Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Caesarius by commissioning his vita. 4 Documentary evidence was an essential tool, both
in ensuring the practical future of the monastery, and as a reminder of Caesarius’
protection and leadership from beyond the grave. Yet outwith the politics of sixth-century
Arles, later generations also found much of use in Caesarius’ sermons and rules.
Elements of the latter were reused in the rules of Aurelian himself, Ferreolus of Uzès, and
Donatus of Besançon. 5 At the beginning of the ninth century, as the latter part of this
study will draw out, Benedict of Aniane included several of the Caesarian monastic texts
in his Codex and Concordia regularum; 6 in the tenth century, the nuns of Niedermünster
in Regensburg used the Caesarian and Benedictine rules in parallel. 7
In the centuries after Caesarius’ death, two texts, the Regula virginum itself and
the letter Vereor, found particular popularity, and this chapter will focus on their
production. 8 However, before the works can be considered meaningfully, their contexts,
the factors which informed and shaped them, bear examination. Building on previous
work which has focused either on Caesarius’ episcopal activities or on the nuns of St
John as part of a wider tradition of female monastic life, this study will show both
Caesarius and the community of St John in a fresh light. It emphasizes both the active
role played by the nuns and their abbesses, particularly the shadowy figure of Caesaria,
Caesarius’ sister, in constructing their own patterns of dedication, and sets this self-
direction against the wider aims and objectives of Caesarius in making the foundation.
How did the monastery of St John, the intentions of Caesarius, or the experiences of the
nuns, compare with the broader religious world of the sixth century? The contexts of this
world will be considered in turn.
4
Cyprianus of Toulon et al., Vita Caesarii. [V.Caes] Ed. G. Morin Sancti Caesarii episcopi Arelatensis
Opera omnia II, 293-349. Eng. trans. W.E. Klingshirn (ed.) Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testament, Letters
(Liverpool, 1994) pp. 9-65. See also W.E. Klingshirn ‘Caesarius’ monastery for women’.
5
Regulae Aureliani: PL 68: 385-98 (monks), 399-406 (nuns); Regula Ferreoli: PL 66, 959-976; Regula
Donati: PL 87: 273-298.
6
P. Bonnerue Benedicti Anianensis Concordia Regularum CCCM 168 (Turnhout, 1999).
7
Bamberg ms. Lit. 142, ff. 62r – 83v. For further discussion see de Vogüé, Oeuvres pour les moniales 129-
134, and Chapter 3, below.
8
A second Caesarian letter for nuns, Coegisti me, was demonstrated in the 1970s to be a seventh century
forgery. See R. Étaix, ‘Trois notes sur saint Césaire d’Arles’, in Corona Gratiarum: Miscellanea patristica,
historica et liturgica Eligio Dekkers O.S.B. XII lustra complenti oblata I (Bruges, 1975) 211-227. The
continuing attribution of work to Caesarius has its own interest, and this letter will be discussed further in
Chapter Two.
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