IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 850: Historians among the White Monks: Cistercians and Their Records of the Past
Tuesday 7 July 2026, 16:30-18:00
| Sponsor: | ANR Access ERC Project Sigebert of Gembloux Master of History (ANR-24-AERC-0008 - SiGMaH) / Centre Jean-Mabillon, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres / École Nationale des Chartes, Paris |
|---|---|
| Organisers: | Antoni Grabowski, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa Elisa Lonati, École Nationale des Chartes, Paris / Centre Jean-Mabillon, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres |
| Moderator/Chair: | Charlie Rozier, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies (MEMS), University of Kent |
| Paper 850-a | Cistercian Histories in Natural Archives (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Economics - General, Historiography - Medieval, Monasticism |
| Paper 850-b | The Cistercian Network of Historical Writing in 12th-Century England: The Sources of the First Part of the Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Monasticism |
| Abstract | Medieval Cistercians appear to have had a strong interest in history. Their libraries housed Classical and Medieval historical texts, and members of the Order authored annals and chronicles about their abbeys, universal chronicles, hagiographies of Cistercian saints, collections of Cistercian stories, and more. But what does it mean to write “Cistercian history”? What are the structural and thematic features that reveal how authors gave expression to the Order’s concerns and priorities? And are these features always present? Our aim is to gather case studies from a variety of Cistercian contexts across Europe in order to explore the multiple strategies by which authors of historical texts reimagined the Order’s past, engaged with its historical tradition, and responded to the political, social, and religious challenges it faced – both locally and more broadly. The session begins with an exploration of the relationship between Cistercian historiography and the natural environment, examining how natural archives influenced the order’s narratives. It then turns to the intellectual networks that shaped the chroniclers, and to the interplay between monastic thought and secular affairs. Particular attention is devoted to the place of heresy and its repression within the historiographical tradition of the order. |