0
Your cart

Your cart is empty

Browse All Departments
Price
  • R100 - R250 (11)
  • R250 - R500 (114)
  • R500+ (572)
  • -
Status
Format
Author / Contributor
Publisher

Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian communities & monasticism

Leper Knights - The Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem in England, c.1150-1544 (Paperback, New edition): David Marcombe Leper Knights - The Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem in England, c.1150-1544 (Paperback, New edition)
David Marcombe
R972 Discovery Miles 9 720 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

An illustrated history of the English branch of the Order of St Lazarus, founded to care for lepers and send leper knights to the Crusades. One of the most unusual contributions to the crusading era was the idea of the leper knight - a response to the scourge of leprosy and the shortage of fighting men which beset the Latin kingdom in the twelfth century. The Order ofSt Lazarus, which saw the idea become a reality, founded establishments across Western Europe to provide essential support for its hospitaller and military vocations. This book explores the important contribution of the English branch of the order, which by 1300 managed a considerable estate from its chief preceptory at Burton Lazars in Leicestershire. Time proved the English Lazarites to be both tough and tenacious, if not always preoccupied with the care of lepers: following the fall of Acre in 1291 they endured a period of bitter internal conflict, only to emerge reformed and reinvigorated in the fifteenth century. Though these late medieval knights were very different from their twelfth-century predecessors, some ideologies lingered on, though subtly readapted to the requirements of a new age, until the order was finally suppressed by Henry VIII in 1544. The modern refoundation of the order, a charitable institution, dates from 1962. The book uses both documentary and archaeological evidence to provide the first ever account of this little-understood crusading order. DAVID MARCOMBE is Director of the Centre for LocalHistory, University of Nottingham.

Genesee Diary - Report from a Trappist Monastery (Paperback, Re-issue): Henri J.M. Nouwen Genesee Diary - Report from a Trappist Monastery (Paperback, Re-issue)
Henri J.M. Nouwen
R346 R315 Discovery Miles 3 150 Save R31 (9%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

'Just as the whole world of beauty can be discovered in one flower, so the great grace of God can be tasted in one small moment'. This observation is central to the probing spiritual journey of Henri Nouwen during his seven-month stay in a Trappist monastery, the Abbey of the Genesee in upstate New York.

Anglo-Norman Durham 1093-1193 (Paperback, New edition): David W Rollason, Margaret Harvey, Michael C Prestwich Anglo-Norman Durham 1093-1193 (Paperback, New edition)
David W Rollason, Margaret Harvey, Michael C Prestwich; Contributions by Alan J Piper, Alan Young, …
R2,025 Discovery Miles 20 250 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Impressive... for many readers of these papers their cumulative effect will be very great indeed... Admirable collaborative volume. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Specialists explore the influence of twelfth-centuryDurham, in ecclesiastical affairs, Border politics, architecture, art, and religious and literary culture. Impressive... the cumulative effect [of these papers] is very great indeed. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY This study of Anglo-Norman Durham's history, architecture, art, and religious and literary culture covers much ground, including the Cathedral Priory and its relationship to monastic reform; the careers of the prince bishops; studies of the spectacular castle; the relationship between Durham and the Scottish kings; the architecture of the cathedral; and Durham manuscripts and texts, featuring historical compilations and the remarkable Old English poem De situ Dunelmi. Contributors: DONALD MATTHEW, JULIA BARROW, JANET BURTON, MERYL FOSTER,VICTORIA TUDOR, MICHAEL GULLICK, ALAN PIPER, DAVID BATES, MARK PHILPOTT, ERIC CAMBRIDGE, MALCOLM THURLBY, J. PHILIP McALEER, S.A. HARRISON, JOHN CROOK, THOMAS E. RUSSO, E.C. FERNIE, WILLIAM AIRD, J.O. PRESTWICH, G.W.S. BARROW, VALERIE WALL, PAUL DALTON, ALAN YOUNG, HENRY SUMMERSON, MARTIN ALLEN, P.D.A. HARVEY, MARTIN LEYLAND, M.W. THOMPSON, BERNARD MEEHAN, CHRISTOPHER NORTON, ANNE LAWRENCE, DOMINIC MARNER, DAVID HOWLETT

