius itself is presented as being « mutual comfort and memory » (« mutuum refrigerium ac memoriam »).161 To understand the perception of friendly conversations as opportunity for mutual help, we can also look at a passage of Aelred of Rievaulx’s famous treatise on spiritual friendship (the De Spiritali Amicitia), which is framed as a dialogue between Aelred himself and a friend of his, Ivo, who was a monk in the Cistercian monastery of Wardom. In the opening of the dialogue, Aelred described a situation where he and Ivo were both standing in the presence of the other monks, and while everyone else was asking questions or debating scriptural or moral issues, Ivo alone was silent.162 From this Aelred understood that Ivo preferred to talk to him in private. So, in the imagined reality of the text, the two met alone, with none to disturb or interrupt their friendly conversations (amica colloquia): Aelred invited his friend to open his heart and pour whatever he pleased into his ears. Ivo thanked him and asked Aelred to grant him this favour, that whenever Aelred visited Ivo’s monastery, he would grant to him a private conversation, so that Ivo could bring out without being

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residere, te alloqui te exhortari, te consolari, anhelantibus vulnerose caritatis affectibus Christum tuo infundere pectori » (ibidem, p. 27). I use here the English translation in Writing the Wilton Women: Goscelin’s Legend of Edith and Liber Confortatorius, ed. by Stephanie Hollis, Turnhout: Brepols 2004 (Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts), p. 101. See for example Goscelin, Liber Confortatorius, Partus dilectionis: « Ego te alloquiis, tu me vicisti beneficiis. Libros optatos dedisti, Bertinum nostrum affectuosissime extulisti, omnia caritatis officia excurristi » (The Liber Confortatorius of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin cit., p. 28) (« I won you over with talk, but you conquered me with kindnesses. You gave me books that I wished for; you praised my Bertin with great eagerness; you hastened to perform the duties of love », as translated in Hollis, Writing the Wilton Women cit., p. 102). See for example Goscelin, Liber Confortatorius, Partus dilectionis: « Post decessum patris nostri, consolabar tecum frequentior communem orbitatem » (The Liber Confortatorius of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin cit., p. 29). English translation in Writing the Wilton Women cit., p. 104. Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Liber Confortatorius, book 1, in The Liber Confortatorius of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin cit., p. 27. Aelred of Rivaulx, De Spiritali Amicitia, book 1, par. 2, in Hoste and Talbot, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia cit., p. 289. English translation in Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, ed. by Marsha L. Dutton, transl. by Lawrence C. Braceland, Collegeville, Minn.: Cistercian Publications 2010 (Cistercian Fathers 5), p. 55.

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disturbed the ardor of his heart (« aestus pectoris mei sine perturbatione proferre »). Aelred answered that he would gladly comply, and praised his friend: I am delighted to see that you are not prone to empty and idle talk, that you always introduce something useful and necessary for your progress (semper aliquid utile, et profectui tuo necessarium proloqui). Speak then without anxiety. Share with a friend all your thoughts and cares (cum amico omnes curas tuas cogitationesque commisce), that you may have something either to learn or to teach, to give and to receive, to pour out and to drink in (ut vel discas aliquid vel doceas, des et accipias, profundas et aurias).163 This attestation is extremely telling for the purpose of the present research. First of all, it attests to the idea that a friend would rejoice to see the other do well and progress. Second, a friendly conversation is presented as useful and even necessary for personal progress. Third, while at first it seems that the abbot Aelred is simply offering friendly mentorship to the monk Ivo, the last sentence reveals that he actually viewed conversations as potential learning opportunities for the both of them.164 This passage also offers some insight into the contents of this conversations: one friend (or each of them) was supposed to share with the other his cares – that is, the things that were for him causes for preoccupation and anxiety, so that the friend could soothe and uplift his spirit through consolation and exhortation. Elmer of Canterbury referred to his conversations with a monk named William in a letter addressed to him, characterizing them as “sweet” and explaining that they would talk about the spiritual health of their respective souls and exhort each other to love heavenly things.165 In the letter, Elmer expressed his 163 Aelred of Rievaulx, De Spirituali Amicitia, book 1, par. 4: « Loquere ergo secure et cum amico omnes curas tuas cogitationesque commisce, ut vel discas aliqui vel doceas, des et accipias, profundas et haurias », in Hoste and Talbot, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia cit., pp. 289–90, English translation in Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship cit., p. 56. 164 It is true that Ivo answered by protesting that he was not supposed to teach but to learn, since he was younger, inexperienced, and an ordinary monk talking to an abbot; however, in the dialogue, Aelred continued to refuse the role of sole teacher and to claim instead that of co-learner, as shown for example by his declaration « as if not valuing my own ability on those questions, I will not so much teach you as confer with you. You yourself have disclosed the way for both of us », in Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, p. 57 (« quasi meipsum nesciens nec vires proprias metiens de his non quidem te doceam sed tecum potius conferam », in Hoste and Talbot, Aelredi Rievallensis Opera Omnia cit., pp. 290–921). 165 Elmer of Canterbury’s letter 1 to the monk William: « dulcia de animarum nostrarum salute colloquia, cum nosmetipsos ad amorem supernae civitatis mutuis sermones

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dismay at the fact that lately they had not been able to meet, and he presented the letter itself, which contains both spiritual reflections and expressions of friendship, as a lesser substitute for these spiritual conversations.166 In another letter, Elmer referred to the “sweet tears” shed by the archdeacon Thurstanus when, during a friendly conversation, they talked about the misery of the present life.167 Weeping was perceived as an appropriate and even admirable response to religion:168 therefore, Elmer’s mention was both a way of praising his friend and an attestation of the fruitfulness of their conversations. Adam of Perseigne also characterized his conversations with Matilda, countess of Perche, as sweet, and he offered insights into the topics addressed: The sweet words of a new friendship come to mind, the conversations during which we mutually discussed (conferebamus pariter) the contempt of the [secular] world, the hate of sin, the pursuits of the virtues, the teaching of the Bible, the examples of the saints, the desire of the joys of eternal life.169 excitaremus », in Écrits spirituels d’Elmer de Cantorbéry, ed. by Jean Leclerq, in Analecta Monastica, 2 s. cit., p. 63. 166 In the Middle Ages, letters were often represented as conversations between people who were far away from each other physically, and yet were brought together by correspondence. An important source for inspiration in this sense is Cicero’s definition of letters as dialogues between absent friends (« amicorum colloquia absentium », see Estelle Rauzy, Les représentations mentales mises sur pied dans la lettre par Cicéron, in Colloquia absentium. Studi sulla comunicazione epistolare in Cicerone, ed. by Alessandro Garcea, Torino: Rosenberg & Sellier 2003, pp. 101–121, here pp. 106–107). On the “epistolary situation” of separation, which characterize most “real letters” (actually sent or intended to be sent), see Heikki Koskenniemi, Studien zur Idee und Phraseologie des griechischen Briefes bis 400 n. Chr. Helsinki: Akateeminen Kirjakauppa 1956, p. 53, and William G. Doty, The Classification of Epistolary Literature, in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 31 (1969), pp. 183–199: here p. 193. 167 Elmer ep. 4 to the archdeacon Tristan, p. 66: « Memor, dilectissime, dulcium lacrymarum quas inter colloquia mea parvitatis profundisti dum de miseriis vitae presentis sermo texteretur ». 168 See Holy Tears: Weeping in the Religious Imagination, ed. by Kimberley Christine Patton and John Stratton Hawley, Princeton: Princeton University Press 2005; Elina Gertsman, Crying in the Middle Ages. Tears of History, New York: Routledge 2012, pp. 79–172, and Piroska Nagy, Religious Weeping as Ritual in the Medieval West, in Ritual in Its Own Right: Exploring the Dynamics of Transformation, ed. by Don Handelman and Galina Lindquist, New York: Berghahn Books 2005, pp. 119–137, here p. 130. 169 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 29 to the countess of Chartres (probably Alix, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis vii of France): « veniunt in mentem dulcia verba amicitiae novellae, colloquia quibus conferabamus pariter, de contemptu mundi, de peccati odio, de virtutum studiis, de sermonibus Scripturarum, de sanctorum exemplis, de caelestis vitae gaudiis appetendis » in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., p. 230.

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The topics listed are all uplifting ones, and this conversation is represented as an exercise in mutual exhortation toward thoughts and attitudes which were considered desirable. This conversation clearly represented interaction which was appropriate and useful even between a laywoman and an abbot, and which was possible even if the two did not know each other well. Adam, as attested by his letter collection, liked to play the role of spiritual director, particularly for women, but also to represent himself, in a humble way, as benefitting from the help of other. In addition, he often praised and flattered his female mentees by representing them as able to contribute in an active way to an edifying exchange, rather than simply as passive recipient of spiritual direction vertically imparted. An interesting description of the effect of a friendly conversation on one of the parties can be seen in a letter addressed by Peter of Celle to Peter the Venerable, which states: indeed the sharp point of the dialogue held between us (collocutionis inter nos habite) has pierced my inner heart and has concentrated all the inner parts of the soul in contemplation of it. Truly that discourse was effective in stirring up a sluggish soul and in encouraging scrutiny of this brief life, observation of the religious life we have professed, emulation of angelic purity, and unhindered contemplation of the supreme and ineffable Trinity. It is a living discourse because it considers the true life; it is pure because it considers the highest purity; it is true because it considers eternal truth. It does not spare the wicked but pleases the good; it rebukes vices and encourages virtues. It brings those things which are hidden out into the light; like a very clear mirror it reflects the faces of the onlookers. I confess that, looking hard into this mirror, I have seen my wrinkles, and that which I had first reckoned to be beautiful in the inner man I found to be ugly.170

170 Peter of Celle, ep. 24 to Peter the Venerable: « Aculeus siquidem collocutionis inter nos habite nostras interiores medullas perforavit ac in consideratione sui omnia anime interiora coegit. Revera sermo ille efficax fuit ad torpentis anime excitationem, ad vite huius momentanee inspectionem, ad regulari professionis observationem, ad angelice puritatis emulationem, ad summa et ineffabilis trinitatis expeditam contemplationem. Vivus quia de vera vita, purrus quia de puritate summit, verus quia de veritate eterna. Non parcit malis sed placet bonis; remordet vitia, virtutes suadet. Adducit in lucem obscura; tanquam speculum perlucidum vultus prospicientium renuntiat. Fateor in huius contuitu rugas meas inspexi et quod in interiori homine pulchrum prius estimaveram deforme repperi », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., pp. 66–68.

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Peter of Celle was certainly using self-abasement to show humility and to capture the good will of the addressee before criticizing the fact that Cluniac monks ate meat, but this letter nevertheless offers an important attestation of the idea that a conversation, even one among hierarchical equals, could encourage self-analysis and, through it, spiritual progress. Peter the Venerable also represented friendly conversations as an opportunity for shared learning. In his already-mentioned letter 58 to his secretary and friend Peter of Poitiers, he depicted their conversations as an important spiritual moment, to which God himself was a witness; the two friends would reflect on their vocation and on fearful themes such as « the blindness of the human heart and its hardness, the snares of various sins, the many traps of demons, the abyss of the judgement of God ».171 This shows that these colloquia could be intensely personal opportunities to share doubts and fears and to comfort each other and, ultimately, help each other to progress spiritually. To be able to interpret this representation of a friendly relationship – and of the exchanges it involved – we should first of all ask ourselves which purpose it served within the letter. Even if the rule of dividing the letter into five parts172 is not strictly followed (for example, there is no proper exordium, since the letter begins in medias res with the report on Peter’s travels), the description of the friendly exchanges can be considered part of the narratio, which prepares the final request (petitio) that Peter of Poitiers leave the eremitical retreat and join his friend and master. Keeping in mind the important role played by Peter of Poitiers in the realization of Peter the Venerable’s letter collection also helps explain why a letter depicting the strength of his friendship with Peter the Venerable was selected for preservation. More in general, the choice to grant such importance to friendship in the letter collection must be understood in the context of the twelfth-century revival of friendship in monastic circles.173 It showed that friendship relationships within the monastery were not only admissible but could even be useful, since friends comforted each other in times of doubt or sadness and exhorted each other to progress spiritually. It also taught its readers that friends had to be chosen solely for their moral, intellectual and spiritual qualities, and not for their rank. Lastly, it offered a 171 Peter the Venerable, ep. 58 to Peter of Poitiers: « O quotiens clausis ianuis, nullo nobiscum admisso mortalium, illo tantum teste qui de se cogitantibus aut conferentibus nunquam deest, formidolosus sermo inter nos habitus est de cordis humani caecitate atque duritia, de diversis peccatorum laqueis, de variis demonum insidiis, de abysso iudiciorum dei », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 182. 172 See Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages cit., p. 225 and Camargo, Ars Dictaminis Ars Dictandi cit., pp. 22–23. 173 See Saurette, Thoughts on Friendship in the Letters of Peter the Venerable cit. pp. 321–346.

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representation of Cluny as an environment in which there was room for both secular and biblical learning, duty and pleasure, corporate discipline and particular friendship  – an idealized picture which served Peter the Venerable’s recruiting campaign, aimed at convincing people (and especially members of the social and intellectual élite) to join monastic life in Cluny. Letters of vocation also attest to the idea that exhorting someone to progress along the path of spiritual progress was an act of friendship. The authors of such texts often presented themselves as friends of the addressee who had their best interest at heart: the exhortation to join monastic life was therefore often framed as the natural consequence of the letter-writer’s desire to see the addressee take the quickest and safest path toward salvation.174 An element which is particularly important for the purpose of the present analysis is the presence, in these letters, of references to the notion of mutual benefit: several authors, while explaining why following their advice would benefit the addressees, also mentioned that this would benefit them as well  – because they would have the joy of living together with the addressee. Moreover, as in the case of the consolatory epistles, it seems that the act of exhorting another could also have the effect of exhorting oneself, attested, for example, by an anonymous letter of vocation preserved in a manuscript produced in Jumiège at the beginning of the thirteenth century, which contains the statement: « I said these things for your exhortation as well as mine » (« haec ad meam tuamque dixi exhortationem »).175 References to mutual exhortations between monks can be found also outside of descriptions of friendly relationships. Already the Rule of Benedict stated that while the monks were getting up to go to mass, the brothers should exhort each other (although with moderation: moderate).176 In the High Middle Ages, Anselm of Canterbury referred in a letter to the need for the monks to

174 See for example Elmer of Canterbury’s letter 10 to Giffardum and letter 14 to Robert, ed. by Jean Leclerq in Écrits spirituels d’Elmer de Cantorbéry cit., pp. 99–100 and 106–107, Odon of Ourscamp ep. 3 to his friend G., in Lettres d’Odon d’Ourscamp, cardinal cistercien, ed. by Jean Leclercq, in Analecta Monastica, 3 s. cit., p. 150, Peter Venerable’s ep. 9, 10 and 77 in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., pp. 14–17, 211–212, Anselm of Canterbury ep. 101 and 133 in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 322–326 and 392, and Nicholas of Clairvaux ep. 8, in Wahlgren-Smith, The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., pp. 30–36 (even if he was trying to convince a friend to transfer from one monastery to another). 175 Ep. 2, in Lettres de vocation à la vie monastique, ed. by Jean Leclercq, in Analecta Monastica 3 s. cit., p. 193. 176 Regula Benedicti, cap. 22: « Surgentes vero ad opus Dei invicem se moderate cohortentur », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 186.

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benevolently exhort each other (« invicem se caritative hortantes »).177 The fact that in both cases an adverb is used to clarify how exhortation should take place (moderately and charitably) suggests that, just as reciprocal correction in a monastery could lead to problems when it took place in too harsh a way, the same may be true for reciprocal exhortation. It easy to imagine how, for example, too harsh exhortation to get up and get ready for mass could degenerate into accusations of being slow and lazy. It is probably no coincidence that exhortation is more frequently represented in the context of friendly interactions, since it would be more easily accepted and thus more effective if it came on the part of someone loved, trusted and admired. 3.5

Sharing Ideas, Knowledge and Experience

Friendly conversations, whose crucial importance for shared and informal learning processes has been shown in the previous subchapter, were also one of the contexts through which advice-giving and -receiving could take place. The importance of the notion of advice (consilium) in medieval monastic culture, in particular for spiritual direction, has long been acknowledged,178 and recent studies have pointed out the role played by expertise in monastic contexts;179 however, little attention has been granted to the reciprocal dimension of advice-giving and expertise-sharing and to its importance for informal learning processes. It is well known that relying on someone else’s judgement rather than on one’s own was an important element of monastic culture: the Benedictine Rule declared that no one should follow his own judgement, and Bernard of Clairvaux defined the act of following one’s own judgement as a “leprosy”, meaning a terrible disease (he used the expression « proprii consilii lepra ») and 177 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 425 to the abbot Ernulf of Troarn: « Filios vestros horror et consulo, quatenus quanto magis ipsi ad praesens vestro nequeunt uti auxilio et consilio, tanto magis ipsi solliciti sint, ne religio, quae in vestra sanitate in illis vigebat, deficiat, sed invicem se caritative hortantes propositum suum inviolabiliter custodiant », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 2 cit., p. 414. 178 See « Consilium ». Teorie e pratiche del consigliare nella cultura medievale, ed. by Carla Casagrande, Chiara Crisciani, and Silvana Vecchio, Firenze: Sismel 2004 and Experts et expertise au Moyen Âge. Consilium quaeritur a perito, XLIIe congrès de la Société des historiens médiévistes de l’enseignement supérieur public, Oxford, 31 mars–3 avril 2011, Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne 2012. 179 See for example Valentina Toneatto, Pour un’histoire de l’expertise économiqueadministrative. Pueritia et disciplina monastiques, in Experts et expertise au Moyen Âge cit., pp. 189–199.

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advised novices never to trust their own judgement but, rather, to follow the advice of those more experienced.180 However, it is perhaps less widely known that this could be applied specifically to friendship: already John Cassian, in his hugely influential Collationes, while addressing the theme of friendship, had declared that one should think more of the knowledge and holiness of his partner, and should hold that the better part of true discretion was to be found in his judgement rather than in one’s own.181 A practical application of this can be seen in his account of the practice of relying on a friend’s judgement concerning thoughts that one developed on one’s own, which could be revealed as dangerous through shared reasoning.182 High medieval monastic letters offer many attestations of the link between friendship and the request or offer of advice. Countless are the examples where the exordium of a letter refers to friendship to justify the subsequent advice, referring to the duty to offer advice to one’s friends or to listen to the advice received from one’s friend. To give just one example, Anselm of Canterbury wrote to a monk called Henry: « Therefore your friend in counsel speaks to you

180 See Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones, Sermones In resurrectione Domini, sermo 3 De lepra Naaman, par. 4 and 5 (Sancti Bernardi Opera, vol. 5, Sermones ii, ed. by Jean Leclercq and Henri Rochais, Romae: Editiones Cistercienses 1968, pp. 106 and p. 108) and Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones in Quadragesima De Psalmo “Qui Habitat”, sermo 3, chap. 1: (« nolite sequi cordis vestri iudicium », « acquescite eorum consiliis, qui melius norunt venatoris illius versutias, edocti diuturno longi temporis exercitio et crebis experimentis, tam in se quam in multis », in Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermons pour l’année, vol. 2.2 Sur le psaume Qui Habitat, Paris: Cerf 2016 pp. 168–170). On Bernard’s conception of consilium see Jean Leclerq, Conseil spirituel et conseillers selon saint Bernard, in Studia Monastica 25 (1983), pp. 73–91, reedited in Recueil d’études sur saint Bernard et ses écrits, vol. 5, Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura 1992, p. 299–317. 181 John Cassian, Collationes, collatio 16, chap. 11: « ut plus unusquisque consorti suo scientiae et sanctitatis adscribens summam discretionis verae in alterius magis quam suo credat stare iudicio », in Jean Cassien, Conférences, vol. 2. viii–xvii, ed. by Eugène Pichery, Paris: Cerf 2009 (Sources chrétiennes 54 bis), p. 452. 182 Ibidem, par. 10: « Memini namque, cum me adhuc adhaerere consorti aetas iunior hortaretur, huiusmodi nobis intellegentiam vel in moralibus disciplinis vel in scripturis sacris frequenter insertam, ut nihil ea verius nihilque rationabilius crederemus. Sed cum in unum convenientes sententias nostras promere coepissemus, quaedam conmuni examinatione discussa primum ab altero falsa ac noxia notabantur, mox deinde ut perniciosa conmuni pronuntiata iudicio damnabantur: quae in tantum prius infusa a diabolo velut luce fulgebant, ut facile potuissent generare discordiam, nisi praeceptum seniorum veluti divinum quoddam oraculum custoditum ab omni nos contentione revocasset, quo ab illis legali quadam sanctione praescriptum est, ut neuter nostrum plus iudicio suo quam fratris crederet, si numquam vellet diaboli calliditate deludi », in Jean Cassien, Conférences cit., vol. 2, pp. 448–450.

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of these matters, most beloved, since I hear that in a certain matter you are making plans against the counsel of your friends ».183 Of course, in many of these cases, the people addressed as “friends” are not actually intimate acquaintances of the letter-writer; moreover, in many cases, what is presented as an offer of personal advice is really more of an admonition, exhortation or even an abstract piece of teaching. While this may represent an informal kind of teaching, it is also a vertical, top-down and one-way transmission of knowledge from one person to another. Therefore, I will not focus on this kind of advice-giving, and I will instead look for advice which stems from a request and is therefore inseparable from the actual social exchange in which it originated. An example of request for advice can be found in a letter addressed by Geoffrey of Vendôme to Ivo of Chartres asking him what was to be done with monks who had run away from the monastery, stayed in the world for a certain time and then wished to come back to the monastery. Geoffrey introduced his request by referring to the need to always ask for advice while undertaking something (« quoniam omnia cum consilio facienda esse cognovimus »).184 He also mentioned that he knew what the canones, the canonical regulations, said on the matter but that in the Benedictine Rule, little was said on the subject. Geoffrey clearly relied on Ivo’s expertise and experience to help him fill a gap or at least address an issue that was unclear in monastic regulations. More often, requests for advice were attested indirectly, through references made by the letter-writers to the requests that they had received; this can be problematic because such statements can originate from a literary topos as a way to justify the author’s decision to write and show humility in presenting his writing as the answer to a request.185 However, it is possible to draw a distinction between the requests to compose a treatise on a certain theme and requests for advice concerning what to do in a specific situation. While the former may well have been a rhetorical commonplace (especially when few details about the circumstances and the people involved are offered), the latter almost certainly was not. A good example of this is offered by Adam of Perseigne’s letter collection, in which around half of the letters are presented as the fruit of the author’s 183 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 17 to the monk Henry: « ldeo tecum haec, dilectissime, loquitur amims tuus de consilio quia de quodam negotio audio te disponere contra amicorum tuorum consilium », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 147. I use here the translation by Brian Patrick McGuire in Friendship and Community cit., p. 213. 184 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 26 to Ivo of Chartres, in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 44. 185 Ernst Robert Curtius, Letteratura europea e medio evo latino [1948], ed. by Roberto Antonelli, Scandicci: La nuova Italia 1992, p. 99.

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attempt to grant a request that he received, while many of the remaining letters can be considered as unsolicited advice or teaching. Through them, Adam shared his views on a variety of topics, mostly theoretical ones, such as the love of God and the mysteries of Christ, the Virgin Mary, true philosophy and so on, and he offered advice to a variety of correspondents (bishops, nuns, monks and laypeople) on how they should behave. And yet, the collection also contains a letter in which Adam answered a request for advice about a very tangible problem. In it, he recalled having received from the addressee – Master Paganus, deacon of Saint-André of Chartres – a letter which showed in an evident way his correspondent’s state of need. He then offered his advice on the very tangible matter, telling him to obey his housekeeper, however harsh she may be, because she was a God-fearing woman, led only by charity to care for him: he should therefore bear patiently her corrections and admonitions, which were solely born out of love.186 This letter allows us a glimpse into a very tangible situation, in which an elderly deacon was cared for by a well-meaning but insufferable housekeeper. An interesting case of requests and offers of advice is attested by Bernard of Clairvaux’s letters to Rainald of Foigny. In one of them, which has already been mentioned in the second chapter, Bernard referred to the fact that Rainald had been complaining to him about the difficulties that he was experiencing as abbot and declared that he was moved and worried by his friend’s preoccupations.187 The letter clearly represented one ring in a longer chain of interactions between Bernard and Rainald, as also attested by the abbot of Clairvaux’s statement that he had foreseen the difficulties that his friend was now facing and had warned him about them. This, according to Bernard, should have made Rainald more prepared to endure them with a lighter heart, and

186 Adam of Perseigne ep. 61 to magister Paganus, deacon of Saint-André of Chartres: « Licet, ut scribis, sit tua nutrix tui aspera, ei tamen, obsecro, ad custodiam honestatis et pietatis, obtempera, quia procul dubio ex maxima caritate id agitur, quod mulier illa vere Deum timens, tam fortiter te zelatur. Certe, ut dicit Apostolus, si Christi es, carnem mam crucifigere cum vitiis et concupiscentiis debes a, et in crucifixione tua quasi habere pro clavis, correctiones et monita bene amantis te mulieris », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., p. 264. 187 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 73 to Rainald of Foigny: « Consolando, exhortando, increpando agis opus tuum, portas onus tuum, et portando sanas quos sanantos portas […] Denique in quantum gravaris, in tantum lucraris, et in quantum iuvaris, in tantum tua tibi praemia minuis. Elige ergo quos eligas, an qui gravando iuvant, an qui iuvando gravant. Hi tibi promeritores, illi fraudatores meritorum exsistunt », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit, pp. 332–33.

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perhaps should have spared Bernard the annoyance of hearing about them.188 Rainald had asked Bernard to send him his spirit, and Bernard declared that he had done so as best he could, through the letter and by sending him the prior of Clairvaux. In addition, in a later letter, Bernard admitted that although he had asked Rainald to stop complaining to him about the difficulties that he was experiencing as abbot, he was now worried by his silence and therefore asked him to let him know how he was doing.189 This shows that Bernard, despite his occasional use of harsh words, did help his friend Rainald by offering, in his own way, consolation, advice and practical help. However, these letters also attest that the help between Bernard and Rainald could be reciprocal. In fact, Bernard declared that their physical separation was painful for him because he could not benefit from the sweet consolation that Rainald granted him (« crucior te carendo, te non videndo, te dulcissimo mihi solatio non fruendo »). Moreover, he told Rainald that he should have been a staff to support him, Bernard, rather than the opposite (« cum ergo super hoc etiam velut quodam tuae pusillanimitatis baculo me percellis, qui mihi debueras esse baculus sustentationis »). He declared having shared his burden with Rainald as he would have done with a son, with a faithful helper (« onus meum tibi partitus sum ut filio, ut necessario, ut fideli coadiutori meo »). Clearly, this representation of the relationship between Bernard and Rainald was influenced by the former’s wish to show humility by belittling himself (exactly as he had done in depicting the relationship with his brother Gerard190) and to make his former monk understand that he was not a young pupil for Bernard to mentor anymore. However, the letter also offers an example of the monastic perception of reciprocal help between monks. In fact, the letters contain attestations of the fact that Bernard did ask Rainald for help, for example by sending him some of his works,191 which shows that he valued Rainald’s opinion on them. Sending written works to one’s friends for advice (which could include requests for correction and even to choose a suitable title) was actually a quite widespread practice, as attested in particular by the letters of Bernard of

188 Ibidem: « Verum quia haec ipsa mala curae te invenisse causaris, et ego praevideram, et tibi, si recordaris, praedixeram, puto te levius praescita portare debere, et mihi unde parcere potes, molestum non esse ». 189 Bernard ep. 75 to Rainald of Foigny, in ibidem, pp. 334–336. 190 See chapter. 3.4 “Consolation and Exhortation” pp. 133–134. 191 See Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 74 to Rainald of Foigny: « opuscola mea quae habes, da operam, cum opportune potueris, ut habeam » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 336.

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Clairvaux and of Anselm of Canterbury.192 Of course, sending a work to a friend was also a way to begin their circulation in a world where no official “publication” existed, and requests for correction were one of the ways in which an author could show modesty.193 And yet, sharing the fruit of one’s intellectual and literary work with a friend could also arise from a genuine wish to rely on the friend’s expert judgement on it and could be a means to exchange ideas and to learn, often in a shared way. This idea is attested by Baudri of Bourgueil in his letter to the nun Muriel of Wilton, where he praised her and expressed the wish to have another conversation with her so that they could answer each other’s questions. In the meantime, he proposed that they write to each other, exchanging secrets and correcting each other’s literary compositions: O if only it would come – that that time would come that I might gain the profits of another conversation. That you, responding, might give the spirit asking many things, and that I, being asked, would respond many things. Meanwhile, let our mutual songs commend us to us, let unspoken faith be the leader and companion, may you be the first to know my secrets, and let me also know your secret […] A rich supply of rich wit abounds in you, by which you might lessen my errors. Lessen [them] therefore, do not spare me, and I shall lessen yours, sparing you.194 The exchange of literary works, often framed as a game or a challenge, was not unheard of for monks: even the busy abbot of Cluny, Peter the Venerable, 192 See for example Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 72 to Lanfranc of Canterbury, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit, pp. 260–262, and Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 52 to cardinal Haimeric and ep. 88 to Oger and 89 to Oger, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 268, 440 and 446 respectively. 193 See Tore Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces. Studies in Literary Conventions, Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm / Göteborg / Uppsala 1964, pp. 141–143. 194 Baudri of Bourgueil, ep. 137 to the nun Muriel: « Utinam veniat ! Veniat, rogo, terminus ille, / Lucrer ut alterius commoda colloquii! / Ipsa dares animum respondens plura roganti / Et responderem plura rogatus ego. / Interea nobis nos mutua carmina mandent, / Duxque comesque suus sit taciturna fides. / Tu secretorum sis conscia prima meorum, / Sim quoque secreti conscius ipse tui. / […] Divitis ingenii tibi copia dives abundat, / Quo potes erratus attenuare meos. / Attenues igitur, necnon michi compatiaris, / Attenuabo tuos compatiendo tibi », in Baudri of Bourgueil, Poèmes, vol. 2 cit., p. 47. I use here the English translation by Joan Ferrante in the database Epistolae: Medieval Women’s Letters (https://epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu, last accessed January 21, 2020).

