Die Welt der mittelalterlichen Klöster—Geschichte und Lebensformen by Gerd Melville (review)

In Die Welt der mittelalterlichen Klöster—Geschichte und Lebensformen (The World of Medieval Monasteries—History and Forms of Life), Gert Melville, one of the most distinguished scholars of medieval studies in Germany and advocate of several research initiatives focusing on the history of Christian monasteries, offers an excellent introduction into the history of medieval monasticism from the fourth up to the fifteenth century. This extraordinary broad topic makes it difficult to choose an appropriate structure for a study. For this book Melville has decided to build his chapters around a chronological frame, which certainly has several advantages for the reader since it provides a clear outline and enables the author to describe the different stages of development of monastic history, focusing on the most important historical figures and institutions. Thematically, most parts of the study follow a traditional pattern which can also be found in many other survey studies of this kind. Separate chapters cover the Rule of Benedict and its wide-ranging consequences for the development of monastic life. Others focus on the rise of Cluny, the expansion of the Cistercian Order, the Dominicans and the Franciscans, and other mendicant orders.

Melville’s intention, however, is to demonstrate to his readers that monastic life throughout the middle ages was by no means limited to these famous orders. He points out that monastic lifestyles were developing in two directions. On the one hand there were cenobitic styles of life, which were defined by static institutional forms with fixed written rules and were characterized by communal life in closed areas. On the other hand there existed eremite forms begun by charismatic figures which were directed by word and deed (268). The central claim of his study is that monastic life oscillated between cenobitic and eremite ideals of life that were influencing each other. Consequently, unlike most other authors, Melville puts particular emphasis on forms of eremite monasticism. In the fourth chapter he surveys the biographies of four itinerant preachers from the eleventh century he identifies as the most important: Bernard of Thiron, Vitalis of Savigny, Robert of Arbissel, and Norbert of Xanten, all of which had started as priests, turned their backs to religious institutions and became evangelists. At the end of their lives, however, they all founded monasteries (101–102). The author puts particular emphasis on the connection between institutional church and the reform movements initiated in the eleventh century (113). According to Melville, their newly established monasteries needed the support of the broader church, that was based on fixed rules, or as the author calls it “transpersonal law,” in order to be able to survive after the charismatic founder had died (112–113). Another reform movement that usually remains unmentioned in comparable works are the Canons Regular. Melville decided to devote a concise chapter to their history, which clearly shows the broad approach of his study.

From a historiographical point of view Melville definitely succeeds in his goal to “draw an encompassing picture of monastic diversity,” as the text on the book jacket announces. However, it should not remain unmentioned that the chronological structure of the book and its top-down perspective also have their shortcomings because they mostly leave out everyday aspects of monastic life and do not cover its important social, educational, political, and economic, and other aspects. Presumably in order to correct the broad but simultaneously narrow perspective used in the first sixteen chapters of the book, the author changed the chronological structure in favor of a thematic one in his last chapter. The result is a compelling overview entitled “Fundamental Structures of the Vita Religiosa in the Middle Ages.” This part relates much closer to the book title’;s announcement of a description of “forms of life” in medieval monasteries and the author touches upon some of the aforementioned aspects.

In the closing remark of this chapter Melville draws attention to the long-term social effects of monastic influences. He argues that medieval monasteries “successfully tested...