This article provides a close reading of the monastic rules of Bishop Caesarius of Arles and his successor Aurelianus. Aurelianus died in 551, less than ten years after Caesarius. His Rule, which exists in two versions for a male and a female community, was largely inspired by Caesarius’ Rules. Nevertheless, subtle changes, re-arrangements and semantic shifts indicate that both bishops had a fundamentally different notion of the role, function and theological basis of monastic life. Caesarius’ Rules can still be seen as products of the world of Late Antiquity; Aureluans’ Rules are in many regards ‘early medieval’. A comparison of the male and female version of Aurelianus’ Rule shows that only the smaller part of the alterations and omissions in the female version are motivated by gender differences. Most of them can be explained by the different legal status of his foundations. Aurelianus pursued a profoundly non-gendered monastic ideal, which was, however, deeply inspired by Caesarius female monastic model.

This book is published with open access: https://www.brepolsonline.net/action/showBook?doi=10.1484/M.DM-EB.5.120300 A history of the monastic pursuit of eternal salvation in the early medieval West, revolving around a seventh-century monastic rule for nuns, the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines ("Someone’s Rule for Virgins") The seventh-century Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines (Someone’s Rule for Virgins), which was most likely written by Jonas of Bobbio, the hagiographer of the Irish monk Columbanus, forms an ideal point of departure for writing a new history of the emergence of Western monasticism understood as a history of the individual and collective attempt to pursue eternal salvation. The book provides a critical edition and translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and a roadmap for such a new history revolving around various aspects of monastic discipline, such as the agency of the community, the role of enclosure, authority and obedience, space and boundaries, confession and penance, sleep and silence, excommunication and expulsion. Table of Contents Summary The book consists of two sections. The first is a critical edition and translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines, a seventh-century Frankish monastic rule for nuns, along with the short treatise De accedendo ad Deum, which most likely formed a part of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines. The second section is a study on the transformations and diversification of monastic theology, concepts of communal life and monastic discipline in the early medieval period. It revolves around the Regula cuisudam ad uirgines in its historical and intertextual context. The study is divided four parts that are related to the four key words of the title of the book (Community, Space, Discipline, and Salvation). Each part consists of a chapter that makes an argument about the place of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines in intertextual contexts and a chapter that applies these arguments in a historical inquiry. Introduction Section I: Edition and Translation of the Regua cuiusdam ad uirgines Section II: Study Part I: Community revolves around the question to what extent the monastic community can serve as an agent of the collective and individual pursuit of salvation Chapter 1: Quidam pater – quaedam mater? The Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and its author provides a survey of the monastic milieu in which the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines was written, discusses potential authors and stakeholders in the monastic foundation that may have been addressed by the Rule and shows on the basis of semantic and stylistic similarities and shared content and ideas that Jonas of Bobbio, the author of the Vita Columbani, is to be considered the author of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines as well. Chapter 2: The dying nuns of Faremoutiers: the regula in action argues that Jonas of Bobbio’s description of the deaths of the nuns of Faremoutiers, which is a part of Book 2 of his Vita Columbani, and the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines represent the same monastic program, once presented as a "narrated rule", once as a normative text. The Faremoutiers episodes are closely modelled after Book 4 of the Dialogi of Gregory the Great and can be read as a critical response to Gregory’s eschatology and his notion of pursuing salvation by living a virtuous life. After having fleshed out the parallels and differences between the Dialogi and the Faremoutiers miracles, the chapter analyzes each episode of the Faremoutiers miracles, showing that Jonas wrote his monastic program in a highly sophisticated manner into stories describing the deaths occurring in the founding generation of nuns in Faremoutiers – deaths that were most likely still remembered by the primary audience of the Vita Columbani. Part II: Space discusses the role of space and boundaries for the monastic pursuit of salvation and explores the origins of the medieval cloister Chapter 3 The Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines, a supplement to Caesarius’ Rule for Nuns? compares the provisions of Caesarius of Arles’ Rule for Nuns with the Regula cuisudam ad uirgines and argues that Jonas wrote his Rule as an expansion and revision of Caesarius work: an "early medieval" update of a "late antique" monastic program, as it were. Chapter 4: Enclosure re-opened: Caesarius, Jonas, and the invention of sacred space discusses the evolution of Caesarius of Arles’ notion of enclosure as salvific instrument and then shows how Jonas of Bobbio tried to face the aporias of Caeasarius’ theology of enclosure by expanding it towards a system of total control of all physical, social and corporeal boundaries and the implementation of various enclosures. Part III: Discipline provides a historical survey of the evolution of various aspects of monastic discipline in early medieval monastic rules leading to the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines. Chapter 5: The Regula Benedicti in seventh-century Francia explores the role of the Regula Benedicti in Frankish monasticism in the aftermath of Columbanus and shows how Jonas used and revised the Regula Benedicti and refuted some of his main theological premises. Chapter 6: The Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and its context describes the history of the topics addressed in each chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and provides a detailed commentary to the Rule itself, showing how Jonas rewrote the Regula Benedicti. I discuss every chapter of the Rule but put a special emphasis on the following topics: abbatial authority, hierarchy, boundaries, love, confession, silence, work, sleep, excommunication, and family ties. Part IV: Salvation focusses on the short treatise De accedendo ad Deum which provides a unique theological rationale why monastic discipline enables monks and nuns to pray effectively and to attain eternal salvation. Chapter 7: De accedendo ad Deum – a lost chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines? shows that De accedendo was most likely a lost chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and thus written by Jonas of Bobbio as well. Chapter 8: Prompto corde orandum: the theological program of De accedendo analyzes the theological argument that monastic discipline enable a nun or monk to approach God through prayer, which forms one of the most sophisticated early medieval responses to the challenge of the doctrine of prevenient grace and the "semi-Pelagian" debate. De accedendo essentially explains how the monastic pursuit of salvation works.

