Examining a central change in European religious thought, this study investigates the changing roles of monks in society to help understand the reform of Christian ideology. It is based on extant monastic writings, including hagiography and polemics.
The book explains the diversification of monasticism in this period as an outgrowth of a shift toward greater interest in lay religious life. Focusing on the German Empire, it examines monastic values in such areas as missionary work, public preaching, pilgrimage, and the polemics of the gregorian reform.
The sections on the role of polemic as a catalyst and reflection of monastic change and on missionary activities as part of ecclesiastical reform are especially important for the historian of religion. The book fills an important gap in the study of central European monasticism.
- ISBN10 9004107223
- ISBN13 9789004107229
- Publish Date 1 May 1997
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country NL
- Imprint Brill
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 310
- Language English
- URL brill.com/product_id2796