All Saints Sisters of the Poor - An Anglican Sisterhood in the Nineteenth Century (Hardcover): Susan Mumm All Saints Sisters of the Poor - An Anglican Sisterhood in the Nineteenth Century (Hardcover)
Susan Mumm
R1,846 Discovery Miles 18 460 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The life of a Victorian religious community, both within the privacy of the convent and in its work in the wider world, including front-line nursing. This book introduces readers to the life of a Victorian religious community, both within the privacy of the convent and in its work in the wider world, based on documents preserved by the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor.It begins by using the memoirs of first-generation members of the community, a colourful and human introduction to the Anglican 're-invention' of monastic life in the second half of the nineteenth century. The section on government includes the power struggles between the sisters and the religious establishment, and the community's determination to retain its identity after the death of the mother foundress. The sisters nursed with the newly-formed Red Cross in the Franco-Prussian War, work recorded in a diary which discusses the difficulties and dangers of Victorian front-line nursing. Most of all, the documents reveal the challenges and excitement of the struggle to establish awomen's community, to be unfettered in their work with the poor and suffering, and to govern themselves, in a world dominated by men largely hostile to their aspirations. SUSAN MUMM is lecturer in religious studies at the OpenUniversity, Milton Keynes.

Bishop Aethelwold - His Career and Influence (Paperback, New Ed): Barbara Yorke Bishop Aethelwold - His Career and Influence (Paperback, New Ed)
Barbara Yorke; Edited by Barbara Yorke; Contributions by Alan T. Thacker, Andrew J Prescott, Barbara Yorke, …
R1,166 Discovery Miles 11 660 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

[This] exemplary interdisciplinary approach to Aethelwold and his impart on the cultural, religious and political life of southern England in his own day is to be applauded. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AEthelwold's life and his political and ecclesiastical importance in the 10th-century reformation receive thorough scholarly scrutiny in this appraisal of his life and work. The studies include a comparison of AEthelwold's career with that of other European monastic reformers; a study of AEthelwold's foundation at Abingdon; and of his involvement with the political crises of the 10th century. AEthelwold's skills as a scholar are assessed through surviving Latin and Old Englist texts, and as a teacher from the writings of his pupils. The scholarly work of his foundations is highlighted by a detailed study of the text of the Benedictional of St AEthelwold; other essays look at themusic and sculpture performed and produced at AEthelwold's foundations. Contributors: PATRICK WORMALD, ALAN THACKER, BARBARA YORKE, MICHAEL LAPIDGE, ANDREW PRESCOTT, MARY BERRY, ELIZABETH COATSWORTH

Sevenhill (Paperback): Michael Head, Paul McKee, Paul Fyfe Sevenhill (Paperback)
Michael Head, Paul McKee, Paul Fyfe
R1,345 Discovery Miles 13 450 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

One day, two men with a wheelbarrow settled on this block of land and laid out a farm, built a small house and planted some vines.170 years later, one of the outstanding wineries in the region and historic buildings that include a gracious church and spiritual retreat centre are the results of their efforts.This book tells the story of their struggle and their legacy. It is about Sevenhill Cellars in the Clare Valley of South Australia, as well as the Jesuits and their mission at Sevenhill, which once extended for hundreds of kilometres and now reaches beyond Australia.

Monasticism in Modern Times (Hardcover): Isabelle Jonveaux, Stefania Palmisano Monasticism in Modern Times (Hardcover)
Isabelle Jonveaux, Stefania Palmisano
R5,029 Discovery Miles 50 290 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

This book presents a broad sociological perspective on the contemporary issues facing Christian monasticism. Since the founding work of Max Weber, the sociology of monasticism has received little attention. However, the field is now being revitalized by some new research. Focusing on Christian monks and nuns, the contributors explore continuity and discontinuity with the past in what superficially might appear a monolithic tradition. Contributors speak not only about monasticism in Europe and the United States but also in Africa and Latin America, a different landscape where the question of recruitment does not figure among issues considered as problematic.

The Rule of the Templars - The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar (Paperback, New Ed): J.M.Upton-. Ward The Rule of the Templars - The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar (Paperback, New Ed)
J.M.Upton-. Ward
R759 R716 Discovery Miles 7 160 Save R43 (6%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

The Order of the Knights Templar, whose original purpose was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land, was first given its own Rule in 1129, formalising the exceptional combination of soldier and monk. This translation of Henri de Curzon's 1886 edition of the French Rule is derived from the three extant medieval manuscripts.

