Before the Dawn. Monks and the Night in Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Europe Author(s): Mary W. Helms Source: Anthropos, Bd. 99, H. 1. (2004), pp. 177-191 Published by: Anthropos Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40466312 . Accessed: 29/07/2013 13:48 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Anthropos Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Anthropos. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 152.13.249.96 on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 13:48:56 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions H Anthropos IT] 99.2004:177-191 Beforethe Dawn Monksand theNight in Late Antiquityand EarlyMedieval Europe MaryW. Helms Abstract.- Early European monkswere preoccupiedwith the and withformal rules and especiallyritual that night.They were quintessentialmen of the dark,for nocturns, definedand activatedfundamental tenets of faith by fartheir longest liturgical office, was conductedeach night, offices. in the blacknessof unlitchurches. In so monks throughcarefully organized liturgical virtually doing these not only rituallyanticipated the coming of the dawn but Foremostamong ideologicallycharged also, and especially,engaged withthe primordialcosmological monasticsettings and liturgical presentations were darknessthat preceded the original creation of Genesis. Various thegarden or garth situated at thevery heart of the aspects of daily monasticlife preparedmonks for this primary cloistercomplex and theoffice of nocturnssung nightlylabor, the emotional and psychologicaleffects of which in the of thechurch. The the were probablyfurther heightened by physiologicalreactions depths garth, only to chronicsleep deprivation.[Europe, early medievalmonas- formalmonastic space to standopen to thesky, in ticism,spiritual qualities of night,sleep deprivation,ritual and essencemanifested light, not only natural light (it cosmology] was thecloister's major source of lumen) but, more the of W. Helms is Professorof Cultural at significantly,supernatural light (lux), light Mary Anthropology heavenand of thefirst of creation.As a the Universityof North Carolina at Greensboro,USA. Her day quiet interestsinclude cosmology and the legitimationof political Edenicgarden, the garth also stoodas analoguefor and ideological authority.Recent publicationsinclude: Access paradiseand, more specifically, for the first three to Origins:Affines, Ancestors and Aristocrats(Austin 1998); days of thehexaemeron when the newly created Sacred Landscape and the Early Medieval European Cloister worldwas stilland motionlessand Adam lived 2002). {Anthropos alonein innocenceand in fullunion with his God (Leach 1969; Helms2002). In contrast,the office In earlymedieval Western Europe, cenobitic mon- of nocturns(sometimes called vigils),2by farthe asteries1were verydistinctive features of both townand countryside.Sheltered within the walls 1 A cenobiumwas a formof monasticcommunity in which of thesereligious communities, separated both lo- a master and disciples lived in a close village-like or cationallyand by vocationalintent from the mun- communal setting. It contrastswith a laura in which dane life outsidethe thousandsof small cells of individual disciples were scatteredabout earthly gates, in to a centralnucleus menand womendedicated their lives to the countryside general proximity praiseful containgan oratoryand a few otherbuildings. worshipof and communicationwith the divine. 2 The term"nocturns" is used throughoutthis essay to refer The monasticenvironment in whichthey lived to the main night office, although this service is also shapedand facilitatedthis religious labor with ar- sometimescalled by some authors"matins" or "vigils." chitecturalfeatures that encoded basic However,I shall followthe practice of usingmatins to refer cosmologi- to the office nocturns.Authors who use in thevarious morning following cal andtheological precepts special matinsinstead of nocturnsin referenceto the nightoffice purposespaces and places of whichthe monas- (in effectidentifying it as a very,very early morning office) terywas composed(Gilchrist 1989; Helms2002) termthe regularmorning office "lauds." This content downloaded from 152.13.249.96 on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 13:48:56 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 178 MaryW.Helms longestand most important of the"daily" liturgical men7who acceptedthe demanding ascetical mo- services3and the officethat was chantedin the nasticlife and who,of all Christians,were most depthsof everynight in a virtuallyunlit, pitch