VILNIUS UNIVERSITY Mantė Lenkaitytė the MODEL of A
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VILNIUS UNIVERSITY Mantė Lenkaitytė THE MODEL OF A MONK IN DE LAUDE EREMI OF EUCHERIUS OF LYONS AND IN THE LATIN MONASTIC LITERATURE UP TO THE EARLY FIFTH CENTURY Doctoral dissertation Humanities, Philology (04 H) Vilnius, 2006 VILNIAUS UNIVERSITETAS Mantė Lenkaitytė VIENUOLIO IDEALAS EUCHERIJAUS LIONIEČIO „PAŠLOVINIME DYKUMAI“ IR LOTYNIŠKOJE VIENUOLINĖJE LITERATŪROJE IKI PENKTOJO AMŽIAUS PRADŽIOS Daktaro disertacija Humanitariniai mokslai, filologija (04 H) Vilnius, 2006 2 Disertacija rengta 2002 – 2006 metais Vilniaus universitete Mokslinis vadovas: doc. dr. Tatjana Aleknienė (Vilniaus universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija - 04 H) 3 Table of contents INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 6 A. The object of the research .................................................................................... 6 B. The aim and tasks of the research ........................................................................ 6 C. Relevance and novelty of the research................................................................. 7 D. Research methods ................................................................................................ 9 E. The sources of the research ................................................................................ 10 F. Defensive statements .......................................................................................... 11 I. MODEL AND EXAMPLE IN THE EARLY MONASTIC LITERATURE........ 13 1. Example and imitation in Christianity ...................................................................... 13 1.1. The biblical background .................................................................................. 13 1.2. The relation to and difference from the Classical background........................ 14 1.3. The Christian way of seeing history ................................................................ 16 1.4. The relations between the teacher and his disciple.......................................... 18 2. The figures of reference in the early monastic literature .......................................... 18 2.1. Biblical figures................................................................................................. 19 2.2. Eastern monks.................................................................................................. 22 II. THE MODEL OF A MONK IN DE LAUDE EREMI OF EUCHERIUS OF LYONS............................................................................................................................. 25 1. Eucherius of Lyons, his life and works..................................................................... 25 2. De laude eremi.......................................................................................................... 28 3. The model of a monk ................................................................................................ 30 3.1. The structure of the work................................................................................. 30 3.2. The main concepts ........................................................................................... 38 3.2.1. Desert and seclusion ................................................................................... 38 3.2.2. Paradise....................................................................................................... 48 3.2.3. Love and charity ......................................................................................... 62 3.2.4. God’s grace ................................................................................................. 64 3.2.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 68 3.3. Eucherius’ interpretation of the Bible.............................................................. 69 3.4. Scriptural examples.......................................................................................... 75 3.5. The desert habitants of today ........................................................................... 85 4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 92 III. THE MODEL OF A MONK IN THE EARLY LATIN MONASTIC LITERATURE ................................................................................................................ 96 1. Vita Antonii by Athanasius of Alexandria ................................................................ 96 1.1. Contemporary examples .................................................................................. 98 1.2. Scriptural examples and figures as models of monastic life.......................... 100 1.3. Antony as a father and a saint........................................................................ 107 1.4. Other solitaries............................................................................................... 112 1.5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 112 2. The Three Lives of Eastern monks by Jerome........................................................ 113 2.1. Scriptural models and allusions ..................................................................... 116 2.2. Succession of the human example ................................................................. 122 2.3. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 126 4 3. Eastern monks in the works of Rufinus .................................................................. 127 3.1. Ecclesiastical History..................................................................................... 128 3.2. Historia Monachorum in Aegypto ................................................................. 131 3.3. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 141 4. Martinian works by Sulpicius Severus: the first model of the Latin monk ............ 141 4.1. Martin’s portrait............................................................................................. 144 4.2. Egyptian monks ............................................................................................. 158 4.3. Martin superior to Egyptian ascetics.............................................................. 161 4.4. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 165 5. John Cassian and the implantation of the Eastern model in the south of Gaul....... 167 5.1. Points of reference: antiquitas, traditio, exemplum ....................................... 170 5.2. Eastern monks viewed by Cassian................................................................. 177 5.3. Examples from Scripture ............................................................................... 190 5.4. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 193 IV. NEW AND OLD IN THE MODEL BY EUCHERIUS OF LYONS.................. 196 V. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 200 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................... 204 Main sources ......................................................................................................... 204 Secondary literature .............................................................................................. 207 Abbreviations........................................................................................................ 218 5 INTRODUCTION A. The object of the research The object of the research is the ascetic treatise in the form of a letter De laude eremi (“In Praise of the Desert“), written in 428 by Eucherius of Lyons, and its Latin predecessors: the Latin monastic literature, either original or translated from Greek, prior to the composition of De laude eremi. De laude eremi is the first known literary work issued in the environment of the monastery of Lérins, founded around 410 by Honoratus of Arles. This insular monastery very soon developed into the most influential monastic centre of the Southern Gaul. The work of Eucherius represents therefore a recently emerged community and its ideals. The importance of the work is proved by the fact that many of the later Lerinian authors were strongly influenced by Eucherius’ vision of the ascetic model. On the other hand, De laude eremi stands in the already established tradition of the Latin monastic literature which emerged less than a century ago with the first Latin translation of the Vita Antonii. It is therefore worth to regard the work of Eucherius in the light of its literary predecessors, and to try to discern what he owes to earlier authors, and what is proper to his own vision of the monastic model that he passed over to the next generations. Other works of Eucherius are also taken into consideration as far as they help to clarify certain notions or ideas of the author. Other Lerinian writings, however, are not analysed, unless they help to draw certain parallels: on one hand, this would exceed the scope of the present research, and on the other, the early Lerinian literature as a whole has already been object of several monographies. B. The aim and tasks of the research The aim of the research is to outline the