Angelic Monks and Earthly Men: Monasticism and its Meaning to Medieval Society (review)

238 Reviews revolt was finally suppressed. The savage queen was barely mentioned during Elizabeth I's reign. W h e n she was, it was as a powerful image of unchaperoned female authority carefully juxtaposed precariously against Elizabeth's more sober and cautious government. 'Boadicea was indeed the frightful " w o m a n at the bottom" w h o revealed misogynist anxieties about " w o m e n on top" in Early Modern England' (p. 129). Throughout the early seventeenth century nationalist authors searched for civilised origins comparable to the classical history of their R o m a n conquerors. They struggled in dealing with Boadicea's legacy of heroic nationalism manifested as feminine savagery. Restoration drama domesticated Boadicea's legacy of political rebellion; the imagined private love interests of Boadicea's daughters overshadowed any political power she may have executed. By the eighteenth century Boadicea was a national heroine; the political rebellion and martial savagery of her revolt were no longer threatening symbols of female power. The story of Boadicea's legend is the story of the decline in the effectiveness of female political power. The Legacy of Boadicea greatly contributes to the debate on the origins of English nationalism. Mikalachki's reading of Early Modern texts also contributes greatly to the understanding of gendered constructions of nationalism. She presents a thoroughly researched and well-argued analysis of the major texts in question. Nevertheless, covering such a wide topic in such a short book requires that readers have more than a passing familiarity with the major texts she analyses. Andrea S. Cast Department ofHistory University ofAdelaide Milis, Ludo J. R., Angelic Monks and Earthly Men: Monasticism and its Meaning to Medieval Society, Woodbridge, The Boydell Press, rpt. 199 paper; pp. xiv, 170; 1 b / w illustration; R.R.P. £16.99, US$29.95. A reprint of the 1992 hardback edition, this illustrated account of t relationship between the monastic and the lay populations in the Middle Ages is especially written for students, but the author also 'ha[s] in mind the tourist, w h o visits Europe and w h o so often comes into contact with Reviews 239 the splendid artistic achievements of medieval monks, as well as the faithful museum visitor, or even the reader of detective novels set in medieval abbeys' (p. vii). Professor Milis poses the question to what extent the monasteries of the period affected the lives of ordinary people and his answer is 'very little'. In arriving at this answer, Milis explores the nature of monasticism, the relationships between abbey, market and town, the m o n k s ' interactions with other social groups, including the nobility and the common people, rural and urban, and the degree to which monasteries actually engaged in social welfare activities. H e questions the impact of monastic life on demographics, the extent to which monastic values affected the general population, and the degree to which their intellectual, artistic and architectural achievements touched the everyday lives of ordinary people. H e assesses the contributions of the monastic orders to missionary activity and to the Crusades and the relationships between monastic government and organisation and secular institutional systems. Finally, he considers the dynamics of monastic life and its value for individual monks. Milis disclaims any attempt to write a history of monasticism, adopting a thematic rather than a chronological approach and offering a 'bird's-eye view' of a thousand years of monastic endeavour, a view which 'shows an active swarm, but barely identifies individuals' (p. x). He defines monasticism as 'a specific spiritual ideal and aim of perfection implemented as a life-style' (p. ix) and constantly stresses the depth of the 'angelic' monks' separation from the material world. His analysis, as the book's title indicates, is confined to m o n k s (Benedictine and Cistercian), excluding nuns almost entirely, but there are passing references to friars and canons. Most of his examples are from Continental Europe, but there are some references to British monastic houses. Because he 'tr[ies] to see by trends and a trend leaves exceptions out of account/, Milis is not concerned with the specific deeds of individual monks or...