Emotional Monasticism: Affective Piety in the Eleventh-Century Monastery of John of Fécamp - Paperback

by Lauren Mancia (Author)

Drawing on the devotional culture of John of Fécamp's Norman monastery, Emotional monasticism exposes the monastic roots of medieval affective piety, casts a new light on the devotional life of monks in Europe before the twelfth century and redefines how medievalists should teach the history of Christian devotion.

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'In this exciting study of Fécamp, Lauren Mancia looks "under the hood" of an apparently ordinary eleventh-century Benedictine monastery. What she discovers of its rich and intense emotional life suggests new contours for the history of medieval "affective piety".'
Barbara H. Rosenwein, Professor Emerita, Loyola University Chicago

'Emotional monasticism is a ground-breaking work of revisionist history that promises to have a profound influence on the study of Christian devotion in the Middle Ages.'
Scott G. Bruce, Professor of Medieval History, Fordham University

Historians have long taught that highly emotional Christian devotion, often called 'affective piety', originated in Europe after the twelfth century, and was primarily practiced by communities of mendicants, lay people and women. . Emotional monasticism revises our understanding of its origins, characteristics, and uses in medieval Christianity. The first study of affective piety in an eleventh-century monastic context, this book traces the history of affective devotion through the life and works of the earliest-known writer of emotional prayers, John of Fécamp, abbot of the Norman monastery of Fécamp from 1028 to 1078. It examines John's major work, the Confessio theologica, and looks at the devotional programme of Fécamp's liturgical, manuscript, and intellectual culture, relating it to the monastery's efforts at reform. Finally, it examines John's later medieval legacy at Fécamp, throughout Normandy, and beyond.

Exposing the early medieval monastic roots of later medieval affective piety, Emotional monasticism reexamines the importance of John of Fécamp's prayers for the first time since his work was discovered, casting new light on the devotional life of monks in Europe before the twelfth-century, and redefining how medievalists should teach the history of Christianity.

Author Biography

Lauren Mancia is Assistant Professor of History at Brooklyn College, City University of New York