Both monastic rule and military manual, the Rule is a unique document and an important historical source. It comprises the Primitive Rule, Hierarchical Statutes, Penances, Conventual Life, the Holding of Ordinary Chapters, Further Details on Penances, and Reception into the Order. There are details of clothing, armour and equipment; instructions on conduct while on campaign; information on the daily life of members of the order and on the discipline which made it a formidable fighting force. The Rule evolved over almost 150 years of the Order's history, and is thus a dynamic piece of work, showing how the Templars adapted to political change and formulated their disciplinary code.

An introduction gives the historical background to the Rule and summarises the various sections. An appendix by MATTHEW BENNETT discusses the military implications.

War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture (Paperback): Katherine Katherine Smith War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture (Paperback)
Katherine Katherine Smith
R908 Discovery Miles 9 080 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The monastic life, traditionally considered as an area of withdrawal from the world, is here shown to be shaped by metaphors of war, and to be actively engaged with battle in the world outside. An extremely interesting and important book... makes an important contribution to the history of medieval monastic spirituality in a formative period, whilst also fitting into wider debates on the origins, development and impactof ideas on crusading and holy war. Dr William Purkis, University of Birmingham Monastic culture has generally been seen as set apart from the medieval battlefield, as "those who prayed" were set apart from "those whofought". However, in this first study of the place of war within medieval monastic culture, the author shows the limitations of this division. Through a wide reading of Latin sermons, letters, and hagiography, she identifies a monastic language of war that presented the monk as the archetypal "soldier of Christ" and his life of prayer as a continuous combat with the devil: indeed, monks' claims to supremacy on the spiritual battlefield grew even louder asChurch leaders extended the title of "soldier of Christ" to lay knights and crusaders. So, while medieval monasteries have traditionally been portrayed as peaceful sanctuaries in a violent world, here the author demonstrates thatmonastic identity was negotiated through real and imaginary encounters with war, and that the concept of spiritual warfare informed virtually every aspect of life in the cloister. It thus breaks new ground in the history of European attitudes toward warfare and warriors in the age of the papal reform movement and the early crusades. Katherine Allen Smith is Assistant Professor of History, University of Puget Sound.

Wandering, Begging Monks - Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity (Paperback): Daniel Caner Wandering, Begging Monks - Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity (Paperback)
Daniel Caner
R816 Discovery Miles 8 160 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

An apostolic lifestyle characterized by total material renunciation, homelessness, and begging was practiced by monks throughout the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Such monks often served as spiritual advisors to urban aristocrats whose patronage gave them considerable authority and independence from episcopal control. This book is the first comprehensive study of this type of Christian poverty and the challenge it posed for episcopal authority and the promotion of monasticism in late antiquity. Focusing on devotional practices, Daniel Caner draws together diverse testimony from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and elsewhere-including the Pseudo-Clementine Letters to Virgins, Augustine's On the Work of Monks, John Chrysostom's homilies, legal codes-to reveal gospel-inspired patterns of ascetic dependency and teaching from the third to the fifth centuries. Throughout, his point of departure is social and cultural history, especially the urban social history of the late Roman empire. He also introduces many charismatic individuals whose struggle to persist against church suppression of their chosen way of imitating Christ was fought with defiant conviction, and the book includes the first annotated English translation of the biography of Alexander Akoimetos (Alexander the Sleepless). Wandering, Begging Monks allows us to understand these fascinating figures of early Christianity in the full context of late Roman society.

The Search To Belong - Rethinking Intimacy, Community, And Small Groups (Paperback): Joseph R. Myers The Search To Belong - Rethinking Intimacy, Community, And Small Groups (Paperback)
Joseph R. Myers; Foreword by Coach John Wooden and Futurist Leonard Sweet
R350 R150 Discovery Miles 1 500 Save R200 (57%) Ships in 3 - 5 working days