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complied with the request of an otherwise unknown monk, Raymond of Toulouse, to reply in verse to his verse letter.195 More widespread was the practice of sharing the fruit of one’s meditations with a friend, either in a conversation or in written form, as attested by many letters. For example, Peter of Celle referred to the fact that he and Richard of Salisbury used to share with each other the fruit of their religious meditations, in however rough a form.196 This offered a learning opportunity for both correspondents, who were stimulated to put their thoughts into writing and who benefitted from reading their correspondent’s reaction to it. While letters often confirm someone’s praise of the text that they had received, sometimes correspondents came to a disagreement, as was, for example, the case of Peter of Celle’s and Nicholas of Clairvaux’s theological disagreement, which is attested to us by four letters.197 In the first one, Nicholas had commented upon two biblical verses and reflected on the theme of human misery: in this reflection, he had stressed the notion of unity (unitas) as a defining characteristic of God, according to a Neoplatonic idea.198 Peter, in his reply, rejected and criticized Nicholas’ interpretation by raising various issues; he also contested another of Nicholas’ interpretations, which he had found in a sermon of his. Nicholas reacted by explaining his original meaning and by defending some of his positions. The controversy ended with a final letter by Peter, who presented his (Augustinian) belief that simplicity (simplicitas) should be considered the defining characteristic of God, rather than unity. Interestingly, while the text of this letter as it is preserved in Nicholas of Clairvaux’s letter collection ends rather abruptly, the version preserved in Peter of Celle’s letter collection is longer and contains some further 195 Peter the Venerable, ep. 117 to the monk Raymond of Toulouse, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., pp. 309–311. 196 Peter of Celle, ep. 168 to Richard of Salisbury: « Non sum immemor antique nostre consuetudinis qua invicem solebamus quamlibet informes conceptus nostrarum meditationum communicare », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 648. 197 Which are edited in Nicholas’ letter collection as ep. 49 and 51–53 in Wahlgren-Smith, The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., pp. 208–218 and 224–256. Peter’s letters are also edited in his letter collection as ep. 50 and 51 in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit. On this exchange see Julian P. Haseldine, Appendix 7: Peter of Celle and Nicholas of Clairvaux’s Debate on the Nature of the Body, the Soul, and God, in The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., pp. 706–11 and Lena Wahlgren-Smith, Appendix 4: A Correspondence between Nicholas and Peter of Celle Concerning Spiritual Matters (ep. 49 and 51–53), in The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., pp. 289–291. 198 Nicholas of Clairvaux, ep. 49 to Peter of Celle, in Wahlgren-Smith, The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., pp. 208–218. This idea had probably reached twelfth-century Western Europe through the works of Boethius, see Marie-Dominique Chenu, Platon à Cîteaux, in Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge 29 (1959) pp. 99–106 e spec. 101 and, more in general, Marie-Dominique Chenu, La teologia nel dodicesimo secolo [1957], ed. by Paolo Vian, Milano: Jaca Book 1986, pp. 123–159.

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harsh words and accusations toward Nicholas. As the editor of Nicholas’s letter collection argues, it is possible that this is simply a transmission error, or perhaps Peter expanded his letter while inserting it in his collection, but it is more likely that Nicholas himself shortened this letter when he added it to his own collection « in order to delete the record of some of the more cutting things said to him by his friend ».199 This example shows that real and heated debates could arise from the sharing of the fruit of one’s religious meditations with a friend who was believed to be able to appreciate them or give an honest opinion on them. Regardless of the outcome, such exchanges offered both correspondents the opportunity to learn something. Sharing one’s inner thoughts with a friend was part of a larger trend of selfexpression in high medieval religious letters. Friends would encourage each other to share the fruit of their self-analysis as a religious practice, which was believed to be helpful for spiritual progress. For example, Anselm, then prior of Bec, invited his friend Gondulf to enter into the innermost part of his heart and to ponder his feelings to realize the affection that Anselm had for him;200 and Ivo of Chartres told his correspondent to paint his inner man (interior homo) in his letter, as Ivo had done in his letters to him.201 The valorization of self-expression and self-analysis went hand in hand with the tendency to offer autobiographical information, for example in sermons.202 This applies to advice-giving as well, since several high medieval monastic authors, while offering advice, recalled an episode of their past as an example – either positive or negative – from which their audience could learn. For example, Peter Damian, to teach the hermits of Monte Suavicino that a man of God was supposed to be free from every earthly possession, recounted the story of how he himself had once been offered a beautiful silver vase, and had been very tempted by it.203 Likewise, Bernard of Clairvaux, to convince a fellow abbot that changing one’s decision, if for the better, was not shameful, recounted the story of how, in a fit of anger, he had once thrown his brother 199 Wahlgren-Smith, Appendix 4, in Id., The Letter Collections of Nicholas of Clairvaux cit., p. 291. 200 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 16 to Gundulf: « “Intra in cubiculum” cordis tui et considera affectum veri amoris tui, et cognosces amorem veri amici tui », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 144 “Intra in cubiculum” is a quote of Matthew 6, 6. 201 Ivo of Chartres, ep. 38 to Manegold, in Yves de Chartres, Correspondance, ed. by Jean Leclercq, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 1949, p. 158. 202 See Morris, The Discovery of the Individual cit. pp. 67–85, who gives the example of Bernard of Clairvaux and Guibert of Nogent. 203 Peter Damian, ep. 76 to Dominic Loricatus par. 8, in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 4, ed. by Nicolangelo D’Acunto and Lorenzo Saraceno, Roma: Città Nuova 2005, pp. 162–164.

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Bartholomew out of the monastery but later acknowledged his mistake and recalled him, following the judgement of his community.204 Letters also contain references to episodes in which the letter-writer asked for and received advice from someone through conversation rather than by letter. The letter collection of Peter Damian is a particularly rich source in this regard. For example, he once recounted having asked Leo, a hermit who lived in the nearby hermitage of Sitria, for help concerning a very concrete problem: when I asked him one day how I might get relief when it seemed to me that during the fast the measure of bread was so small, he gave me the following advice: « On normal days in the fast take only half the allowed ration of bread; but on the day you wish to relax a bit from the restrictions of the rule, you can indulge yourself by eating the total amount prescribed, and if what now is generally given us seems so little, it will then, if rarely allowed by you, feel sufficient ». This remedy, given at a time of necessity, was somehow acceptable because of the worthiness of my counselor, but, I must admit, the eager drive of my gluttony did not listed to the advice that had been given to me.205 While the advice given here seems to belong to a specific subgenre of witty advice or funny educational short stories,206 it is clear that Peter had consulted Leo as an expert on the matter of fasting and had received the advice with reverence in no small part because of the respect that he had for Leo.

204 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 70 to Guy of Trois Fontaines, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 320–322. 205 Peter Damian, ep. 44 to Teuzo, par. 13: « Percontanti olim mihi, quod possem invenire solatium, quia tam exigua mensura panis mihi inter ipsa ieiunia videretur, tale dedit praesto consilium: “Allis”, inquit, “diebus medietatem tibi mensurae illius appone, die autem ilia, qua relaxare aliquid de consuetae regulae censura volueris, totam tibi summam praefixae quantitatis indulge, et tunc sufficiens erit raro concessum, quod nunc modicum videtur indifferenter oblatum”. Hoc autem in tantae angustiae necessitate remedium, utcumque ex consulentis merito placuit, sed curiosa meae edacitatis intentio, fateor, non quod praestolabatur, audivit », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 64, English translation in Peter Damian, Letters 31–60 cit., p. 229. 206 This advice is quite similar in nature to a well-known Jewish story. In the story, a farmer thinks that his house is too small and ask the rabbi for advice. The rabbi advises the farmer to bring his animals into his home, too: first chickens, then goats, then sheeps. Each time, the situation goes from bad to worse. Finally, the Rabbi suggests that the farmer take all of the animals out of the house. When he does, the farmer’s family finds their home to be very big. Of course I do not intend to suggest that a direct link exists between the two stories, just that there are analogies.

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These examples show that sharing’s one experience with an educational purpose was a very apt means of informal and reciprocal teaching and learning in a high medieval monastery. Of course, a delicate balance had to be maintained between the practice of advice-giving and the need to demonstrate humility, without assuming a permanent and all-encompassing authority. Interesting evidence of an attempt to solve this potential problem is offered in the same letter cited above, in which Peter Damian recalled a story that the same Leo had told him when he was instructing him on how to resist temptations: at times when he was prudently instructing me on how to deal with temptations, he told me about his problems as they had happened to others. “I know a brother” he said “who was worn out by a fantasy to commit fornication, and as he was all the while praying like mad, at length one night an angel of God stood immediately at his bedside, and taking a knife cut off his testicles. But when he was sure that he was awake, but subdued by divine authority, not daring to inquire what had happened, he experienced such pains in his genitals as if a real scalpel had cut off a part of his body. From that time on this brother not only did not experience this kind of passion, but felt no further incentive to impurity as if he were already dead”.207 The goal of this story was to show to the audience that prayer could be an effective tool in the struggle against temptations, which could even bring about a permanent freedom from a certain kind of temptation. The storyteller’s decision to present the event as having happened to someone else (while Peter Damian later tricked the storyteller into admitting that it had happened to him) was probably linked to the wish to show modesty by not talking about oneself and one’s spiritual successes. More in general, these examples show that the sharing of personal experience could be a means of informal and shared learning, and this may have played a role in the increase in biographical 207 Peter Damian, ep. 44 to Teuzo, par. 14: « Aliquando autem dum me tentationibus resistere prudenter instrueret, quod suum erat, alli contigisse narravit. “Novi”, inquit, “fratrem, quem, dum fornicationis spiritus graviter fatigaret et ilie crebris orationibus vehementer insisteret, tandem nocte quadam super stratum quiescenti angelus Dei cominus astitit, et arrepto ferro testiculos eius abscidit. Cumque ilie vigilare se crederet, sed numinis auctoritate pressus quid ageretur, inquirere non auderet, tantam doloris vim in genitalibus pertulit, ac si revera materiale chirurgium partem corporis secuisset. Ab eo itaque tempore frater ilie non modo huiusmodi passionibus non subiacuit, se et tamquam carne praemortua nullum ulterius in se libidinis stimulum sensit” », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 64, English translation in Peter Damian, Letters 31–60 cit., p. 229–2230.

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and autobiographical details that can be observed in the monastic writing (and especially letter-writing) of this period. At least in letters and letter collections which were supposed to have an edifying value, personal anecdotes were supposed to help their readers understand important concepts or stimulate them to change for the better. The examples collected and analyzed in this chapter show that in the path of personal progress of each monk or nun, a crucial part was played by informal and shared help through social interactions with the other members of the community. The examples offer insight into how this shared learning took place on a daily basis, identifying means of shared and informal learning whose use is attested by multiple sources, without making distinctions based on the context, on the learning content and on the characteristics of the learner. In the following chapter, I will reflect on how this learning process influenced both the individual and the community.

chapter 4

The Effects of Shared Learning The aim of this chapter is to reflect on the transformative effect that the process of shared learning was perceived to have on both individuals and communities. On the one hand, this will serve to demonstrate that shared learning, far from being an educational experience limited in time and scope, was supposed have a holistic nature, affecting individuals on multiple levels and fundamentally transforming them. On the other hand, it serves to demonstrate the importance of shared learning – in the individual experience of monastic life, in the process through which monastic communities reproduced themselves by turning newcomers into full members and in the ongoing processing of knowledge which continually renewed the cultural life and the very identity of a monastic community. 4.1

Effects on the Individual

Despite its social nature, shared learning had an important individual dimension. First of all, the content of this learning was individualized: it was not so much about acquiring a certain body of knowledge but, rather, about processing what one saw and heard in order to develop an appropriate way of life and mindset for life in that specific community. The process itself was unique for each individual, for both practical and theoretical reasons. From a practical point of view, the peculiar situation of each individual (background before entering the monastery, personal traits …) directly influenced the learning process. On a theoretical level, the idea that the learning process had to be flexible and adapted to each individual was widespread in high medieval monastic culture: already the Benedictine Rule stated that « every age and understanding should have its proper treatment » (« omnis aetas vel intellectus proprias debet habere mensuras »).1 It also advised the abbot to « explain the commandments of God to intelligent disciples by words, but show the divine precepts to the dull and simple by his works » and to « sternly rebuke the undisciplined and restless; but he must exhort the obedient, meek, and

1 Regula Benedicti, chap. 30 De Pueris Minori Aetate Qualiter Corripiantur, in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 196.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004466494_006

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patient to advance in virtue ».2 This last statement shows that it was not simply a matter of adapting the techniques through which the same things could be taught to different individuals but, rather, of the necessity to meet each individual’s needs, which depended on personal characteristics and on the degree of advancement along the path of moral and spiritual progression. Bernard of Clairvaux was clearly influenced by this idea, as shown by his admission of having made a mistake by being too harsh a teacher to Robert of Châtillon, who, because of his sensitive and tender nature, benefitted more from a different and softer style of teaching.3 The highly individualized learning process which began when one entered a monastery was perceived to have a transformative effect on individual identity. As mentioned in the opening of the second chapter, William of Saint-Thierry represented his entrance into monastic life at the same time as a learning process and a radical transformation, opposing his previous state of « countryman » (rusticanus)  – where the « country » is the secular world  – to that of a citizen (civis) of God’s city, instructed in its « ordered ways » and in the « courtesies and gracious manners » of God’s court, and asking God to re-form him, reshape him to turn him from the former into the latter.4 William used the metaphorical opposition between the countryman and the city man to conceptualize the radical transformation involved in going from secular life to monastic life. It is difficult to understate the personal significance of this transformation: William stated that in entering monastic life for the first time, he seemed to « see a new earth and new heavens, for of a sudden you [God] make all things new for me », echoing the famous passage in the book of Revelation, 2 Regula Benedicti, chap. 2, par. 11–12: « duplici debet doctrina suis praeesse discipulis, id est omnia bona et sancta facris amplius quam verbis ostendat, ut capacibus discipulis mandata Domini verbis proponere, duris corde vero et simplicioribus factis suis divina praecepta monstrare », and par. 24–25 « miscens temporibus tempora, terroribus blandimenta, durum magistri, pium patris ostendat affectum; id est indisciplinatos et inquietos debet durius arguere, oboedientes autem et mites et patientes ut in melius proficiant obsecrare; neglegentes et contemnentes ut increpat et corripiat admonemus », in ibidem, p. 138 and 140. 3 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon: « delicato quippe adolescentulo austerus exstiteram, et tenerum durus nimis inhurnane tractavi » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 6. 4 William of Saint-Thierry, Meditativae Orationes, oratio 4, par. 17: « Ingrediens novam servitutis tuae disciplinam, videor mihi videre caelos novos et terram novam, et ecce mihi nova facis omnia. Doce me, Domine, hominem rusticanum de rare saeculi venientem, civitatis tuae mores disciplinatos, et curiae tuae venustas urbanitates ; deforma me a forma saeculi, cui me conformaveram ; conforma me civibus tuis, ne inter eos deformis appaream », in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Oraisons méditatives cit., p. 90. I rely here on the English translation by sister Penelope in William of Saint-Thierry, On Contemplating God; Prayer; Meditations cit., p. 117, but I adapt it freely.

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chapter 21. Odon of Ourscamp, scholasticus turned Cistercian monk, referred to the same biblical passage in a letter in which he congratulated a friend of his for becoming a monk, declaring that God had made him into a new being, creating in him a new Heaven and a new Earth and all things new.5 He stressed his friend’s happy transformation (laeta translatio, felix alteratio, iocunda mutatio), which transferred him from a dark mountain to a bright valley – a word play to indicate Clairvaux (in Vallem Claram de monte tenebroso transferri) and transformed him into another being (in idipsum in alterum transformari). Adam of Perseigne, in one of his two letter-treatises on the monastic formation of novices, stressed that the word “novice” itself (novitius, novicius) came from novus, “new”, because novices put off their old selves and became new men.6 Bernard of Clairvaux, in addressing a group of young noblemen who were about to enter Clairvaux, wished that they may be « transformed into the same image, going from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord ».7 In the letter to the parents of one of them, he represented the young man’s entrance into monastic life as a transition for the better, declaring that he was going from being rich to even richer, from noble to even more noble, from distinguished to illustrious and, better still, from sinner to saint.8 In both letters, Bernard declared that he would personally help the new convert to progress in his path: « I will make “the crooked path straight for him and the rough places smooth”. I will temper and arrange all things that his soul may advance (« ut et spiritus proficiat ») and his body may not suffer ».9 To understand how the learning process in question affected the individual, it is useful to look at the emotions that are often mentioned in connection with it. In the description of the initial phase of the learning process, shame and 5 Lettres d’Odon d’Ourscamp, in Analecta Monastica 3 s. cit., pp. 145–157: « Te Dominum novam fecerit creaturam », « in te creaverit caelum novum et terram novam », « in te nova facta sint omnia ». 6 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 5 to Osmond of Mortemer par. 45: « et tu me compellis de novitate vitae philosophari, quomodo scilicet noviter conversi de saeculo in novum hominem valeant reformari » and 46: « Revera necesse est ut convertentes de saeculo multa diligentia novae vitae splendoribus informentur, ut secundum sui nominis rationem deposito veteri homine, recte novitii nominentur » in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., p. 112. 7 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 109 to Geoffrey of Péronne and his companions: « Vos quoque, fratres, in eamdem imaginem transformamini a claritate in claritatem » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 524, with reference to 2 Cororinthians 3, 18. 8 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 110 to the parents of Geoffrey of Péronne: « Fit de divite ditior, de nobili generosior, clarior de illustri, et, quod omnibus maius est, sanctus de peccatore », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 526. 9 Ibidem: « Ego faciam ei “prava in directa et aspera in vias planas” (Matthew 12, 50); ego ei omnia sic temperabo et sic dispensabo, ut et spiritus proficiat, et corpus non deficiat ».

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fear are often mentioned.10 We can take for example Anselm of Canterbury’s letter of vocation to a young man called William: But perhaps you say: If I begin to follow Christ, I am afraid I may fall away because of my foolishness. Again and again one must grieve and weep over the errors of the sons of men. Are they not afraid of failing at those things which they always fail to achieve, indeed the very failure which they run after with their whole heart? But for fear of failure they dare not follow the God who never fails them and promises them his help? Do they take such pleasure in failing that they fail, and are afraid of making progress for fear of failing? […] Be not afraid to break the chains of your intended vanity, because it is not shameful but honourable to cross over into the freedom of truth. You should be ashamed to love God less than the treasurer of Beauvais does […] Do not blush at professing yourself the poor man of Christ, for yours will be the kingdom of Heaven. Do not be afraid of making yourself the soldier of such a king, for the king himself will be with you in every peril.11 The emotions of fear and shame are clearly central. In Anselm’s imagination, William was afraid of embracing monastic life, severing the bonds that he forged while living his life in the secular world and ashamed of rejecting everything he once knew and loved. Anselm attempted to redirect these same feelings into new directions, arguing that William and those like him were not afraid of stepping away from God and should not fear becoming soldiers of God, because God would stand by them in every danger. Likewise, he told 10

By “shame” I mean here the feeling expressed in twelfth-century Latin religious texts with the nouns verecundia, pudor, rubor and erubescentia and with the verbs verecundari, erubescere, pudere and confundere. For an introduction about the notion of shame in the Middle Ages, see Damien Bouquet, Introduction, in Histoire de la vergogne, special issue of Rives méditerranéennes 31 (2008), pp. 2–8. 11 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 99 to the adolescent William: « Sed forsitan dicis ; si incipio sequi Christum, timeo ne imbecillitate mea deficiam. Iterum et iterum dolendum et lugendum de errore filiorum hominum. Ad ea quae semper deficiunt, immo ad ipsum defectum currendo toto affectu non timent defectum; et ad deum numquam deficientem et suum auxilium promittent non audent proficere timendo defectum ? Gaudent deficere ut deficiant, et timent proficere ne neficiant? […] Ne pudeat te rumpere vincula propositae vanitatis, quia non dedecus. sed honor est transire in libertatem veritatis. Pudeat te Deum minus thesaurario Belvacensi diligere […] Ne erubescas profiteri te pauperem Christi, quia tuum erit regnum coelorum. Ne timeas facere te militem tanti regis, quia rex erit ipse in omni periculo tecum », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 115, transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, vol. 1, p. 280.

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William that, rather than being ashamed of leaving the world, he should be ashamed of proving himself inferior to the good example of others. This case illustrates the ambiguity of the role played by shame and fear in the description of medieval monks’ learning experiences. Shame and fear are at the same time emotions that characterize a liminal situation  – for example, that of someone about to transition (or considering transitioning) from a certain state to another – and tools of the learning process through which one passed from one state to another. Shame seems to have been specifically associated with the difficulty of letting go of one’s former condition (and, therefore, of one’s former self), acknowledging a need for change and improvement, which represents a prerequisite for learning. An example can be found in the already-mentioned letter addressed by Anselm of Canterbury to the monk Maurice to instruct him about what he was supposed to learn during his stay away from his monastery and how. The letter contains the following exhortation: « do not be in the least ashamed to study in this way, even if you do not think you need to, as if you were just a beginner ».12 Similarly, Peter Damian told the addressee of one of his letters not to be ashamed of being corrected by a younger brother (that is, Peter himself).13 Bernard of Clairvaux also praised his friend Oger for not blushing about subjecting himself to a master after having held a position of power.14 However, the fact that shame could push a monk to correct himself had already been theorized by the Rule of Saint Benedict, which stated that a monk who arrived late at Vigils should not take his place in the choir but, rather, should: stand the last of all or in the place that the abbot has set aside for such careless brothers, so they may be seen by him and by all until, when the work of God is finished, they do penance by public satisfaction. We have judged that they should stand in the last place or separately so that, seen by all, they will amend because of the shame (verecundia) itself.15 12

Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 64 to Maurice: « Nec pudeat te sic in hoc studere, etiam quibus te putas non indigere, quasi nunc id recentissime incipias », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 180. Transl. in Murphy, The Teaching of Latin as a Second Language cit., p. 168. 13 Peter Damian, ep. 38 to bishop Gislerius, in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 285. 14 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 42 to Oger: « Revera, quia non confusus est de subiectione, iure ex praelatione meruit honorari. Non erubuit super se potestatem, et ideo dignus qui habelet et sub se milites », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 238. 15 Regula Benedicti, chapter 43, par. 4–7: « Quod si quis in nocturnis vigiliis post Gloriam psalmi nonagesimi quarti, quem propter hoc omnino subtrahendo et morose volumus

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Hildegard of Bingen introduced her list of the faults that she found in her addressee with the words: « now, listen and learn so that in the inwardness of your soul you will be ashamed ».16 Peter the Venerable, in praising his deceased mother in a letter to his brothers, told them that they should be ashamed of showing themselves inferior to such great a mother.17 Lastly, Bernard Clairvaux, while writing to the monk Adam of Morimont to convince him not leave the monastery, explained that his goal was to show to his addressee his manifest levity, so that he could acknowledge his mistake, blush from it (« errorem tuum iam tandem agoscens et erubescens ») and begin what is explicitly presented as a learning process.18 Bernard of Clairvaux also listed the capability of feeling shame as a useful trait in a monastic learner. In the famous letter where he exhorted Robert of Châtillon to come back to Clairvaux, he praised Robert by pointing out his natural docility, shyness, bashfulness and inherent tendency to feel shame: What need is there to goad again he who has not kicked against the goad, why make more fearful he who is already timid enough, abase more he who is by nature bashful, who is schooled by his own reason, whose own conscience is a rod, and whose natural shyness is a discipline.19

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dici, occurrerit, non stet in ordine suo in choro, sed ultimus omnium stet aut in loco quem talibus neglegentibus seorsum constituerit abbas, ut videantur ab ipso vel ab omnibus, usque dum completo opere Dei publica satisfactione paeniteat. Ideo autem eos in ultimo aut seorsum iudicavimus debere stare, ut visi ab omnibus vel pro ipsa verecundia sua emendent », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 236. Hildegard of Bingen, ep. 76R to abbot Helengerus of Mount Saint Disibod: « Nunc audi et disce, ut in gustu animae tuae super his erubescas » in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 1 cit., pp. 164–165, transl. in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, 3 voll., transl. by Joseph L. Baird and Radd K. Ehrman, vol 1., New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press 1994, p. 164. Peter the Venerable, ep. 53 to his brothers: « fratres mei tantae matris filii erubescite degeneres videri », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 173. Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 5 to Adam of Morimont: « Ut te manifestae levitatis arguam, ut est et non esse apud te evidenter ostendam, sicque errorem tuum iam tandem agoscens et erubescens, vel sero discas ab Apostolo non omni spiritui credere discas a Salomone multos quidem amicos, unum autem habere consiliarium de mille, discas, Praecursoris Domini exemplo, non solum mollibus non vestiri, sed nec in modum vento agitatae arundinis circumfemi omni vento doctrinae, discas ex Evangelio domum tuam supra petram fundare, discas et cum discipulis serpentis non oblivisci prudentiam cum simplicitate columbae […] », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 56. Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Chatillon, par. 3: « animum tuum, qui facilius possit amore flecti quam timore cornpelli. Denique quid necesse est bis pungere non recalcitrantem, valde timidum magis exterrere, per se satis erubescentem confundere amplius,

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In contrast, Bernard always presented the inability to feel shame as a very negative thing: if someone did not blush because of his wrong behaviour, then he had no chance to redeem himself.20 In such a conception of the learning process, the individual is given an active role, and his interior life is perceived as extremely important, as emotions could hinder the process of transformation, preventing or making it difficult for the individual to embrace the change or, on the contrary, help it. Much of what has been said with regard to the feeling of shame applies to fear, too, as already shown by Anselm’s letter of vocation to the young William mentioned above. The famous biblical verse « the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom » (Psalms 110,10) was often cited in referring to monastic formation,21 and it inspired Adam of Perseigne to reflect about the role played by fear in the learning process of monastic novices. He advised that those who in their previous secular life were used to sinning should now, in the monastery, apply to it the antidote of a careful fear of sinning.22 In fact, according to him: The habit of sinning, which is born out of an arrogant sense of safety, is warded off by a continuous sense of fear. As this sense of security is the beginning of evil, so the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 110,10).23 This does not only apply to the formation of novices. Reference to the resistance to change in the form of negative emotions can also be found in the

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cui sua ratio magister, cui propria conscientia virga et ingenita verecundia lex disciplinae est », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 10. See for example Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 143 to some monks of Clairvaux: « Si quis autem susurro, quod absit, exsistit inter vos, aut bilinguis, aut murmurans, aut contumax, aut impatiens disciplinae, aut inquietus et vagus, et qui panem otiosus comedere non erubescat », ep. 34 to the monk Drogo: « et tu, velut e saecularibus unus, monasterium tamquam saeculum deserens, iam attritum christi sarcina collum novae rursum disciplinae observantiis submittere non erubescis? », in ibidem, p. 646 and 170. See for example Peter the Venerable, ep. 159 to the brothers of Saint Martial at Limoges: « non esse vos oblitos cluniacensis lactis, quo in dei timore et servitio educatis estis », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 384. Adam of Perseigne, ep. 17 to G. of Pontigny: « Provideant, inquam, sibi, ne ut sicut in tempore vestustatis suae habuerunt usum peccati, ita in tempore novitatis suae circumspecto careant timore peccati », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., pp. 46–48. Ibidem: « quia contra peccandi usum opponendum est solliciti timoris remedium opportunum. Ut enim consuetudo peccanti de insolenti securitate nascitur, ita est assueto timore repellitur; quia sicut est securitas initium malitiae et progressus, ita timor Domini est initium sapientiae (Psalms 110,10) ».

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description of monks or nuns called to new responsibilities, both in the monastery and outside of it. Anselm, then abbot of Bec, described his feelings at his election as archbishop of Canterbury as follows: Fear of God and fear of the burden I had been forced to submit to, and love for those from whom I could not be separated without great sadness [his monks of Bec] were struggling within me so that I did not dare to stubbornly resist God’s decree and feared greatly both the heavy burden and the separation of my soul from the souls of those whom I loved as myself and with whom alone I wished to live.24 Of course, the unwillingness to accept an honour is a typical demonstration of humility; nevertheless, for the purpose of the present research, the way in which Anselm represents emotions with different causes but sharing the same nature battling within the individual is extremely interesting. This letter also refers to the feelings of sadness and pain connected to the abandonment of one’s current condition to transition to an unknown, and often more challenging, one. In many representations, as we will see, such feelings of sadness finally turn into positive feelings of joy when the individual adapts to the new and superior condition. For example, in Anselm of Canterbury’s abovementioned letter to William, he described the conversion of the treasurer of Beauvais and concluded by saying: « he now declares that he is happier than he ever was in life ».25 The Carthusian Bernard of Portes wrote to the nuns of the monastery of Saint-Pierre-des-Terraux that sometimes some nuns could fall prey to sadness at their condition, but that through the help of their fellow sister their heart would be filled with the love of God, and they would be able to do good works 24

Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 159 to Gilbert bishop of Evreux: « Sic enim intra me luctabantur timor Dei et timor oneris quod subire cogerat, et dilectio eorum a quibus sine magna tristitia separari non poteram ut, cum ordinationi dei resistere pertinaciter non auderem et grave pondus et scissurae animae meae ab illorum animabus […] nimis horrerem », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1 cit., p. 140. 25 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 117 to the adolescent William: « Pudeat te Deum minus thesaurario Belvacensi diligere, qui tuae aut minoris aetatis adolescens delicatus et pulcherrimus, valde dives et nobilissimus et immoderatus amator saeculi, nuper postquam ivi in Anglam nescio qua causa veniens Beccum statim recessurus, subita sancti spiritus gratia mutatus, se monachum ibi permansurum, tonsura statim et habitu nostro sumpto, spopondit, se nunc laetiorem quam umquam in vita sua fuisset affirmans », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 253–254, transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury cit., vol. 1, p. 280.