In his eighteenth conference John Cassian seems to describe the origin of monasticism as a «reform» movement in reaction to the growing laxity of the church, a reform that he places, however, close to the apostolic age. His phrase, «they gradually separated themselves from the crowds of believers» in its context of a description of the growing laxity of the early church seems to suggest that the early monks were the true church over against the crowds of believers. Cassian was primarily a theologian rather than a historian. Nevertheless this passage raises very interesting questions both of history and historiography as well as questions of theology and ideology. This article seeks to examine the questions of history and historiography as well as those of theology and ideology.

This article shows the impact of clerical ordinations of monks on monastic communities of the late antique Latin West. Its first part demonstrates how the clerical hierarchy introduced by monk-presbyters and monk-deacons challenged the purely monastic power structure – based, above all, on the abbot’s supreme authority. It turns then to three organizers of monastic life active in the sixth century – Eugendus of Jura, Aurelian of Arles, and Benedict of Nursia – who, each in his own way, ensured that the appointment of monks to clerical ranks would leave the monastery’s hierarchy intact – or even reinforce it. In conclusion, it is argued that the problems provoked by monastic clergy were alleviated by the strict separation of monastic and ecclesiastical hierarchies, which is demonstrated particularly in the Benedict’s of Nursia Rule. This, in turn, contributed to the steady process of the clericalization of Western monasticism.

The article provides a comparative analysis of the attitude to priests and monks, the manifestations of which can be found in the works of the outstanding thinker and theologian, representative of patristics, John Chrysostom (347-407 A. D.). It is shown that depending on the purpose of each specific work, he used his own rhetorical abilities in different ways when speaking about priests and monks. When Chrysostom considered each of these figures separately, without comparing them with each other, he certainly showed considerable elevation. For example, when he wanted to exalt the exploits of monks and virgins, he did it in the most refined way. At the same time, in the treatise "Six Discourses on the Priesthood," while highly evaluating the functions and role of priests, he downplayed the role and importance of monks. In particular, in the last part of this work, Chrysostom portrays the figure of a monk as a kind of egoist who thinks only about his own salvation and has no connection with the outside world. In order to clarify the nature of this duality, we examine the uncertainty and variability in the nature and status of monasticism in the first centuries of Christianity, in particular, we pay attention to the complex nature of the monastic movement in the 4th century, when Chrysostom lived and worked. The historical comparison we have made allows us to assert that in those times, when the Church institution was being formed and its integration into society was still ongoing, the institution of the priesthood had already acquired a fairly stable ("routinized") charisma, while monasticism had not yet undergone such "routinization." But, as shown in the article, in general, the institution of monasticism was of great importance for the early Church. Based on this, we conclude that the downplaying of the image of monasticism, which can be seen in the "Six Conversations on the Priesthood," did not reflect reality in its entirety, but the specific rhetorical intentions of the author of this treatise, due to the specifics of the historical moment.

In reviewing the past fifteen years of Greyfriars Review, we noted how few articles were devoted to the Secular Franciscan Order. Surprisingly there have been relatively few scholarly articles written about such a vital part of the Franciscan Family. We are happy to have the opportunity to present this work of Prospero Rivi, O.F.M. Cap., of the Capuchin Province of Parma, Italy. Originally presented as a doctoral dissertation at the Pontificio Atheneo "Antonianum" in Rome, Rivi's work was subsequently published, widely distributed throughout Italy, and welcomed as a thorough study of the attraction of large numbers of lay people to Francis of Assisi. Within a short time of its publication, a number of people asked that we translate the work. Fortunately Heather Tolfree, who had known Rivi at the Franciscan International Study Centre in Canterbury, England, volunteered to tanslate and worked closely with him in the process. We hope that this work helps in some way to promote knowledge of and membership in the Secular Franciscan Order.