Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

monasticism 769
was carefully defined, and the domestic liberty of the nuns was fully
respected. 82 Caesarius also made detailed provision for the endowment of
his communities: the preservation of his will allows us a rare glimpse into
such arrangements, as it carefully identifies the blocks of land upon which
future prosperity would depend. 83
In spite of selection, the main development is clear. The east provided
the first models, and preserved the reputation of the ascetic master and of
the laura system. Custom and anecdote provided the authority for order, and
a move away from that tradition was slow and never total. 84 Yet the common
dormitory, the common refectory, the importance of shared labour and the
prominence of the abbot became increasingly the norm. The bishop and
the secular patron retained some ultimate influence, not least because both
shared in the ambition and privilege of the aristocratic élite.
About the following century in Gaul, we gain most from a reading of
Gregory of Tours (died 594). His Histories are less useful than his more
deliberately religious works – the Liber vitæ patrum and the De gloria confessorum
– which have the added advantage of placing clearly coenobitic enterprises
in a rich context of eccentric variety; but there is one interesting
oddity in his more secular record – Radegund. Royal status made her
circumstance exceptional; but the fortunes of her community show the
pressures that could be brought to bear upon Caesarius’ legacy. 85 In the
hagiographical works, however, predictable patterns emerge. Travellers
from the east continued to reinforce Palestinian and Syrian customs. 86 Men
solitary in spirit and practice lived within communities or in close dependence
upon them. They might even be their founders. 87 Such communities
82 Superiors: Reg. mon. ed. Morin, 151:3f. (PL 11); see also 152:1f. (PL 16), and Statuta 35 (at Matri
quæ). Common life: Reg. mon. ed. Morin, 150:13 (PL 3); Statuta 9 (Nulli liceat). Stability: Statuta 2 (at Si qua).
Women: Statuta 39 (Convivium), 42f. (from Illud ante). Bishops: Statuta 36 (Ante omnia propter), 43 (Ante
omnia observandum); Recapitulatio 64 (Illud etiam), 72 (Vos tamen, PL tandem); and compare Greg. Tur. Gloria
79. Books: Vita sancti Caesarii i.58. 83 Ed. Morin, 283–9. See also Vita ii.8f., 47.
84 Witness the splendid portrait in Greg. Tur. Hist. vi.6 – an eastern ascetic in Gaul who even
imported his own food! One may note how the Apophthegmata, when translated into Latin, were rearranged
according to theme – though still in no way constituting a rule.
85 For other instances of royal involvement, see Greg. Tur. V. pat. vi and xii; and compare i.5 with
V. Lup. 92–5. Gregory’s personal interest in the famous ‘rebellion’ that occurred after Radegund’s death
prompts him to describe the practices of the convent and its endowment with land, which led to the
development of widespread estates with officials and tied labourers, supporting an army of domestic
servants responsible for the upkeep of urban buildings: Hist. vi.29, ix.39f., x.15f. For a brief but
authoritative account, see Wood, Merovingian Kingdoms 136–9.
86 Greg. Tur. V. pat. iii (urban and generous), xiii and xv (characteristically penitential). See also
Hist. iv.32 (an ascetic who ‘stands’ – very Syrian), vi.6 (a hermit’s imported herbs, and much else), vii.31
(a merchant with St Sergius’ finger), x.26 (a Syrian bishop), and x.31 with ii.39 (a travelled abbot).
87 V. pat. iv.3, ix; Gloria 37 (iuxta regulas monasteriorum . . . secretius tamen atque peculiarius, ed. Krusch,
321), 85. Having accustomed ourselves to the often extensive communities of the east, it is worth
attending to hints at scale: three monks, for example, in V. pat. xv; collectis secum paucis monachis in Gloria
79, ed. Krusch, 347. Yet Gregory the Great would attribute Rome’s safety from the Lombards to the
prayers of 3,000 nuns within its walls, Ep. 7.23. A founder: V. pat. ix.
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