Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

monasticism 763
As we would expect of Augustine, obedience in such a world was at once
the exercise and the guarantee of true freedom, not mere submission to a
law. 54 The contrast with developments in Gaul will be striking. Instead of
a monk who later became a bishop, we have a bishop who was learning
more and more what it meant to be a monk. The redeeming security and
necessary order of the church provided the model for the monastic life;
and its function as the household of God was as important as the structures
of authority within it. That social emphasis and reflective skill meant
that Augustine’s influence would transform any preoccupation with daily
order and obedience; and it was to be in the Rule of Benedict that the coalition
was finally most perfectly achieved.
Perhaps the most famous ‘monk-bishop’ of an earlier generation was
Martin of Tours (died a.d. 397). 55 In Gaul itself (he was actually born on
the Danube frontier), he appears to have been something of a monastic
pioneer, although he had depended as a young man on encouragement by
Hilary of Poitiers (died a.d. 367). The Life of Martin by Sulpicius Severus,
written around the time of its hero’s death, and the same author’s Dialogues,
written a few years later, present us with a vivid though highly tendentious
account. Drawing upon eastern sources, both literary and anecdotal,
Sulpicius’ descriptions of Martin’s ascetic regime may depend as much on
the models he admired as on the reports he received. Nevertheless, he provides
us with good reason to believe that some form of organized, communal
asceticism was in place in the region of Poitiers and Tours by the
360s. After his consecration, Martin continued to live a visibly ascetic life
(to the horror of some churchmen), to retreat at times to his own foundations,
and to maintain supervision of their progress. Structures appear to
have been loose, each ascetic living in a simple cabin or cave. There is allusion
to literary interests, supporting, perhaps, a pastoral and anti-heretical
impulse; but details are sketchy. 56 Martin’s subsequent influence was largely
restricted to the western parts of Gaul. He may have awakened interest in
Britain and Ireland; but there is little evidence that his cult, for all its popularity
and prestige both north and south, was accompanied, at least in the
Gallic cities where it took root, by a specific and corresponding enthusiasm
for anything that could be described as Martinian monasticism.
Of greater importance were developments in south-eastern Gaul, in
the Rhône valley and around Marseilles. Here the pioneer was Honoratus,
who, with the encouragement of Leontius, bishop of Fréjus, founded a
54 Influence of Acts: Aug. Praec. i.2f., iii.3f., iv.8. Superiors: vii.1f. ‘Rule’: viii.2. Prayer:ii.1f; the
continuum of each ascetic’s inner life was never ignored, iii.2. Obedience: viii.1 (the point had already
been made briefly in the Ordo 10f.).
55 Still the most authoritative account of asceticism in Gaul is that of Prinz (1965).
56 Most of the information is in Sulpicius Severus, V. Mart. x. Maintaining earlier asceticism: 1f.
Regular retreats to Marmoutier: 3f. Cabins or caves: 5. Literary pursuits: 6, and note reference to monks
as future bishops: 8f. For Hilary, v.1f., and churchmen’s horror, ix.3.
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