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with joy and without difficulty, whereas when sadness filled the heart with anguish, good works were a burden and a source of weariness.26 This description can be compared to Peter the Venerable’s representation of his mother’s adaptation to the responsibilities of her new role as celleraria (the monastic official responsible for provisions) in the monastery of Marcigny. Peter mentioned that the difficulties which she faced in her new role made her very sad,27 but represented her as being ultimately able to spread joy around her.28 The letter collection of Anselm of Canterbury is a very rich source of examples of successful transitions in monastic life, because of the frequent exchanges of monks between Bec and Canterbury. Many of them have already been mentioned in the previous chapters but deserve to be briefly recalled here, with specific attention to how Anselm used the reference to positive emotions to describe successful transition. While praising Lanfranc the Younger in a letter to his uncle the archbishop, he stated that the young man, by striving to progress, had made himself deservedly lovable by everyone in the community,29 and added: « he daily makes me, who is happy with him, surely 26 Bernard prior of Portes, ep. 2 to the nuns of Saint-Pierre-des-Terraux: « Hoc autem scitote, multum expedire vobis, et salutare esse, ut bonum quod coepistis, cum hilaritate et gaudio faciatis. Sic enim opus bonum debere fieri docet Apostolus, dicens: “Non ex tristitia, aut ex necessitate, hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus”. Et in psalmo dicitur: “Servite Domino in laetitia”. Quod si forte aliquae ex vobis adhuc tristes sint de hac sancta, et Deo placita, quae eis facta est, violentia, vos quae prudentiores, et meliores estis, debetis eas in Verbo Dei consolari, et intimare eis quod sancta Scriptura dicit: “Sicut tinea vestimento, et vermis ligno, ita tristitia nocet cordi”. Et quod Apostolus dicit: “Quae secundum Deum tristitia est, poenitentiam in salutem stabilem operatur, saeculi vero tristitia mortem operatur”. Debetis etiam pro eis orare, et eas ad orandum invitare, ut per gratiam Dei, necessitatem convertant in voluntatem. Et sicut beatus Hieronymus docet, faciant de necessitate virtutem. Hoc pro eis si vos, et illae pro se instanter oraverint, charitas Dei per Spiritum sanctum diffundetur in cordibus earum, et tunc veraciter dicent: “Viam mandatorum tuorum cucurri, cum dilatasti cor meum”. Tristitia enim in corde facit angustias, ut bonum opus oneri sit et taedio. Charitas autem dilatet cor, ut opus bonum cum hilaritate, et sine difficultate fiat. », in Lettres des premiers Chartreux, vol. 2 cit., p. 82. 27 Peter the Venerable ep. 53 to his brothers: « ad Marthae eam ministerium transtulerunt, et propter singularem industriam, cellerariam esse monasterii praecaeperunt. […] Variabat in corde suo diversus apparatus ciborum, et talium inexperta coquinae disciplinam addiscere cogebatur. Cumque saepe paupertas caritatis eius divitiis non reponderet, tristabatur, dolebat, et quia satisfacere universis pro voto non poterat, magno tormentorum supplicio torquebatur », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit. p. 165. 28 Ibidem, p. 165: « et cum a non habente multa exigerentur, secundum regulam patientiam servabat in corde, mansuetudine referebat in sermone, sec tristis ab ea recedere poterat, quam mentis hylaritate ac verborum iocunditate repebat ». 29 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc: « sic studet humili benignitati et benignae humilitati, sic quieti et silentio atque orationi, ut merito sit omnibus amabilis », in

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even happier, and I  – not to speak of the general affection within the community – have him, whom I love for your merit as well as his, as a friend ».30 About Wido, who had entered the monastery of Bec together with the young Lanfranc, Anselm said that he had made himself commendable in the community for his « gentle obedience and humility at hard work », and that both he (and his community) and Lanfranc could take pride and joy (gloriari) in such a monk.31 Lastly, while referring to Osbern, Anselm declared that he and his community were delighted by Osbern’s progress and that they were now glued, cemented together (conglutinamur) by the love that was the natural consequence of Osbern’s outstanding merits, so that when he would be separated from the community of Bec to go back to Christ Church, everyone would suffer.32 These are, of course, ideal representations which served a dual purpose. One the one hand, Anselm was writing to cultivate his friendly relationship with Lanfranc, and the exchanges of monks were a means to this end; framing such exchanges in positive terms clearly served this goal. On the other hand, the letters were also meant to offer an idealized example of how individuals were supposed to adapt to monastic life and, more specifically, of how the monastery of Bec could help people to successfully transition to an exemplary monastic life. Despite this, the same elements recur in descriptions of successful adaptation to monastic life written by other monastic authors. For example, Guigo, then prior of La Grande Chartreuse, wrote to the abbot of Cluny, Peter the Venerable, recalling how he had been welcomed, loved and fostered at the time of his admittance to monastic life in Cluny. He explicitly represented this admission as a learning experience, declaring that he had been trained (the Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190, transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm, vol. 1, p. 140. 30 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc: « Unde certe cotidie et ipse me de se laetum facit laetiorem, et ego illum – ut de communi proximorum dilectione taceam – vestro et suo merito dilectum habeam dilectorem », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188– 190 transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury cit., vol. 1, p. 140. 31 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc: « Domnum vero Widonem, quem magisterio puerorum addidimus, sic suavis commendat oboedientia et in strenuilate humilitas, ut pariter gloriari possimus et vos per quem, et nos qui eum talem habemus », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190. 32 Ibidem: « Non solum igitur ideo, quia nos vestra pariter copulat paterna, qua nos paterne iactamus, dilectio; sed et eius exigentibus meritis tanta dilectionis mutae iucundamur conglutinamurque delectatione, ut iam separari non possimus absque utriusque animae scissura quadam et cordis laesione. Sed quando hoc vestra eum iussione revocante continget, mea scissura in suo hiatu permanente, ipse suam consolabitur per resolidationem alterius maioris, quam nunc patitur ».

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verb used is instruo) to sustain the sweet burden of religious observance (« ad onus suave religionis »).33 As in Anselm’s description of Lanfranc’s admission to monastic life, love is mentioned as playing a crucial role: Basil stressed that despite the fact that he was poor and without means (but he might have been exaggerating for the sake of humility), he was not despised or rejected but, rather, loved and fostered and trained with pious efforts (« pauperem et inopem non spernebatis, sed amabatis, fovebatis, et ad onus suave religionis, piis studiis instruebatis »). We can note the use of the plural “you”, which may have referred to either Peter alone (since vos could be used instead of the singular form tu as a mark of respect)34 or to the whole community of Cluny (to whom the letter may well have been read aloud).35 In the text, Basil focused not on his personal relationship with Peter but, rather, on his esteem for Cluny as an institution, whose discipline he praised. The aim of this letter was probably to foster the friendly relationship between Basil’s current community (which he mentions in the inscriptio of his letter: « brother Basil and the brother Carthusian who are with him ») and Cluny. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suppose that he had the whole community in mind and that the monastic formation to which he was referring was not solely the formal education given by a master but, rather, the broader informal learning process involved in everyday monastic life, in which the whole community played a role. It is clear that in such processes, important personal bonds were forged, which could last for a lifetime, even if an individual ended up leaving the community for a different one, as in the case of Basil. The reason for this is evident: in coming to the monastery, either from the secular world or from another monastery, individuals left behind all their previous social relationships, and they needed to form new ones. A “new family” thus replaced the old: it is not a coincidence that the accounts that have been mentioned all stress the creation of personal bonds. Bernard of Clairvaux, writing to the parents of a young man who converted to monastic life in the above-mentioned letter, had declared: 33 Basil prior of La Grande Chartreuse, ep. 187 to Peter the Venerable, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 436. 34 Robert Brown and Albert Gilman, The Pronouns of Power and Solidarity, in Style in Language, ed. by Thomas A. Sebeok, Cambridge, Mass: mit Press 1960, pp. 254–255: here 253–276. 35 Peter the Venerable himself referred to the practice of reading some of his letters to the gathered brothers, see Peter the Venerable, ep. 84 to Alberic of Ostia: « litteras […] legi, relegi, et in capitulo omnibus convocatis fratribus ipse recitavi », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 221. The same is true for Bernard of Clairvaux, see Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 368 to G. cardinal deacon: « sollicitus fui fratribus nostris indices tui pectoris legere litteras », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 452.

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« all of us at Clairvaux or of Clairvaux will receive him as a brother and you as our parents », « I shall look after him like a father and he will be to me a son », « I will be for him both a mother and a father, both a brother and a sister ».36 Here we see the idea that a new family and a new world of relationships will replace the old one, which helps to understand why the feeling of sadness is often associated with leaving the old world behind and why joy marks the successful transition to a new one. It appears useful to compare these representations of successful integration into monastic life with some references to unsuccessful adaptations, which, although much less common, are not unheard of. A first example is offered by two letters sent by the abbot Geoffrey of Vendôme to the head of two monastic institutions, Saint-Lomer and La Charité, to ask them to receive a man who had shown bad behaviour in Geoffrey’s own monastery.37 In both letters, he declared that the man in question had lived in the monastery for a long time (« diu nobiscum fuit ») and had neglected to correct his behaviour (« mores suos corrigere noluit/emendare contempsit »). In one letter, Geoffrey clarified that the man had failed to correct his behaviour « according to our wishes » (« juxta desiderium nostrum »), while in the other Geoffrey simply stated that the monk had failed to correct « his wicked behaviour » (« pravos mores suos »). Therefore, it seems clear that at the core, the problem lay in the man’s failure to adapt to the life that was expected of him in the monastery. One letter refers to the reasons for this failure, stating that they may be found either in the man’s wicked life or in Geoffrey (who was perhaps speaking in the name of all of his community).38 The fact that Geoffrey sent such monks to another monastery in the hope that they would reform not only attests to the idea that a fresh start could be beneficial but also is a good example of the fact that a failed adaptation process caused a separation between the individual and the community, which is the opposite of the forging of bonds and of the setting down of roots in the community. In fact, novices who demonstrated that they were unworthy of probation or of reception should not be admitted into the community, and guilty monks were separated from the community, temporarily or permanently. 36

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Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 110 to the parents of Geoffrey: « Quotquot sumus in Claravalle vel de Claravalle, ipsum in fratrem, vos in parentes suscipimus », and « ego ero illi pater, ego mater, ego frater et soror » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 526, transl. in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., as ep. 112, p. 168. Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 11 to the abbot Bernard of Saint-Lomer and ep. 13 to G. prior of La Charité, in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 20 and 23. « Unde merito eut eius malitiosa vita blasphemari potest aut ignorantia vel incuria nostra, quod Deus abnuat, accusari ».

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While in these cases the separation was decided by the head of the community, it could also be the result of the individual’s own choice to seek transfer to another monastery or even to flee because of dissatisfaction in their current monastic life. It is interesting to note that Anselm of Canterbury described as a temptation typical of novices the wish to leave the monastery they had just entered to transfer to another perceived as better.39 This suggests that novices who did not succeed in adapting to monastic life and in learning what was expected of them could seek to leave because they had become convinced that the fault of their troubles lay not in themselves but in the monastery itself. Anselm stressed that such novices were motivated to act (or think of acting) by their own volition (proprio appetitu), which suggests a contrast with the desire and the good of the community. According to Anselm, of course, this was wrong, and the novices, instead of asserting their individuality, should: strive with total application of his mind to set down roots of love in whatever monastery he made his profession  – unless it is so bad that he is forced to do evil against his will – and to refrain from judging the behaviour of others or the customs of the place, however useless they appear to him, as long as they are not contrary to the divine precepts. Let him rejoice (gaudeat) at having at last found a place where he can stay, not unwillingly but voluntarily, for the rest of his life, and having put away all anxiety about moving from one place to another and, being at peace, let him resolve to devote himself assiduously to pursuing the single-minded exercise of a holy life.40 Once more, the creation of « roots of love » and the generation of feelings of joy are represented as marking a successful transition to monastic life. The reference, contained in the text, to the problem of monks who criticized their fellow brothers brings to mind the cases of “troublesome” monks such as Peter Abelard and Guibert of Gembloux, who precisely because of this habit 39

Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 37 to the novice Lanzo, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 188, p. 180. 40 Ibidem: « Quapropter quicumque coenobitarum forte propositum aggreditur. Expedit ei ut in quocumque monasterio professus merit  – nisi tale fuerit ut ibi malum invitus facere cogatur –: tota mentis intentione amoris radicibus ibi radicare studeat atque aliorum mores aut loci consuetudines, si contra divina praecepta non sunt – etiam si inutiles videantur –. diiudicare refugiat. Gaudeat se iam tandem invenisse ubi se non invitum sed voluntarium tota vita mansurum omni transmigrandi sollicitudine propulsa, deliberet, ut quietus ad sola piae vitae exercitia exquirenda sedulo vacet », transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm, vol. 1, p. 135.

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made themselves persona non grata in their monastery, and left.41 Clearly, criticizing one’s fellow brothers was not a good way to make oneself lovable and to forge bonds of affection: another example of this is offered by the previously mentioned letter in which Archbishop Lanfranc advised his nephew and Wido, if they encountered a monk who found « amusement in gnawing with Theon’s tooth at a brother’s way of life »,42 to ostracize him. A very famous case of a monk abandoning his monastery to transfer to another one is, of course, that of Robert of Châtillon, the young relative of Bernard of Clairvaux who left Clairvaux for Cluny. The main source about the events is offered by the letter which Bernard addressed to Robert asking him to come back. In this text we find a representation of an unsuccessful adaptation of an individual in the monastic life and discipline which was expected of him. The reasons for this failure are directly addressed: either it was Bernard’s fault as teacher (as Robert believed), or Robert’s fault as learner, or the responsibility was shared between the two – and Bernard claimed to believe the latter. He admitted his mistakes in educating Robert, declaring that he had behaved too harshly with him.43 Interestingly, he mentioned that, because of this harsh attitude, Robert used to grumble against him, and now continued to do.44 This suggests that one of the reasons for Robert’s failed adaptation to monastic life in Clairvaux was the bad relationship that existed between him and his superior and self-proclaimed mentor, Bernard. In stark contrast to Anselm of Canterbury’s description of successful integrations marked by the creation of friendly bonds and with Adam of Perseigne’s theorization of the need for the superiors’ « tender solicitude » toward the novices, this text suggests a situation of personal contrasts, which resulted in Robert’s decision to abandon the monastery, his fellow brother, and Bernard himself.45 It is therefore easy to understand why, in trying to win Robert back, Bernard chose to devote a lot of attention to the feelings of love and affection that he had for him. He stressed that they had both changed and that the relationship between them, if Robert 41 See chapter 3.3. “Accusation, Admonition and Correction”, pp. 127–128. 42 Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 19 to Lanfranc the Younger and Wido: « linguas vestras ab omni fraterna derogatione salubri censura compescite. Quis cuiuslibet fratris vitam Theodino dente rodere delectatur […] » (with a reference to Horace, Ep. 1, 18: 82), in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 98. 43 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtilllon, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 4–24. 44 Ibidem, pp. 6–8: « Hinc enim et praesens quodam adversum me, quantum memini, murmurare solebas; hinc et nunc, sicut audivi, etiam absenti derogare non cessas ». 45 Ibidem, p. 18: « cur Ordinem tuum, cur fratres, cur locum, cur me, qui et tibi carne propinquus et propinquior spiritu sum, deserueris », transl. in The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., ep. 1, p. 7.

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came back, would be very different from the one they had before, and much more equal: the one he had feared as a master, he would now embrace without fear, as a companion.46 In addition to showing once more the importance of the quality of personal relationships in the process of adaptation to monastic life, as well as their symbolic value in the context of the representation of the learning process, this letter contrasts the failure of vertical teaching based on authority (since Bernard admitted to having treated Robert in a too harsh way), with the hope that a change in the method of teaching, characterized by love and by a more balanced relationship, may be more successful. It seems possible that Bernard tried to justify his choice to use the former by stating, for example, « I nourished you with milk when, while yet a child, it was all you could take. And I would have given you bread if you had waited until you grew up »,47 which would confirm the impression that formal and vertical teaching were associated with elementary education whereas a more shared learning process was perceived as more suitable to mature learners. More generally and more importantly, we should consider the message that this letter was supposed to convey to a wider audience: in fact, it should be kept in mind that this letter was composed quite some time after the events, which suggests that its lasting value extended beyond actually convincing Robert to come back. Through this text, the abbot of Clairvaux was at the same time offering his own version of somewhat scandalous events, criticizing Cluniac monasticism and its representative and advertising the Cistercian ideal of life. Keeping this in mind, we can put forth the hypothesis that, through the above-mentioned descriptions, Bernard wanted to address the widespread belief that life in Cîteaux was bound to be harsh for a novice by arguing that a more flexible, personal and shared approach to teaching and learning was possible. 4.2

Effects on the Community

The way in which the evidence has been presented in the previous subchapter may suggest to the reader that the shared learning process which began when someone joined a high medieval monastery simply corresponded to the acquisition of the behaviours and mindsets of that particular community and, 46

Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon: « mutatus mutatum invenies, et quem ante metuebas magistrum, comitem amplectere securus », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 8. 47 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon: « nutrivi deinde lacte, quod solum adhuc parvulus capere poteras, daturus et panem, si exspectares ut grandesceres », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 18.

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therefore, to a successful adaptation and integration into it. However, this is an oversimplification that is not without risks. Seeing the same processes from the point of view of the community rather than of the individual helps us to gain more insight into the matter, and specifically to observe that it is not simply a question of the individual being moulded into a perfect member of the community; it is also, and crucially, a question of the contribution that the newcomer (or temporary member) was able to offer to the community. In Anselm’s above-mentioned description of three successful adaptations to his community of Bec in the same letter, the choice to praise specific things about each individual is linked – in my opinion – to the wish to show to how they were proving to be useful members of the community. The way in which the prior of Bec presented the community’s reaction to Lanfranc the Younger’s behaviour is highly suggestive in this respect. When he mentioned that the young man avoided the things that needed to be avoided, Anselm stated that the community, having witnessed this good behaviour, concluded that there was no need to administer correction to the young man.48 However, when Anselm described – more at length – Lanfranc the Younger’s active behaviour (« for he is so eager for humble kindness and kind humility, and he so seeks peace and silence and prayer »), he established a direct causal connection between it and the fact that the young man was being deservedly perceived as lovable by everyone in the community (« ut merito sit omnibus amabilis »). He also presented as a direct consequence of this active good behaviour the generation of positive emotions of joy and affection around him.49 In the case of Wido, there is an explicit mention of how he was already contributing to the good functioning of the community: he had been assigned to the teaching of the children. Lastly, to fully understand Anselm’s mention of Osbern’s « progress in knowledge through perseverance in study, coolness of thinking and a tenacious memory », we should consider that these intellectual qualities allowed the monk of Christ Church – or could allow him – to offer a valuable contribution to the intellectual life of the community, for example in the shared reading and discussion of books.

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49

Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 39 to Lanfranc: « Sic utique cavet a quibus est cavendum, ut nulli nostrum iure videatur reprehensibili; sic studet humili benignitati et benignae humilitati, sic quieti et silentio atque orationi, ut merito sit omnibus amabilis », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190, transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm, vol. 1, p. 140. « Unde certe cotidie et ipse me de se laetum facit laetiorem, et ego illum – ut de communi proximorum dilectione taceam – vestro et suo merito dilectum habeam dilectorem », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190.

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One of the two above-mentioned letters through which Geoffrey of Vendôme sent monks whose behaviour was deemed unsatisfactory to a different monastic community mentions the hope that « perhaps with you he will undertake to do the good which he long deferred to do with us ».50 In Bernard’s letter to Robert of Châtillon, there is an explicit reference to the fact that Robert’s departure from Clairvaux meant that all that he had received in terms of training (and in particular, all of Bernard’s work with him) was wasted, because Robert had gone to another community. While Bernard stated that his real concern was Robert’s condition (« sadly I weep, not for my lost labour, but for the unhappy state of my lost child »), he also asked « do you prefer that another should rejoice in you who has not laboured for you? »; clearly, having invested time and effort into caring from someone and training him was perceived as giving the right to enjoy the fruit of that labour, that is, presumably, the joy to see its results and, at least potentially, to benefit from them. Bernard had actually expressed this same idea in a letter to his friend Oger, who had abandoned his charge in the monastery of Saint-Medard to go back to his old canonry of Mont-Saint-Eloi. Bernard disapproved of this decision, but he still praised his friend for choosing to return to his old cloister rather than to go to a different one, and he stated that « it was indeed more fitting that the mother house which brought you up, but which sent you out at the behest of fraternal charity, receives you now that you are free [from that obligation], rather than a different house profiting from the sorrow of your mother house ».51 Basil of La Grande Chartreuse’s letter to Peter the Venerable did not refer to the contribution that he offered to Cluny when he was a monk there for obvious reasons of humility, but it attests that he still felt a debt of gratitude toward Cluny, which led him to entertain a friendly relationship with its abbot, to publicly talk about it in laudatory terms and even to state in the letter « I am, was and will forever be yours » even though he now belonged to a different religious order.52 One interesting example of a reference to someone’s integration into a community and to his perceived usefulness to it can be found in the letter through 50 51 52

Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 13 to the prior G. of La Charité: « sed bonum, quod apud nos diutius facere distulit, apud vos forsitan facere curabit », in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 22. Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 87 to Oger, par. 8: « Rectius quippe fuit, ut domus quae te nutierat, sed pro fraterna caritate dimiserat, exoccupatum reciperet, quam de eius desolatione aliena gauderet » (my own translation), in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 430. Basil, prior of La Grande Chartreuse, ep. 187 to Peter the Venerable: « vester sum, fui, et ero in aeternum », in Constable, The letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 436. To justify this statement, Basil used the argument that all true Christians are part of the same flock (« quia vere et vos Christi Domini estis »).

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which Peter the Venerable asked Pope Innocent to allow Abbot Natalis (Noel) of Rebais to become a monk in Cluny, abandoning his current charge.53 He recalled that Natalis had come to Cluny and stayed in the community for a few days before disclosing his intention to remain there permanently, and that Peter and his monks had first tried to dissuade him, despite having rejoiced at living together with such a man (« nos licet de tanti viri nobiscum cohabitatione valde gavisi ») – as in the cases mentioned above, joy marks the successful integration of an individual in the community. In the final part of the letter, Peter concludes that as Natalis had been useful (utilis) to the church of Rebais, so he would to Cluny.54 The characterization of a good monk as “useful” (utilis) was already present in the Benedictine Rule55 and appears in several high medieval monastic authors. Bernard of Clairvaux, while sending a man to a community of regular canons, listed his merits and stated that he was going to be a comfort for the members of that community.56 Likewise, in a letter addressed to an unknown Benedictine abbot, he stated that he was sending him two young monks who  – he believed  – would be of some use to him.57 In another letter, he advised another abbot, Robert of Dunes, on how to deal with a novice who seems unfit to be a monk. It is already interesting to observe that Bernard states that the novice in question was not only useless (inutilis) but also burdensome (onerosus);58 this indicates that even a novice was supposed to make himself useful in a community. Bernard advised Robert not to admit the novice in question and to test him again after some time: if he did not prove himself to be ready, then he should be separated from the community, to avoid « one sick

53 Peter the Venerable, ep. 92 to pope Innocent, in ibidem, pp. 233–234. 54 Ibidem: « quoniam licet vestrae Resbacensi aecclesiae sicut ipse non ignoratis valde utilis fuerit, Cluniacensi tamen quae familiarius vestra est non inutilis esse poterit ». 55 See for example Regula Benedicti, chap. 7: « dicat sempe utilis frater in corde suo: “Tunc ero inmaculatus coram eo, si observavero me ab iniquitate mea” » and chap. 48: « frater acediosus, qui vacat otio aut fabulis et non est intentus lectioni et non solum sibi inutilis est sed etiam alios distollit », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit. respectively p. 156 and p. 226. 56 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 408 to William abbot of Troyes: « Commendamus ergo vobis eum, utpote nobis bene cognitum, et honeste morigeratum, et in litteris eruditum, postremo tamquam Dei servum, quem per Dei gratiam credo vobis futurum fidum solatium », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 552. 57 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 442 to an unknown Cistercian abbot: « non inutiles vobis confidimus », in ibidem, p. 602. 58 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 325 to the abbot Robert of Dunes: « super hoc fratre, quem adeo non solum inutilem sed etiam onerosum esse nuntiastis », in ibidem, p. 356.

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sheep to corrupt the whole flock ».59 Once more, the well-being of the whole community was the primary preoccupation in evaluating someone’s integration in a community. Another very interesting letter in this respect is the one that Peter the Venerable addressed to Heloise to inform her of the death of her former husband Peter Abelard. As already mentioned, Peter expressed his wish that Heloise had become a nun in Marcigny, declaring that the community would have benefitted from her learning and piety.60 In this context, however, it is even more interesting to focus on Peter’s description of Abelard’s time in Cluny before his death. The abbot of Cluny’s enthusiastic praise of Abelard’s behaviour has specific reasons, such as offering an idealized portrait of the deceased, especially after the accusations which he had received, and comforting Heloise in her grief by reassuring her that Abelard had died a good Christian. However, Peter’s praise of Abelard’s life in Cluny also offers a representation of how a new monk, especially one who, like Abelard, possessed learning and talent, as well as a cumbersome past, could offer a valuable contribution to the community. First of all, Peter stated that the whole community witnessed his holy, humble and devout way of life (conversatio), of which the abbot recalled many examples: unless I am mistaken, I do not remember ever having seen his like in the appearance and actions of humility, so that even to the very discerning, St. Germain would not have appeared more humble, or St. Martin poorer. When, at my command, he took a superior rank in the great assembly of our monks, he seemed the least in the plainness of his clothing. I often marvelled as he walked before me, according to custom, in processions with the others. Indeed, I was almost astounded that so famous a man could belittle and humble himself in this way. While some of those vowed to the religious life wish the habits they wear to be exceedingly expensive, he was most austere in this and, content with a simple garment of any kind, he asked for nothing more. He observed this same austerity also in food and drink and in all that concerned his body, and by his words and his life he condemned, I do not say excess alone, but everything except 59 Ibidem: « Sin autem, ferro abscissionis tune utendum est, ne una ovis morbida totum gregem contaminet ». 60 Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise: « utinam te Cluniacus nostra habuisset […] Praetulissem opes religionis ac scientiae maximis quorumlibet regum thesauris, et illarum sororum illud praeclarum collegium cohabitatione tua clarius rutilare gauderem », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 306.

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what was really necessary, both for himself and for everyone. He read constantly, he prayed often, and his silence was perpetual.61 In this description Peter often adopted the external point of view of someone observing Abelard (« even to the very discerning », « I often marvelled as he walked before me », « I was almost astounded that ») and compared him to other people (« St. Germain would not have appeared more humble, or St. Martin poorer », « while some of those vowed to the religious life wish the habits they wear to be exceedingly expensive »), which suggests the importance of the example that Abelard offered to the community. Moreover, the description contains numerous references to the fact that Abelard benefitted his fellow brothers by teaching them in both an informal and formal way. In fact, Peter mentioned that Abelard’s silence was perpetual « except in familiar conversation with the brothers or in public discussion when they were assembled together and he was pressed to speak to them on sacred subjects ».62 He also declared that « with his mind, his tongue, and his work, always serving God, always philosophical, ever more learned, he meditated, taught, and spoke ». Lastly, he recalled that when Abelard’s health deteriorated, he sent him to Saint-Marcel-lès-Chalon, and that there « as much as his illness permitted, he renewed his former studies and was always bending over his books. He did not, in the words of Gregory the Great, allow a single moment to be wasted but was always praying or reading or writing or dictating ».63 Although it is still unclear which, or if any, of Abelard’s work were produced

61 Ibidem, pp. 306–307: « Nisi enim fallor, non recolo vidisse me illi in humilitatis habitu et gestu similem, in tantum ut nec Germanus abiectior, nee ipse Martinus bene discernenti pauperior appareret. Cumque in magno illo fratrum nostrorum grege, me compellere gradum superiorem teneret, ultimus omnium vestitu incultissimo uidebatur. Mirabar sepe, et in processionibus eo me cum reliquis pro more praecaedente, pene stupebam, tanti tamque famosi nominis hominem, sic se ipsum contempnere, sic se abiicere posse. Et quia sunt quidams religionis professores qui ipsum quern gerunt habitum religiosum nimis esse cupiunt sumptuosum, erat ille prorsus parcus in istis et cuiusque generis simplici ueste contentus, nil ultra quaerebat. Hoc et in cibo, hoc et in potu, hoc et in omni cura corporis sui servavat, et non dico superflua, sed et cuncta nisi valde necessaria, tam in se quam in omnibus, verbo pariter et vita dampnabat. Lecto erat ei continua, oratio frequens, silentium iuge », transl. in McLaughlin, Wheeler, The Letters of Heloise and Abelard cit., p. 297. 62 « cum aut fratrum familiaris collatio, aut ad ipsos in conventu de divinis publicus sermo eum locum urgebant ». 63 « ibi iuxta quod incommoditas permittebat, antiqua sua renovans studia, libris semper incumbebat, nee sicut de magno Gregorio legitur momentum aliquod preterire sinebat, quin semper “aut oraret, aut legeret, aut scriberet, aut dictaret” ».

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or polished during his stay at Cluny and Saint-Marcel,64 Peter the Venerable’s description helps us understand how welcoming a distinguished intellectual in a monastery could benefit it. One last example can be given: that of Guibert of Gembloux’s stay at Marmoutier. Guibert of Gembloux, as mentioned previously, does not seem to have been happy at his monastery. He welcomed the opportunity to visit Hildegard of Bingen in Rupersberg and, when ordered by his abbot to return, argued that he was doing useful work.65 He returned to Gembloux only briefly before obtaining permission from the papal legate, Peter of Pavia, and the archbishop of Cologne, Philip of Heinsberg, to undertake a pilgrimage to several places of particular interest to the saint Martin cult. He stayed in the abbey of Marmoutier for eight months, collecting material from different libraries of Tours for his Vita sancti Martini. In a letter to Archbishop Philip (who seems to have been his patron) Guibert stated that he was very happy in Marmoutier and would have liked to stay there longer in Marmoutier but had obeyed his abbot and returned to his own monastery.66 The monks of Marmoutier were also happy about Guibert’s stay in their monastery, as attested by a letter which they addressed to the same Philip. This letter is particularly useful for the purpose of the present research because it reveals the community’s perception of an individual monk’s value as a member of their community. In the letter, the monks refer to Guibert as Philip’s « dearest son, or rather already ours, whom you sent to us and whom we sent back to you, a man of honest and modest

64 According to Giles Constable in 1967, Abelard « composed his Apologia, Monitum to Astrolabe, Dialogus inter philosophum, iudaeum, et christianum, and probably his Expositio in Hexaemeron, during his stay at Cluny and St. Marcellum » (Giles Constable, footnote to ep. 115, p. 307, l. 19, in The Letters of Peter the Venerable, vol. 2, p. 178) but more recent research suggest that the Dialogus (which should more correctly be called Collationes) dates from 1127–32 (see Peter Abelard, Collationes, ed. and transl. by John Marenbon and Gioanni Orlandi, Oxford: Clarendon Press 2001) and that the Expositio in Hexameron is from the mid 1130s (see Petrus Abaelardus, Opera Theologica vol. 5. Expositio in Hexameron. Abbreviatio Petri Abaelardi Expositionis in Hexameron, ed. by Mary Romig, David E. Luscombe, and Charles Burnett, Turnhout: Brepols 2004, Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis 15). I am grateful to the anonymous reviewer of this work for pointing this out to me. 65 For a detailed review of Guibert’s life, see Sara Moens, De horizonten van Guibertus van Gembloers (ca. 1124–1214). De wereld van een benedictijns briefschrijver in tijden van een verschuivend religieus landschap, PhD thesis, Ghent University, 2013 and in particular of his stays in other monasteries, especially pp. 88 e sqq. 66 Guibert of Gembloux, ep. 8 to Philip van Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 1 cit., pp. 112–127.

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manner of life » (« honeste et moderst conversationis »).67 In this letter we can identify many of the elements which have been pointed out earlier: praise of the newcomer, reference to positive emotions engendered by his presence (the monks declare of having much rejoiced in his coming, in his knowledge and industriousness: « de cuius nos adventu, cognitione et industria gloriati sumus plurimum ») and reference to the affection that by now existed between him and the community.68 Once again, the praise is directly linked to the contribution that he could offer to the community. While the references to a monk’s honest and modest manner of life and to his humility and piety are very typical – and could be considered a prerequisite for everything else – it is no coincidence that the monks stressed Guibert’s « knowledge and industriousness » (« cognitione et industria »). In all probability, they were aware of Guibert’s work on a book about saint Martin, and they believed it to be admirable and important. They even seem to have taken pride in their active contribution to the book, since they mentioned in the letter that they themselves had asked Guibert to make some corrections.69 In this sense, this letter can be considered a good example of the idea that, in the happiest circumstances, an individual living in a monastic community contributed to it and at the same time benefitted from it, in a reciprocal offering of help and sharing of knowledge. High medieval monastic leaders were aware of the fact that an individual monk, simply by living in a monastic community, could affect it profoundly, even 67

The monks of Marmoutier, ep. 38 to Philip Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 2 cit., pp. 68–69: « Ceterum de dilectissimo filo vestro, immo iam nostro, quem ad nos misisti nosque vobis remittimus, viro honeste et modeste conversationis, multa haberemus dicere et testificari, nisi quod, ut speramus, bene nostis hominem ». 68 Ibidem: « De cuius nos adventu, cognitione et industria gloriati sumus plurimum, ei secundum petitionem vestram et devotionem suam caritatis officium impendentes. [..] Pia et humili nobis adeo conversatione commendato debite et nos commendationis testimonium perhibentes, tantam illum apud nos procul dubio gratiam invenisse testamur, ut, quod inter multos rarum est, nullum in congregatione nostra, licet ampla, putemus esse qui non eum diligat ex affectu, et, si ex sui licentia abbatis fieri posset, nostro eum incorporari conventui unione individua optaremus ». 69 Ibidem: « Hic itaque cum socio suo, quem secum adduxit, in multa humilitate et religione mansit apud nos, non quanto tempore voluit (vellet enim, ut asserit ipse, semper si liceret), sed donec hiis propter que venerat idonee sibi satisfecisse arbitraretur, de locis, reliquiis et miraculis sancti pontificiis pia curiositate inquirens que minus noverat, et secondum ea libellum, quem insigni laude preferendum de ipsius vita, animi virtute et signis scripserat, nobis iubentibus (nec enim alium qui hoc affectuosius vel studiosius faceret inveniremus) quibus oportet loci corrigens ».

