Mideveal Catholicism

[HPL]

I’m working on a short story and I’ve come to the conclusion that to enhance the realism of it, I’m going to need some good reasources about catholicism and the catholic church as it existed during the middle ages. Church structure, sacrements, theological beliefs, etc.

I have a copy of “The Rule of St. Benedict” which helps out with anything to do with midevieal monasticism, but I think I need more.

Could anyone suggest books or websites which would be useful in this regard?

Part of it is going to revovle around the caroligian era, if that helps, though I’m fairly sure part of the late middle ages is going to get dragged into this as well.

[duffer]

@HPL

I’m working on a short story and I’ve come to the conclusion that to enhance the realism of it, I’m going to need some good reasources about catholicism and the catholic church as it existed during the middle ages. Church structure, sacrements, theological beliefs, etc.

I have a copy of “The Rule of St. Benedict” which helps out with anything to do with midevieal monasticism, but I think I need more.

Could anyone suggest books or websites which would be useful in this regard?

Part of it is going to revovle around the caroligian era, if that helps, though I’m fairly sure part of the late middle ages is going to get dragged into this as well.

I would have to assume any Jesuit sites would help you out. Historical and non-political. Let us know where we can read it and good luck.

[duffer]

Shit, I hit the quote button instead of the reply one. :smack: :wally

[HPL]

@duffer

I would have to assume any Jesuit sites would help you out. Historical and non-political.

Thanks. I’ll check those out.

@duffer

Let us know where we can read it and good luck.

Do you mean the story? I’ll probably be quite a while before it’s posted anywhere on the net. Maybe I shouldn’t have used the phrase “Short Story” What do you usually call something that’s around 40 pages long(being a rough estimae of it’s final length)?

[Cunctator]

I thought that this book (The Stripping of the Altars by Eammon Duffy) gave an excellent summary of the pre-Reformation mediaeval religious beliefs and practices of English Catholics.

[tomndebb]

For that matter, the on-line Catholic Encyclopedia (from the 1908-1919 edition) provides a wealth of historical information on particular topics.

[Chairman_Pow]

@HPL

Maybe I shouldn’t have used the phrase “Short Story” What do you usually call something that’s around 40 pages long(being a rough estimae of it’s final length)?

Strictly speaking, a novel is 40,000 words long. A short story, as defined by Poe is something that can comfortably be read in one sitting.

[HPL]

@Chairman Pow

Strictly speaking, a novel is 40,000 words long. A short story, as defined by Poe is something that can comfortably be read in one sitting.

What do you call something that’s 25,000 words long?

[Kamino_Neko]

@HPL

What do you call something that’s 25,000 words long?

Novella, frequently.

[Ms_Boods]

Medieval! (Or mediaeval)

Carolingian!

Argh!

Sorry – I am a mediaevalist, and my main field was Carolingian Europe (Louis the Pious) – ‘medieval’ is one of those words that gets misspelt all over the place (‘mid-evil’ is another one), and it drives me bonkers.

Anyway. All aspects of Carolingian life were inextricably intwined with Catholicism, so just about any study of any facet of life then will necessarily touch on it.

Here are some books you may find useful:

Rosamund McKitterick The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians 751-987 — an excellent ‘here’s what happened’ and ‘one damned thing after another’ basic history of the period.

Rosamund McKitterick The Carolingians and the Written Word which is a study of literacy and use of writing in the Carolingian period. If you were literate, you were probably – but not necessarily – a monk or a scholar. This book talks about charters, law codification, book production and ownership of books, and the education, audience, and patronage of the laity for books and scholars.

Henry Bettenson’s Documents of the Christian Church is a wonderful annotated source of Christian documents from the earliest times through the 20th century, although the emphasis is on antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Even better isP D King’s Charlemagne: Translated Sources. King has excerpts from the many yearly chronicles and annals, The Astronomer’s Life of Louis the Pious, capitualaries (laws), and bits and pieces of other narrative sources.

And a terrific overview of everyday life is Pierre Riche’s Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne. Riche covers the geography of the Carolingian empire, what it was like to travel, the forest, town life, the monastic communities, palace life, demographics (birth rate, morality, etc); Aristocratic life, wealth, sports and entertainment, court life; the ecclesiastic life; the ordinary people. He covers rural technology and farming, artisans, builders, furniture & clothing; houses (lighting, heating, hygiene), food and drink. And the final section is on religious belief and attitude, covering paganism, socery, magic and astrology, and also the religious training and instruction of the clergy and laymen.

For a life of Charlemagne, Einhard and Notker the Stammer’s biographies are readily available in translation. For Louis the Pious, there are three biographies written at the time, the Astronomer, Thegan, and Ermoldus Nigellus. I believe the latter two are readily available in English translation. Ermoldus has been published in French (and not very accurately); there is an English translation, but that would be my disseratation :D.

