Reading Guide: Violence: Christian and Unchristian

Handsome indeed is the name of peace, and beautiful the belief in unity which Christ ascending to heaven left to his disciples...
Acts of the Council of Poitiers, translated in Head and Landes, p. 330

At the millennial aniversary of the passion of the Lord [1033], the clouds cleared in obedience to divine mercy and goodness...At that point, in the region of Aquitaine, bishops, abbots, and other men devoted to holy religion first began to gather councils of the whole peple. At these gatherings the bodies of many saints and shrines containing holy relics were assembled...it was proclaimed in every diocese that councils would be summoned in fixed places by bishops and by the magnates of the whole land for the purpose of reforming both the peace and the institutions of the holy faith...
Rodulphus Glaber, translated in Head and Landes, p. 338

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IT SEEMS THAT A NEW KNIGHTHOOD has recently appeared on the earth, and precisely in that part of it which the Orient from on high visited in the flesh. As He then troubled the princes of darkness in the strength of His mighty hand, so there He now wipes out their followers, the children of disbelief, scattering them by the hands of His mighty ones. Even now He brings about the redemption of His people raising up again a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.

This is, I say, a new kind of knighthood and one unknown to the ages gone by. It ceaselessly wages a twofold war both against flesh and blood and against a spiritual army of evil in the heavens. When someone strongly resists a foe in the flesh, relying solely on the strength of the flesh, I would hardly remark it, since this is common enough. And when war is waged by spiritual strength against vices or demons, this, too, is nothing remarkable, praiseworthy as it is, for the world is full of monks. But when one sees a man powerfully girding himself with both swords and nobly marking his belt, who would not consider it worthy of all wonder, the more so since it has been hitherto unknown? He is truly a fearless knight and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armor of faith just as his body is protected by armor of steel. He is thus doubly armed and need fear neither demons nor men. Not that he fears death--no, he desires it. Why should he fear to live or fear to die when for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain? Gladly and faithfully he stands for Christ, but he would prefer to be dissolved and to be with Christ, by far the better thing.
Bernard of Clairvaux to the Knights Templar, c. 1130

Readings:

• T. Head and R. Landes, eds., The Peace of God. Social Violence and Religious Response in France around the Year 1000, 327-342 [blackboard]

• Excerpts from Housley, Fighting for the Cross: Crusading to the Holy Land [blackboard]

• Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood

Adhémar du Puy at Antioch

Last week we read about the many miracles that St. Foy performed during the councils and synods held in the region. The documents we'll be reading from The Peace of God: Social Violence and Religious Response in France around the Year 1000 describe the proceedings of some of these councils, which were attended not only by religious figures, but also by lay people, both rich and poor. Social unrest was to be settled by appeal to divine justice; note in document 2 (pp. 328-329) the important role of the people (populus) and of the saints in witnessing the proceedings. The response to violence and social disorder is closely bound up with reform of the Church; as you read, you should note how the two are intertwined. The readings on the Peace of God movement help to set up the second set of readings on Crusade. Read the chapters from Housely before you read Bernard of Clairvaux's letter to the Knights Templar. Most crusaders were NOT Knights of the Temple, and you need to have a sense of the larger project and spiritual framework of Crusade before you look at the relatively small, elite group of the "knights of Christ." The first chapter of Housely will give you the bare historical outline of the Crusades, while Chapter 7 attempts to recreate the spiritual outlook of the Crusaders. As you read this chapter, note particularly the relationship between penitence, pilgrimage, and Crusade and the close relationship between devotion and violence that marked the effort.

Paper Topic: (For instructions on writing the short papers, click here.) You may write a paper on 1) the Peace of God movement, 2) Crusade, or 3) assumptions about God and violence, Christianity and violence, pious devotion and violence, etc. that draw from both phenomena. Whatever you choose to write about, make sure that you ground your observations in close reading of specific texts. These papers are short, but they should be analytical rather than merely descriptive. That means that you can't survey everything; you have to choose a particular point to emphasize and develop.