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IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 1206: Benedict of Aniane Reconsidered, I: Sources

Wednesday 7 July 2021, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Radboud Instituut voor Cultuur en Geschiedenis / Network for the Study of Late Antique & Early Medieval Monasticism
Organiser:Rutger Kramer, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Moderator/Chair:Mayke de Jong, Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht
Paper 1206-aThe Complexity of Benedict of Aniane's Life: Privileged Insider, Rebellious Outsider
(Language: English)
James Williams, Department of History & Political Science, University of Indianapolis
Index terms: Hagiography, Monasticism, Political Thought, Religious Life
Paper 1206-bMonastic Liturgies in Conversation: Revisiting Benedict of Aniane's Concordia regularum as History of the Liturgy
(Language: English)
Melissa Kapitan, Department of History, University of Kentucky
Index terms: Liturgy, Monasticism, Religious Life, Theology
Paper 1206-c(Re-)Gathering the Sheaves: Benedict of Aniane on Receiving New Monks
(Language: English)
Martin A. Claussen, Department of History, University of San Francisco
Index terms: Monasticism, Religious Life, Social History, Theology
Abstract

Benedict of Aniane (d. 821) is widely seen as one of the most influential figures of the Carolingian era. He has been credited with being the 'imperial abbot' and is considered to be a prime mover behind the reforms that shaped the monastic world under Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. While his influence on religious life at the time indeed cannot be denied, his present reputation rests to a large extent on the way the sources from and about his life have been read by modern historians.
This session, in the 1,200th year of his death, serves to reconsider Benedict's place in the elite religious discourse of the early 9th century by going back to the sources that - arguably - did the most to cement his reputation: the massive compilation of monastic rules known as the Concordia Regularum, and the Vita composed by his student, Ardo, shortly after the abbot's death. Together, these papers will deconstruct but also reconstruct the life and legacy of Benedict, by casting his vita in a new light, and reconsidering his role in shaping monastic life and liturgy.