Creating Cistercian Nuns: The Women's Religious Movement and Its Reform in Thirteenth-Century Champagne

Acknowledgments

q Acknowledgments like the women at the end of this book, i have come to the close of this endeavor deeply in debt, benefiting from the intellectual generosity of many people and places. it is a joy to render account now. this book took shape under the patient teaching and advice of William Chester Jordan. His most challenging questions,often posed casually outside the classroom, became the subjects of chapters and shaped their arguments in critical ways. i am unspeakably grateful for Bill’s guidance, support, and friendship and am delighted to remain always his student. this book in its substance began,however,with the gift of an archive,or at least its suggestion. on a small index card over ten years ago,theodore evergates wrote “notreDame -aux-nonnains, troyes; Cistercian nunneries, archives départementales de l’aube” in a careful cursive hand. ted’s deep knowledge of these archives and my naive conviction that there must be something more to say about religious women led me to the hundreds of charters that lie behind this book. ted has read multiple versions of the manuscript, from its initial form as a dissertation to its final incarnation. He is perhaps the only person who knows the men and women of Champagne by name, and i have benefited from his wisdom in countless ways. i hope it is suitable thanks. a number of institutions provided financial assistance over the years: funding from the History Department at Princeton university, the Center for the study of religion, and the graduate school supported me and allowed me to travel to the archives in France several times as a student. Princeton shaped my thinking as a historian, and i am grateful for the guidance and conversation with many there, especially Peter Brown, Molly green, and gyan Prakash, as well as the environment of the Davis Center. support from the History Department at the george Washington university facilitated my first return to the archives as the project grew into a book. an andrew Mellon postdoctoral fellowship at the Medieval institute at the university of notre Dame was instrumental in the book’s reshaping, and i thank tom noble, remi Constable, and John van engen for their support. While there, Caroline Bruzelius, Barbara newman, and especially Martha xvi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS newman offered extremely useful comments on an earlier version. one lunchtime conversation with John van engen in particular made me see the landscape of this book and its comparative framework in a new way, and i remain immensely grateful for his comments and confidence in this project. likewise, an offhand comment from Paul Cobb about the crusader families of Champagne provided the genesis for chapter 5. Funding from the university of Colorado, the Center for the Humanities and the arts, as well as summer grants for junior faculty from the Council on research and Creative Work, an implementation of Multicultural Perspectives and approaches in research and teaching (iMPart) award, and a eugene M. Kayden research grant all allowed me to return to France at critical points. the inter-library loan staff at the university of Colorado also helped me acquire printed materials with remarkable efficiency. and a eugene M. Kayden Book subvention award from the university of Colorado generously supported the production of this book and the accompanying images. one of the most delightful parts of writing a book about France is learning and living in its archives. a Chateaubriand Fellowship supported my first year there,and i am grateful to Jean-Claude schmitt and nicole Bériou for their generosity and guidance while in Paris. the staff at the institut de recherché et d’histoire des textes in Paris, and especially the expertise of annie Dufour, made the salle diplomatique a welcoming place. i am deeply indebted to the wonderful staff at the archives départementales of the Marne, Haute-Marne,yonne, and especially the aube, who were always warm and generous in helping me find the documents i needed. i owe a special debt to Caroline goodson, a remarkable friend and colleague , for preparing the map. thanks also to terryl Kinder, who graciously photographed l’amour-Dieu for me during one of her many trips between Belgium and Pontigny. i owe Peter Potter at Cornell university Press great thanks for his interest and patience in seeing me through this process. thank you also to Candace akins and the Press staff for bringing the book to print. Finally, an earlier version of chapter 5 previously appeared in the...