Monastic Life and Venerated Spaces
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Edited by:
Aneilya Barnes
This series examines monastic movements amid broader religious and cultural traditions. It explores the everyday life of monastic individuals, the collective experience of religious communities, and the nature of asceticism and monasticism, as well as monastic institutions, patronage, and spaces and landscapes central to ascetic traditions, including sites of veneration. The series also welcomes research on monastic and ascetic communities and traditions from around the world during the period 500–1500 CE.
The series’ Editorial Board comprises:
Aneilya Barnes, Coastal Carolina University
Jacob Abell, Baylor University
Submissions
Proposals or completed manuscripts to be considered for publication in this series should be sent to Tyler Cloherty (tylercloherty44@gmail.com) or Emily Winkler (emily.winkler@history.ox.ac.uk), the acquisitions editors for the series.
Topics
This volume seeks—through the work of a number of experts in various fields—to explore monastic life as embodied by Carthusian monks and nuns. Medieval and Early Modern Carthusians are omnipresent in a number of topics in medieval studies—literature, history, art, religious life, and the development of intellectual and theological thought. Moreover, these religious men and women were significant contributors to Medieval and Early Modern culture, society, and spirituality. Despite Carthusians' influence and popularity during this time, they have often escaped scholarly attention. As a multi-pronged and interdisciplinary study, this volume offers a comprehensive, yet nuanced re-examination of the Carthusian way of life: one that often challenges long-standing assumptions about the Carthusians and their place within Western Christianity and civilization. The breadth and depth of this volume will appeal not only to the seasoned scholar and graduate students, but also to newcomers to the field.
As part of the historicizing corpus of seventh-century Irish writing, the Lives framed the narrative of the early saints as an effective weapon in contemporary political and ecclesiastical conflicts. Cogitosus’s Life of Brigit, Muirchú’s and Tírechán’s accounts of Saint Patrick, and Adomnán’s Life of Columba created the understanding of the history of early Ireland that has endured to this day. How did the writers accomplish this through their literary choices?
The authors of Irish saints’ Lives used the literary form of hagiography (Christian biography), miracle stories, and an elaborate rhetorical style to present the words and actions of their subjects. These Lives created a narrative of early Irish history that supported the political/ecclesiastical elites by showing that their power derived from the actions of their patron saints.
