Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

knowledge of its requirements (Regula virginum 58). 171 Once in the community proper,
Ferreolus required his monks to read until the third hour of the day, a provision taken
from both the Regula virginum (cap. 19) and Caesarius’ Regula monachorum (cap.
14). 172 Although not a direct citation, Ferreolus’ basic stipulation that the monks should
learn to read also stems from Caesarius’ rule for nuns (cap. 18). 173 It is an obvious but
fundamental point that Caesarius’ concept of monasticism itself provided the
preconditions for transmitting the tenets of the rule from community to community.
Yet Ferreolus envisioned a life for the monks of Ferreolac which was clearly
different in some respects from that of the nuns of St John. The rule contains one of the
earliest prohibitions on hunting (‘a useless and dangerous combat against wild beasts’),
which suggests that this was a practice they might otherwise have undertaken. 174 More
importantly, the mainstay of Caesarius’ rule was set aside: perpetual enclosure was not an
issue for this male community. Work in the fields was required, and this might include
fishing, for those too tired for harder manual labour. 175 It also seems that personal vanity
was a gendered issue; the form it took differed between men and women. While
Caesarius was troubled by embroidered and brightly-coloured clothing (Regula virginum
22), Ferreolus was more concerned by his monks’ use of perfumes on their garments. 176
How, then, do these three foundations for men compare to St John, or to Holy
Cross in Poitiers? Did their respective founders have different purposes in mind? For
Caesarius, St John represented a powerful element in his efforts to re-make Arles as a
thoroughly Christian city, which coincided with his sister Caesaria’s dedication to the
religious life and the maintenance of her own pre-existing community. In Aurelian’s case,
the foundations in Arles were the symbol of his informal alliance with Childebert and
Ultragotha; politics, patronage and piety united in the prayers of the communities.
Following the template shaped by Caesarius, particularly in his own city of Arles, the
171 Reg. Ferreoli 5.
172 Reg. Ferreoli 26.
173 Reg. Ferreoli 11.
174 Reg. Ferreoli 34.
175 Reg. Ferreoli 28.
176 Reg. Ferreoli 32.
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