deeplyand intenselycommitted to a theologyand blackchurch, manifested darkness. It can be es- cosmologythat emphasized light as a supreme sentiallyunderstood as connectingthe monks with metaphysicaland theologicalconcept, actually the primordialand pre-creationaldark that both heldtheir longest hours of prayerand meditation precededand accompanied the original creation of in thedark of night.8 the worldas describedin Genesisand withthe To be sure,resolution of the paradoxwould powerof the numinous4 that was feltto be present seem to be readilyat hand,given that the night in itsinfinite depths. officewas closelyfollowed by anotherbrief ser- It is the intentof thisessay to exploresome vice (matins,sometimes called lauds; see note aspectsof themonastic life of thenight and the 2), thatcelebrated the coming of thedawn. Thus darkin late Antiquityand theWestern European nocturnscan be easilyunderstood as essentially earlyMiddle Ages.5 To be sure,various com- anticipatory:"rising during the night and watching mentatorsof earlymonastic life have, moreor beforedawn expresses the will to purifyoneself, less in passing,voiced recognition of the funda- the desire for Christ,and the awaitingof the mentalimportance of nightprayers and of the day" (De Vogüé1983: 183). Yet,in termsof time officeof nocturnsto themonastic vocation,6 but and energyexpended and in termsof devotional detailedscholarly discussions of earlymonastic intensity,it was notthe heralding of thedawn or lifetypically emphasize the activities of the day as of theday, not matins or laudsor anyof theother muchor morethan those of thenight and deeper officesof the day (see note3), butthe phenomenon ideologicalimplications of an emphasison the of darknessand theliturgy of thenight that had spiritualityofthe night remain largely unexplored. to be concludedbefore dawn (since matins must In vocationalterms, however, the nightseems beginat daybreak;Kardong 1996: 183) thatwas to have informedthe very heart of the monastic by farthe primary devotional experience for the endeavor,the nature of whichI am interestedin community.It can be argued,therefore, that, in investigating.I find it singularly appropriate, there- themonastic perspective, night was morethan a fore,to explicitlydiscuss the nocturnal dimension periodof waitingfor the comingof day and it of earlycommunal monastic life specifically and can be positedthat dark night in its own right directlypartly because it matteredso muchto the held additionaltheological and cosmologicalsig- monksand partlybecause, at firstconsideration, nificance relevant to the ultimate monastic spiritual it would appearto addressa majortheological pursuit.Indeed, within the context of the nocturns- andcosmological paradox underlying early monas- centeredexistence that consumed so muchof their ticismgiven that, for hundreds of years, the devout time and attention,monks can be appropriate- ly thoughtof as essentiallymen of the night 3 The standardBenedictine monastic liturgical offices in- ("darknessis our naturalelement . ."; Harper cludedthe nightly nocturns and the sevenoffices of the 1968:129). day: matins,prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, and com- pline(Kardong 1996: 169-194). See Bradshaw(1981), Taft (1986) forgeneral discussion of the historical development ofthese various offices. The Dark, theNight, and Creation 4 The numinousrefers to an objectivesense of thepresence of something or somepower that is extraordinary,as of In fundamentalcosmological terms, darkness and thesupernatural or the divine (Otto 1950). can be understoodas with 5 This essay primarilyreferences the period from approx- night sharing light imatelythe 4th century, when desert monasticism began an associationwith the generative first principles to flourish,to the formationof the mendicantorders thatinformed original creation. Indeed, darkness of the early 13thcentury. This era was markedtheo- standseven closerthan light to ultimatecosmo- logicallyand cosmologicallyby a generalemphasis on in that will be discussed absolutefirst logical beginnings (as principlesrecognizing an eternal,God- in moredetail darknessis oftenidenti- created,hierarchically-structured and unchanging universe below) in whichthe significance of all realitywas directlyreferred to sacredbeginnings more than to humanhistory. See 7 Women'scommunities are not includedin thisanalysis. Helms (2002:436-438, especiallyn.4), for suggested Less is knownof themand it appearsthat the spiritual references. environmentfor women's houses was notthe same as it 6 For example,"vigils is the Officemost characteristic