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if just for a temporary stay, such as that of Guibert of Gembloux at Marmoutier, or a relatively short one, such as that of Abelard in Cluny. Therefore, they often invited to join the community individuals whom they believed would offer a useful contribution to it, as in the case of Peter the Venerable’ discussion of the usefulness, or potential usefulness, of Heloise, Peter Abelard and Noel of Rebais for their monastic community. Some monastic leaders, as mentioned previously, also sent monks and nuns to a different community temporarily so that they could learn something and then share it with their own monastery when they came back. In a sense, the practice of sending people who had displayed unsatisfactory behaviour in their own monastery to a different one also falls within that category, since the monks could prove themselves to be a useful member of the new community. An interesting attestation of the perception of the usefulness of the practice of sending a member of the monastic community away to learn is offered by note of recommendation contained in a letter sent by Peter the Venerable to Geoffrey, bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne, between 1131 and 1143.70 The letter explicitly states that Peter is sending a man to the bishop in the hope that he receives an education: he is to be made honest, wise and literate (« ut cum labore vestro probus, sapiens, litteratus factus fuerit »). It can be noted that Peter used plural verb forms for both himself and for his addressee: if this is not a plural of humility in the former case, and a mark of respect in the latter, then he was referring to the relationship between their two communities. In fact, it seems likely that the accomplishment of the undertaking – that is, the successful training of the man in question – was supposed to benefit not only Peter himself but also the whole community of Cluny, where the man was meant to return. This suggests that he was probably already a monk or, at the very least, was destined to become one. Peter states that the man had to be given back to Cluny as it had already happened « for the other one » (« nobis eum, sicut de altero fecistis, reconsignetis ») and adds « so that we always gather what you sow, reap what you grow, eat what you grind ».71 The use of metaphors of agriculture to represent how Cluny benefitted from the work done in Châlons was clearly aimed at showing the fruitfulness of the relations between the two centres. Maurice of Bec’s stay in the monastery of Christ Church can also be re-examined from this perspective. While until now I have focused on Maurice 70

Peter the Venerable, ep. 79 to Geoffrey, bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 214. 71 Ibidem: « ut semper quod vos spargitis, nos colligamus, quod vos seritis, nos metamus, quod vos molitis, nos comedamus ».

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as learner, Anselm’s letters clearly attest to how he was making himself useful for his community. First of all, he was contributing to the cultivation of the good relationships between Anselm and Lanfranc. In fact, as in the case of Peter the Venerable and Bishop Geoffrey of Châlons-en-Champagne, exchanging men was for religious leaders a way to cultivate good relationships; a sign or particular favour seems to have been the decision to send a particularly loved members of one’s community or household. Archbishop Lanfranc’s decision to send his nephew to Bec can be interpreted in this perspective, as confirmed by Anselm’s warm thanks for having received such as token of affection.72 So can Anselm’s decision to send Maurice, whom he introduced to Lanfranc by declaring that he was « his master for his merits, his brother in faith, and his son for the solicitude he inspired him ».73 The letters addressed by Anselm to Maurice make plain that Maurice’s stay and his behaviour had direct repercussions on the qualities of Anselm’s relationship with Lanfranc. For example, Maurice had asked to come back to Bec, and Anselm told him that although he would have liked to have him back, he had decided to wait until the time was right to raise the question with Lanfranc, and reminded him that they both needed to bow to his will.74 More specifically, Maurice was expected to come back to Bec with more than a perfected knowledge of Latin grammar and literature: he had to obtain books of which Bec’s library owned faulty specimens, so that they could be corrected,75 and copy other books which Bec’s library did not own. Anselm stressed that it was important that Maurice obtain good quality books – the best possible  – and copy them with great care,76 and he gave Maurice his

72 73 74

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See the whole ep. 25 and in particular the sentence: « gratias, quia de nobis sic confiditis; gratias, quia tale pignus nobis committitis », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 160. Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 32 to Lanfranc of Canterbury: « de meo meritis domino, fide fratre, sollicitudine filio Mauritio », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 188–190, p. 174. Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 42 to Maurice: « de reditu tua quod te desiderare significas, sub silentio adhuc decrevi supprimere, donec tempore opportuniori reverendo domino et patri nostro archiepiscopo Lanfranco, cuius voluntati nos oboedire oportet, desiderium nostrum rationahiliter valeamus suggerere », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 196. Ibidem: « De Regula sancti Dunstani scripsi archiepiscopo. Tu tamen insta domno Henrico et domno Gundulfo ex nostra parte, ut eandem Regulam et Bedam De temporibus propter ea quae in nostro scis esse corrigenda, qualescumque quanto tamen meliores possunt, in illis partibus quaerentes mihi cito eosdem libros remissuro deheant accommodare ». Beside the quote above, see ep. 60 to Maurice: « se utroque hoc praecipue moneo ut quidquid feceris studiosissima exquisitione correctum, dignum sit dici perfectum », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 230.

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opinion regarding which texts he should copy, depending on the time at his disposal: I shall be glad if you are able to copy the whole of the commentary to the Aphorisms but if not, I admonish you not to leave out those words which are in Greek or uncommon. You are pondering how much time you should spend on the little book De pulsibus, but I would prefer you spend whatever time there is in completing the Aphorisms. Knowledge of that [other] little volume is of no use except to those who delve into it most frequently and diligently. If you can copy anything else after the Aphorisms and this book, I shall accept it gratefully.77 The notion of usefulness of the books is clearly crucial here: Anselm was clearly thinking of how the manuscripts would be used in Bec’s library. But a reflection on the perception of the usefulness of such monastic exchanges would not be complete if it did not take into account the moral and spiritual dimensions. As is well known, the knowledge of the litterae was always supposed to go hand in hand with their mores.78 Peter the Venerable, in the letter of recommendation mentioned above, expressed the wish that the beneficiary be made litteratus but also honest and wise,79 and Anselm echoed that sentiment. His letters attest that while someone’s moral improvement could be a goal in itself (as in the case of Osbern’s stay in Bec), when someone’s intellectual education is discussed, there is always a reference to moral and spiritual matters as well. In fact, Anselm made clear that, during Maurice’s stay, his spiritual and moral achievements were even more important than his intellectual ones: Above all, I thank you as much as I can, because wherever you are you live in a way which honours me, also living among unknown and foreign people, for having nurtured such a disciple, although not I but the Holy Spirit has taught you. In any case, the more you have been tested and 77 Ibidem: « glosas Aphorismi si omnes potes scribere gaudeo ; sin autem, eas quae sunt Graecorum aut inusitatorum nominum ne deseras admoneo. Quod tamen temporis in libello de pulsibus insumere deliberas, malo ut ad perficiendum quidquid est in aphorismo impendas. Non enim eiusdem libelli scientia utilis est, nisi frequentissimo et diligentissimo usu se illa occupantibus. Si quid tamen post aphorismum, et de hoc potes, libenter accipio ». See also ep. 43, p. 142–143, which repeats many of the same ideas. 78 As it had been studied especially with reference to the secular and canonical world, see Jaeger, The Envy of Angels cit., pp. 49–52 and Münster-Swendsen, Medieval Virtuosity cit., pp. 43–64. 79 Peter the Venerable, ep. 79 to Geoffrey, bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 214.

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found worthy in dangerous company, the more you will be dear to God and God’s friends.80 Anselm was acknowledging that being away from one’s own community always presented a risk: therefore, a monk’s stay could also serve as a test of his character. At the same time, Maurice’s good conduct in Canterbury was testimony to the excellent instruction that he had received in Bec, which suggests that visiting monks could be seen as living advertisements of their communities. In fact, in some cases, the exchanges seem to have been planned specifically so that the monks could spread customs and traditions, affecting the host community by making it more similar to their community of origin – that is, as the sources often say, by “reforming” it.81 An example of this is attested in two letters that Peter of Celle, at the time abbot of the monastery of Saint-Rémi in Reims, addressed to the prior of Worcester between 1162 and 1173. Peter had decided to send some of his monks to the priory of Lapley, which was experiencing serious difficulties, in order to “reform” it. He declared: « we are sending then from our presence brother Absalon whose diligence we have experienced in many things and by whose zeal, if the grace of God be with him, we hope those ruins will be repaired and changed for the better ».82 While Absalon was replacing the prior of Laplay, other monks seem to have been sent simply to offer to the community the example of their good behaviour, since Peter stated: « I am sending from our presence brothers of intact reputation among us, whose manner of life, if presentiments of good things can be apprehended from past ones, we believe will be good and honest in your land ».83 80

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Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 60 to Maurice: « ante omnia gratias tibi, quantas possum, ago ; quia ubicumque sic vivis, ut quamquam non ego, sed Spiritus sanctus te bene vivere docuerit, tamen honor mihi etiam sit inter ignotos et alienigenas talem nutrisse discipulum. Tanto utrique eris Deo et amicis Dei charior, quanto fueris in periculosa conversatione inventus probatior », in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 230, transl. in Fröhlich, The Letters of Saint Anselm cit., vol. 1, p. 173. On the use of the notion of reform, see Steven Vanderputten, Monastic Reform from the Tenth to the Early Twelfth Century in The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West, vol. 1, ed. by Alison I. Beach and Isabelle Cochelin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2020, pp. 599–617. Peter of Celle, ep. 111 to Ralph of Bedford, prior of Worcester: « mittimus itaque a latere nostro fratrem Absalonem cuius industriam in multis experti sumus et cuius studio si ei gratia Dei affuerit ruinas illas reparandas et in melius commutandas speramus », in Haseldine, The Letters of Peter of Celle cit., p. 438. « Mitto autem a latere nostro fratres integre hactenus apud nos reputationis, quorum conversationem, si de preteritis futurorum presagia apprehenduntur, bonam in terra vestra credimus futuram et honestam », in ibidem, p. 440.

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Other attempts at “reform” could be carried out by sending some monks to spend time away from their monastery specifically to be instructed so that they could, later, go back to their community and share what they had learned. A very famous case is that of the Irish monks whom Bernard of Clairvaux welcomed in his monastery for this purpose, as we learn from the letters that he exchanged with Malachy, archbishop of Armagh and former abbot of Bangor. The latter visited Clairvaux around 1140 and left there four of his companions, who were supposed to be instructed in the Cistercian way of life, so that they could later spread it in Ireland by establishing a new monastic foundation. Sometime later, Malachy sent Bernard other men and asked him to send back two of the brothers who had been receiving training in Clairvaux, in the hope that they could begin the work and later be joined by the others. The abbot’s reply was probably disappointing for the bishop: he explained that, after consulting with his community, he did not believe that it would be wise to send the monks in question back yet, because they were not ready and still had much to learn: With regard to your wish that I should send you two of the brothers to prepare a place, I have discussed it with the brethren and we are agreed that it would not be well for them to be separated from us until Christ is more fully formed in them, until they are fully trained (doceantur) to fight for the Lord. When they have been instructed in the school of the Holy Ghost (in schola Sanctus Spiritus eruditi), when they are clothed with strength from on high, then they will return to their father to sing the songs of the Lord no longer in a strange land but in their own.84 This monastic exchange was followed by another, and we learn from a later letter of Bernard’s that some monks of Clairvaux had been sent to spend time in the new Irish foundation. However, a disagreement soon arose between the French monks and the Irish, and the former came back to Clairvaux. Bernard wrote to Malachy to tell him that he regretted his monks’ decision and to express his concerns for the new foundation, which he considered still fragile and in need of special care. Therefore, he explained that he would have liked for the monks of Clairvaux to be there, but claimed that it was not easy for him 84 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 341 to Malachy of Ireland: « duximus non eos separandos ab invicem, donc plenius in eis formetur Christus, donec ad integrum doceantur proeliari proelia Domini. Cum igitur fuerint in schola Sanctus Spiritus eruditi, cum induti virtute ex alto, tunc demum ad patrem filii revertentur, ut cantent canticum Domini, non iam in terra aliena, sed in sua », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., pp. 387–388, transl. in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., p. 252.

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to find, within his community, monks willing to go to Ireland. Nevertheless, he sent two: I have sent back to you my very dear son Christian, having instructed him as well as I could in the observances of our Order, and I hope that in future he will be more careful about them. Do not be surprised that I have not been able to send many with him, for I could not find many suitable men who were willing to go, and I was loath to oblige them to do so against their will. My dear brother Robert acceded to my request this time like an obedient son. It will be your business to help him in the buildings and other things necessary for the well being of your house.85 The monks in question had clearly been assigned different roles: while Christian, having been instructed in the observances of the Cistercian order, was probably charged with spreading and enforcing their traditions, Robert seems to have been responsible for more practical matters, perhaps with overseeing the construction of the buildings which were necessary to the monastery. Individual traits and talents were clearly taken into account to determine how the newcomers could benefit the communities. These examples help us understand that the lifelong, continuous and informal learning process in which each monk engaged when entering a monastic community was not simply the acquisition of the skills needed to live in the community and adaptation to the expected behaviour. It involved the more dialectical process of give and take between newcomers and long-time members. This process was integral to the cultural life of the monastic community, continuously creating and re-creating a cultural repertoire which was not fixed but, rather, in continuous evolution. At the same time, it allowed the community to reproduce itself, with newcomers becoming, in time, old-timers and interacting as such with new members, in an endless circle. Of course, this is a too idyllic picture, as a result of being based on analysis of a very specific kind of source. The letters used here were written in order to 85 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 357 to Malachy of Ireland: « carissimum filium nostrum Christianum et vestrum remisimus ad vos, quantum potuimus instructum plenius in his quae ad Ordinem pertinent, et de cetero circa observantias eius sollicitiorem futurum, ut speramus. Nec miremini, quod non plures cum eo misimus fratres, quoniam nec idoneos invenimus fratres, qui facile acquiescerent, nec invitos cogere consilium fuit. Dilectissimus frater noster Robertus precibus nostris acquievit etiam hac vice, tamquam filius oboedientiae. Vestrum erit iuvare eum, ut possit iam in aedificiis et in ceteris necessariis promo veri domus vestra », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 418, transl. in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pp. 454–455.

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celebrate and foster ties through exchanges between religious communities and therefore represented the process of integration of newcomers or visitors as beneficial to these communities. Identifying less positive effects of shared learning in the letters used for this study is often challenging: for example, the fact that friendship relationships within the cloister – with their private exchanges of knowledge  – could be perceived as threatening to its unity is almost always ignored in these letters. Different kind of sources are much more useful in this sense: for example, in the chronicles of Saint Gall, Ekkehard iv recalled the story of a monk who eavesdropped on the conversations of three learned monks who « went together in the scriptorium and conducted collationes on the Sacred Scripture » – a clear case of shared learning – in order to report anything compromising, only to be discovered and beaten up by the three.86 As observed by Nicolangelo D’Acunto, « even Ekkehard had to admit that, within the abbey, the monastic community was divided in their judgement of the episode ».87 Some tales of conflicts, such as the one recalled by Walter Daniel in his Life of Aelred of Rievaulx about a monk so enraged with Aelred of Rievaulx that he tried to push him into the fireplace,88 could also be linked to the existence of smaller groups within the monasteries, and especially of monks who enjoyed a privileged relationship with the abbot. This, as is attested by many examples cited in these chapters, was current and was inextricably linked to the practice of shared learning and informal training, but there is no doubt that it could be a source for conflicts, even if the letters inform us about it. The letters, however, inform us about some conflicts within the monasteries, which can be looked at from the perspective of shared learning. These are usually long-standing contrasts between big groups that could be found within most monasteries (such as nutriti and adult converts,89 noble and not noble, older and younger people): for this reason, their discussion could be made in general terms and was perceived as having a general interest, which explains why letters about them have been preserved. The contrasts between those who considered the nutriti superior because of their greater distance from the secular world and those who valued the 86

Nicolangelo D’Acunto, Forms of Transmission of Knowledge at Saint Gall (Ninth to Eleventh Century), in Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages cit., pp. 207–216: here p. 212, citing Casus Sancti Galli, in Cronache di San Gallo, ed. by Gian Carlo Alessio, Torino: Einaudi 2004, pp. 116–120. 87 Ibidem. 88 See Walter Daniel, The Life of Ailred cit. p. 79. 89 In the Early Middle Ages these would have been called conversi, but later the term was used to indicate other figures, too, so I prefer using “adult converts”.

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experience acquired by adult converts and their personal choice has been the object of scholarly attention.90 From the point of view of shared learning, it can be observed that the nutriti must have possessed a deep and inside knowledge about monastic life and about the specific monastery in which they had been raised, which would have made them a precious source for information. In turn, the monks who had had experience of the secular world could also be a source of knowledge. For example, Adam’s letter collection attests that the expertise, experience and knowledge that he had acquired by living as a canon, and as a black monk, before becoming a Cistercian was often sought after.91 Guibert of Nogent argued that nutriti of old traditional monasteries thought too highly of themselves and made bad administrators and managers of external offices because of their inexperience, which implies that the expertise acquired by later-in-life adult converts could be very useful for the monastery.92 Another great divide in the monastery was based on social origin. Peter the Venerable invited his nieces to offer encouragement to their companions despite being lesser by birth.93 Peter was probably being humble, since the family of the Montboissier was noble,94 although his nieces in Marcigny would have lived together with women belonging to even more powerful families. In any case, the reference to nobility suggests that, normally, community members who were nobler by birth enjoyed greater authority than others. The preeminence of personal merit over social rank seems to have been a theme of interest to Peter, who referred to it multiple times in his letter collection: in addition to the already-mentioned case of his friendship with his secretary Peter of Poitiers, whom he described as his peer despite the fact that he was almost certainly of lower social origin, he also told the then-bishop of Lyon that he had always loved in him his spiritual and moral qualities rather than 90 Herbert Grundmann, Adelsbekehrungen im Hochmittelalter. Conversi un nutriti im Kloster, in Adel und Kirche. Gerd Tellenbach zum 65. Geburtstag dargebracht von Freunden und Schülern, ed. by Josef Fleckenstein, Karl Schmid, vol. 1, Freiburg i. Br.: Herder 1968, pp. 125–149, Maria Lahaye-Geusen, Das Opfer der Kinder. Ein Beitrag zur Liturgie- und Sozialgeschichte des Mönchtums im hohen Mittelalter, Altenberge: Oros 1991 and De Jong, In Samuel’s Image, p. 132. 91 Long, Entre spiritualité monastique et canoniale? cit., pp. 247–270. 92 Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua Sive Monodiae, book 1, chap. 8, in Guibert de Nogent. Histoire de sa vie (1053–1124), ed. by Georges Bourgin, Paris: Picard et fils 1907, pp. 23–24, on which see Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century cit., pp. 26–27. 93 Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces Margaret and Pontia: « Provectae annis, iunioribus facite magisterium. Minores natu, prebete comparibus incitamentum », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 433. 94 On Peter’s family see Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerabile cit., vol. 2, pp. 233–246.

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his social rank in society, his wealth or his power.95 The presence of such references suggests that the abbot of Cluny may have wanted to stress that members of a monastic community could offer valuable help to their fellow monks even if they were of lesser birth. Some monastic leaders openly admitted to valuing nobility in the members of their community. Hildegard of Bingen offers a particularly clear example of this. Tengswich, then magistra of the St. Marien convent at Andernach, accused Hildegard of admitting only noble and rich women into her community and of refusing those of lower birth and wealth, whereas Jesus had chosen lowly fishermen and poor people as his companions.96 Hildegard’s reply attests to her conviction that ranks on earth were established by God and that that having people of different status living together would inevitably lead to harsh conflicts.97 She argued that it was not good for people to strive to conquer what was out of their reach; rather, they should be content to stay in their position and learn what was appropriate for them,98 which seems to imply that noble people could achieve more in spiritual life than lower-born individuals. Such an explicit and eloquent argument is – to my knowledge – quite rare in monastic authors of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, although it is well known that in practice, noble people ended up having the most successful religious careers. This is hardly surprising, considering that they had received

95 Peter the Venerable, ep. 38 to Peter archbishop of Lyon: « Sicut vero ea quae neminem fallit concientia michi attestatur, dilexi in te non antistitis dignitatem, non divitis divitias, non potentis potentiam, non eam quae te circumstare poterat quamlibet rerum temporalium affluentiam, non illa inquam omnia dilexi quae videbantur esse circa te, sed ea tantum quae agnoveram, et quae sola diligenda erant in te. Dilexi certe in te erga divina animi puritatem, erga humana morum honestatem, amorem verae sapientiae, in episcopali fastigio sincerae mediocritatem vitae », in Constable, The letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 125. 96 Tengswich of Andernach, ep. 52 to Hildegard of Bingen: « Praeterea, et quod his omnibus non minus mirandum nobis videtur, in consortium vestrum genere tantum spectabiles et ingenuas introducere, quod nos plurimum etiam admiramur. Scimus tamen vos hoc rationabili causa facere, cum non ignoratis ipsum Dominum in primitiva Ecclesia piscatores, modicos et pauperes elegisse », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 1 cit., p. 125. 97 Hildegard of Bingen, ep. 52R to Tengswich of Andernach’s community: « Ideo et discretio sit in hoc, ne diversus populus in unum gregem congregatus, in superbia elationis et in ignominia diversitatis dissipetur, et praecipue ne honestas morum ibi dirumpatur, cum se invicem odio dilaniant, quando altior ordo super inferiorem cadit, et quando inferior super altiorem ascendit, quia Deus discernit populum in terra sicut et in coelo », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 1 cit., p. 129. 98 Ibidem: « Bonum enim est ne homo montem apprehendat, quem movere non poterit, sed in valle subsistat, paulatim discens quod capere potest ».

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better education and were able to maintain and develop networks of alliances and support both inside and outside of the monastic world. However, it may be useful to recall that some monastic authors argued that nobility and wealth could represent a challenge for monastic life. Peter Abelard argued that women of noble or powerful families could easily become arrogant, proud and presumptuous, and he suggested that they should not be chosen to lead a monastery unless under pressure of great necessity and for a very good reason.99 It seems likely that this might create problems in the practice of reciprocal correction, with noble members of the community struggling to benevolently accept corrections by monks less noble than them. However, an exchange of knowledge could take place between people of noble and humble origin, just as it could between nutriti and adult converts: while people of noble origin would usually have received some form of bookish education and probably knew more about the wide world, they would also have been less skilled in practical tasks such as cooking, tending to animals or to a vegetable garden, shaving or making candles – just to give some examples of skills that could be needed in monastic life. All in all, the references to the existence of conflicts between different groups in the monastery suggest that each of the group wielded some power. Interactions between them were potentially problematic, but they were also clearly crucial for monastic life, because of the potential trade of knowledge. 99 Abelard, Institutio seu Regula Santimonialium, par. 30: « numquam de nobilibus aut potentibus saeculi nisi maxima incumbente necessitate et certissima ratione fiat hec electio. Tales namque de genera suo facile confidentes aut gloriantes aut presumptose aut superbe fiunt », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 392.

chapter 5

Shared Learning in Female Communities While the two previous chapters have focused on wide trends that can be observed in the representation of shared learning across different monastic authors and contexts, this chapter will adopt a different approach, focusing on the representation of shared learning in a specific type of context – namely, female religious communities  – and in specific authors. In fact, collecting and analyzing attestations of shared learning in a large number of epistolary sources for the period in question allowed me to observe that, despite the fact that the sources predominantly discussed male monastic communities, references to shared learning in female communities were relatively numerous. A targeted analysis will now allow me to show that some authors seem to have perceived shared learning as particularly befitting female communities, and to reflect on the possible reasons. The first author who deserves to be mentioned in this respect is Peter the Venerable. Of the 193 letters which comprise his collection, only four are addressed to women: one to Adela of Blois, who was then a nun in Marcigny; two to Heloise, then head of the Paraclete; and one to his nieces, nuns in Marcigny.1 In writing to both his nieces and to Heloise, Peter referred to practices of shared learning; these descriptions are among the most explicit of the whole letter collection.2 The letter to Adela does not contain such references, but a closer look at it easily shows why: in it, Peter announced to Adela the death of her brother, King Henry i, and offered information about his death and burial, as well as news of civil unrest in Normandy.3 There is no reference to Adela’s community of Marcigny, nor any attempts at spiritual direction or spiritual counselling, and not even any praise of Adela, whereas the letters to Heloise and to his nieces contain all of these elements, which makes them more likely to refer to the theme of learning.

1 Ep. 15 to Adela of Blois, ep. 52 and 52, epp. 115 and 168 to Heloise, and ep. 185 to his nieces in Marcigny. 2 The other explicit reference is to Peter’s own interactions with his friends (for example his secretary Peter of Poitiers), which has been described in the previous chapter. See also below. 3 Peter the Venerable, ep. 15 to Adela of Blois, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 22. The letter has been translated into English in the website Epistolae – Medieval women’s Latin letters. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004466494_007

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In the letters to his nieces, Peter exhorted them to imitate their “sisters”, that is their peers, next to their “mothers”;4 this latter term indicated their superiors in the monastery, but probably also older and more experienced nuns, since Peter mentioned that that they should imitate in particular their grandmother, Raingard, who had been a cellarer in the same monastery of Marcigny. Peter mentioned more than once in the letter that Raingard had arranged for her granddaughters to follow her example: according to Peter, she had invited them to do so when she was alive and continued to do so now that she was dead.5 It is worth mentioning that the reference to the role played by female relatives can be found in other texts discussing how women were supposed to learn and progress: for example, Jerome, in his letter to Laeta, whom he advised on how to take care of her daughter’s education, referred to the usefulness of sending the little girl to visit her grandmother Paula and her aunt Eustochium, who were religious women. He even mentioned that the girl should admire Eustochium and that she should sit in the lap of her grandmother Paula, whose very way of talking, dressing and walking were lessons in virtue.6 Peter also quoted Cyprian’s advice to the religious virgins to « urge one another on with mutual encouragement, by striving earnestly, give examples of virtue, incite to glory »7 and, as they become older, to act as instructors of 4 Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces Margaret and Pontia: « Imitamini sorores vestras et matres, cum quibus deo servitis » in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 434. 5 Ibidem: « Specialiter vero quam commemoravi felicem aviam vestram, quae vos ad deum praecessit, et quae ut eam sequamini, non solum dum viveret, sed et nunc etiam mortua invitat ». 6 Jerome, ep. 107 ad Laetam, in Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae, vol. 2. Epistulae 71–120, ed. by Isidorus Hilberg, Vindobonae: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1996 (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 55), p. 302 sgg. Jerome’s letters were quite popular in the twelfth century: see Benedetto Clausi, Vincenza Milazzo, Una storia non (tutta) romana: l’« editio princeps » delle « Epistolae » di Gerolamo, in « Editiones principes » delle opere dei Padri greci e latini. Atti del convegno di studi della Certosa del Galluzzo, Firenze 24–25 ottobre 2003, ed. by Mariarosa Cortesi, Firenze: Società internazionale per lo studio del Medioevo latino / Edizioni del Galluzzo 2006, pp. 53–61 and Bernard Lambert, Bibliotheca Hieronymiana Manuscripta. La tradition manuscrite des oeuvres de saint Jérôme, vol. 2, Steenbrugis: Abbatia Sancti Petri 1969. Peter himself quoted them, so an influence on Peter’s ideas seems likely. Ep. 107 is also quoted and commented in the Sermo Magistri Petri Abaelardi ad Virgines Paraclitenses de Studio Litterarum. 7 Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces Margaret and Pontia: « Hortamentis vos mutuis excitate, aemulis virtute documentis, ad gloriam provocate » (in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 433) which quotes Cyprian, De Habitu Virginum, chap. 23–24 (S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani Opera Omnia, ed. by Wilhelm Hartel, Wien: C. Geroldi filium 1868 [Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 3.1], pp. 204–205). I use here the English translation by Vera Morton, in Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents, transl. by Vera Norton, with an Interpretive Essay by Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer 2003, pp. 98–108, but I adapt it freely.

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the younger ones and, despite being lesser by birth, offer encouragement to their companions (prebete comparibus incitamentum).8 In writing to Heloise, Peter mentioned that he would have loved for her to become a nun in the Cluniac female monastery of Marcigny and declared that she would certainly have benefitted the community, but also gained no little benefit from them.9 He praised the nuns of Marcigny but admitted that Heloise may already « have all these blessings and perhaps greater ones in the companions whom God has given you, it may be that nothing can be added to your zeal for holiness ».10 This statement attests to the idea that Heloise’s zeal for holiness would have been increased by looking at the good examples of humility, austerity and virtue of her nuns (if she were abbess) or of her fellow nuns. These examples show Peter’s belief that the nuns should practice shared learning to help each other along the path of spiritual progress. Immediately after referring to Heloise’s interaction (or potential interaction) with her community, Peter stated that, while the Cluniacs could not have Heloise, Providence nevertheless granted to them her former husband, Peter Abelard. The parallelism is evident here, and the text uses the same metaphor of richness to express the idea of an individual benefitting the community he or she joined.11 Peter then proceeded to praise Abelard’s exemplary life in Cluny, his humility, his austerity, the fact that he was constantly engaged in reading and praying, his frequent attendance at the sacraments and how he spoke « in familiar conversation with the brothers or in public discussion ». Clearly, this was meant to show how Abelard benefitted his fellow monks by his word and his example. Because of the strong parallelism, one may have expected to find a reference to how Abelard himself benefitted from the community, but there is none. The reasons for this absence may include Peter’s wish to be humble in talking about his own community – whereas he had no problem praising the nuns of Marcigny – as well as his wish to offer an idealized representation 8

Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces Margaret and Pontia: « Provectae annis, iunioribus facite magisterium. Minores natu, prebete comparibus incitamentum », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 433. 9 Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise: « Praetulissem opes religionis ac scientiae maximis quorumlibet regum thesauris, et illarum sororum illud praeclarum collegium cohabitatione tua clarius rutilare gauderem. Retulisses et ipsa ab ipsis non modicum », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 306. 10 Ibidem: « Quae licet omnia et fortassis maiora, cum tibi datis a deo collegis habeas, licet forte nichil ad sacrarum rerum studium pertinens tibi addi possit », English translation in McLaughlin and Wheeler, The Letters of Heloise and Abelard cit., p. 297. 11 With reference to Heloise joining Marcigny: « Praetulissem opes religionis ac scientiae maximis quorumlibet regum thesauris »; with refence to Peter Abelard joining Cluny: « eam in ipso et de ipso super omne aurum et topazion munere cariore ditavit », echoing Psalms 118,127.