A practical guide for those struggling to build a community of believers in a culture that wants to experience belonging over believing Who is my neighbor? Who belongs to me? To whom do I belong? These are timeless questions that guide the church to its fundamental calling. Today terms like neighbor, family, and congregation are being redefined. People are searching to belong in new places and experiences. The church needs to adapt its interpretations, definitions, and language to make sense in the changing culture. This book equips congregations and church leaders with tools to: * Discern the key ingredients people look for in community * Understand the use of space as a key element for experiencing belonging and community * Develop the "chemical compound" that produces an environment for community to spontaneously emerge * Discover how language promotes specific spatial belonging and then use this knowledge to build an effective vocabulary for community development * Create an assessment tool for evaluating organizational and personal community health

Negotiating the Landscape - Environment and Monastic Identity in the Medieval Ardennes (Hardcover): Ellen F. Arnold Negotiating the Landscape - Environment and Monastic Identity in the Medieval Ardennes (Hardcover)
Ellen F. Arnold
R2,040 Discovery Miles 20 400 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

"Negotiating the Landscape" explores the question of how medieval religious identities were shaped and modified by interaction with the natural environment. Focusing on the Benedictine monastic community of Stavelot-Malmedy in the Ardennes, Ellen F. Arnold draws upon a rich archive of charters, property and tax records, correspondence, miracle collections, and saints' lives from the seventh to the mid-twelfth century to explore the contexts in which the monks' intense engagement with the natural world was generated and refined.Arnold argues for a broad cultural approach to medieval environmental history and a consideration of a medieval environmental imagination through which people perceived the nonhuman world and their own relation to it. Concerned to reassert medieval Christianity's vitality and variety, Arnold also seeks to oppose the historically influential view that the natural world was regarded in the premodern period as provided by God solely for human use and exploitation. The book argues that, rather than possessing a single unifying vision of nature, the monks drew on their ideas and experience to create and then manipulate a complex understanding of their environment. Viewing nature as both wild and domestic, they simultaneously acted out several roles, as stewards of the land and as economic agents exploiting natural resources. They saw the natural world of the Ardennes as a type of wilderness, a pastoral haven, and a source of human salvation, and actively incorporated these differing views of nature into their own attempts to build their community, understand and establish their religious identity, and relate to others who shared their landscape.

Speculum Inclusorum / A Mirror for Recluses - A Late-Medieval Guide for Anchorites and its Middle English Translation... Speculum Inclusorum / A Mirror for Recluses - A Late-Medieval Guide for Anchorites and its Middle English Translation (Hardcover)
E.A. Jones
R3,951 Discovery Miles 39 510 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Interest in the anchoritic life in Europe, and medieval England in particular, has never been greater. And yet almost all the recent discussion tends to concentrate on the same texts - De Institutione inclusarum and Ancrene Wisse. Considerations of gender and anchoritism have been limited by the assumption that the reclusive life was 'a feminine phenomenon' pursued almost exclusively by women. This critical edition of a late-medieval English 'rule' for male anchorites will be a timely intervention in - and stimulus to - an already exciting field. The Speculum Inclusorum is an early 15th-century Latin rule or guide. It is notable particularly for the careful attention it gives to discernment and the probation of the prospective anchorite's vocation; for its frank discussion of the temptations and dangers of the reclusive life, including sexual sins; its deep consideration of the anchorite's spiritual life of prayer, meditation and reading; its anticipation of the joys of contemplation that await him; and the ecstatic quality of some of its writing. The Speculum is a work of considerable interest in its own right. Within a decade or two of its original composition it was translated into English in order to adapt it for a readership of female anchorites. This book will give the first opportunity to compare Latin and English versions of the rule, the one intended for male and the other for female anchorites. It is the first edition since 1913 of this fascinating and important text but the first English-language edition and the first complete English translation to be published. It will be an important contribution to the ongoing debates about spirituality and religious institutions in the post-Wycliffe, post-Arundel church.

Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents (Paperback): Vera Morton, Jocelyn Wogan-Browne Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents (Paperback)
Vera Morton, Jocelyn Wogan-Browne
R738 Discovery Miles 7 380 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Collection of letters and texts offering guidance for nuns, and including selections from Abelard's letters to Heloise. These translated letters and texts composed for younger and older women in twelfth-century convents illuminate the powerful medieval ideals of virginity and chastity. Abelard's history of women's roles in the church and his letteron women's education, both written for Heloise in her work as abbess, are seen here alongside previously untranslated letters and texts for abbesses and nuns in England and France. An interpretive essay explores the practical and spiritual engagement of women's convents with medieval commemorative and memorial practices, showing that the professional concern of women religious with death goes far beyond the stereotype of nuns as dead to the world, or enclosed in living death. VERA MORTON gained an MA in Medieval Studies at the University of Liverpool in 1994. JOCELYN WOGAN-BROWNE is Professor of English at Fordham University, NY.

