Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Conclusion
This chapter has located the composition of Caesarius of Arles’ two major texts
for dedicated women, the Regula virginum and the letter Vereor, in the context of the
foundation of the monastery of St John. Yet it has also highlighted a further context: the
different forms of religious life available in the period in which Caesarius and his sister
made their foundation. Against this backdrop of forms of religious life which shifted,
varied and blended, the decision of the Caesarii to create a coenobitic establishment in
southern Gaul can be seen as the radical move it was. Far from fitting into a pre-existing
tradition of coenobia, Caesarius and Caesaria were free to compose their own norms and
practices, amalgamating Eastern written traditions with the practices of women living out
a dedicated existence within their own homes.
The next chapter will build on the examination of these texts to look at the ways
in which they were subsequently adapted and disseminated by Caesarius himself,
building on his first efforts in the Recapitulatio. Secondly, it will examine the ways in
which other writers began to use the writings of Caesarius for dedicated religious women
in their own works.
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