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of the recently deceased Abelard, which could have been somehow diminished by a reference to the fact that he had been helped by his fellow monks in one way or another. At the same time, the idea that an individual could be so perfect that nothing could be added (presumably by others) to his or her zeal for holiness (which, according to Peter, seems to have been true for Abelard and perhaps – but only perhaps – to Heloise) suggests that the abbot’s tendency to recommend shared learning particularly to women was probably linked to the idea that they were usually more in need of help than were men. This hypothesis is supported by the fact the only other explicit descriptions of shared learning practices in the collection occur with reference to Peter the Venerable’s relationship with his friends.12 There is an important element of humility in these descriptions, since Abbot Peter was representing himself as benefitting from the help of someone – and especially a subordinate of his like his secretary Peter of Poitiers. At the same time, to my knowledge, there are no letters in which Peter openly recommended that male monks learn from their peers or subordinates.13 In order to understand this and how he perceived women, it is useful to consider the description of the ideal virtues of nuns which Peter borrows from Cyprian in the letter to his nieces. The good nuns, who keep in mind God’s teachings, are mentioned as « holding fast justice with religion, steadfast in faith, lowly in reverence. Brave in all endurance, gentle in bearing injury, quick to show pity, united and harmonious in sisterly love ».14 If we consider that several high medieval monastic authors mentioned the problem posed by the difficulty of benevolently accepting friendly corrections, usually with reference to male monasteries,15 it is easy to imagine that the perception of women as naturally gentler, more patient and more empathic, as opposed to men being prouder and more aggressive, would have influenced the perception of shared learning as particularly befitting female monasteries. 12 First of all his secretary Peter of Poitiers (see especially ep. 58), but also his brother Pontius when they lived together in the abbey of Vézelay according to ep. 16. See also the letters attesting Peter’s eremitical retreat with a group of friends: Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable, ep. 123–129. 13 Whereas for example Bernard of Clairvaux does, as shown in the previous chapter. 14 Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces Margaret and Pontia: «  iustitiam cum religione retinentes, stabiles in fide, humiles in timore. Ad omnem tolerantiam fortes, ad sustinendam iniuriam mites, ad faciendam misericordiam faciles, fraterna pace unanimes atque concordes  », which quotes Cyprian, De Habitu Virginun, 23–24 (S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani Opera Omnia cit., vol. 3.1, pp. 204–205), in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 433. I use here the English translation in Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents cit., pp. 98–108. 15 As it has been pointed out in chapter 3.3. “Accusation, Admonition and Correction” pp. 122–128.

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An author who seems to share some of Peter the Venerable’s ideas is Osbert of Clare, twelfth-century monk and later prior (and briefly abbot) of Westminster abbey. Of the forty-three letters that survive of him, five are addressed to women: two to his nieces Margaret and Cecilia, who were nuns in the abbey of Barking; one to their abbess Adelidis; one to the nun Ida; and one to the nun Matilda.16 This last letter puts considerable emphasis on the duties that nuns had toward their sisters. In it, he offered a metaphorical interpretation of the twelve precious stones associated with the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem; to him, they represented specific virtues recommended to religious men and women. Among these gems, chrysolith symbolized the fact that « the holy spirit makes the souls of its faithful beautiful and elegant », from which Osbert deduced that those endowed with divine knowledge know how to teach others spiritually and to inform themselves with virtues and sacred readings. Therefore, holy virgin, introduce divine wisdom into your habits by imitating the splendor of gold, and let heavenly philosophy pour onto your lips eloquence brighter than silver.17 He then added: thus also sacred virgins of Christ, like precious gems resplendent in holiness of life, must pour the heat of good action into others through their example (calorem bonae actionis exemplo aliis infundere).18 In both of these cases, the recommendation to teach others through eloquence (that is, in words) and example is directly addressed to the nuns. Since nuns (like and even more than monks19) were supposed to stay in their monastery 16 17

Ep. 21, 22, 40, 41 and 42 respectively, in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit. Osbert of Clare, ep. 41 to Matilda of Darent: « qui divina praediti sapientia sciunt spiritualiter alios instruere et semetipsos virtutibus sacrisque lectionibus informare. Divinam itaque, virgo sacra, auri splendorem imitando tuis moribus insere sapientiam, argentoque nitidiorem tuis infundat labiis philosophia caelestis eloquentiam », in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., p. 150, transl. by Ashleigh Imus in the database Epistolae – Medieval Women’s Latin Letter (, last accessed 4/02/2019). 18 Ibidem: « Sic et sacrae Christi virgines tanquam pretiosi lapides in sanctitate vitae resplendentes caelestem debent calorem bonae actionis exemplo aliis infundere » (in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., p. 151). 19 Stability was of course a crucial element of monastic life; in addition, it was considered particularly important for women to stay inside the monastery, see Jean Leclercq,

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and not go out of it to teach people outside of it, this text attests to the idea that the most gifted nuns were supposed to teach the other members of their community through words and example. In fact, in another letter, Osbert told his nieces to share what they had learned from his letter with their fellow sisters: he introduced his account of a certain miracle in a letter to his niece Cecilia by stating that she « should impress [it] with diligent care on the exertions of your mind, and you should not fail to communicate this to the fellow citizens of your virginity », and he invited his niece Margaret to « share this letter with the holy council of sacred virgins ».20 This concentration of references to the good effect that individuals could have on their fellow community-members in the five letters addressed to nuns is striking, especially if one considers that they rarely occur in the rest of the letter collection. On two occasions, Osbert expressed his wish to learn from the addressee. In the first case, he asked Hugh, prior of Lewes, to drag him, Osbert, after him – that is, to stimulate him to follow in his good example – as he did in his office as leader of the Lewes priory.21 However, it must be noted that while Hugh was the leader of his community, at the time Osbert was not: in fact, Osbert addressed Hugh in a quite humble way, calling him “father”, which suggest that he perceived this kind of learning as quite vertical. The other letter is also addressed to a monastic superior, Anselm, abbot of Bury, but by then Osbern had become the leader of his community, which affects the power dynamic of the learning interaction proposed. Osbern actually played with notions of hierarchy and equality throughout the letter, which began with the statement: « I write at the same time to a lord, to a friend and to a man worthy of apostolic dignity ».22 He showed off his learning, and yet stressed that, according to him, his addressee was much wiser than he was, by using the topical expression Minervam non docere and by

20 21

22

Clausura, in Dizionario degli istituti di perfezione, dir. Giancarlo Rocca, vol. 2, Roma: Edizione Paoline 1975, coll. 1166–1174. Although the declared goal is that the whole community would pray for Osbert. Osbert of Clare, ep. 1 to Hugh prior of Lewes: « trahe me, dilecte, in orationibus tuis post te; trahe me, inquam, post te, et curram. In tractu difficultas est, in cursu libertas. Sed ille praecucurrit qui exultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam; qui te iam traxit incrementa dando: et tu trahis alios exemplum et verbum vitae administrando; qui tibi viam sic effecit facilem, ut multi per te currendi habeant libertatem. Trahe me post te incipientem, ut melius postmodum trahas proficientem », in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., p. 47. Osbert of Clare, ep. 23 to Anselm of Bury: « Item domino, item amico, item viro apostolico scribimus » in ibidem, p. 96. On the expression vir apostolicus see Jean-Michel Picard, Vir apostolicus: Saint Peter and the Claim of Apostolicity in Early Medieval Ireland, in Early Medieval Ireland and Europe: Chronology, Contacts, Scholarship: Festschrift for Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Turnhout: Brepols 2005, pp. 425–440.

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declaring that he wished to be taught by him and instructed by his science.23 As in the case of Peter the Venerable, shared learning is represented as taking place either in female communities or in the context of the letter-writer’s interactions with his friends, which humbly represents himself as in need of help. The only exception can be found in a letter which is particularly difficult to evaluate because we do not know whether it was addressed to a monk, a canon and whether this person had a role of responsibility in the community. This man had abandoned his position to visit some relatives, and Osbert was afraid that this would prove to be a ruin for his soul and exhorted him not to return to the world. What is particularly interesting for the purpose of the present analysis is that Osbert stressed that the addressee of his letter used to stimulate his brothers through the good example of his life and the learning of his preaching, to the desire of the heavenly beatitude, and could still benefit many people through his word and example.24 All in all, considering the number of letters addressed to men and to women, Osbert’s letter collection seems to attest a particular attention to shared learning in the context of female communities. While references to shared learning in female communities appear in other high medieval letters, in many cases the composition of the letter collections does not allow enough evidence for a comparison. An author who certainly deserves to be mentioned is Peter Abelard, who often referred to shared learning in the context of female communities. In his first letter to Heloise, he mentioned how she used to look after her fellow sisters when she was prioress in Argenteuil25 by instructing the erring, comforting the weak and encouraging the fainthearted by both word and example.26 While Heloise performed in that context the role of a monastic official, Abelard stressed the fact that at the time she was not the head of her community, pointing out that at that time she performed that role “under an abbess” and by establishing a parallel between 23

Osbert of Clare, ep. 23: « Minervam utique non doceo, cuius prudentia et scientia instrui et doceri quaero », in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., p. 99. The expression Minervam docere is of Ciceronian origin and is frequently used by high medieval authors, including, for example, Peter Abelard and Bernard of Clairvaux. 24 Ep. 25 to an unknown monk or canon: « tu factus eras porta civitatis dei, quia per bonae vitae meritum et doctrinam sanctae praedicationis fratres tuos accendebas ad desiderium supernae beatitudinis », « tu, qui multis prodesse poteras tam verbo quam exemplo », in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., p. 102. 25 Peter Abelard, ep. 3 to Heloise, par. 1: « quod si nunc tanta diligentia tuis provideas filiabus, quanta tunc sororibus », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 142. The letter appears here as ep. 3 because the Historia Calamitatum is ep. 1 and Heloise’s first letter to Abelard is ep. 2. 26 Ibidem: « ut tam verbis scilicet quam exemplis errantes valeas docere, pusillanimes consolari, tepidos exhortari ».

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how she looked after her sisters then and her daughters now that she was the head of her community at the Paraclete. This already suggests that Abelard perceived the relationships between the then-prioress Heloise and the other nuns as relatively horizontal if compared with the more “vertical” relationships with her nuns now that she was head of her own community. Furthermore, in the Rule which he addressed to the nuns of the Paraclete, Abelard declared that whoever witnessed a fault in another had to point it out, and that if the deaconess were lacking in the knowledge of the letters, she should not be ashamed to ask the more educated nuns of the community and learn from them.27 In this context, he referred to the Apostle Peter as an authoritative example for the need to accept corrections by one’s peer or even by an inferior and quoted the Rule in observing that « The Lord often reveals to the lesser man what is better ».28 This shows that, according to him, nuns played an important role in helping their peers and could even help their superior. The problem in evaluating these attestations as a proof a gendered perception of shared learning lays in the fact that Peter Abelard did not leave teachings specifically tailored to a male monastic community, which makes it impossible to determine, through a comparison, if he perceived a difference between male and female monasteries with respect to shared learning. The only references to male communities are those to the community of which Abelard himself had been a member for a time: these communities are invariably represented in a negative way, supporting the narrative of Abelard’s misfortunes. It is interesting to note that Abelard admitted criticizing – often and vehemently, both in public and in private – what he perceived to be bad practices of the community of Saint-Denis.29 However, the monks of Saint-Denis did not accept these corrections, and even tried to get rid of Abelard as a reaction to them, whereas in the Rule the nuns are encouraged to take advantage of their peers’ corrections. Similarly, we can compare Abelard’s representation of the reactions elicited by the sharing of one of his intellectual discoveries 27 Institutio seu Regula Sanctimonialium, par. 29: « Si de aliquibus melius cognoscendis as scripturam recurrendum esse censuerit, a litteratis hoc requirere et addiscere non erubescat », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 390. 28 Ibidem: « ipse quoque apostolorum princeps coapostoli sui Paulo publicam correctionem diligenter exceperit. Ut enim beatus quoque meminit Benedictus: “Saepe minori revelat Dominus quod melius est” (with reference to Regula Benedicti, chap. 3 par. 3) », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 390. 29 Peter Abelard, Historia Calamitatum, par. 33: « quorum quidem intolerabiles spurcitias ego frequenter atque vehementer, modo privatim, modo publice redarguens omnibus me supra modum onerosum atque odiosum effeci », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 50.

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with some fellow monks « by way of a joke »30 with the above-mentioned exhortation to the nuns to instruct and teach each other. All in all, it seems likely that Abelard perceived as a duty of any member of a monastic community, whether male or female, to correct and instruct their peers and even their superiors, if necessary. It is possible that, according to him, this would more frequently be the case in weaker communities, as Saint-Denis was, according to him, and as female communities were likely to be, since women were naturally weaker than men.31 However, the most important thing was how the community handled corrections:32 whereas in a bad community, such as Saint-Denis, they did not lead to improvement, they should, Abelard hoped, lead to improvement in the female community of the Paraclete. It is possible that perceptions of typically female virtues played a role in this. For example, while praising Heloise in his Historia Calamitatum, Abelard referred to the fact that she was admired by everyone and loved by bishops and abbots as well as by the laity (which suggests an ability to entertain good social relationships with a variety of people), and he cited among her virtues « her piety and prudence, and her unequalled gentleness and patience in every situation ».33 Bernard of Clairvaux and Anselm of Canterbury deserve to be briefly mentioned here, since they addressed letters to both religious women and men and in some cases inserted references to shared learning. However, a comparison of these letters does not offer sufficient evidence to argue that they might have perceived shared learning as different for men and women. In the letter collection of Bernard of Clairvaux commonly known as perfecta, there are nine letters addressed to women, which form a very distinct unit in the collection: 30 Abelard, Historia Calamitatum, par. 47: « quod cum reperissem, quibusdam circustancium fratrum quasi iocando monstravi », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 74. It is, of course, the discovery that Bede did not identify Dyonious the Areopagite with the Dyonious who was converted by the apostle Paul in Athens. 31 Abelard clearly shared this widespread belief, as attested for example by the Historia Calamitatum, par. 64: « feminarum sexus est infirmior », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 100. 32 See Abelard, Institutio seu Regula Sanctimonialium, chap. 68: « Sciendum vero nec monasterium nec domum aliquam inordinatam dici debere si qua ibi inordinate fiant, sed si cum facta fuerunt non sollicite corrigantur. Quis enim locus a peccatum penitus expers? », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 429. 33 Peter Abelard, Historia Calamitatum, par. 64: « tantam autem gratiam in oculis omnium illi sorori nostre, que ceteris praeerat, Dominus annuit, ut eam episcopi quasi filiam, abbates quasi sororem, laici quasi matrem diligerent, et omnes pariter eius religionem, prudentiam, et in omnibus incomparabilem patientiae mansuetudinem admirabantur », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 100.

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the first five are letters of spiritual direction or spiritual friendship, and the last four are addressed to laywomen and deal mostly with practical matters.34 In the former group, the first letter is aimed at exhorting a virgin to persevere in her pious lifestyle, the second to encourage a nun who has corrected herself of her fault, the third to warn the nun of Saint Mary of Troyes against the dangers of her unlawful desire for eremitical life and the last two are letters of spiritual friendship and praise, both addressed to Ermengarde, the former countess of Brittany who had become a nun at Fontevrault. Among these five letters is one which contains references to shared learning, namely the letter to the nun of Saint Mary of Troyes. This letter was analyzed at the beginning of the second chapter, and it offers a particularly clear example – possibly the most explicit one of the whole collection – of a reference to the importance of shared learning in a monastic community. This is certainly an interesting coincidence, but on its own it does not prove anything other than the fact that, according to Bernard, shared learning could be practised in female communities. Among Anselm’s 475 letters, eleven are addressed to abbesses and nuns:35 among these, one reference to reciprocal help can be found in a letter in which Anselm offers advice and instruction to a group of six nuns.36 In the opening of the letter, Anselm praises the holy intention and holy way of life that the nuns are leading together and in relation to each other. To express this latter idea, he used the term invicem (« sancto proposito et sancta conversatione, quam invicem habetis »), which suggests that he perceived the religious way of life of these nuns as being fundamentally interconnected, in a mutual and reciprocal way. I have not found any similarly general statement about a male community,37 but Anselm’s letters contain multiple exhortations 34 Ep. 113–121 in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit. This small section of the collection was clearly meant to show different examples of Bernard of Clairvaux’s interactions with women. A few other letters from Bernard to women are preserved, but they are almost all addressed to queens and deal mostly with practical matters (ep. 206 and 389 to the queen of Jerusalem, 315 ad 534 to the queen of England, 511 to the queen of France and ep. 455 to Sancia, a member of the royal family of Spain). 35 See Sally N. Vaughn, Saint Anselm and the Handmaidens of God. A Study of Anselm’s Correspondence with Women, Turnhout: Brepols 2002 (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy 7), pp. 36–65, especially pp. 36–36; of the 475 letters of Anselm in the modern Schmitt edition, 73 are from or about women. 36 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 414 to Robert and his nuns, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 2, pp. 392–396. 37 It is true that Anselm’s ep. 120 to Haimo and Ranald mentions: « Simus ergo monachi simul, serviamus deo simul, ut de invicem nunc et in futuro gaudeamus simul » (Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 364), but here the focus on the communal dimension is linked to the fact that Anselm is trying to convince his uncles to become monks by stressing that since they are joined to him by blood, they should also be joined to him in spirit.

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to reciprocal help between monks;38 therefore, it seems that for Anselm, monastic life was founded on reciprocal help regardless of the gender of the practitioners. Adam of Perseigne may appear a very good author on whom to focus to study gendered perceptions of shared learning and reciprocal help, since he composed a treatise On Mutual Love (De mutuo amore) for a community of nuns39 and, out of his sixty-five letters, seven are addressed to religious women. However, neither the treatise nor his letters contain references to shared learning between nuns, whereas Adam refers to the potentially reciprocal dimension of learning exchanges while talking about conversations between novices and their masters, presumably with reference to male communities.40 Nonetheless, Adam’s letters are useful for the purpose of the present research in one respect, namely for their representation of spiritual friendship as reciprocal help, including and possibly particularly in man – woman relationships. Already in a letter of religious direction to a laywoman, the countess of Chartres, it can be observed that he described their conversations as mutual exchanges about spiritual matters and referred to the duty for friends to correct each other.41 More importantly, the letters that he addressed to religious women attest to 38

See ep. 165 to abbot William and to the monks of Bec: « moneo vos sicut filios meos carissimos, et sicut eos quos in visceribus Christi tenerrimo semper affectu dilexi et diligere volo, ut secundum beati apostoli vocem “id ipsum invicem” sentiatis » (Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1 cit., pp. 160–162), ep. 205 to abbot William and to the monks of Bec: « haec invicem monete » (in ibidem, pp. 260–261), ep. 231 to the monks of Saint Werburgh at Chester: « et ad invicem pacem et concordiam per mutuam dilectionem habete », ep. 289 to prior Ernulf and the monks of Canterbury: « ad invicem secundum deum dilectionis et concordiae dulcedinem servate » ((in ibidem, pp. 328–330) and 444–446), ep. 425 to abbot Ernulf of Troarn: « invicem se caritative hortantes propositum suum inviolabiliter custodiant » and ep. 450 to prior John and the monks of Bath: « Haec, fratres et filii mei carissimi, ad invicem servate » (Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 2 cit., pp. 412–414 and 458–460). 39 Bryan Trussler thinks that it was composed for the nuns of Fontevrault (Id., The Book of Mutual Love of Adam of Perseigne. A Translation with a Revised Critical Edition and Commentaries (France), Master Thesis, Wilfrid Laurier University 1992, p. 47), while Jean Bouvet believed that it was addressed to the community of Notre-Dame-des-Clairets (Id., Introduction, in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., p. 27). 40 Ep. 5 to Osmond of Mortemer: « nascitur etiam ex amica frequenti et honesta collocutione commendabilis queque familiaritas, per qua magister efficitur ad corripiendum audacior, correptus ad disciplinam patientior, uterque ad intelligentiam Scripturarum eruditior », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., p. 118. 41 Ep. 29 to the countess of Chartres: « veniunt in mentem dulcia verba amicitiae novellae, colloquia quibusque conferebamus pariter, de contemptu mundi, de peccati odio, de virtutis studiis, de sermonibus Scripturarum, de sactorum exemplis, de caelestis vitae gaudiis appetendis » and « amicorum parcere vitiis adulatio est, non dilectio ; nec eam

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what emerges as a relatively widespread trend in representing spiritual relationships between men and women.42 Adam addressed one letter to the nun Margaret and five letters to the nun Agnes (plus one letter probably addressed to Agnes’ community to accompany the treatise on mutual love); both were almost certainly nuns in Fontevrault, although the latter later become head of her own religious community, probably at Les Notre-Dame-des-Clairets. In these letters, Adam often alternated between acting as a teacher and a spiritual director who exhorted, advised and warned, and representing himself as an inferior to the addressee from a spiritual point of view,43 in need of help and intercession from the addressee.44 Adam’s statement that Agnes was his superior because she, as religious woman, was the bride of his Lord is part of a long-lived and widespread trend for monastic authors to confuse and subvert hierarchical roles in representing their relationship with an exceptional religious women.45 This trend can also amicitiam quam amentiam sapit, non redarguere quos amamus », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., p. 230 and 232 respectively. 42 On this theme, see C. Stephen Jaeger, Men and Women in the Life of the Schools: In the Classroom of Hermann of Reichenau, in Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages cit., pp. 163–184 and Diana Jeske, Experimenting with Intimacy in the Latin West, 1080–1180, PhD thesis, Monash University, 2015. I am grateful to Diana for sharing the text with me, and to the anonymous reviewer of this work for pointing it out to me. 43 See for example Adam of Perseigne, ep. 22 to Agnes, where he compared her to the divine bride and himself to the slave, in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 2 cit., p. 154. 44 Adam of Perseigne, ep. 45 to the virgin Agnes: « Obsecro te, dulcissima, ut cum te ad tam beatae coniuncrionis nuptias splendor gloriae festivus receperit, sive interdum per mentis excessum, sive quandoque post vitae terminum, sive semper per bonae voluntatis desiderium, ne tuum foris deseras dilecrorem. Licer habitatio gloriae non recipiat peccatorem, impetra iniquitatibus meis veniam » (Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 3 cit., p. 162). See also ep. 22 to Agnes « Cum illuc perveneris, et bene tibi fuerit, vide ne sis immemor meae infelicitatis, cum teneriori amplexu Sponsum strinxeris, suscipe apud eum causam servi ut de vestibulo timoris in thalamum introducatur amoris » (vol 2, p. 145), ep. 44 to Agnes « Orationum suffragia pro me ne cesses quaerere, quia nondum destiti indigere » (vol 3, p. 152) and ep. 4 to Margaret: « Obsecro te, dilectissima, ut cum in Iesu tuo bene tibi fuerit, pro meis apud ipsum excessibus depreceris » (vol. 1, p. 109). 45 One important model in this sense is offered by Jerome, who calls Eustochium « daughter, Lady, fellow servant, sister », explaining why he used each of these terms and commenting that he was bound to call his Lord’s bride “domina”, see Jerome, ep. 22 to Eustochium, par. 2 « mi domina Eustochium – dominam quippe debeo vocare sponsam domini mei » and par. 26: « mi Eustochium, filia, domina, conserva, germana – aliud enim aetatis, aliud meriti, illud religionis, hoc caritatis est nomen », in Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Epistulae, vol. 1. Epistulae 1–70, ed. by Isidorus Hilberg, Vindobonae / Lipsia: Tempsky / Freytag 1996 (2nd ed.) (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 54), p. 145 and p. 181. See Fiona J. Griffiths, Nuns’ Priests’ Tales: Men and Salvation in Medieval Women’s Monastic

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be observed in same-sex relationships,46 but the gender element seems important, because the only way in which a religious woman could teach a religious man was through charismatic and informal authority, which often resulted in informal and potentially reciprocal learning exchanges. Even in the case of women whose spiritual and intellectual gifts were widely acknowledged, such as Heloise, Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth of Schönau, when male monastic authors refer to the fact of benefitting from their interaction with them, they often represent these learning interactions as having an informal and potentially reciprocal dimension, as a friendly conversation or a friendly epistolary exchange rather than as lectures or as sermons. For example, in his first letter to Hildegard, Guibert of Gembloux expressed his wish to visit her « so that I can discuss with you in person the matters I wish to know from you » (« ut de his que ex te scire cuperem ore ad os tecum conferam »).47 Later, in a letter addressed to his community to justify his interactions with Hildegard of Bingen, Guibert declared: « I am guided by her counsels, propped up by her prayers, brightened by her merits, sustained by her kindness and daily refreshed by conversation with her » (« consiliiis eius dirigor, orationibus fulcior, nitor meritis, sustentor beneficiis, et cotidie recreor colloquiis »).48 He also mentioned that « whenever this consummately prudent virgin was associated with anyone through friendship or conversation (quibuscumque ex familiaritate vel colloquio iungeretur), she did not less stimulate her hearers than soothe them by her words … » (« necque minus verbis et scriptis suis pro causarum rationes auditores suos pungeret quam ungeret »).49 Similarly, Bishop Amalricus of Jerusalem related in a letter to Hildegard: « we call those happy who are accounted worthy to converse with you day after day to their

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48 49

Life, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2018, p. 104, which offers as high medieval examples Peter Damian and Blanche of Milan, Hildebert of Lavardin and Adela of Blois, Goscelin and Abelard (who quoted Jerome directly). See chapter 2.3 “The Social Environment” pp. 84–85, where the relationships between Peter the Venerable and Peter of Poitiers, Anselm of Canterbury and Maurice, Hildegard of Bingen and Richardis, Sophie of Kitsingen and one of her nuns, and Bernard of Clairvaux and his brother Gerard are mentioned. Guibert of Gembloux, ep. 16 to Hildegard of Bingen, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 1 cit., p. 219. English translation in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, transl. by Joseph L. Baird and Radd K. Ehrman, vol. 2, New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998, ep. 108, p. 18. Guibert of Gembloux, Letter 38 to Bovo, par. 2, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 2 cit., pp. 366–79: 368. English translation in Silvas, Jutta and Hildegard; the Biographical Sources cit., p. 100. Guibert of Gembloux, Letter 38 to Bovo, par. 2, in Guiberti Gemblacensis Epistolae, vol. 2 cit, p. 375, English translation Silvas, Jutta and Hildegard; the Biographical Sources cit., p. 113.

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hearts’ delight. It is not inappropriate at all for us to call those happy who, in the mirror of divine radiance, endeavour daily to learn from the Lord the prize reserved for their merits ».50 The nineteen letters of Elisabeth of Schönau, collected by her brother Ekbert, are introduced by the following story: a monk who was very learned (copiose eruditus) in sacred letters came to visit Elisabeth and investigate what God was doing with her. After he had heartily wished her joy and faithfully instructed her with good advice (bonis consiliis eam fideliter instruxisset), when he was about to leave, he asked that he might be worthy at some point to receive a letter from her. The letter was to be of the same grace from which she had in ecstasy pronounced other things, a letter from which his mind could glean some correction and some good consolation (ex qua aliquid emendationis et bone consolationis mens eius). At the same time he also asked that she send a letter advising his abbot and brothers about correcting their lives (epistolam abbati suo et fratribus de correctione eos admonentem).51 This text offers another good example of the tendency to represent women as offering consolation, correction and admonition to men rather than explicitly attributing to them the act of teaching – which the author attributes to the learned monk, who had clearly received a formal education and therefore is perceived as being able to teach (instruere) Elisabeth. Of course, all the authors who have been cited so far are male, and it would be interesting to try and determine if some differences in perception 50 Amalricus, bishop of Jerusalem, ep. 34 to Hildegard: « illas felices dicemus, que de die in diem dulcissimis alloquiis tuis interesse ac satiari merentur. Felices etenim illas haud incongrue dixerimus, que speculo divine candidationis innixe, bravium cursus sui meritorum suorum a Domino cotidie percipere affectant », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 1 cit., p. 92, English translation in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen cit., vol. 1, p. 101–102. 51 « venit monachus quidam in sacris litteris copiose eruditus visitare Elisabeth, et perscutari, que fecerat deus cum illa. Cumque ei vehementer congratulatus fuisset, et bonis consiliis eam fideliter instruxisset, rogavit discessurus, quatinus aliquando ab ea accipere mereretur epistolam eiusdem gratie. Cuius erant cetera, que ab ipsa in spiritu fuerant pronuntiata, ex qua aliquid emendationis et bone consolationis mens eius recipere posset. Simul etiam petivit ab ea mitti epistolam abbati suo et fratribus de correctione eos admonentem », in Die Visionen der heiligen Elisabeth und die Schriften der Aebte Ekbert und Emecho von Schönau, ed. by Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Roth R, Brünn: Verlag der Studien aus dem Benedictiner- und Cistercienser-Orden 1884, book 6, p. 139, English translation in Elisabeth of Schönau: the Complete Works, transl. and introd. by Anne L. Clark; preface by Barbara Newman, New York, Paulist Press 2000, p. 235.

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can observed in female authors.52 One problem, of course, is the paucity of sources. For the period in question, there are very few religious women whose various letters have been preserved for the period in question: Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabeth of Schönau and Heloise. Moreover, the aim and context of their letters inevitably influence their content, often making them unlikely to contain references to shared learning between nuns. Heloise’s two first letters to Abelard focus on their relationship and her feelings about it; it is therefore not surprising that they do not contain references to shared learning. Her third and last letter, and expression of what has been called Heloise’s silence (that is, her decision not to write anything more about herself as an individual, following Abelard’s order),53 also does not contain references to shared learning, nor does her brief letter to Peter the Venerable. While a few texts seem to suggest that Heloise’s main focus of interests in discussing female religious life lay elsewhere, it should be kept in mind that there is not enough critical mass to draw any valid conclusions. The letters of Hildegard of Bingen and of Elisabeth of Schönau, as mentioned in the first chapter, drew on their authors’ prophetical inspiration to give messages to their addressees and contain few reflections on friendship or references to monastic daily life, which, as we have seen, are particularly likely to contain references to shared learning. However, some traces can be found, especially when the two authors offer advice on how the members of a monastic community should behave. For example, Hildegard of Bingen told the nun Luitberga to offer consolation to two of her sisters (that is, her fellow nuns) to the best of her abilities.54 Three letters of Elisabeth of Schönau also refer to the way in which the members of a religious community should act toward each other: two are addressed to religious women (probably of the same Augustinian convent of Saint Thomas of Andernach) and one to a community 52 Carolyn Muessig addressed the question of the specificities of women’s perception of learning and mentoring in comparison to men’s, and based on a comparison between Hildegard of Bingen and Herrad of Landsberg in this respect concluded that « their views of education reflect the religious orders to which they belonged rather more than gendered affinities » (Carolyn Muessig, Learning and Mentoring in the Twelfth Century: Hildegard of Bingen and Herrad of Landsberg, in Ferzoco and Muessig, Medieval Monastic Education cit., pp. 87–104: here p. 100). 53 The classic reference is Peter von Moos, Le Silence d’Héloïse et les ideologies modernes, in Pierre Abélard, Pierre le Vénérable: les courants philosophiques, littéraires et artistiques en Occident au milieu du XIIe siècle, Abbaye de Cluny, 2 au 9 juillet 1972, Paris: Centre national de la recherche scientifique 1975, pp. 425–468. 54 Hildegard of Bingen ep. 202 to the nun Luitberga: « alii autem sororis tuis G., M. adhibe consolationem quantum potes in tua possibilitate », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 1 cit., p. 488.