Through the Narrow Gate - A Nun's Story (Paperback, Rev. Ed): Karen Armstrong Through the Narrow Gate - A Nun's Story (Paperback, Rev. Ed)
Karen Armstrong
R339 R280 Discovery Miles 2 800 Save R59 (17%) Ships in 12 - 19 working days

'Through the Narrow Gate' is Karen Armstrong's memoir of life inside a Catholic convent in the 1960s. With gentleness and honesty, Armstrong takes her readers on a revelatory journey that begins with her decision, at the age of seventeen, to devote her life to God as a nun. Yet once she embarked upon her spiritual training, she encountered a frightening and oppressive world, fossilized by tradition, which moulded, isolated and pushed her to the limit of what she could endure.

The book was an international best-seller when it was first published in 1981. This revised edition, with a new introduction by the author, brings Karen Armstrong's remarkable story of devotion and suffering to a new generation of readers.

“This articulate and sensitive writer spares no punches in her account of the agonising fight to find herself under the weight of rules and expectations, lies and aggression… 'Through the Narrow Gate' is written as racily and as emotionally as a novel… the picture of convent life is vivid and terrifying.”
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

“Painful and honest…Karen Armstrong's simple account of her struggles – both in pursuit of that self-death that the true religious craves, and, later, against her unconscious reflection of life in an ultra-strict Order – says a great deal about destructive trends in modern life… A very moving book.”
DAILY TELEGRAPH

“The strength of this unself-pitying chronicle is the author's capacity to convey the overwhelming attraction of the life she sought, even as she documents its shattering effect on the human personality… A scrupulous record of one woman's spiritual journey, excellently written and profoundly moving.”
COSMOPOLITAN

Religious Patronage in Anglo-Norman England, 1066-1135 (Paperback): Emma Cownie Religious Patronage in Anglo-Norman England, 1066-1135 (Paperback)
Emma Cownie
R1,172 Discovery Miles 11 720 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Anglo-Norman aristocratic patronage of Anglo-Saxon monasteries in post-Conquest England examined. Although the Norman Conquest of 1066 swept away most of the secular and ecclesiastical leaders of pre-Conquest England, it held some positive aspects for English society, such as its effects on Anglo-Saxon monastic foundations, which this study explores. The first part deals in depth with five individual case studies (Abingdon, Gloucester, Bury St Edmunds, St Albans and St Augustine's, Canterbury) as well as Fenland and other houses, showing how despite mixed fortunes the major houses survived to become the richest in England. The second part places the experiences of the houses in the context of structural changes in religious patronage as well as within the social and political nexus of the Anglo-Norman realm. Dr Cownie analyses the pattern of gifts to religious houses on both sides of the Channel, looking at the reasons why they were made. EMMA COWNIE gained her Ph.D. from the University of Wales at Cardiff.

The Other Friars - The Carmelite, Augustinian, Sack and Pied Friars in the Middle Ages (Paperback): Frances Andrews The Other Friars - The Carmelite, Augustinian, Sack and Pied Friars in the Middle Ages (Paperback)
Frances Andrews; Contributions by Frances Andrews
R767 R724 Discovery Miles 7 240 Save R43 (6%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

A concise and accessible history of four of the monastic orders in the middle ages. In 1274 the Council of Lyons decreed the end of various "new orders" of Mendicants which had emerged during the great push for evangelism and poverty in the thirteenth-century Latin Church. The Franciscans and Dominicans were explicitly excluded, while the Carmelites and Austin friars were allowed a stay of execution. These last two were eventually able to acquire approval, but other smaller groups, in particular the Friars of the Sack and Pied Friars, were forced to disband. This book outlines the history of those who were threatened by 1274, tracing the development of the two larger orders down to the Council of Trent, and following the fragmentary sources for the brief histories of the discontinued friaries. For the first time these orders are treated comparatively: the volume offers a total history, from their origins, spirituality and pastoral impact, to their music, buildings and runaways. FRANCES ANDREWS is Professor in Mediaeval History at the University of St Andrews.

