Richard Rolle and the Possibility of Christian Friendship Between Men and Women

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Richard Rolle and the Possibility of Christian Friendship Between Men and Women JUST FRIENDS? Richard Rolle and the Possibility of Christian Friendship Between Men and Women Olli Lampinen Yleisen kirkkohistorian pro gradu -tutkielma Elokuu 2014 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO − HELSINGFORS UNIVERSITET Tiedekunta/Osasto − Fakultet/Sektion Laitos − Institution Teologinen tiedekunta Kirkkohistorian osasto Tekijä − Författare Lampinen, Olli Matias Työn nimi − Arbetets titel Just Friends? Richard Rolle and the Possibility of Christian Friendship Between Men and Women Oppiaine − Läroämne Yleinen kirkkohistoria Työn laji − Arbetets art Aika − Datum Sivumäärä − Sidoantal Pro gradu Elokuu 2014 121 Tiivistelmä − Referat Tutkimus käsittelee Richard Rollen (k. 1349), englantilaisen erakon ja uskonnollisen kirjailijan, käsityksiä ystävyydestä yleensä ja erityisesti hengellisestä ystävyydestä miesten ja naisten välillä. Rolle kirjoitti useita latinan- ja keskienglanninkielisiä tutkielmia ja hengellisiä oppaita, joissa hän sivusi ystävyyden tematiikkaa sekä omaelämäkerrallisesta että teoreettisesta näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen pääasiallisina lähteinä käytetään seitsemää Rollen omaa teosta sekä kanonisoinnin toivossa hänestä laadittua pyhimyselämäkertaa. Tutkimus esittelee Rollen ystävyysteoriaa ja suhteuttaa sen 1300-luvun Yorkshiren historialliseen kontekstiin, Rollen kirjallisiin esikuviin sekä hänen ajatteluunsa yleensä. Rolle näyttää tunteneen sekä Ciceron (k. 43 eaa.) että Aelred Rievaulxlaisen (k. 1167) teokset ystävyydestä, mutta sovelsi näiden näkemyksiä omintakeisesti. Rollen maailmankuvalle oli ominaista jyrkkä kaksijakoisuus maailman ja Jumalan rakkauden välillä, minkä vuoksi ero pyhän ja maallisen ystävyyden välillä oli ehdoton. Vääränlainen ystävyys oli vaarallista etenkin kontemplatiivista elämää harjoittaville erakoille ja anakoreeteille, joita Rolle opasti välttämään ihmiskontakteja. Jyrkkyydestään huolimatta Rolle erosi edeltäjistään ja 1300-luvun valtavirrasta puolustamalla sukupuolten välisen pyhän ystävyyden mahdollisuutta. Tutkimuksen keskeinen löytö on, että Rolle määritteli sukupuolten välisen ystävyyden hengelliseksi ohjaukseksi ja perusteli siten sen tarpeellisuutta; naiset tarvitsivat pyhien miesten neuvoja pelastuakseen. Tällainen opetusystävyys ei ollut tasa-arvoinen suhde, vaan miehen tuli opastaa ja oikaista naista tämän omaksi parhaaksi. Toisaalta Rolle uskoi naisten mahdollisuuksiin saavuttaa hengellisen elämän korkeimmat asteet. Lähteet paljastavat, että Rolle tosiasiassa opasti naisia esittämänsä mallin mukaan. Tutkimus osoittaa, että yksittäisille naisille laaditut kansankieliset opaskirjeet sisältävät opetusystävyyden keskeisiä piirteitä ja noudattavat sen hierarkista logiikkaa: Rolle esiintyy välittäjänä Jumalan ja lukijan välillä houkutellen, moittien ja neuvoen lukijaa, jotta tämä saavuttaisi yhä korkeamman pyhyyden asteen. Rollen ja anakoreetti Margaret Kirkebyn välinen suhde, jota on keskiajalla ja myöhemmin pidetty esimerkkinä pyhästä ystävyydestä, näyttää myös muiden lähteiden valossa olleen hierarkkinen opetussuhde. Tutkimuksessa argumentoidaan, että Rollen kirjoittamista motivoi tarve itsepuolustukseen ja toiminnan oikeuttamiseen; hänen kontaktinsa naisiin herättivät epäilyksiä. Rolle halusi olla hengellinen auktoriteetti, mutta hänellä ei ollut luostarisääntökunnan, kerjäläisveljestön tai pappisviran tuomaa virallista tukea, joten hänen paras mahdollisuutensa itsepuolustukseen oli kirjallinen toiminta. Oikeuttaakseen toimintansa naisten parissa Rolle esitti mallin Jumalan rakkauden elävöittämästä pyhästä elämästä, johon kuului velvollisuus opettaa naisia ystävinä. Lisäksi Rollen tuli osoittaa, että hänen oma elämänsä edusti hänen puolustamaansa mallia, jonka edellytyksenä oli välinpitämättömyys maallisia houkutuksia kohtaan. Kaiken tämän takana näyttää olleen toive tasavertaisen ystävän löytämisestä: Rolle ei ollut löytänyt vertaistaan ystävää, joka olisi jakanut hänen hengelliset kokemuksensa, joten hän pyrki hengellisen ohjauksen avulla nostamaan edes yhden oppilaistaan tasolleen. On huomionarvoista, että Rolle näyttää pitäneen naisia kelvollisina kandidaatteina tällaiseen suhteeseen. Avainsanat – Nyckelord Englanti, ystävyys, hengellinen ohjaus, keskiaika, erakot, naiskuva Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto, Keskustakampuksen kirjasto, Teologia Muita tietoja Table of Contents 1 Introduction...........................................................................................................1 2 Sources and Background.......................................................................................8 2.1 Richard Rolle: Man and Author....................................................................8 2.2 