Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

in the reform of the monastery. 67 There may also have been a wider theological context
for Benedict’s text-collecting and visitation of other monasteries. In 785 Elipand,
archbishop of Toledo, had begun to suggest that Christ had been merely the adopted son
of God. Felix, the bishop of Urgel, had become one of his adherents, and this ‘heretical’
strand of thought had penetrated into Septimania. 68 In response, Benedict composed the
Disputatio adversus Felicianam impietatem, 69 and also ensured that Alcuin’s work,
Adversus Felicem Urgellitanum episcopum, was circulated in the region. 70 Benedict also
preached in person in the region, travelling in areas where adherence to this belief was
strong. 71 Ensuring orthodoxy within monasteries could be achieved at the same time as
laying the ground work for reform on a different plane.
Caesarius’ place in the Codex
While the composition and structure of the Codex have been satisfactorily
established, no such certainty can be possible regarding the comprehensiveness of the
Codex’s contents. Despite the vita’s assertion that Benedict included every rule he could
find, this cannot be taken as proof that he either did find all of the rules or other
normative texts in existence, or that he did in fact include all of them. Were there more
works written for female communities that Benedict has not included – and have
therefore been completely lost – because they were not composed by authors of the
stature of Caesarius? It is possible, and indeed likely, given the eventual purpose of the
collection, that he selected the ones to preserve, perhaps on the basis of their orthodoxy,
or their popularity in monastic establishments. The disparity between the number of texts
written for men and for women – thirty as against six – may bear this out. It is impossible
to be sure whether there figures are a reflection on the texts actually in existence, the fact
67 Ibid., 83.
68 Bonnerue, Benedicti Anianensis Concordia Regularum CCCM 168 (Turnhout, 1999) 37-9. On
Adoptionism in general, see J. Cavadini, The Last Christology of the West. Adoptionism in Spain and Gaul,
785-820 (Philadelphia, 1993).
69 PL 103, 1399-1411.
70 G.B. Blumenshine Liber Alcuini contra haeresim Felicis (Vatican, 1980). Alcuin’s letter of June 800 is
edited by E. Dümmler, MGH Epp. IV (Munich 1895/1978), 340-2 (no. 205).
71 See, for instance, Alcuin’s letter to him on the subject: Dümmler (ed.) MGH Epp. IV, no. 200.
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