The Cycle of Monasticism: Understanding the Nature of Medieval Economic and Political Innovation

Jørgen Møller

doi:10.1017/S1755048324000300

The Cycle of Monasticism: Understanding the Nature of Medieval Economic and Political Innovation

Institut for Statskundskab

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avis › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

Abstract

This research note develops a new theory about innovation in medieval monastic orders that, first, allows us to better understand medieval society and the nature of its dynamism, and second, can be applied to other areas of research on medieval Europe. Medieval monasteries were set in a society that—despite its famous dynamism—was deeply backward-looking. But monastic life generated antinomies that came from the tension between the degeneration into well-living and the ideal of the asceticism of the first Christians. These tensions sparked repeated attempts to reform monastic life, which were understood by reformers not as innovations but rather as efforts to restore the good old ways. This invention of tradition had economic and political repercussions, first in the monasteries themselves and then in surrounding lay society. To understand these processes, we must avoid reading history backward from a modern context that looks entirely different.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Politics and Religion
Vol/bind	17
Nummer	4
ISSN	1755-0483
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048324000300
Status	Udgivet - 2024

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The Cycle of Monasticism: Understanding the Nature of Medieval Economic and Political Innovation

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