A Companion to Ancrene Wisse (Paperback): Yoko Wada A Companion to Ancrene Wisse (Paperback)
Yoko Wada; Contributions by A.S.G. Edwards, Anne Savage, Bella Millett, Catherine Innes-Parker, …
R1,178 Discovery Miles 11 780 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Ancrene Wisse introduced through a variety of cultural and critical approaches which establish the originality and interest of the treatise. The thirteenth-century Ancrene Wisse is a guide for female recluses. Addressed to three young sisters of gentle birth, it teaches what truly good anchoresses should and should not do, offering in its examples a glimpse of the real life women had in England in the middle ages. It is also important for its evidence for the continuation of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of prose writing, being produced in the West Midlands where Old English writing conventions continued to develop even after the Norman conquest. The Companion addresses the cultural and historical background, the affiliations of the versions, genre, authorship and language; the various approaches also includea feminist reading of the text. Contributors: ROGER DAHOOD, RICHARD DANCE, A.S.G. EDWARDS, CATHERINE INNES-PARKER, BELLA MILLETT, CHRISTINA VON NOLCKEN, ELIZABETH ROBERTSON, ANNE SAVAGE, D.A. TROTTER, YOKO WADA, NICHOLAS WATSON.

The Cistercian Evolution - The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe (Paperback): Constance Hoffman Berman The Cistercian Evolution - The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe (Paperback)
Constance Hoffman Berman
R931 Discovery Miles 9 310 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The Cistercian Evolution The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe Constance Hoffman Berman "An extremely important book, one that will redefine the ways we conceive of medieval religiosity and politics."--"Virginia Quarterly Review" "A significant contribution to the study of the history of monasticism in the twelfth century."--"EHR" "Stimulating, controversial, and compelling, Constance Berman's major revisions of early Cistercian history, "The Cistercian Evolution," should be read by historians of monasticism and will greatly interest scholars in the institutional and religious history of the twelfth century as well as those who study the experience of women in that period."--"The Medieval Review" "An important and provocative book: important because it challenges scholars to rethink a central medieval theme, the creation and expansion of the Cistercian order in twelfth-century Europe; provocative because it brazenly upends received narratives, two generations of accumulated monastic scholarship."--"Speculum" "This important work builds on and continues Berman's solid, indeed splendid, scholarship on the institutional history of the Cistercians in southern France. She explores and rejects much traditional thinking in fields as diverse as the supposed uniformity of Cistercian architecture and the propagation of the order through colonization or 'apostolic foundation, ' pointing out that much Cistercian expansion was by incorporation of existing communities."--"Church History" " Berman's] book changes our understanding of the early Cistercians. It will shape our research for some time to come. Berman's questioning of Cistercian documents, her new picture of Cistercian growth, her warnings about reading thirteenth-century administrative structures and ideas back on to the twelfth, and especially, her insistence that we consider houses of both men and women, make this book an important contribution to the history of religious institutions in the central Middle Ages."--"The Catholic Historical Review" For centuries the growth of the Cistercian order has been presented as a spontaneous spirituality that swept western Europe through the power of the first house at Citeaux. Berman suggests instead that the creation of the religious order was a collaborative activity, less driven by centralized institutions; its formation was intended to solve practical problems about monastic administration. With the publication of "The Cistercian Evolution," for the first time the mechanisms are revealed by which the monks of Citeaux reshaped fact to build and administer one of the most powerful and influential religious orders of the Middle Ages. Constance Hoffman Berman is Professor of History at the University of Iowa and the 1999 May Brodbeck Fellow in the Humanities. The Middle Ages Series 2000 408 pages 6 x 9 ISBN 978-0-8122-2102-2 Paper $26.50s 17.50 World Rights History, Religion Short copy: Reveals the true story behind the growth of the Cistercian order.