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of men, the abbey of Reinhausen. These three letters contain remarkable similarities, and their comparison offers insights into the perception of shared learning in female versus male communities. While letter 9 is simply addressed to the « sisters of Andernach », the other two letters are addressed to the leader of the community (the magistra G. – possibly Gouda of Saint Thomas of Andernach55 – and the abbot Reinhard of Reinhausen) and contain both individual advice for him or her (introduced with the term admoneo and the metaphorical invitation to run, that is, to hasten along the path towards God56) and advice addressed to the community. Both communities are told to love their leaders, to bear each other’s burdens and to preserve harmony in the community.57 Both the monks and the nuns are reminded of the importance of humility, obedience and meekness (mansuetudo), as well as the exhortation to « walk like sons/daughters of God ».58 It is of course well known that letter-writers reused the same expressions or passages in different letters, tapping into a reservoir of expressions and ideas offered by previous correspondence, and indeed, Elisabeth’s letters are often repetitive. However, this makes it all the more interesting to study the changes that were introduced while offering advice to a monastic community, and to try and determine if some of these changes may be linked to the author’s perception of the gender of the addressees. For example, it can be observed that the short letter addressed to the magistra G. contains four references to the notion of patience, while the letter addressed to Reinhard contains none. In the rest of the collection, the only other invitation to be patient is addressed 55 56

Elisabeth of Schönau, The Complete Works cit., footnote 304, p. 297. Ep. 15 to mistress G.: « Carissima! admoneo te ambulare cum omni sollicitudine mentis tue in via contemplationis dei, et currere post vestigia agni candidissimi … » to be compared with ep. 21 to Reinhard of Reinhausen: « pater venerande, ecce ammonet te vox divina dicens […] Et iterum admonet te eadem vox divina dicens : Reinharde serve dei, curre, ut curris, operare, quod operaris, non cesset pes tuus, non cesset manus tua », in Die Visionen der heiligen Elisabeth cit., p. 148 and 151. 57 Ep. 21 to Reinhard of Reinhausen: « Et iterum ammoneo omnes, qui sub regimine boni patris estis, ante omnia et super omnia dominum patremque nostrum omni humilitate et obedientia subportate, et dominum nostrum deum in eo aspicite, et eum cum omni sollicitudine et mansuetudine mentis vestre, et sincero corde diligite, et vos invicem honorate, alter alterius onera portate, et non sit inter vos scisma et scandalum nee murmuratio, neque detractio » to be compared with ep. 15 to mistress G.: « Magistram vestram honorate, et eam cum omni mansuetudine et sincero corde diligite, et nolite eam spernore et contempnere », « onera vestra alterutrum caritative portate », « et estote sine discordia, et sine detractione, et murmuratione, et invidia », in ibidem, p. 152 and p. 148. 58 Ep. 15 to mistress G: « Ambulate ut filie lucis, ut filie carissime patris vestri, qui in altis habitat et humilia respicit », to be compared with ep. 21 to Reinhard of Reinhausen: « Ambulate sicut filii carissimi patris vestri celestis », in ibidem, p. 148 and 152.

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to a female community.59 Both the « sisters of Andernach » and the spiritual daughters of the magistra G. are invited to love each other (diligite vos invicem) and to be compassionate and merciful (compatientes estote et misericordes); in the latter letter, Elisabeth added to the invitation to bear each other’s burden the adverb « charitably » (caritative). These elements are not present in the letter addressed to the monks of Reinhausen, who are, in contrast, told to honour each other, to possess nothing of their own and to not forget purity. These differences may be telling of Elisabeth’s perception of the feminine and masculine genre: in fact, the importance attributed to patience, love and compassion for religious women recalls Peter the Venerable’s (and Cyprian’s) idealized portrait of them as « gentle in bearing injury, quick to show pity, united and harmonious in sisterly love ».60 In conclusion, while this brief overview of sources cannot claim to solve the delicate and complex matter of the possible gendered perception of shared learning, it nevertheless hopes, by pointing out traces of it in the letters of some well-known authors, to suggest that studying such perceptions may be as rewarding. Furthermore, considered together, the attestations mentioned above contribute to our understanding of the factors that may have led some authors to perceive mutual and reciprocal help and exchange of knowledge as particularly important and suitable for female communities. Firstly, since women were believed to be weaker than men, spiritually as well as physically, some authors seem to have concluded that nuns needed the control and help of their communities even more than monks. Secondly, the prominent role played by men in formal and bookish teaching may have resulted in the tendency to characterize women’s teaching in informal terms, as conversations which offered advice and comfort, but rarely as formal teaching or preaching. Formal religious hierarchy also obviously played a role here, both in the relationships between the religious women and the outside world and within the community: the only leadership position that a woman could reach was that of head of a monastic community (whereas clerical roles were precluded to 59 60

Ep. 12 to the sisters in Dirstein: « ambulate in via contemplationis domini cum omni sollicitudine mentis, cum omni humilitate, et obedientia, et caritate, et patientia », in ibidem, p. 145. Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces Margaret and Pontia: «  iustitiam cum religione retinentes, stabiles in fide, humiles in timore. Ad omnem tolerantiam fortes, ad sustinendam iniuriam mites, ad faciendam misericordiam faciles, fraterna pace unanimes atque concordes (which quotes Cyprian, De Habitu Virginum, chap. 23–24 (S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani Opera Omnia cit., pp. 204–205), in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 433. I use here the English translation in Vera Morton, from Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents cit., pp. 98–108.

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them), and even that role was perceived as inferior to that of abbot.61 This also meant that within the community, the hierarchical distance between the presiding person and the members of the community would have been perceived as lesser in comparison with that of a male community. The impossibility for a woman to become a priest meant one less element of diversification of the community, which might have been perceived as more homogeneous and cohesive and therefore more likely to function along horizontal lines. Lastly, the idealized perception of women as more patient, loving and compassionate than men may have led some authors to believe that they were more likely to practice shared learning, helping one another and benevolently accepting the help of their sisters. 61

See, among others, Penelope D. Johnson, Equal in Monastic Profession: Religious Women in Medieval France, Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1991, pp. 62–93 on the episcopal and abbatial authority over female monasteries, Steven Vanderputten, Dark Age Nunneries. The Ambiguous Identity of Female Monasticism, 800–1050, Ithaca / Londres, Cornell University Press 2018, p. 24 on the early medieval legislation aimed at reducing the agency of female monastic leaders. With regard to the eleventh and twelfth century specifically, see Constant J. Mews, Negotiating the Boundaries of Gender in Religious life: Robert of Arbrissel and Hersende, Abelard and Heloise, Viator-Medieval and Renaissance Studies 37 (2006), pp. 113–148.

chapter 6

Shared Learning in Other Religious Groups In this last chapter, I offer some elements for a comparison between monks and some comparable religious practitioners with regard to shared learning. Beyond offering some insights into the practice and perception of shared learning by other religious groups, this will help pinpoint the specific character of shared learning in monastic communities. Of course, a targeted study based on a wide variety of sources would be needed to draw some valuable conclusion: here, I only intend to offer some reflections on the matter based on what can be observed in the letters. In the first part of the chapter, I will address the question of the possible differences between monks and canons who practised communal living with regard to shared learning, whereas in the second part I will focus on the differences between coenobitic and anchoritic contexts. 6.1

Canons

Canons – that is, clergymen belonging to the chapter or the staff of a cathedral or collegiate church – who practised communal living and, even more so, canons who lived together according to a Rule, and are therefore known as “regular canons”, were similar to monks in many ways.1 Therefore, it makes sense to raise the question of whether the practice and conceptualization of shared learning in their communities may have been different from that in monastic communities. This question takes on particular importance if we consider that scholars have long been debating the differences between monks and canons who practised communal living and that the perception and practice of teaching and learning represents one of the important elements in the discussion. Caroline Walker Bynum, in her fundamental studies on the theme, compared a large number of works of spiritual advice and came to the conclusion that « regular canons saw themselves as teachers of their neighbors and brethren 1 For an overview of the historiography on canons, see Cristina Andenna, Studi recenti sui canonici regolari, in Dove va la storiografia monastica in Europa? Temi e metodi di ricerca per lo studio della vita monastica e regolare in età regolare in età medievale alle soglie del terzo millennio. Atti del convegno internazione (Brescia-Rodengo, 23–25 marzo 2000), Milano: Vita e Pensiero 2001, pp. 101–129. On the theme of the differences between canons and monks, see Caroline Walker Bynum, The Spirituality of Regular Canons in the Twelfth Century, in Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, Berkeley / Los Angeles: University of California Press 1982, pp. 22–58 and Walker Bynum, Docere verbo et exemplo cit. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004466494_008

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“verbo et exemplo” », whereas monks did not.2 According to her, Benedictine monks showed « relatively little awareness of relationships between ordinary brothers and do not stress these relationships as either a setting or an incentive to personal spiritual growth ».3 While she pointed out that Cistercians were different in this respect, because they saw interpersonal relationships between ordinary brothers as « an incentive to and a setting for the practice of virtue », she argued that in their community, ordinary monks were not expected to speak and act in order to edify their fellow brothers.4 It might be useful to clarify that the idea that monks were solely focused on themselves is relatively common, even when monks are not compared with canons: for example, Gaëlle Jeanmart, in her study about docility in Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, argued that early medieval Benedictine monastic legislation explicitly condemned the attention to the other, since monks were supposed to focus solely on themselves.5 With specific reference to personal progress in the monastery, she identified in the Rule of Saint Benedict a twelve-step path toward spiritual progress, including obedience, patience, humility, submission, and silence. In this reconstruction, there is no place for reciprocal help along the path of spiritual progress, just an ever-increasing withdrawing into one’s inner self and the embodiment of docility and passivity. C. Stephen Jaeger, while discussing the regular canons of Saint-Victor, commented on the differences between monks and canons by offering the example that « if men wanted asceticism, escape from the self, sainthood, they went to monastic communities. St. Victor offered “letters”, beautiful manners, theological illumination, the “good” – that is the ordained and regulated – life, a life that left open the possibility of advancement in the church ».6 Jaeger stressed the crucial importance attributed by the Victorines to moral training and to gestures, which members of the community needed to thoroughly master. Gestures could be used to teach, but more importantly, they embodied the ethics of the community, including love, kindness and compassion: for this reason, they were crucial in the practice of social life.7

2 Walker Bynum, Docere verbo et exemplo, p. 4, and Walker Bynum, The Spirituality of Regular Canons, p. 36. 3 Caroline Walker Bynum, The Cistercian Conception of Community, in Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, Berkeley / Los Angeles: University of California Press 1982, pp. 59–81: here p. 62. 4 Walker Bynum, The Cistercian Conception of Community cit., p. 76. 5 Jeanmart, Généalogie de la docilité cit., p. 226. 6 Jaeger, The Envy of Angels cit., p. 268. 7 Ibidem and C. Stephen Jaeger, Victorine Humanism, in A Companion to the Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris, Leiden: Brill 2017, pp. 79–112, especially pp. 91–93.

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Based on such authoritative opinions, one may expect shared learning to be problematic in monastic communities  – or at least to find explicit references to it very rare in monastic sources  – and more typical of canonical communities. The previous chapters have already demonstrated that shared learning could take place in the monastic communities; here I aim to point out what letters of the period in question can tell us about the practice and perception of shared learning in communities of canons, and to offer some reflections on the possible differences between monks and canons in this respect. This is no easy task, for multiple reasons. First of all, distinguishing discourses about monastic and canonical communities is often difficult.8 Caroline Walker Bynum herself observed that some high medieval authors « wrote for monks and regular canons without any sense of the two as being basically different », citing the examples of Peter of Celle and of Hugh of Folieto.9 The regular canon Odo of Saint-Victor (d. 1173), while discussing how religious men should behave when they found themselves outside of the cloister, did not make a distinction between monks and canons, and he referred to the criticism that they received from the outside as addressing monks and canons indifferently (« dicunt enim: “videte quales sint monachi, quales regulares canonici: videte quantum sint cupidi, quantum superbi” »).10 The letters analyzed in this volume attest that it is often very difficult to determine if themes such as friendship, spiritual progress or shared learning itself are discussed with reference to monastic or canonical contexts. An example in this sense is offered by the comparison of the first two letters of Bernard of Clairvaux’s collection, both addressed to young relatives of his who had abandoned their respective communities: the first was a monk, while the second was a regular canon. The modern reader of the letters, if not for references to existing institutions and people, would not be able to guess that the authors belonged to different religious orders. In the first letter, the addressee is shamed for going against the will of his brothers, the command of his superior and the Rule (regulare decretum),11 and in the second for returning to the outside world despite having chosen the cloister and renounced the secular 8 As acknowledged by Grégoire, La vocazione sacerdotale cit., pp. 38–48; Walker Bynum, The Spirituality of Regular Canons cit., pp. 36–46; Jean Leclercq, La spiritualité des chanoines réguliers, in La vita comune del clero nei secoli XI e XII. Atti della settimana di studio: Mendola, settembre 1959, Milano: Vita e Pensiero 1962, pp. 117–135. 9 Walker Bynum, The Spirituality of Regular Canons cit., p. 33. 10 Odo of Saint-Victor, ep. 4 to brother R., in Patrologia Latina, ed. by Jacques-Paul Migne, vol. 176, Paris: Imprimerie catholique 1854, col. 14006D. 11 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon, par. 3: « ausus fuerit contra voluntatem fratrum, magistri imperium, regulare decretum », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 10.

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world.12 In this latter letter, Bernard also referred to fact that charity made the addressee’s brethren live together practising the same customs (« habitare facit unius moris in domo »).13 Some of the same metaphors are used in both letters, such as the comparison of the addressee’s abandonment of his community to an untimely weaning which was going to destroy all the good work which had been done in him14 (showing that both monastic and canonical life could be perceived as a learning process) and the representation of the addressee as a soldier of Christ who had abandoned the combat, while his brothers-in-arms stayed to fight.15 Another element that should be considered is that simply labelling an author as “monastic” or “canonical” may be an oversimplification of a more complex and more fluid reality. Individual authors were influenced by a variety of elements during their lives, including their personal contacts and their readings, and could have different religious affiliations during their lives: in particular, many men were clerics and sometimes priests or canons before joining monastic life. Adam of Perseigne, as mentioned in the first chapter, offers a particularly interesting example of this, having first been a regular canon, then a black monk, and only lastly a Cistercian, and his thought, as attested in his letters, seems to contain elements traditionally associated with the spirituality of a regular canon next to typical monastic elements. An analysis of the representation of shared learning in the sources must take into account both the nature (monastic or canonical) of the community that is being described and the status (monastic or canonical, but also secular or even lay) of the author of the description. Most of the sources analyzed in the previous chapters offer representations of shared learning in monastic 12

Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 2 to Fulk, par. 12: « Quid facis in urbe, qui claustrum elegeras? Quid tibi cum saeculo, qui saeculum spreveras? », in ibidem, p. 42. 13 Ibidem, p. 28. 14 Ibidem: « In eo procul dubio, quod te, quem sinu suo lacte nutriendum materno susceperat, ante tempus ablactasti; quod expertam lactis dulcedinem, in quo posses crescere in salutem, tam leviter, tam celeriter exsufllasti », to be compared to Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon, par. 3: « Nutrivi deinde lacte, quod solum adhuc parvulus capere poteras, daturus et panem, si exspectares ut grandesceres. Sed heu quam praepropere et intempestive ablactatuts es », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 18. 15 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 2 to Fulk, par. 12: « Quid agis in urbe, delicate miles? Commilitones tui, quos fugiens deseruisti, pugnant et vincunt, pulsant et intrant, caelum rapiunt et regnant » (in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., pp. 44) to be compared to Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 1 to Robert of Châtillon, par. 13: « Surge, miles Christi, excutere de pulvere, revertere ad proelium unde fugisti, fortius post fugam proeliaturus, gloriosius triumphaturus […] Expergiscere, sume arma et fuge ad commilitones tuos, quos fugiens deserueras, ut qui te ab eis disiunxerat, ipse te denuo timor iungat », in ibidem, pp. 22–24.

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communities described by monastic authors. Only a few letters deals with canonical communities, which explains why references to the practice of shared learning in such communities are very rare. One of the very few references can be found in a letter by Bernard of Clairvaux to a friend of his, the regular canon Oger. Oger had first been a canon at Saint-Martin of Laon, then at Mont-Saint-Elois, from where in 1226 he was called to lead the new canonry of Saint-Médard close to Tournai. In 1140, however, he gave up his charge of leader at Saint-Medard (without the permission of the bishop) to return to live the life of an ordinary member of Mont-Saint-Eloi. This decision prompted a letter from Bernard in which he voiced his disapproval of his friend’s decision while still expressing his affection for him and offering spiritual guidance. In particular, he advised Oger to « try to live simply amongst your brethren, seeking God, submissive to your superior, obedient to your seniors, friendly with your juniors, pleasing to the angels, useful in speech (verbo utilis), humble of heart, kind to all ».16 This is not only a beautiful description of how a member of a religious community was supposed to interact in a different way with his fellow members depending on their respective status: its reference to the need for useful speech in this particular context suggests that Oger was supposed to use his speech in a useful way within the community and, thus, to help and teach others. While someone may wonder whether this reference may be precisely linked to the canonical nature of Oger’s community, it must be considered that the idea of someone helping his fellow brothers (or even his superior) with useful speech can be found also with reference to a monk in Bernard’s letter collection. In fact, in a letter addressed to his former monk Rainald, who had gone on to become abbot of Foigny,17 Bernard celebrated their relationship and praised Rainald by declaring that when they lived together in Clairvaux, he used to benefit from Rainald. In particular, he described Rainald as most helpful in conversation (in conferendis utilissimum).18 It seems, therefore, 16

17 18

Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 87 to Oger: « conversare simpliciter inter fratres, devotus Deo, magistro subditus, senioribus oboediens, iunioribus contemperans, angelis placens, verbo utilis, humilis corde, mansuetus ad omnes », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 432, transl. in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., p. 133. Already discussed in the previous chapters. Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 72, par. 5: « Eandem quam tu de mei, possem et ego vicissim de tui absentia non immerito facere querimoniam […] Alioquin quando ergo te comitem mihi carissimum valdeque necessarium, quippe oboedientissimum in agendis, studiosissimum in inquirendis, in conferendis utilissimum, promptissimum in rememorandis, paterer longe fieri a me, si non esset Christus in causa? ». For the translation I use a slightly modified translation of the one in Scott James, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux cit., ep. 75, p. 106.

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that for Bernard, both monks and canons could help their fellow brothers by their words. The other letter collections used in this book do not contain useful material for a reconstruction of shared learning in communities of canons, possibly because the letters discussing the everyday life and spirituality of these communities are only a handful. To look for information, it therefore seems logical to turn to letters authored by canons: however, letters, and especially letter collections authored by canons for the period in question are few, and among these few, even fewer belong to the edifying type which has emerged as being particularly likely to contain references to shared learning. This is in large part due to the fact that for the period in question, fewer letters and – in particular – letter collections by canons who practised communal life survive. Letter-writing has long been acknowledged as a literary genre which appealed to monks in a special way: as Jean Leclercq observed, it « harmonized with the silence enjoined by the Rule, with the vow of stability, and with cloistered life. It had, besides, the authority of a long tradition ».19 The fashion of lettercollecting went hand in hand with the popularity of letter-writing, and it seems likely that monks enjoyed more time to compose literary, theoretical and edifying letters than did canons, who were actively engaged in pastoral care. Out of the four letter collections authored by canons in the period in question  – by Philip of Harvengt, William of Aebelholt, Guido de Basochis and Odo of Saint-Victor – only Odo’s turned out to contain some references shared learning, which is obviously too little to attempt a reconstruction of the practices of shared learning in canonical communities. Other sources can be much more fruitful in this sense, as demonstrated by a recent article by Neslihan Şenocak, who used liturgical books as source to study the way in which canons could learn from each other in the community school (where teachers and learners belonged to the same community), during the Office and in the daily chapter meetings in the canonries.20 However, letters are not completely useless as sources to try and answer the question whether there may have been differences between monks and canons with respect to shared learning, because they offer us the possibility of making some sample comparisons of the different ways in which reciprocal help is represented, which can be indicative of differences in perception of such roles.

19 See Leclerc, The Joy of Learning cit., p. 176. 20 Neslihan Şenocak, Horizontal Learning in Medieval Italian Canonries, in Long, Snijders, and Vanderputten, Horizontal Learning in the High Middle Ages cit., pp. 217–234.

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First of all, it should be acknowledged that there are many similarities. In particular, the idea that friends helped each other seems to be expressed in a very similar way in letters authored by canons and in letters authored by monks. The letter collection of William of Aebelholt (or Æbelholt) offers a good example of this. William was first a canon in France and later a missionary in Denmark, where he finished his life as abbot of the new foundation of Aebelholt.21 He collected and edited a selection of the letters which he himself had sent to various addressees and of letters that he had composed on behalf of others, for the information and instruction of a wide audience, as he explained himself in the prologue of the letter collection.22 The letter collection is relatively rich in references to friendship, including the fact that friends helped each other. For example, a letter addressed to Walbert, abbot of Esrum, contains the statement that « familiar conversation usually represents for friends solace in love and remedy in sorrow ».23 It can be noted that William’s letters tend to be more pragmatic in tone in comparison with the friendship letters analyzed in the previous chapters. The letter cited above, for example, dealt with the fact that the two correspondents had missed an opportunity to meet in person, and William was primarily concerned with the fact that such a meeting could have prevented or solved the controversy that now confronted their respective religious houses. In most of William’s letters, the language of friendship and love is used for comparable pragmatic, diplomatic and political purposes, while in others (especially of those posthumously added to the collection and addressed to 21 See Nanna Damsholt, Abbot William of Æbelholt: A Foreigner in Denmark, in Medieval Spirituality in Scandinavia and Europe, ed. by Lars Bisgaard et al., Odense: Odense University Press 2001, pp. 3–19 and, about the letter collection, Ivan Boserup, A French-Danish Letter Collection and Some Danish Diplomataria: Historical and Literary Remarks on the Epistulae of Abbot William of Æbelholt, in Living Words and Luminous Pictures: Medieval Book Culture in Denmark: Essays, ed. by Erik Petersen, Copenaghen: Moesgard Museum 1999, pp. 78–95. 22 As explained in the prologue of the letter collection: William of Aebelholt, Praefatio: « Inde est, quod ea, quae de sensus nostri mediocritate dictando perstrinximus, epistolas videlicet, quas ad personas diversas emisimus, vel sub aliorum nomine scripsimus, in unum volumen congessimus, ad informationem et instructionem eorum, qui altiora attingere nequeunt, ut exigentibus eorum profectibus humilia famulentur », in Diplomatarium Danicum, vol. 3.2, ed. by C.A. Christensen, Herluf Nielsen, and Lauritz Weibull, Copenhagen: Reitzel 1977, p. 429. English translation in Boserup, A French-Danish Letter Collection cit., p. 29. 23 Willliam of Aelbeholt to ep. 37 to Walbert, abbot of Esrum: « Solet enim inter amicos esse in amore levamen et in dolore remedium familiare colloquium », in Diplomatarium Danicum, vol. 3.2 cit., book 1, p. 483. I use here the English translation by McGuire in Friendship and Community cit., p. 356.

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less distinguished recipients) a more disinterested expression of friendship is attested. To this latter type belongs a letter addressed to an unknown monk called Goswin, in which the theme of friendship as consolation reappears. In this letter, as in many others, William portrayed himself as an exile cut off from the men who knew and understood him, and he stated that, fortunately, God had granted him solace through friendship, by binding him together with Goswin. William openly mentioned that the love which William continued to seek in Goswin represented for him a remedy in his exile, which enabled him to cope with dark thoughts.24 Interestingly, William specifically mentioned that writing spiritual letters to his friend made him feel comforted and uplifted:25 this confirms the idea – already observed in monastic letters – that friendly interactions (including epistolary ones) were perceived as being able to benefit both parties. In William’s letter collection, the only references which are useful for a reflection on shared learning appear in the context of the discussion of friendly relationship, as is also the case for Peter of Celle and – at least in part – for Peter the Venerable. In contrast, the letters of Odo of Saint-Victor, despite numbering only seven, contain some useful references. Odo (d. 1173) became prior of the famous canonry of Saint-Victor in 1140; eight years later, he was called to lead the religious house of Sainte-Geneviève, which at the same time adopted the Victorine observance.26 Several sermons and letters, preserved in the twelfth-century manuscript Paris, bnf Lat 14193,27 are attributed to him. They have not yet been critically edited and are only available in the Migne edition; while some doubts have been cast on their authorship (they could also be the work of another Odo, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Père-en-Vallée), several elements seem to me to indicate Odo of Saint-Victor as the most likely author. For 24

William of Aebelholt, ep. 56 to Goswin: « est enim nonnullum in exilio nostro remedium, ubi tot occurrunt illusiones phantasmatum et vana simulationum umbracula, ut habeas, quem diligas, qui credas, per quem a pusillanimitate spiritus et tempestate resurgas et a te irruentium tribulationum repellere possis iniurias, sic enim dissoluti cordis reparatur integritas, quia oleum flammis iniectum ampliora et ardentiora flammarum superexaltat incendia », in Diplomatarium Danicum, vol. 3.2 cit., p. 547. 25 « Unum est igitur statuendum atque tenendum in amore remedium, ut epistolarum ab utroque discursu sermo de divinis habitus exulcerata corda confirmet, per quem absentium nunquam dilectio consenescat, et sancti propositi studium semper ad ampliora consurgat », in Diplomatarium Danicum, vol. 3.2 cit., p. 548. 26 See Dominique Poirel, L’École de Saint-Victor au Moyen Âge: Bilan d’un demi-siécle historiographique, in Bibliothèque de l’École des chartes 145 (janvier-juin 1998), pp. 187–207 p. 197. 27 Available online at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9076773d (last accessed January 5, 2021).

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example, the texts collected in the manuscript are ecclesiastical rather than monastic and include a libellus by Hugh of Saint-Victor; the same sermons are also present in a manuscript from the abbey of Sainte-Genevieve, where Odo finished his life. One first element which emerges if we compare Odo’s letters to the letters of the monastic letter-writers which have been examined in the previous chapters is the fact that, despite their limited number, Odo’s seven letters attest to the remarkable attention granted by their author to outward behaviour and its effect upon others not only inside but also outside of the religious community. In fact, one letter, addressed to an unknown brother R., is entirely dedicated to the theme of how religious men were supposed to carry themselves outside of the monastery, that is – according to Odo – with caution (« religiosi caute extra monasterium se gerere debent »).28 The letter-writer stated that detractors looked at religious men who happened to be outside of a cloister only to criticize them, observing their works not to imitate them and their words not as a source for edification but, rather, in order to criticize and accuse them.29 Therefore, it was very important that they paid attention to their behaviour and showed themselves to be beyond reproach in their words and deeds.30 Odo represented the detractors of monastic life as accusing monks and canons indifferently; he himself, in his letter, focused on the differences between the religious who, like his addressee, lived outside of a cloister, in a cell, and those who – like Odo – lived inside a cloister, rather than on the differences between monks and canons.31 And yet, for him, the question of the regulated outward behaviour, in its double dimension of words and deeds, lay at the core of the very identity of regular canons: he stated that if they did not reconcile their 28 29

Odo of Saint-Victor, ep. 4 to brother R., in Patrologia Latina, vol. 176 cit., coll. 1406C–1408D. « Ad vos enim quorumdam oculi detractorum vitiose et malitiose frequenter respiciunt; ad vos diligenter, sed non causa dilectionis intendunt; opera vestra non ad imitandum, sed ad lacerandum, considerant; verba vestra non causa aedificationis, sed potius causa detractionis oscultant, et si in eis aliquid reprehensibile viderint, exsultantes et insultantes deridendo et subsannando blasphemant », in ibidem. 30 « Necesse est igitur nosmetipsos circa vitam nostram sollicite vigilare; et quantum possumus pro amore Dei coram hominibus verbis et operibus, irreprehensibiles exhibere ». The same concept is expressed in ibidem, col. 1406C: « Oportet, charissime frater, ut hi et caeteri fratres nostri qui foris ad obedientias habitatis, partim pro voto professionis, partim pro amore religionis, verba vestra et opera sollicite conservetis ». 31 Ibidem: « hi et caeteri fratres nostri qui foris ad obedientias habitatis ». In this context, “obedientiae” refers to the cells which depended from monasteries but were situated outside of them, see the entry « obedientia » in Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis, ed by du Cange et al. cit., vol. 6, col. 002C: « Obedientiæ vero præsertim dictæ, Cellæ, Præposituræ, et grangiæ, a Monasteriis dependendes, quod Monachi ab Abbate illuc mitterentur vi eiusdem Obedientiæ, ut earum curam gererent, aut eas deservirent ».

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words and their deeds (that is, if they did not live what they preached) in accordance to their vocation and their way of life, they did not deserve to be called regular canons.32 The reference to the need to act outwardly in words and deed appears also in another letter, written to illustrate to another unknown brother the virtue of obedience,33 as well as in a letter which describes a member of a community as being able to teach a fellow member by word and example, on which I will focus shortly. Such ideas are shared by other canons such as Hugh of Saint-Victor and Anselm of Havelberg. In contrast, it has proven impossible to find in letters composed by monastic authors references to a monk’s duty to instruct people who live outside the monastery by his word or example.34 The rare letters known to me which do refer to this duty are all authored by non-monastic authors, such as the one addressed by Pope Innocent iii to the abbot Gervase of Westminster and his monks, which contains the recommendation that the addressees live in a pious way according to their profession, observing the Benedictine Rule, so that the example of their religious life could teach others to live well (« ut vestrae bonae conversationis exemplum alias ad bene vivendum edoceat »).35 However, I believe that this statement should be taken as an attestation to the mentality of the letter-writer (or, rather, of his chancellery) more than to the beliefs of the monastic community in question here. In monastic texts, discussions of someone’s reputation ( fama) in the secular world almost invariably refer to secular clerics, not to monks; when authors argue that it is dangerous for a monk to be outside of the monastery, even temporarily, it is always with reference to the danger for his soul, whereas the effect that his behaviour may have on others is very rarely mentioned.36 When Peter the Venerable discussed in a letter the possibility that the sins of Cluniac monks may be denounced in a public setting (at a synod), his focus was not on

32 « Si nostrum nomen et habitum consulamus, non bene convenit vocari Regularem Canonicum, et verbis et operibus illicitis esse distortum ». 33 Odo of Saint-Victor, ep. 3 to an unknown brother, in Patrologia Latina, vol. 176 cit., col. 1406B. 34 This does not include references to the fact that by entering a monastery one sets a good example for others. 35 Pope Innocent iii, Epistola ad Abbatem et Conventum Westmonasteriensem, in Epistolae Herberti de Losinga, Osberti de Clara et Elmeri Prioris Cantuariensis, ed. by Robert Anstruther, Bruxellis: A. Vandale. Londinii: D. Nutt 1846 as ep. 7, pp. 122–124: here p. 124. 36 See for example Peter the Venerable, ep. 16 to his brother Pontius (Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 24), analyzed in chapter 3.1 “Social Pressure and Social Control” pp. 100–101, and Osbert of Clare, ep. 25 to a friend who left his community to visit some relatives, in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., pp. 100–104.

