William of Pagula’s Speculum religiosorum and its Background: Law, Pastoral Care and Religious Formation for Monks, c.1215-c.1350 by Tristan Thomas William Sharp A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Tristan Sharp 2013 William of Pagula’s Speculum religiosorum and its Background: Law, Pastoral Care and Religious Formation for Monks, c.1215- c.1350 Tristan Sharp Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2013 Abstract This dissertation examines the intersection of law and monastic literature in the Speculum religiosorum (c.1322), a guide to the monastic life, written by the English parish priest and doctor of canon law William of Pagula (c.1285-1332). William’s Speculum is unique among monastic treatises in that it incorporates a long compendium of monastic law. The introduction provides context for the Speculum through an overview of the history of monastic reform from the mid-eleventh century to the fourteenth. In chapter one, I examine the manuscripts of the Speculum religiosorum , its relationship to William’s other works, and its sources. The non-legal contents of the Speculum come mostly from the Bible, the Fathers, and Cistercian writers, but I show that William’s sources for this material were often more recent compilations, such as Thomas of Ireland’s Manipulus florum . In chapter two I argue that the Speculum belongs to a genre that I call “encyclopedic manuals of monastic formation,” but that the work also has an important relationship with sermons and preaching aids. Chapters three and four cover the legal contents of the Speculum . Chapter three is an overview of monastic law from Gratian’s Decretum to the Clementines (1311), with an emphasis on the English context. Chapter four surveys compendia of monastic law in fourteenth-century England. I argue that William’s legal ii methodology is more sophisticated than that of similar works. In Chapter five, I demonstrate that wisdom is the governing theme for the Speculum as a whole. I argue that William encourages his audience to treat law as a form of wisdom, and to internalize it through meditative reading. I provide parallel examples from other monastic contexts. William’s conception of wisdom combines elements from Augustine and from monastic exegesis of biblical wisdom literature. I conclude by observing that the Speculum does not allow for a neat division between pastoral, legal, and monastic literature. iii Acknowledgments Graduate study is by reputation an anti-social pursuit, but I am grateful to acknowledge the many people who have contributed to this thesis. First and foremost, I must thank my supervisor, Joseph Goering. Professor Goering gave me much freedom to find my own way, even when I got lost often, yet he was always generous in sharing his knowledge and wisdom, and he never tolerated imprecision or incoherence. I owe much to the other members of my committee as well: Isabelle Cochelin for introducing me to monastic studies, Bob Sweetman for ideas that caught me off guard, and valuable guidance to devotional literature, and Michèle Mulchahey for her encyclopedic knowledge of things Dominican. David Bell, my external examiner, provided an admirably thorough critical reading of this thesis. Claude Evans, the internal examiner, completed the group that had an official role to play in overseeing my research. All of them improved the finished work in ways large and small, yet even such combined erudition could only do so much for me, and all errors remain my own. This dissertation is the culmination of a decade of study, and I own much to mentors along the way. The Centre for Medieval Studies has been a singularly collegial place to conduct my graduate studies. Grace Desa has saved me a vast amount of time, money and frustration, as she has for generations of students past. At the beginning of my time in Toronto Lawrin Armstrong provided me with advice and references, as John Magee and Konrad Eisenbichler did toward the end of my studies. In Victoria the teaching of Tim Haskett and Greg Rowe inspired a love of Late Antique and medieval history, with an emphasis on religion and law. Cedric Littlewood taught me most of the Latin that I know. Gordon Fee first introduced me to textual criticsm at a rural church potluck. Andrew Reeves was exactly the senior student one hopes to meet when beginning an MA. Medievalists would not exist without libraries, and there are many librarians to thank in this project. Bill Edwards at the PIMS library was generous in offering guidance and indefagitable in tracking down obscure volumes. The following libraries in the United Kingdom granted me access to their manuscript collections: the British Library; Jesus College, Cambridge; St John’s College, Cambridge; the Dean and Chapter Library, Durham; Gray’s Inn, London. I owe particular thanks to Stephen Heath of Jesus College, who discussed his unpublished research on iv the history of the collection with me, and Gabriel Sewell of Durham, with whom I corresponded about manuscripts in the collection. I would also like to thank the many colleagues who contributed to this thesis. Gergeley Galai helped with Hungarian scholarship, and Travis Baker let me read his unpublished research on monastic law in the Decretum . Conversations with Marc Cels have shaped my thinking on the Manipulus florum . I presented elements of my thesis at the International Congress of Medieval Canon Law and the Toronto-Freiburg Graduate Colloquium in Toronto, and the Congress of the Canadian Society of Medievalists in Victoria. I am grateful for the questions and critiques that I received from the participants, above all from Nadja Germann, the respondent to my paper at the Graduate Colloquium. In financing my research I have benefited from the generosity of public institutions and private donors.The Government of Canada provided support for my research through the Vanier Graduate Scholarship, as did the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. I also received funding from the Kathleen Coburn Entrance Award, the Avie Bennett Scholarship and the Colin Chase Bursary at the University of Toronto. On a personal note, I must express my gratitude to my parents, Katherine (Therin) Gower and Michael Sharp, who graciously supported my decision to move to across the country so that I could spend years of poverty studying the obscure authors of forgotten books. My mother’s love of reading and my father’s interest in history helped make me the scholar that I am. I hope that they are pleased with the results. My grandparents, Frank and Linda Gower, were endlessly generous during my undergraduate education. Last, I must try to find adequate thanks for my wife, Alice Sharp, who has shared years of study with me. She is a treasured companion, a constant support, and a valued colleague. I end these acknowledgements with the words of William of Pagula: “ Rogo dominum Iesum Christum patronum meum ut hanc dissertationem ad laudem suam dirigat et honorem, ac eam conuertat ad vtilitatem legentium .” v Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 William of Pagula’s Life and Work .................................................................................... 2 1.2 The History of Monasticism, c.1050- c.1350 ..................................................................... 5 1.3 The Historiography of Late Medieval Monasticism ......................................................... 12 1.4 The Structure of the Thesis ............................................................................................... 18 Chapter 1 The Composition and Reception of the Speculum religiosorum : Manuscripts and Sources ..................................................................................................................................... 21 1.1 Manuscripts of the Speculum religiosorum ...................................................................... 22 1.2 The Speculum religiosorum and the Speculum praelatorum ............................................ 39 1.3 The Speculum religiosorum and Abbas vel prior ............................................................. 42 1.4 Date and Circumstances of the Composition of the Speculum religiosorum ................... 57 1.5 Sources of the Speculum religiosorum ............................................................................. 59 Chapter 2 The Literature of Pastoral Care and Monastic Formation ............................................ 72 2.1 Treatises on Monastic Confession .................................................................................... 72 2.2 Preaching for the Cloistered Religious ............................................................................. 86 2.3 The Speculum religiosorum and Thirteenth-Century Monastic Literature ..................... 100 2.4 The Speculum religiosorum as a Monastic and Pastoral Work: Conclusion .................. 118 Chapter 3 Canon Law and Cloistered Monasticism, c.1140-c.1340 ..........................................