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Monasteries and Monastic Orders Orden_KlösterCloisters_001-009_GER 001-009_GB.qxd 26.04.2007 17/3/08 8:25 08:52 Uhr SeitePage 3 (Black plate) Kristina Krüger MONASTERIES AND MONASTIC ORDERS 2000 Years of Christian Art and Culture Edited by Rolf Toman With a contribution from Rainer Warland Photographs by Achim Bednorz Production by Thomas Paffen Cloisters_010-025_GEROrden_Klöster 010-025_GB.qxd 25.04.2007 12/2/08 16:16 12:43 Uhr SeitePage 1212 Early Monasticism The Significance of Monasticism in the Christian Religion Monasticism and the ascetic way of life have always played a special role in Christianity, more so than in other religions. The example of individuals or whole groups of believers living a life detached from the world and conse- crated to God has always been an important element in the shaping and trans- mission of Christian religiosity.The history of the Christian Church has been influenced to a considerable extent by monks, monasteries, and monastic orders.The significance of such movements, defined by pious withdrawal from the world, in some epochs such the Middle Ages remains plainly visible today—in the churches and monasteries that still characterize our cities and landscapes. However, in the years following the Reformation, which led to the dissolution of many monasteries, Catholic revival movements continually aroused new interest in the monastic way of life, reformed existing monas- teries, and founded new ones. Even today, a monastery might sometimes be Chi-Rho—the Greek letters XR forming a monogram of accorded special significance in the communication of Christian beliefs in a Christ—on the façade of the Kisan Gate in Damascus, Syria. largely secular world—for example the ecumenical community of Taizé in Burgundy. The prominent position of monasticism itself and of individual monas- teries in particular is a feature distinguishing Christianity from the other two Judaism, the Bible, and the Promise of the Messiah great monotheistic religions. Neither ascetic movements, monasteries, nor Judaism is the oldest of the three monotheistic monastic orders have ever played a similar role in either Judaism or Islam. religions. It is based on the covenant that God made Neither did the ancient world of the Romans and the Greeks know such with the Israelites on Mount Sinai, after he had led monastic lifestyles. So where does the close link between Christianity and them out of slavery in Egypt. This covenant’s laws— including the Ten Commandments—are recorded in movements of ascetic withdrawal from the world come from? Before exam- the Torah (Hebrew for doctrine, i.e. the Five Books of ining the historical development of monasticism, we should once again take a Moses in the Old Testament). Together with the look back at the beginnings of the Christian religion in the context of this books of history and the prophets, the psalms and fundamental question. the remaining scriptures, they make up the Hebrew Bible, which tells the story of Israel from the days of the patriarch Abraham to the centuries before the Common Era. The Beginnings of Christianity The canon of books comprising the Hebrew Bible was adopted by the Christians with few deviations. It was termed the Old Testament, which essentially In Jerusalem, the capital of the Roman protectorate of Palestine, the time means “testimony of the ancient covenant.” As around AD 30 saw the execution of the Jewish religious teacher, Jesus of testimony of the new covenant mediated by Jesus Nazareth, which led to the emergence of a new Jewish sect. Its followers saw this was supplemented with the New Testament, which comprised the Gospels, the history of the Jesus as the Messiah promised by the prophets (Greek Christos, the anointed, Apostles, the Letters from the Apostles, and the i.e. the messenger of God) and testified to his resurrection from the dead. Book of Revelation. The psalms and the prophets had They very soon began to propagate this conviction, not only among their initially predicted a Messiah who would resurrect the Kingdom of Israel, and with whose coming a New Jewish co-religionists but also among the Greek-speaking, non-Jewish popu- Age would begin. At first this belief referred explicitly lation of Palestine and the neighboring Mediterranean region, as far as to kingship whose consecration ritual was anointing Rome. The gentile followers of Jesus were absolved from adherence to the with oil (Messiah from the Hebrew maschiach, the laws of the Jewish faith, such as those relating to diet and to circumcision. Anointed), but changed over the course of time to take on the notion of a spiritual leader. The side issue This saw the sect develop into an independent religious community. of liberation from political oppression remained alive, As early as the 2nd century there were Christians in many, sometimes however, especially under Roman occupation. remote, areas of the Roman Empire. The State treated the Christians with Consequently, in addition to Jesus of Nazareth, Simon Bar Kokhba, leader of the Jewish insurrection suspicion—not because they were followers of a man sentenced by Rome to of 132–135/36, was also sometimes seen as the a dishonorable death by crucifixion as an insurrectionist guilty of high trea- Messiah. son, but because, in the name of their God, they rejected the Roman imperial cult and the deification of the Emperor. 