The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

uini‟ and „De habitu uirginum‟, yet even these offer little information that could be put to
practical use but rather are replete with theological musings. This presents difficulties for
asserting the text to be a monastic rule because, using the definition offered above, a
monastic rule should act as a regulatory text and offer guidance for everyday living, both
spiritual and practical.
There are a couple of points that can be made with regard to this issue. First, how does
one define „pragmatic‟? The Oxford English Dictionary gives its meaning as “dealing with
matters in accordance with practical rather than theoretical considerations or general
principles” and from this it is clear that pragmatism is not strictly defined. Some monastic
rules offer regulation in comparatively minute detail; a useful comparison are the chapters
concerning clothing in the monastic rule of Isidore of Seville (chapter twelve, De habitu
monachorum) and the De institutione uirginum (chapter ten, De habitu uirginum). Isidore
states details such as the fact that a monk should never wear pure cloth, hoods or cloaks; he
will have a maximum of two outer garments; bed socks should only be used in the winter or
whilst undertaking journeys; and that all monks should cut their hair at the same time and in
the same style, “nam reprehensibile est diuersum habere cultum ubi non est diuersum
propositum”. Leander, however, has a different approach, urging Florentina to choose
clothing that “will delight the only son of the heavenly Father” and warning her that she will
“be truly decorated if you delight the clothes not of the exterior, but of the interior”. Whilst
Leander advises to wear simple clothes that cover the body, there is no practical information
beyond this. However, other monastic rules are similarly diverse: the Rule of Augustine for
nuns merely recommends: “non sit notabilis habitus uester, nec affectetis uestibus placere
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