The reform of the Church undertaken in the eleventh century blossomed in the twelfth into a full scale transformation of lay and monastic piety as well as clerical reform. Under the leadership particularly of Bernard of Clairvaux and the newly established Cistercian Order (representing a more rigorous and mystical interpretation of traditional Benedictine monasticism), the monastic life was embraced with a new spiritual intensity that reached beyond the walls of the monastery to affect all of western Christian society. Lay people began to expect a more active role in the expression of their Christian faith and in the pursuit of their own salvation. While Christ as king remained a powerful image, there was a new emphasis on Christ's humanity in word and art and along with that a new focus on Mary, mother of the incarnate Jesus. The Crusades contributed to the new fascination with the life of Jesus on earth, as more European Christians than ever before had some personal or second hand experience of the Holy Land. The eucharistic piety that we've already observed was also a part of this religious revival. These religious changes took place in the context of a dramatic economic expansion and a corresponding urbanization of the European landscape. Latin and vernacular literatures benefited from the rise of schools (setting the stage for the university culture of the thirteenth century) on the one hand and increasing vernacular literacy on the other. All of these changes are manifest in the art and architecture as well as in the literature of the period. New cathedrals on a grand scale were built in the late Romanesque style shown below. The building continued apace into the thirteenth century when Romanesque gave way to the Gothic style.
The Lynch reading will provide a good background on the transformation of religious culture in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, including the reform of traditional monasticism in the twelfth century and the emergence of a dramatically new form of religious life in the the mendicant orders of the thirteenth century. Do look at the images of Chartres Cathedral. The church was begun in 1145, though most of it burned in 1194 (except for the west facade, which was able to be restored). Most of the building dates to the thirteenth rather than the twelfth century. Nevertheless, the Church presents a good example of the achievements of the twelfth-century revival and may be seen as the fruit of that revival, both in the tribute to learning sculpted into its stone and in the active involvement of lay people in its construction. The story of Our Lady's Tumbler is rich in imagery and implication. Take your time reading it and thinking about the message(s) it conveys. At one level, the story is clearly about lay versus monastic piety. The ignorant layman cannot participate in the prayer of the monastery because he is illiterate. It is not an accident that the layman is a tumbler, though. He is not just any layman, but one who has squandered his life in pursuit of frivolous, not to mention morally questionable, behaviors. (Tumblers were considered the medieval equivalent of, say, rock stars or hip hop artists. There was an assumption about "lifestyle" that went with/goes with the entertainment profession.) Yet somehow this unworthy is able to achieve something more than the pious abbot himself could achieve. How? Why? Is this story aimed primarily at lay ears or at monastic ears? What is the lesson for each community? The transformation of spirituality begun in the twelfth century continued to develop into the thirteenth, with an additional new emphasis on combatting heresy and channelling lay piety. Combining the rigorous lifestyle of the monk with the pastoral concerns of the secular clergy, the friars helped the laity deepen their involvement with Christian belief and practice in ways deemed appropriate by the papacy.
Our final reading for the week, Darleen Pryds' brief essay on Rose Viterbo, illustrates lay involvement with mendicant spirituality. Taking upon herself the role played by mendicant preachers in her day, Rose managed to avoid ecclesiastical censure. Pryds looks at the role of prophecy in Rose's apostolate, linking this young woman's experience with a broader phenomenon of granting spiritual authority to women who were received theological insight through mystical vision rather than through the ordinary chanels of study open to men. For an excellent discussion of this subject in twelfth-century context, see Barbara Newman's "Hildegard of Bingen: Visions and Validation," Church History v. 54 (June 1985) p. 163-75.
Paper
Topic: (For instructions on writing the short
papers, click here.) The
Franciscan and Dominican Orders arose in response (at least partly)
to the transformation of lay spirituality in the twelfth century. Using
Our Lady's Tumbler, the Life of St. Francis, and the story of Rose of
Viterbo as sources for insight into lay piety, describe the spiritual
transformation of twelfth- and thirteenth-century Latin Christendom. |