The rule of St Benedict is a good basis for monastic life; it was an ideal, though, that no one managed to achieve. You might look for the Plan of St Gall, which was a monastery to be constructed during Louis the Pious’ life, what was planned to be the ‘perfect monastic community’ based on the Rule.

Start with Riche, then McKitterick; you can follow up on primary sources from their bibliographies. There a a great number of poems, epics, laws, biographies, etc that survive from this period. I don’t know if you read Latin, but there are many, many saints’ lives (hagiography) that can be found in the MGH. The only difficulty there is they all follow a set pattern – called a topos – in which every saint shows signs of sainthood as a child, or many saints perform the same sorts of miracles.

You might also look for translations of contemporary sermons, because they were preached to the ordinary person, and read rather folksy as compared to the theological discourses – St Augustine’s sermons, for example (5th century) or especially Caesarius of Arles sermons (many of those are translated). You find out what the common man wanted or needed in his religion; Caesarius used to complain that he had to lock the doors of his church to keep people from sneaking out whilst he was giving the sermons.

Unless you are absolutely set on the Carolingians, you might go a wee bit backwards in time to the family who ruled prior, the Merovingians. Get yourself a copy of Gregory of Tours History of the Franks for a read about a right nutcase family. Had I had my way in graduate school, I would have focused on them, not boring old Charlemagne!

Hope some of this helps.

[tomndebb]

Not so much for day-to-day life, but Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England provides a glimps into the issues of establishing Catholicism among pagans (and then dealing with the in-fighting afterward). Bede died in 735, so his history is fairly pertinent to the early Medieval period.

[HPL]

@Ms Boods

Here are some books you may find useful:

Rosamund McKitterick The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians 751-987 — an excellent ‘here’s what happened’ and ‘one damned thing after another’ basic history of the period.

Rosamund McKitterick The Carolingians and the Written Word which is a study of literacy and use of writing in the Carolingian period. If you were literate, you were probably – but not necessarily – a monk or a scholar. This book talks about charters, law codification, book production and ownership of books, and the education, audience, and patronage of the laity for books and scholars.

Henry Bettenson’s Documents of the Christian Church is a wonderful annotated source of Christian documents from the earliest times through the 20th century, although the emphasis is on antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Even better isP D King’s Charlemagne: Translated Sources. King has excerpts from the many yearly chronicles and annals, The Astronomer’s Life of Louis the Pious, capitualaries (laws), and bits and pieces of other narrative sources.

And a terrific overview of everyday life is Pierre Riche’s Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne. Riche covers the geography of the Carolingian empire, what it was like to travel, the forest, town life, the monastic communities, palace life, demographics (birth rate, morality, etc); Aristocratic life, wealth, sports and entertainment, court life; the ecclesiastic life; the ordinary people. He covers rural technology and farming, artisans, builders, furniture & clothing; houses (lighting, heating, hygiene), food and drink. And the final section is on religious belief and attitude, covering paganism, socery, magic and astrology, and also the religious training and instruction of the clergy and laymen.

For a life of Charlemagne, Einhard and Notker the Stammer’s biographies are readily available in translation. For Louis the Pious, there are three biographies written at the time, the Astronomer, Thegan, and Ermoldus Nigellus. I believe the latter two are readily available in English translation. Ermoldus has been published in French (and not very accurately); there is an English translation, but that would be my disseratation :D.

The rule of St Benedict is a good basis for monastic life; it was an ideal, though, that no one managed to achieve. You might look for the Plan of St Gall, which was a monastery to be constructed during Louis the Pious’ life, what was planned to be the ‘perfect monastic community’ based on the Rule.

Start with Riche, then McKitterick; you can follow up on primary sources from their bibliographies. There a a great number of poems, epics, laws, biographies, etc that survive from this period. I don’t know if you read Latin, but there are many, many saints’ lives (hagiography) that can be found in the MGH. The only difficulty there is they all follow a set pattern – called a topos – in which every saint shows signs of sainthood as a child, or many saints perform the same sorts of miracles.

You might also look for translations of contemporary sermons, because they were preached to the ordinary person, and read rather folksy as compared to the theological discourses – St Augustine’s sermons, for example (5th century) or especially Caesarius of Arles sermons (many of those are translated). You find out what the common man wanted or needed in his religion; Caesarius used to complain that he had to lock the doors of his church to keep people from sneaking out whilst he was giving the sermons.

Unless you are absolutely set on the Carolingians, you might go a wee bit backwards in time to the family who ruled prior, the Merovingians. Get yourself a copy of Gregory of Tours History of the Franks for a read about a right nutcase family. Had I had my way in graduate school, I would have focused on them, not boring old Charlemagne!

Hope some of this helps.

Thanks. Actually I have some of the books you mentioned. I have Riche’s book only a few feet away, and I’ve been looking through it all day for research to find the right infromation. I’ve read Einhard, though he isn’t quite what I need for this story.

I realize that the Rule of St. Benedict is an ideal, which is probably a good thing considering I’m going to have to deviate from it a little for plot purposes as part of the story does take place in and around a monestary.

