A Benedictine Reader: 530-1530
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
A Benedictine Reader: 530–1530, has been more than twenty years in the making. A collaboration of a dozen scholars, this project gives as broad and deep a sense of the reality of the first one thousand years of Benedictine monasticism as can be done in one volume, using primary sources in English translation. The texts included are drawn from many different genres and from several languages and areas of Europe. The introduction to each of the thirty-two chapters aims to situate each author and text and to make connections with other texts and studies within and outside the Reader. The general introduction summarizes the main ideas and practices that are present in the Rule of Saint Benedict and in the first thousand years of Benedictine monasticism while suggesting questions that a reader might bring to the texts.
- Gives as broad and deep a sense of the reality of the first one thousand years of Benedictine monasticism
- Includes texts from many different genres and from several languages and areas of Europe
- Summarizes the main ideas and practices that are present in the Rule of Saint Benedict
- Epigraph
- Preface
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Acknowledgments
- I. Foundations
- II. The Benedictine Centuries
- III. The Long Twelfth Century (1050–1215)
- IV. Later Middle Ages (1215–1550)
- Bibliography of Christian Authors
- Bibliography of Classical Authors
- Bibliography of Secondary Sources
- Scriptural Index
- Index of Classical Authors
- Index of Christian Names and Works
- Rule of Saint Benedict Index
- Index of Modern Authors
Perfectae Caritatis invited religious to enter into their original sources and primitive inspirations. A Benedictine Reader achieves this by creating a fascinating world of medieval monastic doctrine. This anthology opens up for any interested person ancient sources that fashioned monastic aggiornamento through the centuries. With quite remarkable scholarship, the wealth of footnotes in this volume introduces contemporary authorities promoting this renewal. Together these ancient monastics and contemporary scholars form a valuable treasure for a rebirth in monastic wisdom and insight.
—Thomas X. Davis, OCSO, Abbot Emeritus, New Clairvaux Abbey
A Benedictine Reader brings together in a single volume the Venerable Bede, John of Fécamp, Abelard, Hildegard of Bingen, and other well-known figures of Western medieval monasticism. Also included are lesser known authors and works by anonymous voices. This virtual library of medieval Benedictine texts fills a gaping hole in monastic libraries and will be an excellent resource in monastic formation programs.
—Mark A. Scott, OCSO, Abbot of New Melleray, Peosta, Iowa
A Benedictine Reader is an exciting volume of sources that includes key texts from the Order's inception in 530 through the sixteenth century. These ‘Benedictine Centuries’ demonstrate the rich and varied contributions that knit together the religious, political, social, and cultural fabric of European society throughout the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern period. Translated into fresh and readable English, each text contains a concise introduction that has an almost intuitive quality. This is a welcome addition to the field and is an excellent resource for both scholars and students alike.
—Alice Chapman, Associate Professor of History, Grand Valley State University
- Title: A Benedictine Reader: 530-1530
- Authors: Maureen O'Brien, Ronald E. Pepin, Hugh Feiss
- Publisher: Liturgical Press
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Pages: 736
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- ISBNs: 9780879072759, 9780879071752, 087907275X, 0879071753
- Resource ID: LLS:BNDCTNRD5301530
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-03-12T22:28:32Z