12 Early Monasticism Cloisters_026-069_GEROrden_Klöster 026-069_GB.qxd 25.04.2007 16/3/08 16:21 12:01 Uhr SeitePage 6868 (Text plate) Monastic Book Illumina- was related to the change in writing tion in the Middle Ages material from papyrus to parchment.The great boom in Christian book culture From the Early Middle Ages through to came—literally—on the backs of animals, the 12th century, the reproduction of i.e. it was based on processed animal hide texts largely took place in monasteries. It as a writing material.The production of a was a collective endeavor, although it can large book cost numerous calves their be assumed that, among the monks, some lives: “the hides of 250 calves were were especially talented at writing while required for the Winchester Bible, and for others proved to be more skilled at paint- a full monumental Bible some 500 ani- ing decorative letters and pages, and oth- mals are required.”This alone explains the ers still tended towards the more technical extraordinary value of medieval books. tasks of book production. Little is known Then there was also the work of the about these aspects of the division of scribes and bookbinders, as well as the labor in the monasteries, even though we cost of the valuable binding itself. Paper, have ample details of the individual work invented in China in the 2nd century, processes involved in the production of came to be used in the West only much books, as is shown by the illustra- later. Even after printing was invented by tions below. Gutenberg in the middle of the 15th cen- The early handwritten records tury, parchment was often still used for can hardly be referred to as high quality books. “books,” in fact. The rotulus From the 13th century, when the number commonly used in antiquity,an of literate individuals grew, the demand The monk Eadwine writing, from the Eadwine approximately 30-33 ft (9-10 for books became greater, and the circle Psalter, c. 1170 (Cambridge, Trinity College Library, Ms. R.17.1, folio 283 verso). m) long book roll, which was of people commissioning books still used only sporadically in expanded, book production was increas- the Middle Ages, was first ingly transferred from the monasteries to service to God and numerous texts and replaced as of the 4th century more and more specialized “workshops” images testify to its esteem. It was by the codex (Latin cauda, mean- in the towns. The medieval universities believed that the scribe would be ing tree trunk). It refers to the made a significant contribution to the absolved of as many sins in purgatory as bound leaf book with which growing demand for books, their require- there were letters and lines in a book. Of we are familiar; its prevalence ments of course focusing more on schol- course, the promise of reward in the after- arly books than on artistic masterpieces. life no longer applied to the later profes- Greater numbers of luxury products for sional writers; they received payment for bibliophiles, on the other hand, were their work during their lifetime. ordered in court circles and made by privileged court artists. Book illustrations, The Contents of the Books the art of miniatures, was a well-paid The majority of the books produced in business in the Late Middle Ages. The the monasteries were of religious content. occupation of “miniator” derives from These included liturgical books, which the Latin minium, the name of the vermil- were used in the religious service, and ion pigment that was initially used for pen devotional books, which served the pur- drawings or for the contours of initials. In poses of personal piety. Elaborately deco- the Late Middle Ages, the term “minia- rated devotional and prayer books for ture” was expanded and laymen, so-called Books of Hours, were a reinterpreted to become specialty of the Late Middle Ages, and Three initials with illustrations of the process of associated with painting in their production was no longer the task of book production in a manuscript text from reduced formats, namely the monasteries.The Bible took a special Hamburg dating from 1255: buying parchment (above), scraping the writing block (below left), that within the handwriting place among religious books in so far as it ruling lines (below right) (Copenhagen, itself. In the Early and High served as the basis for both the liturgical Kongelige Bibliothek, Ms.
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