I don’t read latin(I’d like to though) but I took a History class at the university about the Early middle ages, so I have a fairly good overview of the era.

Well, right now I’m settled on part of the story taking place around 869 AD then another part taking place in 885. Granted the dates are somewhat arbitrary, since the 885 date was chosen solely so I could have one ot he characters refer to a comtempary event, instead of me having to awkwardly mention the date somewhere in there so the readers know when it’s taking place(and the earlier date is completely dependent on the latter) Actually, I could move the date around, probably as far back as 750 or so if I needed to.

I’m not going to go TOO in depth, because the story is less about the early middle ages rather then a sizable portion of it that takes place in the middle ages. The research more is to ensure realism and atmosphere.

I will look for the Frankish Kingdom book, thank you.

Oh, does anyone have a good example of the Jesuit resources one of the above posters suggested?

[HPL]

@tomndebb

Not so much for day-to-day life, but Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England provides a glimps into the issues of establishing Catholicism among pagans (and then dealing with the in-fighting afterward). Bede died in 735, so his history is fairly pertinent to the early Medieval period.

Actually, I have read part of it, and If I can find an online edition, I think I’m going to go back and take a look at it.

[Baldwin]

Ms. Boods gave an excellent list. I’d just like to add A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous Fourteenth Century by Barbara Tuchman, which includes a lot of information about the Papal Schism of that period (one Pope in Rome and one in Avignon).

Also check out the Chronicles of Matthew Paris; he was a 13th Century monk who vividly recorded events in both town and monastery. (Whenever possible, read first-hand, contemporary material.)

Throughout the Middle Ages, you really can’t understand the history without taking the Church into account. Good luck!

[Ms_Boods]

@Baldwin

Also check out the Chronicles of Matthew Paris; he was a 13th Century monk who vividly recorded events in both town and monastery. (Whenever possible, read first-hand, contemporary material.)

Thank you, Baldwin! I thought I’d got a bit carried away.

Crikey, Matthew Paris! Now he is one of my favourites. Richard Vaughn has a nice biography and study of him, I think. I’m awfully fond of Matthew because he was rather sharp witted and critical of his contemporaries; my senior thesis was on William de Valence, and Matthew didn’t think too much of him as I recall.

Somewhere around here I have a seminar paper I concocted on mediaeval weather observations, and Matthew Paris was a major source of information. Illustrated his own manuscripts, too, clever clogs.

I am a right old flogger for primary sources – so I would add *The Song of Roland *for the Carolingian end. If you decide to go with Beowulf, though, have a care; many of the old Anglo-Saxon poems were probably not Christian in nature, but because they were oral songs and poems finally written down by Christian monks, they’ve ended up with a Christian veneer.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is translated into modern English – for mediaeval English sources, you could have a poke round the Rolls Series if you are near a uni library. It’s a multi compendium of many Anglo-Saxon and Plantagenet primary sources. The Surtee Society published many translations as well. There’s also a five volume set called English Historical Documents worth a look.

Last bit, I promise – if you wish to see how the Rule of St Benedict went pear shaped, see if you can find any of Bernard of Clairvaux’s criticism of the state of Benedictine monasticism by his lifetime (12th century).

[Horatio_Hellpop]

“Medieval” refers to a pretty broad swath of history, from the fall of Rome to the Protestant Reformation. Depending on exactly when this is set, and where, the Church waxed and waned a lot in terms of its influence. Not sure how important an institution the Church was in England before the Norman Conquest, or in Scandanavia during Viking times. I don’t think anyone even called it “Catholic” until after the Council of Trent, which was pretty late in the game. And of course, while the Crusades solidified political power for the Church, they didn’t start in earnest until around the 12th Century.

Your answer depends a lot on some story specifics. At the dawn of the Middle Ages, most of Europe was pagan. By the end (Discovery of America, Guttenburg Bible, Fall of Constantinople), a surprising number of people were pretty eager to embrace Protestantism. I’m not sure the Church ever had Europe in the kind of grip it thought it did.

[HPL]

@Ms Boods

I am a right old flogger for primary sources – so I would add *The Song of Roland *for the Carolingian end. If you decide to go with Beowulf, though, have a care; many of the old Anglo-Saxon poems were probably not Christian in nature, but because they were oral songs and poems finally written down by Christian monks, they’ve ended up with a Christian veneer.
Last bit, I promise – if you wish to see how the Rule of St Benedict went pear shaped, see if you can find any of Bernard of Clairvaux’s criticism of the state of Benedictine monasticism by his lifetime (12th century).

Actually, I’ve already read the Song of Roland as part of that class. Rather interesting, even if rather historically inaccurate. I’m actually suprised that Hollywood hasn’t made a movie of it yet.

I’ve also read “Beowulf” and I could see that it obviously much earlier then the Christianity that is in it. I’ve also read a bit of Germanic/Norse Myth to get a feel for some of the pre-christian beliefs of Central Europe.