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the public scandal that may derive on it but on the fact that this might trigger imitation in other monks.37 Some monastic authors did address the question of the example given by religious people to the outside world, but to my knowledge this happens almost invariably with reference to the pastoral duties of secular clergy. For example, the abbot Geoffrey of Vendôme, while praising an archdeacon, stressed that although his addressee was worthy of Heaven, he was necessary to the world because he offered a good example to others by his way of living (« in mundo tamen multum necessarium habetur, quia multis vivendi forma proponitur »).38 He particularly praised his friend’s way of talking – and the fact that he sometimes chose not to talk  – and mentioned that his friend was able to teach and form others through his words.39 Guigo of La Grande Chartreuse, in a letter to the Council of Jouarre, declared that bishops, priests or archdeacons received the power to offer to other people what was most useful for them (« providendi aliis quae utiliora sunt potestatem »),40 and Hildegard of Bingen accused priests and Church officials of not setting a good example to the people and exhorted them to do so.41 If we compare the representation of teaching and learning within the community in the letters of Odo of Saint-Victor and in those of the letters used in this study, we can observe a subtle difference in the form in which the help between ordinary members of the community is represented. At the end of a letter of consolation to an unknown friend, Odo of Saint-Victor declared that his addressee had with him in the community a great source of consolation, 37

Peter the Venerable, ep. 102 to the bishop Milo i of Therouanne: « non tamen erant peccata fratrum in aecclesia praedicanda, non erant delicta monachorum in exemplum populo proferenda, ne monachos superbos et maxime Cluniacenses populus audiens ad imitandum traheretur », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., pp. 262–265. 38 Geoffrey of Vendôme, ep. 46 to Hubert, archdeacon of Anges, in Geoffroy de Vendôme, Oeuvres cit., p. 82. 39 « quotiens hominum mores vult sermone componere, de se protinus invenire potest quid dicta and unde melius instruere valeat ». 40 Guigo of La Grande Chartreuse, ep. 6 to the council of Jouarre: « quod homines sumus ad naturam; quod iusti ad meritum; quod episcopi, vel presbyteri, vel archidiaconi, vel aliquid huiusmodi, vel ecclesiasticum spectat officium. In primo existimus, in secundo salvamur, in tertio providendi aliis quae utiliora sunt potestatem accepimus », in Lettres des premiers Chartreux, vol. 1. S. Bruno – Guigues – S. Anthelme, ed. by a Carthusian, Paris: Cerf 1962 (Sources chrétiennes 88), p. 200. 41 Hildegard of Bingen, ep. 15r to the Shepherds of the Church, ep. 149r to Werner (in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium, vol. 1 cit., p. 335: « nec bona exempla subditis suis prebent ») and 170r to the priests (in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 2 cit., p. 387: « ideo habete disciplinam in cincturam lumborum vestrorum, per bona exempla lucentes ceteris populis »).

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brother G., who could teach him by his words and train him by his example (« habes certe tecum grande solatium, fratrem videlicet G. qui te potest et verbo docere, et bonis operibus informare »).42 While he is advising his friend on how he can learn and be helped by a fellow community member, he expresses the notion in an active way, declaring that brother G. (not the leader of the community, clearly but, rather, one of its members) is able to teach other members of the community such as the addressee through his words and deeds. Many high medieval monastic letters attest that ordinary members of the community could be expected to help their peers to progress, but this notion is expressed in a very different way from that of Odo’s letter cited above. First of all, the reference is often to concrete, practical means of learning, rather than to a generic teaching through words and deeds. In one of the rare instances in which reciprocal help is discussed with reference to the whole community, Anselm of Canterbury told the members of his old community of Bec to guard each other charitably (« invicem vos caritative custodite »), to admonish, correct each other and kindly accept such things from each other as great favours bestowed on them (« monete, corrigite, et haec ab invicem velut magna beneficia vobis impendi benigne sustinete »).43 Much more frequent are references to how a member of the monastic community could help another in a specific way, for example when Hildegard of Bingen told the nun Luitberga to offer consolation to two of her fellow nuns to the best of her abilities44 or when Bernard of Clairvaux told the nun of Troyes that she should help, by her example, her fellow sisters to acquire sanctity.45 Even more frequently, the idea is expressed by referring to the possibility of someone learning from a fellow community member rather than to an individual teaching his fellows. 42 Odo of Saint-Victor, ep. 2 to brother N., in Patrologia Latina, vol. 176 cit., col. 1404B. See also ep. 4 to brother R.: « Oportet, charissime frater, ut hi et caeteri fratres nostri qui foris ad obedientias habitatis, partim pro voto professionis, partim pro amore religionis, verba vestra et opera sollicite conservetis » and « Necesse est igitur nosmetipsos circa vitam nostram sollicite vigilare; et quantum possumus pro amore Dei coram hominibus verbis et operibus, irreprehensibiles exhibere » and « si nostrum nomen et habitum consulamus, non bene convenit vocari Regularem Canonicum, et verbis et operibus illicitis esse distortum » (in ibidem, col. 1406C, 1407A and 1408B respectively). 43 Anselm of Canterbury, ep. 178 to abbot William and the monks of Bec, in Anselmo d’Aosta, Lettere, vol. 2, t. 1, p. 204. 44 Hildegard of Bingen ep. 202 to the nun Luitberga: « alii autem sororis tuis G., M. adhibe consolationem quantum potes in tua possibilitate », in Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium vol. 1 cit., p. 488. 45 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 115 to a nun of Saint Mary of Troyes: « stude tuo exemplo tuae socias acquirere sanctitatis » in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 1 cit., p. 550. For an analysis of this lettere, see subchapter 3.1 “Social Pressure and Social Control” pp. 97–98.

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For example, Lanfranc of Canterbury advised his nephew and his companion in monastic life to take the other as example of a saintly way of life (« alter ab alterius vita sumat sanctae conversationis exemplum »)46 rather than to offer each other examples of saintly life. The difference is subtle but not irrelevant and is probably linked to the importance of humility, either for the addressee of the recommendation47 or for the letter-writers talking about themselves, as shown, for example, by Bernard of Clairvaux’s representation of himself as learning from his brother Gerard or from his monk Rainald, or by Peter the Venerable’s representation of himself as being helped by his friend Peter of Poitiers. A rare case in which the reference to shared learning in the monastery is expressed in a general sense, by referring to the double dimension of words and deeds, is offered by Bernard of Clairvaux’s representation of Clairvaux as a place where individuals were instructed by the teaching of the elders and even more by the examination of their good behaviour (« ubi quidem multum subtiliter et utiliter praedicatione seniorum, sed multo subtilius et utilius examinatione conversationis eorum, et in malo destruimur, et instruimur ad bonum »).48 However, this could be linked to the fact that this type of informal educational role is explicitly attributed to senior monks: this attestation can therefore be considered closer to the letters in which monastic authors refer to monastic leaders teaching their subordinates by words and deeds. For example, Osbert of Clare praised Hugh, prior of St. Pancras at Lewes, for leading others both through his example by administering them the word of life (« tu trahis alios exemplum et verbum vitae administrando »49), Abelard praised Heloise for instructing the erring through word and example when she was in Argenteuil (« tam verbis scilicet quam exemplis errantes valeas docere »),50 46

Lanfranc of Canterbury, ep. 19 to Lanfranc the Younger and Wido, in Clover and Gibson, The Letters of Lanfranc cit., p. 98. 47 Another example is offered by Peter the Venerable’s recommendation that his nieces imitated their sisters (Peter the Venerable, ep. 185 to his nieces: « Imitamini sorores vestras », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 434). While he clearly believed that nuns could help each other, Peter chose not to tell his nieces to offer a good example to their fellow sisters, perhaps in order to avoid the risk of pride. 48 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 462 to some recent converts, par. 9: « Locus autem apud nos idoneus et delectabilis, non ad gaudendum sicut in saeculo, sed ad lugendum quod commissum est in saeculo: ubi quidem multum subtiliter et utiliter praedicatione seniorum, sed multo subtilius et utilius examinatione conversationis eorum, et in malo destruimur, et instruimur ad bonum », in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 644. 49 Osbert of Clare, ep. 1 to Hugh, prior of Lewes, in Williamson, The Letters of Osbert of Clare cit., p. 47. 50 Peter Abelard, ep. 3 to Heloise, par. 1: « ut tam verbis scilicet quam exemplis errantes valeas docere, pusillanimes consolari, tepidos exhortari », in Luscombe, The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise cit., p. 142.

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Peter the Venerable encouraged the same Heloise to enflame the hearts of her nuns with both words and example (verbis pariter et exemplis accendas),51 and Adam of Perseigne stated that for the novice master to preach meant to show through Scripture or through his own example the narrowness and difficulty of the path to Life.52 In conclusion, the evidence offered in the monastic letters and analyzed in the previous chapters, and the result of the sample comparison with the letters of Odo of Saint-Victor, show that monks did not normally represent themselves as teachers of their neighbors outside of the monastery by word and example, whereas canons did. Furthermore, while reciprocal help between fellow community members in monastic communities certainly took place, in describing it, monks tended to refer to specific means of shared learning (such as correction, consolation, exhortation, advice and so on) rather than, in a more general sense, to the act of teaching, instructing or moulding someone through words and example – which is, in contrast, associated with monastic leaders (and, at least in one case, to senior members of the monastery). This confirms that reciprocal, bottom-up and horizontal learning was perceived as informal in nature (as opposed to hierarchical and vertical learning, which was often formal) and taking place through a variety of means which were inextricable from everyday social interactions. In contrast, canons played a hierarchical role as teachers of the people outside of the monastery, and it seems likely that this influenced how they perceived and represented their obligations towards their fellow community members, too, in the sense of a greater focus on the role of the teacher rather than of the learning, and the representation of the educational experience in more hierarchical terms. 6.2

Anchorites

As mentioned in the previous chapters, the importance of reciprocal help between members of the monastic community was often stressed in the context of a comparison between coenobitic and anchoritic life.53 An authoritative 51 52 53

Peter the Venerable, ep. 115 to Heloise, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 304. Adam of Perseigne, ep. 5 to Osmond of Mortemer: « Hoc ei praedicare non est aliud quam ex Scripturis aut ex propriis exemplis ostendere arctam et arduam esse viam quae ducit ad vitam », in Adam de Perseigne, Lettres, vol. 1 cit., pp. 118–120. Following Tom Licence, I use the term “anchorite” as an « umbrella term for ascetics who embraced withdrawal, either at liberty (hermits) or in the confine of a cell (recluses) », see Tom Licence, Hermits and Recluses in English Society, 950–1200, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011, p. 11.

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example of it is offered at the beginning of the Benedictine Rule, where, while presenting the four different types of monks, describes anchorites or hermits (the latter two terms are used as synonyms) as people who have sufficiently been trained by their military service in the coenobitic ranks (bene extructi fraterna ex acie) and are now able to face temptations alone, without the comfort of others (securi iam sine consolatione alterius).54 The usefulness of reciprocal help is thus stressed two times, once with reference to learning and once with reference to the protection against evil. Among high medieval authors, the Premonstratensian Philip of Harvengt (d. 1183) in his De Institutione Clericorum explained that cenobites (as opposed to anchorites who lead a solitary life and Sarabaitae, who followed their own volition rather than a rule) were characterized by the facts of living in a monastery under the dominion of one leader, of observing a rule, of renouncing their individual will and of having all their possessions in common.55 He described them as blushing of being surpassed by one another in humility, as united to one another by the bond of love and as kindling each other through reciprocal examples (exemplis mutuis).56 Clearly, Philip perceived social interactions as typical of coenobitic life and as means for spiritual progress. He also argued that, while anchoritic life was superior, it was also riskier: cenobites were protected by their number, like an army or a guarded flock of sheep. The same arguments were present in Bernard of Clairvaux’ letter to the nun of Troyes,57 whom he discouraged from embracing solitary life.58 Among other things, he told her to give a good example to her fellow nuns and avoid offering 54 Regula Benedicti chap. 1, par. 4: « deinde secundum genus est anachoritarum, id est heremitarum, horum qui qui non conversationis fervore novicio, sed monasterii probatione diuturna, qui didicerunt contra diabolum multorum solacio iam docti pugnare et bene extructi fraterna ex acie ad singularem pugnam heremi ad singularem pugnam eremi, securi iam sine consolatione alterius, sola manu uel brachio contra uitia carnis uel cogitationum, Deo auxiliante, pugnare sufficiunt », in Pricoco, La regola di san Benedetto cit., p. 134. 55 Philip of Harvengt, De Institutione Clericorum, book 4, chap. 96: « Coenobitas vero dicunt eos qui in monasterio congregati propriae renuntiant voluntati, et habentes omnia communia, proprietate abiecta saeculari, sub unius patris imperio disciplina tenentur regulari. Fraternitatis amore privatas relegant utilitates, obedientiae legibus proprias subiiciunt voluntates », in Patrologia Latina, vol. 203, ed. by Jacques-Paul Migne, Paris: Imprimerie catholique 1855, coll. 665–1233: here col. 798A. 56 Ibidem: « sic student abiecti et humiles inveniri, ut erubescant humilitate ab invicem praeveniri. Dilectionis glutino, more apum, sibi invicem adhaerescunt, exemplis mutuis incandescunt ». 57 On which see chapter 3. 1 “Social Pressure and Social Control”. 58 Bernard of Clairvaux, ep. 115 to the nun of Troyes, in San Bernardo, Lettere, vol. 2 cit., p. 550.

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a bad one. We can compare this letter with the one that the abbot of Cluny, Peter the Venerable, addressed to the hermit Gilbert. This letter quoted the above-mentioned definition of hermits contained in the Benedictine Rule and stressed that in a monastery, a monk labored at the same time for himself and for his fellow monks (« laborant ibi singuli, et salutis suae insidiantes perimere, et coadiutores modis omnibus dispensare »).59 While Peter showed a lot of respect for his addressee, praising him, his decision to stress the usefulness of reciprocal help in coenobitic life served to warn Gilbert of the dangers that he faced by living alone; in fact, Peter offered him advice on how to ward off temptation through prayer, meditation, reading and manual labor. Bernard and Peter fundamentally used the same argument, but the former, who throughout his work showed a clear distrust toward eremitism,60 used it to dissuade his addressee from embracing eremitical life, whereas Peter, who seems to have felt the attraction of eremitical life and practised it himself from time to time,61 warned the addressee of the risks of solitary life but, all in all, seems confident that he would be strong enough to overcome them. While statements such as these may suggest that shared learning does not take place in the anchoritic context and is only characteristic of coenobitic ones, reality is more complex. In particular, there are two elements that need to be taken into account. Firstly, there was not always a radical opposition or, sometimes, even a clear distinction between anchoritic and coenobitic life. Rather, there could be fluidity and hybridity. Secondly, high medieval anchoritism did not necessarily mean absence of social contacts: quite the contrary: sources show the importance of interactions between anchorites and their visitors, as well as between fellow anchorites. Concerning the first aspect, it should be considered that individuals could lead an anchoritic lifestyle for a time, after, before or even during coenobitic life. As mentioned previously, the Benedictine Rule itself stated that coenobitic life could train people for anchoritic life. However, the opposite could also take place, since individuals who experimented with various forms of religious life, including anchoritic life, sometimes ended up settling down as cenobites or founding a new monastic institution, like Bruno of Cologne or Romuald of Ravenna. Many new monastic foundations of the late eleventh century and 59 Peter the Venerable, ep. 20 to the hermit Gilbert, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., p. 31. 60 On which see Bruun, Parables cit., pp. 235–236, and Constable, Cluny  – Cîteaux  – La Chartreuse cit., p. 249. 61 Peter the Venerable’s attitude toward eremitism has been analyzed by Gillian R. Knight, The Language of Retreat and the Eremitic Ideal in Some Letters of Peter the Venerable, in Archives d’Histoire Doctrinale et Littéraire du Moyen Âge 63 (1996), pp. 7–43.

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the twelfth combined some coenobitic elements with anchoritic ones: this is the case, for example, of Camaldoli, Vallombrosa, La Grande Chartreuse, Sainte-Trinité de Tiron, Grandmont and of their derivative foundations. It was also possible for cenobites to go on a temporary eremitical retreat: seven letters of Peter the Venerable’s collection details the eremitical retreat on which he went with three friends, and another letter describes the temporary eremitical retreat of his friend and secretary, Peter of Poitiers.62 At least in the former case, the interactions between co-hermits were clearly an important part of the experience: in their letters, Peter the Venerable and his friends joked about playing philosophers and poets in the woods and asked for books to read (and, presumably, to discuss). The hymns and literary letters which are presented as products of this retreat were probably the result of a collaborative effort, or at the very least of the sharing of ideas and reciprocal advice, considering that all three of Peter’s friends were learned men: Arnulf had been a scribe in Rome (perhaps at the papal court), Robert was a scholasticus and a master in medicine and Gilbert was an educated young nobleman.63 Gilbert, in his letter, stressed that he was inferior to his co-hermits in many ways,64 and one may wonder if participating in the retreat may have been perceived as a learning opportunity for him, since it allowed him to share in the conversation and intellectual activities of these older and learned men. Sometimes forms of eremitical life were improvised ex novo by specific individuals for personal reasons, as in the case of Guibert of Nogent’s mother, who had commissioned a cell for herself in the male monastery of Saint-Germaire-de-Fly, where several members of her family and household lived.65 In the account of this particular case, informal and shared learning is presented as crucial to help Guibert’s mother to adapt to the new life,66 and it seems reasonable to suggest that in a similar situations, the lack of established

62 63 64 65

66

Ep. 123–128 and ep. 58 in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit. See the letters above and Giles Constable’s footnotes 125–127, in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable, vol. 2, p. 183. See the whole ep. 127 and in particular the statement: « cum sim inter socios meos aetate iunior, scientia inferior, merito impar, magis eos subsequi quam praecaedere debeo », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., pp. 323. Guibert of Nogent, De Vita Sua Sive Monodiae, book 1, cap. 14: « ad Flaviacensem monasterium sese deliberaverat concessuram. Extructis itaque inibi aediculis prope ecclesiam, mediante praefato magistro meo, tandem a loco in quo morabatur emersit », in Guibert de Nogent, Autobiographie cit., pp. 100–102, on which see Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker, Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press 2005, p. 26–27. See the analysis in chapter 3.2. “Imitation” pp. 109–111.

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norms meant that informal and shared learning played an important role in helping an individual adapt to the new kind of religious life. The second crucial element that should be considered if we are to understand the practice and perception of shared learning in anchoritic environments is the fact that most anchorites interacted with other people on a quite regular basis: many individuals lived in a small eremitical group or larger semieremitical communities and met each other at certain moments during their day or week. Some hermits or recluses lived together in the same cell, like Guibert of Nogent’s mother and her companion, or Jutta and Hildegard. Often, an elder and more experienced individual lived together with a younger and less experienced one, who learned from his companion. This helps us understand why Peter the Venerable offered to the hermit Gilbert advice on when and how to speak, telling him: just as the door opens or closes depending on necessity, thus should the door of your mouth be open to usefulness or closed to foolishness and empty words. It should be opened to the brethren for their edification and closed to the distraction of those voicing spiteful words or grumbling. It should be opened to the encouragement of visiting monks and closed to the talkativeness of the curious. In brief, one should only say useful things.67 Clearly, according to him, a hermit should interact with others in a way that would prove beneficial to them and would avoid negative influence from others. The absence of references to the possibility of Gilbert learning from others may be due to the high esteem in which Peter held Gilbert; in any case, through the letter he was certainly advising him. The fact that the letter was included in Peter’s letter collection suggests that Peter’s advice to Gilbert was believed to be useful for a wide and predominantly monastic audience. The importance of the interactions that anchorites entertained with their visitors also emerges as crucial in Odo of Saint-Victor’s to an unknown “brother R.”, which was mentioned in the previous subchapter. It made a distinction between the religious who lived inside a cloister and those who lived « foris ad 67

Peter the Venerable, ep. 20 to the hermit Gilbert: « sicut ostium necessitate tantum aperitur et clauditur, sic oris tui ostium utilitati aperiatur, nugacitati vel vanitati claudatur. Aperiatur fratribus ad aedificationem, claudatur ad obloquentium vel murmurantium detractionem. Aperiatur ad exhortationem supervenientium religiosorum, claudatur ad verbositatem curiosorum. Et ut breviter dicam, aut audiatur aliquid utile aut dicatur », in Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable cit., pp. 40–41, English translation in Bruce, Silence and Sign Language cit., p. 48.

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obedientias habitatis »: the term obedientiae in this context refers to the cells which depended from monasteries but were situated outside of them.68 Odo anticipated the addressee’s observation that accurate control of one’s speech was more important for the latter than for the former, because cenobites could practice silence, whereas anchorites were forced to talk to people by various necessities.69 This offers a striking example of the fact that social interaction was actually important for anchorites, who may have practised shared learning through it. One may object that if anchorites interacted with visitors, it was solely to instruct and advise, not to learn, but some references to the possibility of anchorites learning from their visitors can be found in the sources. For example, the Carthusian Bernard of Portes told his addressee, the anchorite Rainald, that he should either offer good words or receive them.70 According to him, every social interaction had to have an educational quality, and his addressee should be always prepared learn from pious or learned visitors. Furthermore, much more numerous are the references to anchorites learning from fellow anchorites. Several interesting attestations of this can be found in Peter Damian’s letters, some of which have already been mentioned in the previous chapters. Particularly interesting for the purpose of the present research is his description of how the hermits of Fonte Avellana exhorted and helped each other: for example, in a letter to the countess Bianca, he recalled how an older hermit, Domenicus, who regularly whipped himself, through insistent and repeated exhortations managed to convince a younger hermit to whip himself – something to which he had previously been opposed.71 In the view of both Peter Damian and Domenicus, Domenicus had helped the young hermit to progress, acquiring a valuable new skill. 68

See the entry « obedientia » in du Cange, et al., Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis, éd. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 6, col. 002c. 69 Odo of Saint-Victor, ep. 4 to brother R.: « Sed forsitan dicis: Vos qui intus in monasterio vivitis, qui horis constitutis silentium tenetis, qui lectioni et orationi assidue vacatis, offensiones linguae facillime cavere potestis: at nos qui iugiter foris sumus, qui pro innumeris causis huc illucque discurrimus, qui possumus loqui cum volumus, in verbis nostris frequenter offendimus. Vestras autem linguas ne perniciose fluant silentium ligat, nostras vero licentia loquendi nobis concessa relaxat », in Patrologia Latina, vol. 176 cit., col. 1408A. 70 Bernard of Portes, ep. 1 to the anchorite Rainald: « Omnis qui ad te venit, vel a te bona audiat, vel tibi bona dicat. Si vero religiosi vel eruditi viri te visitant, paratior semper esto bona ab eis audire quam dicere », in Letters des premiers Chartreux, vol. 2 cit., p. 52. 71 Peter Damian, ep. 66 to Countess Bianca, par 26: « frater quidam cum se scoparum ictibus nimis abhorreret atterere, atque ut ipse sibimet plagas inferret atque perferret, gravissimum iudicaret. Tandem tamen domni Dominici crebrius insistentis adhortationibus

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Many descriptions of the life of the hermits of Fonte Avellana are contained in a letter which Peter addressed to Teuzo, who had left his monastery to become an anchorite, while remaining close to the monastery in the center of Florence.72 Peter accused him of being proud and haughty and wished to show him that the hermits of Fonte Avellana led a much more austere and strict life, and yet remained very humble. Peter advised Teuzo on how to lead a saintly life and stressed in particular the need to interact in a friendly and benevolent way with other people, for example if they came to visit him, since he had heard rumors that Teuzo treated everyone in a haughty way and avoided as much as possible meeting priests, especially of his own monastery. It is no coincidence that, in sketching the examples of good hermits, Peter often focused on how they interacted in a patient and benevolent way with other people and also reported advice given and received by them; in contrast, in describing a bad monk he mentioned that he did not live in peace with his fellow brothers but, rather, unsettled them.73 As Peter Damian openly declared at the end of the letter, his goal was to exhort Teuzo to interact with his brothers with patience and charity, having offered him examples of such conduct, and having illustrated why such interactions could be fruitful, even for anchorites. A last source that deserves to be mentioned in the context of a reflection on the possibility of shared learning among anchorites is William of Saint-Thierry’s famous Golden Epistle addressed to the Carthusians of Mont-Dieu. As is well known, each Carthusian lived in his own cell, and the monks only came together at fixed times during the day to pray together and on feast days. William, surprisingly, argued that the monks helped each other to progress even without seeing each other: This is the holy intercourse (sancta commercia) which goes on between well regulated cells, their venerable pursuits, their busy leisure, their active repose, their ordered charity, to hold converse with one another in silence (mutuo in silentio sibi colloqui) and to enjoy one another more while remaining apart from one another (et in absentia ab invicem se ad invicem magis frui), progress thanks to one another (proficere de invicem),

72 73

acquievit, ac per modulationem totius psalterii et insuper quinquaginta psalmorum sibimet disciplinam inferre propriis manibus non cessavi », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 384. See Phyllis G. Jestice, Wayward Monks and the Religious Revolution of the Eleventh Century, Leiden / New York / Köln: Brill, p. 218. Peter Damian, ep. 44 to Teuzo, par. 76: « Hic itaque dum et in mutandis abbatibus et fratribus perturbandis aestuans non quiesceret », in Pier Damiani, Lettere, vol. 3 cit., p. 26.

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and although they do not see one another, to find matter for imitation each in the other, but in themselves only grounds for weeping.74 This extraordinary description attests to the belief that fellow community members could benefit each other even in the absence of spoken or written interactions: clearly, according to William, the awareness shared by each member of the community that all of his fellow brothers were engaged in the same activities, such as praying and meditating, was supposed to be a source of encouragement and comfort. In this sense, a radical distinction between coenobitic and anchoritic communities seems pointless, not only because there were semi-eremitical groups such as the Carthusians but also because the perception of the existence of a community of fellow religious practitioners, and of the importance of their reciprocal role, could be very strong for anchorites and hermits, too. Their means of social interaction may have been different from those of cenobites and may have included communication by means of signals from one cell to another, chants, letter-writing and exchange of gifts or goods. A history of social interaction through distant communication in medieval anchoritic settings still needs to be written, but reciprocal help was evidently possible, and even desired. 74 William of Saint-Thierry, Epistola ad Fratres de Monte Dei, book 2, chap. 1, par. 193: « Et haec sunt cellarum bene ordinatarum sancta commercia, studia veneranda, otia negotiosa, quies operosa, caritas ordinata, mutuo in silentio sibi colloqui, et in absentia ab invicem se ad invicem magis frui, proficere de invicem, et cum se non vident ad invicem, in alio videre quod imitandum est, in seipso nonnisi quod flendum est » in Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Lettre aux frères du Mont-Dieu cit., p. 300. I use a slightly modified version of the English translation by Theodore Berkeley, in William of Saint-Thierry, The Golden Epistle cit., p. 77.

Conclusions This book sheds some light on the “shared” nature of some of the learning processes which took place in medieval monasteries in the period 1070–1180, which has received insufficient scholarly attention so far. The term “shared” is used here to characterize a type of learning which is informal rather than formal, continuous and potentially endless, and embedded in the daily life of the community rather than associated with specific teaching moments and designated learning areas. Content-wise, this learning is not abstract and decontextualized from the environment in which it is taught and learned: on the contrary, it is inextricably linked to it, both because it resulted from the learners’ daily interactions with multiple learning agents who lived in the same community, and because it is supposed to be immediately applied by the learners in their everyday lives. In addition, both the contents and the modalities of learning are supposed to be tailored to the individual. Shared learning is relational in nature, and therefore cannot be acquired in solitude and self-taught; whereas in hierarchical and vertical teaching, a clearly designated “master” teaches one or more disciples, in shared learning individuals learn from one another regardless of their reciprocal positions in the community, which means that peers can learn from each other (“horizontal learning”) and superiors can learn from inferiors (“bottom-up learning”). Even more importantly, shared learning always has a reciprocal dimension, at least potentially: the possibility of learning while teaching, or of two or more people engaging in a mutually beneficial learning exchange is explicitly foreseen in the sources. This also means that learners play a more active role in comparison with the one they play in hierarchical educational processes: in particular, learners tended to play an increasingly active role as they progressed. A few clarifications may be useful. First of all, shared learning and hierarchical learning should not be seen as two radically separated kinds of educational experiences but, rather, as two opposite ends of a spectrum. Learning could be more formal or informal, more hierarchical or more shared depending on the learning contents, contexts and circumstances. “Bookish knowledge” – that is, intellectual knowledge that was acquired primarily by looking at written texts (for example, learning Latin grammar or literature) has traditionally been associated with formal, hierarchical and one-way transmission. While this is certainly true for the elementary education of young pupils, the evidence presented in this book suggests that learning processes tended to become more informal and more shared when the learners involved were older, more experienced and more talented. Shared learning also seems to have been particularly

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004466494_009

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important in the processes through which individuals learned to adhere to moral and spiritual patterns. It is also important to point out that shared learning did not characterize high medieval monasteries exclusively: it could take place in any community where newcomers were gradually transformed into full members of the community through daily interactions with the other community members until they were ready to help other newcomers in the same process, and where long-time members were supposed to endlessly strive toward progress in order to become better members of the community and to face challenges as they presented themselves. In the Middle Ages, such environments included most religious communities, but also craft guilds or even aristocratic or royal courts and households. However, it is true that monastic authors in the period in question sometimes presented a peculiar kind of learning as typical of monastic communities in comparison to and in polemics with other environments. Monks stressed that, in comparison to secular schools, the cloister taught individuals more useful things (that is, how to get closer to God), not just bookish learning; and in comparison to anchoritic life, they pointed out that monks could rely on the precious help of others, whereas anchorites in principle could not. Lastly, if compared with canons, monks represented themselves as engaged in learning rather than in teaching, and they described the educational process as being informal in nature and taking place through a variety of means inextricably connected to everyday social interactions. In contrast, canons played a hierarchical role as teachers of people outside of the monastery, and this may have influenced how they perceived and represented their obligations towards their fellow community members, too: they focused on the role of the teacher rather than on learning, and they represented the educational experience in more hierarchical terms. The choice to study shared learning in the High Middle Ages rather than in other periods was due first and foremost to the wealth of epistolary sources available. The goal of the present work was never to argue that shared learning is characteristic of this period in comparison with others; and yet, some of the elements that emerge as having favoured shared learning, or at least as having been associated with it, are characteristic of the High Middle Ages. They include the cult of friendship in intellectual and religious circles, interest in the theme of learning inspired by the development of secular schools and by the growing variety of forms of religious life, increased geographical and religious mobility (especially of the élites), increased attention to the human dimension of the religious experience and – in certain thinkers – increased optimism in humankind’s potential to progress towards God. The eremitical revival and the

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many experimentations in combining solitary life and life in a community may also have stimulated reflections on the usefulness of social interaction and of reciprocal help between fellow religious practitioners. While keeping these elements in mind helps us understand the way in which shared learning was perceived and represented in the period in question, a targeted study of shared learning in the early and late Middle Ages would be necessary in order to attempt a comparison between different periods with respect to shared learning. As the examples collected in this book show, in medieval monasteries in the period in question, shared learning took place in a variety of ways, corresponding to different kinds of social interactions with different members of a monastic community. Each individual was involved in different learning processes, many of which took place at the same time. These processes intersected and influenced each other: for example, learning to help in the kitchen could also serve to teach humility to the monks and nuns; in fact, they all learned to show humility in different ways, for example in how they interacted with each other, in how they walked and, of course, in their inner spiritual life. Different members of the community played different roles in such learning processes: each individual learned from a variety of people, yet at the same time shared some of their knowledge or helped others along their paths of progress. The roles of teacher and learner could therefore be temporary or could be assumed by taking turns; the roles of co-learner and co-teacher were also important ones. Observation (in a broad sense, which included listening to chant, speeches, readings and conversations) and imitation emerge as important factors in shared learning, especially for newcomers in a monastic community. While this might seem obvious, the attested awareness of it in the sources supports the theory that, in many cases and with respect to many activities, monastic novices were not separated from the community, because it was widely acknowledged that observing full members was an important means for learning for the novices. Furthermore, analysis of the sources in this study highlighted some elements that have received little scholarly attention so far, such as the possibility of reciprocal observation and imitation between peers and the fact that observation and imitation were not static but dynamic, in constant evolution. In fact, learners transitioned from observing without imitating to participating to the life of the community in a limited way (for example, singing in a low voice or participating in the conversation of one’s elders with a subordinate role), to taking active part in an activity while being able to rely on the help and correction of experts, to being considered able to act with complete freedom and independence, and ultimately to helping and teaching others.