Writing History in the Community of St Cuthbert, c.700-1130 - From Bede to Symeon of Durham (Hardcover): Charles C. Rozier Writing History in the Community of St Cuthbert, c.700-1130 - From Bede to Symeon of Durham (Hardcover)
Charles C. Rozier
R3,277 R2,402 Discovery Miles 24 020 Save R875 (27%) Ships in 12 - 19 working days

An examination of the extraordinary texts produced by the community of St Cuthbert, showing how they were used to construct and define an identity. Historical texts of all kinds were written in the community of St Cuthbert c.700-1130, from short annals to extended narrative history, political tracts and works on the lives and miracles of saints.At the same time, scribes in the community worked to copy and procure notable classics of historiography, from Classical Antiquity down to the Norman Conquest of England. But what did these various forms of writing about past events mean to their original authors and readers? What were these texts for? This book offers a narrative of historiographical production within St Cuthbert's community from the time of its foundation on the island of Lindisfarne, through subsequent translations to Chester-le-Street and Durham, down to the vibrant intellectual revival of the Anglo-Norman period. Focusing on several watershed moments in the story of this community, it identifies political, religious, intellectual andcultural triggers for historical writing, and argues that knowledge of past events gave successive guardians of Cuthbert's cult their single most valuable tool in the continuous effort to define who they were, where they had comefrom, and what they hoped to continue to be.

First Initiation into Carthusian Life (Paperback): A. Carthusian First Initiation into Carthusian Life (Paperback)
A. Carthusian
R426 Discovery Miles 4 260 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Carthusian spirituality and wisdom have a great attraction for our age. The goal of Carthusian life is union with God in Love. A union as profound and continual as is possible in this life. It has its source in God who is the first to call us to intimacy with Him. The Carthusian's life, the Carthusian's love, is a response to that Love - cultivating solitude, silence, poverty, chastity, obedience, fraternal charity, spiritual reading, study, work and, above all, prayer. Prayer of adoration, praise and intercession. This book is written as a guide to help the beginner during his first months in the Charterhouse. It is a practical introduction for the aspirant to the Carthusian life, providing guidelines of orientation to help during the first steps in solitude as well as essential themes of spiritual formation. Following the young monk, listening in complete openness to God who speaks in the depth of his heart, the reader outside the monastery can gain an insight into this powerful spirituality and the silence of a heart in love. Other books of classic Carthusian spirituality published by Gracewing include The Call of Silent Love, Early Carthusian Writings, Interior Prayer, The Prayer of Love and Silence, They Speak by Silences, The Way of Silent Love and The Wound of Love.

The Other Side of the Mountain - The End of the Journey, the Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume Seven: 1967-1968 (Paperback, New... The Other Side of the Mountain - The End of the Journey, the Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume Seven: 1967-1968 (Paperback, New edition)
Thomas Merton; Edited by Patrick, O.C.S.O. Hart
R458 R397 Discovery Miles 3 970 Save R61 (13%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

With the election of a new Abbot at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Merton enters a period of unprecedented freedom, culminating in the opportunity to travel to California, Alaska, and finally the Far East – journeys that offer him new possibilities and causes for contemplation. In his last days at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Merton continues to follow the tumultuous events of the sixties, including the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. In Southeast Asia, he meets the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist and Catholic monks and discovers a rare and rewarding kinship with each. The final year is full of excitement and great potential for Merton, making his accidental death in Bangkok, at the age of fifth-three, all the more tragic.

Escaped Nuns - True Womanhood and the Campaign Against Convents in Antebellum America (Hardcover): Cassandra L. Yacovazzi Escaped Nuns - True Womanhood and the Campaign Against Convents in Antebellum America (Hardcover)
Cassandra L. Yacovazzi
R889 Discovery Miles 8 890 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Just five weeks after its publication in January 1836, Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery, billed as an escaped nun's shocking expose of convent life, had already sold more than 20,000 copies. The book detailed gothic-style horror stories of licentious priests and abusive mothers superior, tortured nuns and novices, and infanticide. By the time the book was revealed to be a fiction and the author, Maria Monk, an impostor, it had already become one of the nineteenth century's best-selling books. In antebellum America only one book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, outsold it. The success of Monk's book was no fluke, but rather a part of a larger phenomenon of anti-Catholic propaganda, riots, and nativist politics. The secrecy of convents stood as an oblique justification for suspicion of Catholics and the campaign against them, which was intimately connected with cultural concerns regarding reform, religion, immigration, and, in particular, the role of women in the Republic. At a time when the term "female virtue" pervaded popular rhetoric, the image of the veiled nun represented a threat to the established American ideal of womanhood. Unable to marry, she was instead a captive of a foreign foe, a fallen woman, a white slave, and a foolish virgin. In the first half of the nineteenth century, ministers, vigilantes, politicians, and writers-male and female-forged this image of the nun, locking arms against convents. The result was a far-reaching antebellum movement that would shape perceptions of nuns, and women more broadly, in America.

