| Abstract | Paper -a:
The Legend of Eustace is commonly read as a narrative about dealing with loss of material wealth due to parallels to the story of Job. However, Eustace's restoration to wealth and power, and subsequent military behaviour, are unusual features for hagiography. Alain Boureau's observation of the Legend's interest in the Three Orders of Christian society suggests that the composer was concerned with the apparent paradox between Christian and secular vocations. This paper will argue that the Legend of Eustace explores the relationship between secular roles and Christian faith, and the spiritual contextualisation of material wealth necessary to said roles.
Paper -b:
The study is devoted to both material and non-material things that were asked as a gift by abbots of Montecassino Monastery. The basis of the study was the Montecassino Chronicle, written in the 12th century and describing events from the 6th to the 12th centuries. In the methodological plan, the research is based on the works of M. Moss and A. Gurevich, who wrote about gifts, their symbolic value, etc. However, the purpose of my project is to approach this problem from a new perspective - to see what exactly was asked to give by abbots, on what basis, and whether they later received these gifts and, most significantly, how it is represented in the chronicle.
Paper -c:
La materialità, intesa come lavoro e produzione di oggetti e prodotti della terra, costituisce indubbiamente una parte integrante della spiritualità monastica prebenedettina del IV e V secolo e benedettina a cominciare dal secolo VI. Per il periodo prebenedettino, pur distinguendo il monachesimo orientale da quello occidentale, sono presenti delle costanti che li percorrono e che bisogna considerare e cioè la concezione del lavoro come strumento per il raggiungimento dell'ascesi per i monaci. Il monachesimo, fin dal suo primo sorgere, pone il lavoro come legge principale dell'ascesi; di fondamentale importanza la figura di S. Benedetto da Norcia che, nel VI secolo, nella sua Regola 'Ora et labora', considera il lavoro materiale un mezzo privilegiato per consolidare la preghiera come il massimo della concentrazione spirituale nell'unione con Dio.
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