Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

appropriate. In writing his rules, however, this was not the methodology Aurelian chose.
He clearly distinguished between Caesarius’ rules for virgins and monks. One clear
example of this is in the conditions for entry, where he states that ‘Until his death, no-one
shall presume or be permitted to leave the monastery...’ 146 This is drawn from Caesarius’
rule for virgins (‘none of you shall be permitted to leave the monastery until her death, or
shall presume to leave on her own accord’) 147 and not from his rule for monks, which
merely requires the monks to persevere until death. 148 Aurelian chose the more stringent
directive, which suited his purpose, even though it had originally been intended for a
community of women. On the other hand, one somewhat unclear chapter of the rule for
nuns may suggest that his nuns were permitted to leave the monastery of St Mary.
Chapter twelve states that ‘no nun will be allowed to leave for [the purposes of] greeting,
unless with the abbess or prioress, or with another senior nun whom the abbess has
delegated.’ 149 Does this describe a nun leaving the monastery, or simply her current task,
or dormitory? Notwithstanding Caesarius’ regulation, the Council of Orléans in 549 still
made separate provision for dedicated women who were expected to remain permanently
enclosed and those who were not. 150 Aurelian also took some regulations from Caesarius’
rule for monks, in preference to his Regula virginum. Chapters nine and ten, forbidding
the taking of oaths and insulting others, are repetitions of chapters four and six from the
Caesarian rule for monks. This is not hard to understand. As a ‘second recapitulation’ of
the Regula virginum, Caesarius’ rule for monks provides much shorter (and often much
easier to grasp) statements than its feminine counterpart. While the ban on oaths is, for
Caesarius’ monks, a simple ‘Do not swear, because the Lord said: Do not swear at all, but
let your conversation be: yes, yes, no, no’, 151 the prohibition given to nuns is the much
more reasoned ‘Exert [yourselves] to flee and avoid swearing and cursing, as if from the
146
Reg. Aureliani monachorum 2: Exceptus vero usque ad mortem suam nec praesumat, nec permittatur de
monasterio egredi, propter illud propheticum: Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem in domo
Domini omnibus diebus vitae meae (Psal. XXVI) PL 68:389.
147
RV 50 : ‘nulla ex vobis usque ad mortem suam de monasterio egredi... aut permittatur, aut per seipsam
praesumat exire’.
148
Reg. Mon. 1.
149
‘Nulli liceat ad salutandum exire, nisi cum abbatissa aut praeposita, vel certe alia quacunque seniore
cui abbatissa praeceperit.’ PL 68: 401. Desprez translates ‘ad salutandum’ as ‘un entretien’, ‘a
conversation’, which also leaves Aurelian’s intention unclear. V. Desprez (ed.) Règles Monastiques, 252.
150
Orléans (549) can. 19. MGH Conc. I, 107.
151
Reg. Mon. 4 : ‘Non iurent, quia Dominus dixit: Nolite iurare omnino, sed sermo vester: est, est, non,
non’.
103