The Customary of the Benedictine Monasteries of Saint Augustine, Canterbury, and Saint Peter, Westminster. - Volume 2... The Customary of the Benedictine Monasteries of Saint Augustine, Canterbury, and Saint Peter, Westminster. - Volume 2 (Paperback)
Sir Edward Maunde Thompson
R1,690 Discovery Miles 16 900 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The Henry Bradshaw Society was established in 1890 in commemoration of Henry Bradshaw, University Librarian in Cambridge and a distinguished authority on early medieval manuscripts and liturgies, who died in 1886. The Society was founded for the editing of rare liturgical texts'; its principal focus is on the Western (Latin) Church and its rites, and on the medieval period in particular, from the sixth century to the sixteenth (in effect, from the earliest surviving Christian books until the Reformation). Liturgy was at the heart of Christian worship, and during the medieval period the Christian Church was at the heart of Western society. Study of medieval Christianity in its manifold aspects - historical, ecclesiastical, spiritual, sociological - inevitably involves study of its rites, and for that reason Henry Bradshaw Society publications have become standard source-books for an understanding of all aspects of the middle ages. Moreover, many of the Society's publications have been facsimile editions, and these facsimiles have become cornerstones of the science of palaeography. The society was founded for the editing of rare liturgical texts; its principal focus is on the Western (Latin) Church and its rites, and on the medieval period in particular, from the sixth century to the Reformation. Study of medieval Christianity - at the heart of Western society - inevitably involves study of its rites, and the society's publications are essential to an understanding of all aspects (historical, ecclesiastical, spiritual, sociological) of the middle ages.

The Knights Templar and Scotland (Paperback): Robert Ferguson The Knights Templar and Scotland (Paperback)
Robert Ferguson
R496 R450 Discovery Miles 4 500 Save R46 (9%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

Places and books like Rosslyn Chapel and The Da Vinci Code have focused attention on Scotland's Knights Templar. Who they were and what they did has been touched upon, but never properly explored until now. They were close advisors to Scotland's early kings; they were major property owners and respected landlords in a harsh and unforgiving time; and they were secretive and arrogant. But did they really flee from France to Scotland just prior to their arrest in 1307? Did they fight with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314? And how did the Templars continue on after Bannockburn? In The Knights Templar and Scotland Robert Ferguson intertwines Templar and Scottish history, from the foundation of the order in the early twelfth century right up to the present day. Including a comparison of the arrest of the Templars in France with the Templar Inquisition at Holyrood, and an examination of the part they played at Bannockburn, this is an essential book for anyone with an interest in the history of the Knights Templar.

Free Delivery
Pinterest Twitter Facebook Google+
You may like...
Groups and Interaction
Binxing Fang, Yan Jia Hardcover R3,165 R2,480 Discovery Miles 24 800
High-Dimensional and Low-Quality Visual…
Yue Deng Hardcover R1,575 Discovery Miles 15 750
Heterogeneous Graph Representation…
Chuan Shi, Xiao Wang, … Hardcover R4,684 Discovery Miles 46 840
Emerging Technologies in Data Mining and…
Joao Manuel R.S. Tavares, Satyajit Chakrabarti, … Hardcover R6,123 Discovery Miles 61 230
The SABC 8
Foeta Krige Paperback R376 Discovery Miles 3 760
Hiking Beyond Cape Town - 40 Inspiring…
Nina du Plessis, Willie Olivier Paperback R340 R306 Discovery Miles 3 060
Insectopedia - The Secret World of…
Erik Holm Paperback  (3)
R350 R316 Discovery Miles 3 160
Biko - Philosophy, Identity And…
Mabogo Percy More Paperback  (3)
R220 R198 Discovery Miles 1 980
Numerical Nonsmooth Optimization - State…
Adil M. Bagirov, Manlio Gaudioso, … Hardcover R5,427 Discovery Miles 54 270
Introduction To Financial Accounting
Dempsey, A. Paperback  (1)
R1,368 R1,211 Discovery Miles 12 110

 

Partners