Sources........................................................................................................11 2.3 Theories of Friendship in Antiquity and the Middle Ages..........................20 3 God, the World and Friendship...........................................................................31 3.1 God's Friendship..........................................................................................31 3.2 Worldly Friendship......................................................................................35 3.3 True Human Friendship...............................................................................49 4 Spiritual Instruction – A Model of Friendship Between Men and Women........58 4.1 Virgins and Whores – Rolle's Depiction of Women...................................58 4.2 Spiritual Instruction as Friendship...............................................................61 4.3 Instruction-Friendship as Self-Defence.......................................................70 5 Friendship Actualised..........................................................................................82 5.1 The English Works as Instruction-Friendship.............................................82 5.2 Margaret Kirkeby, a True Friend?...............................................................95 6 Conclusions.......................................................................................................107 7 Bibliography......................................................................................................116 1 Introduction The topic of this thesis is how the fourteenth-century Yorkshire hermit and religious writer Richard Rolle (d. 1349) formulated, defended and practised a theory of friendship between men and women. Rolle is known primarily for his biblical commentaries, his instruction in the contemplative life, and spiritual experiences that manifested in sensations of heat, sweetness and song. Friendship seems to be a marginal theme in his works, but there is a very distinct chapter in his treatise Incendium amoris which describes a Christianised form of classical friendship and defends the possibility of holy friendship between men and women. The latter is an unusual stance in medieval discussions on friendship and encourages further investigation; indeed, closer inspection reveals a great deal of material concerning friendship, its intimate relation to spiritual instruction, and the conduct of relationships between humans in general and men and women in particular. Not only will a study of this material illuminate Rolle's own thinking, it is also a contribution to a greater understanding of medieval discourse and practice of friendship and mixed-gender relationships; identifying what is unusual in Richard Rolle and what the points of tension were between him and his writings on the one hand and his social and intellectual context on the other can reveal certain norms and expectations which circumscribed the possibilities of individuals to act in fourteenth-century Yorkshire. More specifically, Rolle's case offers one model of legitimation and self-defence for an aspiring religious authority who, as a layman, lacked the institutional support of a monastic or mendicant order or of ecclesiastical office. The first question to answer is: what was Rolle's general theory1 of friendship? In order to interpret it correctly, we must also consider its literary and spiritual background, that is, its models and direct sources, as well as its relation to Rolle's thought in general. Second, how did Rolle apply his general theory to friendship between men and women? Was there a difference between mixed- gender friendship and male friendship? What was required for mixed-gender friendship to work, and what was the connection between friendship and spiritual instruction? 1 The word 'theory' is used as a catch-all for the various arguments, opinions and off-hand remarks Rolle made about the topic; it does not presuppose a single, internally coherent argument. 1 Third, after Rolle's theory is sufficiently described and contextualised, we can investigate its practical application: did he express in some of his works or in his life the friendship he had theorised, and how? With answers to all these questions, it is possible to ask the difficult but rewarding question of 'why': why did Rolle write as he did about the topics of friendship, instruction and mixed- gender relationships; what were his authorial motives or the circumstances that occasioned his arguments? And finally, what was Rolle looking for personally, and how did that relate to his relationship with his beloved disciple Margaret Kirkeby; what was the true friendship he desired, and did he ever find it? The primary sources used to answer the questions are seven works by Rolle himself, and the Officium et miracula account of his life.2 A combination of criteria
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