IMC 2020: Sessions
Session 253: Authority and Consent in Religious Communities, II: The 12th and 13th Centuries
Monday 6 July 2020, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Forschungsstelle für Vergleichende Ordensgeschichte (FOVOG), Technische Universität Dresden / Department of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb |
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| Organiser: | Daniela Bianca Hoffmann, Historisches Institut, Universität Mannheim |
| Moderator/Chair: | Gert Melville, Forschungsstelle für Vergleichende Ordensgeschichte (FOVOG), Technische Universität Dresden |
| Paper 253-a | Towards the Rule of Law: Consensus and Authority in the Formation of Religious Orders, 12th and 13th Centuries (Language: English) Index terms: Law, Monasticism, Religious Life |
| Paper 253-b | From Command to Consent: The Prior and the Order of Grandmont in the 12th Century (Language: English) Index terms: Monasticism, Religious Life |
| Paper 253-c | Authority and Consent: Decision-Making in the Order of St William (Language: English) Index terms: Monasticism, Religious Life |
| Abstract | During the institutional formation of the religious orders (12th-13th c.), the structure and understanding of monastic authority were redefined. The most important influence in this process was the Cistercian model of shared responsibility in government and consensus in decision-making about all spiritual, organizational, and normative issues. Instead of the early medieval ideal of dominance and obedience, the rule of an impersonal law enacted by means of consent emerged as the most adequate framework in which all the principles of the vita religiosa should be placed. Paper-a of this session discusses primarily Cistercians, Dominicans, and Cluniacs and shows how consensus was performed to sustain the 'rule of law' and how paradigmatic changes concerning authority were legitimized. The second paper-b focuses on the Order of Grandmont that did not follow the Cistercian model at first, but had to institutionalize the principle of consensus in legislation due to a severe crisis within the order. Lastly, paper-c provides new insights into the processes of decision-making within the extremely heterogeneous Order of St William that struggled to keep its coherence. |