From the highest peaks into the deepest abyss The construction of monastic identity in the Gesta abbatum Trudonensium by Rudolph of St. Trond Opening page of Rudolph's dedicatory letter of the Gesta abbatum Trudonensium. Maurits Sabbe bibliotheek, faculteit theologie en religiewetenschappen, KU Leuven, collectie Mechelen, codex 4, f. 1r. RMA-thesis Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies, University of Utrecht Student: Niels de Rooij Student number: 3536513 Supervisor: Dr. A.J. van den Hoven van Genderen Second reader: Prof. dr. M. Mostert Niels de Rooij 3536513 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER I: THE ABBEY OF ST. TROND, RUDOLPH, AND THE GESTA ABBATUM TRUDONENSIUM ........................................................................................................................ 10 THE ABBEY OF ST. TROND ................................................................................................................................ 10 RUDOLPH OF ST. TROND ................................................................................................................................... 14 THE GESTA ABBATUM AS A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL SOURCE ......................................................................... 16 RUDOLPH'S GAT AND THE GESTA ABBATUM TRUDONENSIUM CONTINUATIO PRIMA ........................ 19 CHAPTER 2: INSIDE OUT .......................................................................................................... 21 THE GOOD ABBOT ............................................................................................................................................... 21 THE OLD AND THE YOUNG ............................................................................................................................... 30 INSIDE OUT: THE MONASTIC SPACE OF ST. TROND ...................................................................................... 34 FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED ..................................................................................................... 40 REFORM ................................................................................................................................................................. 44 CHAPTER III: FROM THE HIGHEST PEAK INTO THE DEEPEST ABYSS ...................... 50 PAST AND PRESENT IN THE GESTA ABBATUM TRUDONENSIUM ............................................................... 50 THE MIRACULI ST TRUDONIS ........................................................................................................................... 56 THE THIRD CONTINUATION .............................................................................................................................. 60 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 65 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................... 68 SOURCES ................................................................................................................................................................ 68 LITERATURE ......................................................................................................................................................... 70 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................... 78 2 Niels de Rooij 3536513 Introduction When in his days, as is told, there was a famine due to the failure of the crops, people of both sexes came knocking on the door obtrusively and pitifully. Every now and then he would call some of them to him and ask them jokingly: 'Who's servant are you?' Or, 'You, woman, who do you serve? If they would answer him, for instance: 'of St. Lambert' or 'of St. Peter' or 'of St. Servace' or 'of St. Remacle', in short, from this or that saint, he would say: 'Then what is your business with the familia of St. Trudo? Let your lord, to whom you belong, feed you'. If there was someone who declared to belong to the familia of St. Trond, he would hear this fatherly answer: 'in that case our lord, St. Trudo, will feed you today, for you are his servant, as are we.1 The quotation above is the first story Rudolph of St. Trond (c. 1070-1138) narrates in the Gesta abbatum Trudonensium (henceforward GaT). Rudolph explains that this story about abbot Adelardus I, who presided over St. Trond approximately one hundred years before his own abbacy, was still being told amongst the monks.2 It is interesting that Rudolph starts his chronicle of St. Trond with this anecdote, because it reveals much about the intent Rudolph had with his work. Firstly, it shows the educational function of Rudolph's book. By feeding the poor, Adelardus I sets a good example for the monks, because they had the apostolic obligation to feed the hungry. Secondly, this story illustrates the importance of separation between monks and the world. The laity came knocking on the door for help. Although they were sometimes let inside, by mentioning that both women and men called for help, and by calling them obtrusive and pitiful, Rudolph underlines the divide between the 'inside' of the monastery and the 'outside' world. However, what Rudolph considered 'us' and 'them' differed depending on the subject and questions asked. Although all the hungry people knocking on the door were portrayed as being obtrusive and pitiful, the ones that belonged to the familia of the monastery were fed, while those that depended on another monastery were sent away. 1 Rudolph of St. Trond, Gesta abbatum Trudonensium I-VII accedunt epistolae, CCCM 257 (GaT), ed. P. Tombeur (Turnhout 2013) I, 7: 'Cum ex sterilitate terrę, aiunt, fames aliquando eius tempore accidisset, concurrebat ad elemosinam fratrum omnis sexus et ętas importunę et miserabiliter. Quorum aliquibus interdum ad se uocatis, querere dicebatur ioculariter: "Cuius seruus tu ille, tu ue illa cuius ancilla es?" Respondentibus illis, uerbi gratia, sancti Lamberti aut sancti Petri, siue sancti Seruatii, siue sancti Remacli, postremo cuiuslibet sancti, aiebat: "Quid igitur tibi et familię sancti Trudonis? Pascat te tuus dominus, cuius tu es seruus."Qui sancti Trudonis se esse profitebatur, paterne ab eo audiebat: "Pascet ergo te hodie sanctus Trudo dominus noster, conseruus enim noster es". 2 GaT, I, 7: 'Unde et usque in hodiernam diem de eo a plerisque solet tale quid memoriale referri'. 3 Niels de Rooij 3536513 Thirdly, the story makes clear that the abbey was in such a position that the hungry came flocking to St. Trond. The other saints that are named (Lambert, Peter, Servace and Remacle)3 were patron saints of important institutions near St. Trond. Apparently, the poor depending on those institutions sought support in St. Trond instead of the other way around. So, by telling this story Rudolph showed his readership the importance of the monastery at the time of the famine. Lastly, as I already mentioned, Rudolf starts off with a hundred-year-old story that was, so to say 'legendary' in the monastery. By incorporating a popular, orally transmitted story, Rudolph ensured his audience that he reflected the identity and history of the monastery he was writing about. On the other hand, there were more stories going around in the monastery about Adelardus I. From these stories, Rudolph handpicked this story to start his narrative about the deeds of the abbots of St. Trond. By choosing certain stories, by emphasizing certain of their aspects, and presumably by wilfully ignoring other parts of the history of the monastery, Rudolph was not only reflecting the identity of the abbey of St. Trond, he was also actively moulding it.4 The GaT by Rudolph of St. Trond is a historiographical work in seven books that relates the deeds of the abbots of St. Trond written in seven books. Rudolf starts his history roughly hundred years before his own time and ends when he is chosen as abbot himself. At the end of Rudolph's life, a first anonymous continuator wrote book VIII until XIII in which he narrates the deeds of Rudolph himself.5 As was Rudolph's explicit wish, later writers continued his work until 1679.6 The first seven books form a fascinating account of monastery life under great turmoil in the 11th and 12th centuries. Between 1082 and 1099 the office of abbot was almost continuously contested. A huge factor contributing to this was that until 1227 St. Trond was dependent on the bishopric of Metz for its secular affairs, while in religious matters it depended on the Bishop of Liège. This meant that the Bishop of Metz had the right to appoint the abbot, while the Bishop of Liège consecrated him. During the Investiture Controversy, the Bishop of 3 St. Lambertus probably refers to the cathedral of Liège of which Lambert was patron saint. St. Servatius most likely refers to those people that were dependent on the Basilica of Maastricht, because the nearby village of Zepperen belonged to the bishopric of Maastricht. St. Remaclus was the patron saint of the great Benedictine abbey in Stavelot. Lastly, Rudolph could be referring to the abbey of St. Peter in Ghent here. This monastery played an important role in the history of the abbey of St. Trond. Rudolph's predecessor abbot Theoderic resided in St. Peter when the monks of St. Trond convinced him with letters to take office