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Many letters attest to the crucial role played by fellow community members and by the community as a whole in shaping a member’s behaviour in the desired way. First of all, on both a theoretical and a practical level, the community acted as witness and judge of the suitability of a member’s behaviour. Furthermore, community members actively influenced these behaviours through various verbal and non-verbal reinforcements: from reproachful, approving or admired stares (or imitation, which represented the best compliment); to verbal rebukes or praises; to denunciation to the authorities; and to direct or indirect, immediate or deferred, correction or punishment. While the Benedictine Rule stressed that only the abbot could order the punishment of a member of the community, letters show that, according to many high medieval monastic authors, monks and nuns were indeed expected to correct each other and even punish each other, for example by ostracizing someone who displayed a bad attitude. In addition, the community played an important role in identifying and pointing out irregularities, as well as in public shaming. Consolation is also revealed to have been important in helping monks and nuns not to succumb to despair in the face of difficulties, and it was tightly linked to the administration of exhortation, since both were ways to help lift someone up from an inferior condition to a superior one. Consolation and exhortation seem to have been practised especially in one-to-one, personal and friendly relationships, and they often had a reciprocal dimension: on the one hand, they could be practised in turn, while on the other, the act of comforting or exhorting someone could be perceived as working both ways. Lastly, an important means of learning was understood to be the sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience, which often had an informal and reciprocal nature. Examples include friendly conversation, storytelling, spoken or written advice-giving and the exchange of written works and of feedback on them. It should also be noted that while letters of high medieval monastic authors recommended shared learning to both ordinary monks and monastic leaders, most of the references to real-life episodes of shared learning concerned the élite of the monastery. The first and most important reason for this is the fact that written texts were authored by members of the élite and are therefore more likely to discuss their affairs. However, the evidence also suggests that the abbot, his associates and his friends enjoyed more freedom in the way they cultivated social interactions. In addition, it can be noted that shared learning seems to have been practised especially by advanced learners, whereas formal and hierarchical learning was particularly associated with elementary education, for example grammatical and behavioural training. Shared learning was perceived to have a transformative effect on individual identity: individuals who successfully experienced it were expected to change

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for the better, to be “reformed” into new beings. On a theoretical level, they were supposed to leave their old world – and, in particular, their relationships – behind, to embrace a radically different world in which they would forge new social bonds: it was widely acknowledged that this transition was not easy, and that leaving one’s world behind was often associated with feelings of fear, shame and sadness. However, some authors stressed that shame and fear could not only hinder the process of transition but also, if opportunely redirected, help it. Sadness, in contrast, was expected to turn into joy when the transition was successfully completed and the old affective bonds were replaced with new ones, allowing the individual to be once again surrounded by affection. The sources also show that the shared learning process undergone by newcomers in a high medieval monastic community did not correspond simply to the acquisition of the behaviours and mindsets of that particular community, and therefore to a successful adaptation and integration into it. Individuals were supposed to offer an active contribution to the community, whether by sharing their knowledge and talent or by offering an example of good behaviour. This also helps understand why shared learning processes were often represented as ongoing (or desirable) for both newcomers and old-timers: they were, in fact, dialectical processes involving exchanges of knowledge, skills and ideas between community members. Such processes were integral to the cultural life of the monastic community, continuously creating and re-creating a cultural, behavioural and intellectual repertoire which was not fixed but, rather, in continuous evolution. This allowed the community to reproduce itself, with newcomers becoming, in time, old-timers and interacting as such with new members, in an endless circle. Exchanges of knowledge could take place not only between newcomers and old-timers but also between other groups in the monasteries, for example between people who had been raised in the monastery since infancy and adult converts, between people of noble origin and people who had belonged to lower classes, or between younger and older monks. References to conflicts between these groups implies that both parties yielded some power in the monastery and that the good functioning of the community required collaboration and mutual help. Shared learning may also have been a source for conflicts in the monastery, for example because it often needed to be practised in small groups, which may create jealousy and dissidence; letters do not appear to be a very useful source to study this, whereas chronicles and biographies may be more suitable in this sense. In general, much remains to be done to reconstruct how shared learning worked and was perceived in high medieval monastic communities. While letters emerged as a very useful source to study shared learning, the

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reconstruction offered in this book is inevitably conditioned by the predominant use of this specific type of source. For example, most of the attestations of real-life cases of shared learning contained in the letters used here concern the élite of the monastery and inform us about the acquisition and processing of intellectual, spiritual, behavioural and moral knowledge, whereas they contain little information about the acquisition of practical skills. Also, the communities in which the sources used here originated were the ones with articulate communicators, whereas the situation may have been different in other monasteries, for example more traditional ones such as Saint-Denis, which was so vehemently attacked by Abelard. Targeted studies of shared learning as attested by other sources would deepen our knowledge of it: in particular, hagiographical and biographical works appear to be a promising source, which sometimes contain passing but very interesting references to informal and shared learning processes, for example of the main character in his or her young age or of their pupils. Studies approaching the perception of shared learning by specific authors through the analysis of their written works would also give us a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon, in particular of the different perceptions of it: particularly interesting figures in this sense are Bernard of Clairvaux, Adam of Perseigne and William of Saint-Thierry.1 The theme of the gendered perception of shared learning in some authors, such as Peter the Venerable or Osbert of Clare, also appears deserving of more scholarly attention. Hopefully, this book will stimulate such new inquiries, pointing out the need to grant due attention to shared learning in order to understand the cultural life of high medieval monasteries, and medieval education in general. 1 See Leclercq, La communauté formatrice selon St. Bernard de Clairvaux cit. ; Long, Entre spiritualité monastique et canoniale? cit., and Long, Guillaume de Saint-Thierry et le chemin de la formation monastique cit.

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Index Abelard, scholar and monk 7 on corrections 195 death 102–3, 135 designates Heloise as spiritually superior 85 Historia Calamitatum (Story of My Misfortunes) 27, 117, 196 humility 174–5 on the monastery 62 Rule for the nuns of the Paraclete 27, 85, 116, 121–2 shared learning 175–6, 190–1, 196 Abelard and Heloise 7 letters 27–8 lives 26–7 see also Abelard; Heloise accusations Geoffrey of Vendôme on 126–7 Adam of Perseigne, abbot 9–10, 55, 58, 85 advice to nuns 198, 199 canon then monk 209 on fear 162 on friendship 141 letters 36, 147–8 Liber de Mutuo Amore ad Sacras Virgines (The Book of Mutual Love) 36 life 36 on reciprocal learning exchange 198–9 request for advice 148 on success factors for novices 109 on the word “novice” 51, 158 adult converts, monastic communities 20, 51, 184–5 advice and friendship 146–7 giving and receiving 152–3 request for, Adam of Perseigne 148 requests for 147 Aelfric Bata, Colloquies (Conversations)  83 Aelred (or Ailred) of Rievaulx, abbot De Spiritali Amicitia (On Spiritual Friendship) 35, 80, 139–40 on friendship 104–5, 140

letters 35–6 life 35 Agobard of Lyon, archbishop 57 Amalricus of Jerusalem, bishop, letter to Hildegard of Bingen 200–1 anchorites definition 220 shared learning 13–14, 221, 223, 224, 225–6 see also hermits Anselm of Canterbury, abbot and bishop 9, 84 on fear 162, 163 on learning opportunities 53 letter collection 24–5, 39 letter to Bec Abbey 91 letter to Lanfranc 52, 165 letters to women 197–8 life 24 on monastic life 164–5 on reciprocal learning exchange 217 on shame 159–60 on worthy associations 77–8 atonement, public, Geoffrey of Vendôme on 131 Augustine of Hippo co-discipleship 81 De Virginitate 106 autobiographical narratives model of Augustine’s Confessions 117 Guibert of Nogent’s soliloquy 117 Nicholas of Clairvaux’s self-analysis and expression 117 Otloh of Saint Emmeram 117 see also self-accusation Basil of La Grande Chartreuse, prior on Cluny Abbey 68–9 letter to Peter the Venerable 68 Baudri of Bourgueil, abbot on avoidance of wrongdoing 102 on Bourgueil Abbey 62 letter collection 25 letter to Constance 102 letter to Muriel of Wilton 150

260 Baudri of Bourgueil, abbot (cont.) life 25 on monastic life 106 poetic letters 25 Beatrice of Tienen, Life 75 Bec Abbey, letter from Anselm of Canterbury 91 behaviour change 230 and imitation 105, 113 monastic communities as observers  102–3 Odo of Saint-Victor on 214–15 Benedictine Rule see Rule of Saint Benedict Berengar of Tours 23 Bernard of Cerne, abbot 90 Bernard of Clairvaux 7, 18, 21, 84–5 on bottom-up learning 88 brother Gerard as source of consolation 133–4 brother Gerard’s death 86–7 on Clairvaux Abbey 63 distrust of solitude 76 humility 87, 108, 113–14, 149 on imitation, perfume metaphor 108 on individual conscience 120 letter 28 from Peter the Venerable 71–2 letter collection 30, 39, 208–9 letter to canon Oger 210 letter to nun of Troyes 96, 97, 105, 197, 217, 220–1 letter to Pope Eugene III 50 letter to Robert of Châtillon 50, 157, 169 letters on friendship to Ermengarde of Anjou 96 letters as spiritual director to women 96 letters to Rainald of Foigny 148–9 letters to women 30, 196–7 life 29 on Malachy of Ireland’s death 107 on Malachy of Ireland’s spiritual perfection 107–8 on mistrusting own judgement 145–6 on monastic life 158 on endless progress 59–60 Peter the Venerable of Cluny, correspondence 29–30 refusal to be own master 79

Index on shame 161–2 on shared learning 92–3 on the solitary life 92, 97 William of Saint-Thierry, reciprocal learning exchange 94 Bernard of Portes, prior 132–3, 163–4, 224 bottom-up learning 227 Bernard of Clairvaux on 88 Boynton, Susan 57, 108 Brown, George H., on learning the Psalter  56–7 Bruce, Scott 57, 108 Bruun, Mette Birkedal 67 Camaldolenses 18 canonical communities monastic communities, distinction  208–9, 219 shared learning 13, 206, 208, 211 canons letters and letter collections 211 monks, differences 207, 228 Walker Bynum on 206–7 see also canonical communities Carthusians 18 cell as hostile environment, William of SaintThierry on 65 as infirmary, William of Saint-Thierry on 65 as teaching agent 65 transformative value, Peter Damian on 64–5 celleraria office 55 Cesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogus Miraculorum (Dialogue on Miracles) 99 Chenu, Marie-Dominique 20 Chibnall, Marjorie 5 Cicero, De Amicitia (On Friendship) 93 letters as colloquia absentium 141 fn 166 Cistercians 18, 29 Cîteaux Abbey 18, 29, 38 Clairvaux Abbey 5, 29 Bernard of Clairvaux on 63 cloister (claustrum), metonym for monastery 61 see also monastery Cluniac monasteries, miracles 67

261

Index Cluny Abbey Basil of La Grande Chartreuse on 68–9 Peter the Venerable on 63 co-discipleship Augustine of Hippo 81 notion 81 Stephen of Chalmet on 80–1 Cochelin, Isabelle 66, 108 communities of learning 3 community, and shared learning 12–13 see also female communities; monastic communities community of practice, theory 6–7 conflicts, monastic communities 187 conscience attention to 20, 117, 118, 119, 120 Bernard of Clairvaux on 120 consolation Bernard of Clairvaux’s brother Gerard as source 133–4 and corrections 132 and exhortation 137, 138, 230 and friendship 134–5, 136 letters 134–5 offering, Hildegard of Bingen on 217 Peter the Venerable on 133, 136 Rule of Saint Benedict 132 Constable, Giles 29, 42, 82 correction Abelard on 195 acceptance of 123 and consolation 132 friendly 123–4, 125–6 mishandling of 127–9 mutual 230 Peter of Celle on 124–6 Peter Damian on 122–3, 132 reciprocal 145 self, and shame 160 Crispin, Gilbert, abbot 76–7 cultural history, and religion, intersections  20 custodia notion need for 100 positive aspects 99 and sexual temptation 100 social control 98–9 and temptation of gluttony 100

discipline see monastic discipline Eckbert, brother of Elisabeth of Schönau  33 Elisabeth of Schönau, abbess 32 letter collection 33, 201 letters to female communities 202–3 life 33 Elmer of Canterbury, prior, on friendship  141 enutrire, use by Peter of Celle 49 equality see spiritual equality Ermengarde of Anjou, letters of friendship from Bernard of Clairvaux 96 Eugene III, pope, letter from Bernard of Clairvaux 50 exhortation and consolation 137, 138, 230 and friendship 144–5 reciprocal 145 Rule of saint Benedict 144–5 fear Adam of Perseigne on 162 Anselm of Canterbury on 162, 163 and the learning process 162 female communities letters of Elisabeth of Schönau 202–3 shared learning 13, 39, 188–205, 194–5, 195–6 Foliot, Gilbert, abbot and bishop, letters  41 Fonte Avellana hermitage 22 friend, as custos animi (guardian of the other’s soul) 99 friendship 17, 29 Adam of Perseigne on 141 and advice 146–7 Aelred of Rievaulx on 104–5, 140 and consolation 134–5, 136 Elmer of Canterbury on 141 and equality 93 and exhortation 144–5 and fear of homosexuality 44 and letters of vocation 144 and personal progress 140 Peter Damian and abbot Albizo 118 Peter Damian on 123

262 friendship (cont.) scriptorium as place of 73–4 theme in letter-writing 43–4, 52–3 William of Aebelholt on 212–13 Geoffrey of Auxerre, abbot 30, 84 Geoffrey of Vendôme, abbot 72, 84, 86, 216 on accusations 126–7 Commentarius in Psalmos (Commentary on the Psalms) 26 letter collection 26 letter from Hildegard of Mans 136–7 life 26 praise of Hubert of Angers, as imitation model 112 on public atonement 131 shared learning 39 Gervase of Westminster, abbot 215 Gilbert of Hoyland, on monastic life 106 gluttony, temptation of, and custodia notion 100 Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, monk Liber Confortatorius (The Book of Encouragement and Consolation) 24, 138–9 life 23–4 Grotans, Anna, Reading in Medieval Saint Gall 83 Guibert of Gembloux, abbot 32, 67, 137 conversations with Hildegard of Bingen 137–8, 176, 200 letter collection 34 life 33–4 Vita Sancti Martini (Life of saint Martin)  34, 176, 177 Guibert of Nogent, abbot De Vita Sua (Autobiography) 26 life 25–6 Guido of Arezzo, monk and music theorist 57 Guido de Basochis, canon 211 Haseldine, Julian P. 32–3 Haskins, Charles Homer, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century 15–16, 17 Hatto (or Hato) of Troyes, bishop 35 Hélinand of Froidmont, troubadour and then monk 67

Index Heloise, abbess friendship with Peter the Venerable 93, 114, 135, 174, 190 head of community 194-5 letters from Peter the Venerable 27, 90, 93, 114, 135, 173, 188, 190, 194 spirituality 85 Herman, bishop of Ramsbury 24 hermits Peter the Venerable on 91, 221 Rule of saint Benedict 90–1, 221 shared learning 222–3 see also anchorites hierarchy and shared learning 84, 85, 87 subversion of 199–200 High Middle Ages, shared learning 228–9 Hildegard of Bingen, abbess 84, 119 conversations with Guibert of Gembloux (1124/5-1214) 137–8, 176, 200 letter collection 32 letter from Amalricus of Jerusalem 200–1 life 32 on offering consolation 217 on social rank 186 Hildegard of Mans, bishop, letter to Geoffrey of Vendôme 136–7 Hildemar of Corbie, monk, Commentary on the Rule of Benedict 83 homosexuality, fear of, and friendship 44 horizontal learning 3, 227 and imitation 110–11 Hugh IV de Clermont, abbot, letter from Peter of Celle 56 Hugh of Preuilly, abbot 55–6 humility 218, 229 Abelard 174–5 Bernard of Clairvaux 87, 108, 113–14, 149 and imitation 111 and kitchen skills 71 need to show 154 nephew of Lanfranc of Canterbury  103 Peter of Celle 143 Peter Damian 89 and self-accusation 117 in shared learning 80, 88–9

Index imitation, and shared learning 12, 108, 116, 229 imitation (imitatio) 105–16 and adult novices 108–9 and appropriate behaviour 105, 113 Bernard of Clairvaux’s perfume metaphor 108 by Guibert of Nogent’s mother 109–11 of fellow monastic community members 107 forms of 106–7 and horizontal learning 110–11 and humility 111 of Jesus Christ 106–7 of Malachy of Ireland 107 model Hubert of Angers as 112 John of Salisbury’s brother as 112 nun as 112–13 and shared learning 12, 108, 116 and sinners 114–16 as worthy undertaking 111 Innocent III, pope 215 invicem (by turns) notion 91 Ivo of Chartres, bishop, on monastic life 62–3 Jacob’s ladder metaphor 60 Jaeger, C. Stephen 207 Jeanmart, Gaëlle 207 John Cassian, Collationes 146 John of Fécamp, abbot, on nun as imitation model 112–13 judgement, mistrust of own, Bernard of Clairvaux on 145–6 Jutta, anchorite 32 kitchen skills, and humility 71 Knights Hospitaller (Templars) 19 knowledge sharing, shared learning 3, 231 Lanfranc, nephew of Lanfranc, humility 103 Lanfranc of Canterbury, monk and archbishop defence of transubstantiation 23 letter collection 23 letter from Anselm 52, 165 letter to Odo of Chertsey 89

263 life 23 Monastic Constitutions 56, 66, 103, 109 on reciprocal learning exchange 92 on successful novitiate 103–4 Lanzo, monk of Cluny 9 Latin culture, long twelfth century 17 Lave, Jean 6 learning definition 3–4 non-written ways 5 as reciprocal learning exchange 37, 91–2 and Rule of saint Benedict 156 see also bottom-up learning; communities of learning; horizontal learning; lifelong learning; monastic learning; shared learning learning opportunities, Anselm of Canterbury on 53 learning process and fear 162 and intra-monastic exchanges 63–4 monastic life as 48–9, 165–6 and the physical environment 54, 75 Leclercq, Jean 10, 40, 108 L’amour des lettres (The Love of Learning) 4 on letter-writing 211 letters and letter collections 17 Adam of Perseigne 36, 147–8 Anselm of Canterbury 24–5, 39 Baudri of Bourgueil 25 Bernard of Clairvaux 30, 39, 208–9 canons 211 consolation 134–5 as colloquia absentium 141 fn 166 Elisabeth of Schönau 33, 201 evidence of individual progress (proficio) 59 on friendship 42–3 Geoffrey of Vendôme 26 Hildegard of Bingen 32 Lanfranc of Canterbury 23 Nicholas of Clairvaux 35 Osbert of Clare 31, 192 Peter of Celle 32–3 Peter Damian 22–3 Peter the Venerable 28–9, 135

264 letters and letter collections (cont.) physical environment in 61–2, 67-8 on spiritual directions 85 study methodology 40 variety of 42–3 William of Aebelholt 212 William of Saint-Thierry 31 to women, Peter the Venerable of Cluny 188 see also monastic letters letter-writing formal structure 43 friendship theme 43–4, 52–3 golden age 17 Leclercq on 211 monastic life 45–6 popularity 211 purposes 9 recruitment aims 45 rhetoric 43 shared learning 45 sources for shared learning 8–10 and spiritual direction 44–5 by women 37 see also monastic letters; letters and letter collections lifelong learning 4, 60 monastic life as 12, 52, 57–8, 58–9, 61, 94–5 literacy 17 literary works, exchanges of 150–1 long twelfth century 11, 15–22 Latin culture 17 as renaissance 15–16 McGuire, Brian Patrick, Friendship and Community 134 magistri, references to 83 Malachy of Ireland, abbot and archbishop Bernard of Clairvaux on his perfection 107–8 Bernard of Clairvaux letter on death of 107 imitation of 107 Marcigny, female monastery 190 Marmoutier Abbey 176 master-disciple roles 78–9, 81–2 equality 83

Index horizontal exchanges 90 temporality 83 see also co-discipleship Matilda of Fontevrault, abbess, letter from Peter of Celle 124 Maurice, monk of Bec 178–9 book acquisitions 179–80 medieval education, sources 8 meditations, sharing 151 mendicant orders 19 Milo I of Therouanne, bishop, letter from Peter the Venerable 115 miracles, Cluniac monasteries 67 monastery Abelard on 62 leaving, Peter the Venerable on 101 metaphors referring to 62 superiority to eremitical life 97–8 monastic communities adult converts 20, 51, 184–5 canonical communities, distinction 208–9, 219 competition among 21 conflicts 187 imitation of fellow members 107 intra-monastic transitions 20, 178–9, 180–4 monks’ contributions 176–7, 177–8, 178–9 networks 20 nobility in 186–7 novices 19–20 as observer of behaviour 102–3 peer control 101 shared learning 13, 184, 208, 209–10, 218–19 skills acquisition 54–5 social control 98, 101 social origins 185–6 monastic discipline 119–21 see also accusations; correction monastic learning letters 7 sources 7–8 verbs describing 49 see also shared learning monastic letters 10 references to helping monks 82

Index monastic life Anselm of Canterbury on 164–5 Baudri of Bourgueil on 106 Bernard of Clairvaux on 158 Gilbert of Hoyland on 106 integration into 172–3 Ivo of Chartres on 62–3 as learning process 48–9, 165–6 and letter-writing 45–6 as lifelong learning 12, 52, 57–8, 58–9, 61, 94–5 personal bonds, formation 166–7 unsuccessful adaptations 167–8 unsuccessful adaptation by Robert of Châtillon 169–70 William of Saint-Thierry on 157–8 monasticism criticism of 18 diversity of 11 transformations 19 monks canons, differences 207, 228 contribution to their communities 176– 7, 177–8, 178–9 definition 61 reputation 215 supervision of young boys 82 troublesome 168–9 useful 173 visiting 75 Morris, Colin, The Discovery of the Individual 20 mortification of the body, Peter Damian on 57 music training 57 Nicholas of Clairvaux, monk 30, 80 letter collection 35 life 34–5 on the scriptorium 72–3 self–analysis 117 theological disagreement with Peter of Celle 151–2 Niskanen, Samu 25 nobility, in monastic communities 186–7 novice, Adam of Perseigne on 51, 158 novices adult, and imitation 108–9

265 monastic communities 19–20 separate quarters 66 successful, Adam of Perseigne on 109 transformative processes 51 unsuccessful 168, 173–4 novitiate, successful, Lanfranc of Canterbury on 103–4 nuns advice from Adam of Perseigne 198, 199 advice from Osbert of Clare 192–3 ideal virtues 191 shared learning 190, 205 Odo of Chertsey, abbot, letter from Lanfranc of Canterbury 89 Odo of Saint-Victor, regular canon 37, 208, 211, 216–17 on behaviour 214–15 letter collection 213–14 Odon of Ourscamp, monk 158 Olsen, Derek A. 57 Osbert of Clare 13 advice to nuns 192–3 letter collection 31, 192 life 31 on shared learning 192–3 Otloh of Saint Emmeram, monk 75 Liber de Temptatione (Book of Temptations) 117 Otter, Monika 138 Paré, Gérard, Brunet, Adrien, and Tremblay, Pierre, La renaissance du XIIe siècle 16 pedagogical writings 8 peer control, monastic communities 101 personal bonds, monastic life 166–7 personal progress, and friendship 140 Peter Abelard see Abelard Peter of Celle, abbot 121 on a dream threat to the community 69–70 on friendly correction 124–6 humility 143 on John of Salisbury’s brother, as imitation model 112 letter collection 32–3 letter to Hugh of Preully 124 letter to Hugh IV de Clermont 56

266 Peter of Celle, abbot (cont.) letter to Matilda of Fontevrault 124 letter to Peter the Venerable 142 letters to the monks of Montier-la-Celle 69 life 32 on monks as ants 68 on monks as doves 68 relationship with John of Salisbury 79 self-abasement 142–3 on skills acquisition 55–6 theological disagreement with Nicholas of Clairvaux 151–2 use of verb enutrire 49 Peter Damian, prior and cardinal-bishop 60 career 22–3 on corrections 122–3, 132 on daily life in Fonte Avellana 99 definition of monks 61 on friendship 123 friendship with abbot Albizo 118 humility 89 letter collection 22–3 on mortification of the body 57 self-accusation 118 on the transformative value of the cell 64–5 Peter of Pavia, papal legate 34 Peter of Poitiers, monk of Cluny, friendship with Peter the Venerable 93, 143–4 Peter the Venerable of Cluny, abbot 13, 27 Bernard of Clairvaux, correspondence 29–30 on Cluny Abbey 63 on consolation 133, 136 De Miraculis (Book on Miracles) eremitical retreat 222 on friendship with Peter of Poitiers 93, 143–4 and Hatto of Troyes, reciprocal learning exchange 94 on hermits 91, 221 on leaving the monastery 101 letter 28 to Bernard of Clairvaux  71–2 letter collection 28–9, 135 letter from Basil of La Grande Chartreuse 68

Index letter from Peter of Celle 142 letter to Adela of Blois 188 letter to brother Pontius 100, 133 letter to Milo I of Therouanne 115 letter to women 188 letters to Heloise 90, 93, 114, 135, 173, 188, 190 life 28 on living with exceptional individuals 113 Peter of Poitiers encounter 133 praise of Abelard’s humility 174–5 shared learning 39 on the solitary life 221 speaking advice 223 Philip of Harvengt, canon regular 211 on monastic communities 220 De Institutione Clericorum (On the Knowledge of Clerics) 220 Philip of Heinsberg, archbishop 34 physical environment 61–76 and learning process 54, 75 in letters 61–2 porter role 71 prayer, and temptation 154 Psalter Brown on learning 56–7 time to master 57 Rainald of Foigny, abbot 189 letters from Bernard of Clairvaux 148–9 Raingard, mother of Peter the Venerable 28, 55, 136, 189, 203 reciprocal learning exchange Adam of Perseigne on 198–9 Anselm of Canterbury on 217 Bernard of Clairvaux and William of Saint-Thierry 94 between equals 92 Lanfranc of Canterbury on 92 learning as 37, 91–2 Peter the Venerable and Hatto of Troyes 94 recruitment, and letter-writing 45 Regula Benedicti (Rule of saint Benedict) 18, 29, 37, 56, 122 arriving late at Vigils 160 consolation 132

Index exhortation 144–5 hermits 90–1, 221 and learning 156 path to spiritual progress 207 supervision of young boys 82 Regula Magistri (Rule of the Master) 57 Reinhard of Reinhausen, abbot 83 Reindel, Kurt 22 religion, and cultural history, intersections 20 religious transformations 17–18 Robert of Châtillon, monk letter from Bernard of Clairvaux 50, 157, 169 unsuccessful adaptation to monastic life 169–70 Saint Gall 83 Saurette, Marc 67 school, and cloister, competition 21 scriptorium (scribal room) Nicholas of Clairvaux on 72–3 place of friendship 73–4 silence rule 74 self-abasement, Peter of Celle 142–3 self-accusation 119 and humility 117 Peter Damian 118 see also autobiographical narratives self-analysis, sharing 152 self-discovery 20–1 Şenocak, Neslihan 211 sexual temptation, and custodia notion 100 shame Anselm of Canterbury on 159–60 on being late for Vigils 160 Bernard of Clairvaux on 161–2 and self-correction 160 shared learning 4 Abelard 175–6, 190–1, 196 anchorites 13–14, 221, 223, 224, 225–6 Bernard of Clairvaux on 92–3 bottom-up learning exchanges 7, 88 canonical communities 13, 206, 208, 211 canons 13, 206 community effects 12–13, 170–87 conflict potential 231 context 11–12 daily 155

267 diversity of 10, 39 in female communities 13, 39, 188–205, 194–5, 195–6 gendered perceptions 232 Geoffrey of Vendôme 39 hermits 222–3 in High Middle Ages 228–9 horizontal learning exchanges 7 humility in 80, 88–9 and imitation 12, 108, 116, 229 individual effects 156–70 informality 227 knowledge sharing 3, 231 letter sources 8–9, 231–2 letter-writing 45 monastic communities 13, 184, 208, 209–10, 218–19 nuns 190, 205 Osbert of Clare on 192–3 pervasiveness 228 Peter the Venerable of Cluny 39 reciprocity 227 similarities 11 social control 12 sources 8, 232 subversion of hierarchy 84, 85, 87 transformative effect 157, 230–1 value of 14 and values of medieval monasticism  22 see also monastic learning sign language, monastic 74 silence rule, scriptorium 74 sinners, and imitation 114–16 situated learning spaces 70, 75–6 skills acquisition monastic communities 54–5 Peter of Celle on 55–6 social control custodia notion 98–9 monastic communities 98, 101 shared learning 12 see also peer control social environment 76–95 social interaction, definition 7 fn 20 social rank, Hildegard of Bingen on 186 solitary life Bernard of Clairvaux on 92, 97 Peter the Venerable on 221

268 solitude, distrust of, Bernard of Clairvaux 76 Song of Songs 94, 125 Sophie of Kitsingen, abbess 84 speaking advice, Peter the Venerable 223 spiritual directions, letters 85 spiritual equality, and friendship 93 spiritual parenthood notion 50–1 spiritual progress Rule of saint Benedict 207 search for 60–1 Stephen of Chalmet, monk, on co-discipleship 80–1 Stephen of Tournai, bishop 83 Strabo, Walafrid, monk, poem about vegetable garden 72 Suger of Saint-Denis, abbot, letters 41 suicide, prevention 99–100 Templars see Knights Hospitaller temptation and prayer 154 resisting 154 Thomas Becket, letters 41 Vanderputten, Steven 6, 19 vegetable garden Strabo’s poem about 72

Index verbs, describing monastic learning 49 virgins, advice to 189–90 vocation, letters, and friendship 144 Walker Bynum, Caroline 208 on canons 206–7 Wenger, Étienne 6 Wibald of Stavelot, abbot 84 letter collection 40–1, 129–31 William of Aebelholt canon 211 on friendship 212–13 letter collection 212 William of Saint-Thierry Bernard of Clairvaux, reciprocal learning exchange 94 on the cell as hostile environment 65 on the cell as infirmary 65 on divine Mercy 48 on entering monastic life 157–8 Epistola Aurea (Golden Epistle) 31, 60, 225 joins Cistercians 60 life 31 Meditativae Orationes (Meditations) 31, 48 visited the Carthusians 60 Vita Prima Sancti Bernardi (First Life of Bernard of Clairvaux) 31