DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69837#0017
16
Reformers as Value Communities
main parts with only marginal variations due to both the difference in source
material available and peculiarities of the respective reform contexts: The first
part (II.1. and III.l.) contextualises both the methodological approach and the
sources by providing a critical review of scholarship on the respective reform,
thereby putting the analysed vitae in a wider context. It also addresses the im-
portant questions of the texts' supposed functions and audiences. The second
part (II.2. and III.2.) offers a catalogue of the different values discussed in the
sources. It highlights their elusive nature, their use as moral arguments, and,
therefore, the broad variety of meanings the different ideals could have. The
chapter is subdivided by eleven categories: obedience, justice, repentance, piety,
chastity, sociability, humility, generosity, mercy, agonality, and productivity. The
use of modern concepts - rather than Contemporary terminology - is deliberate.
It facilitates consideration of implicit references to and metaphorical expressions
of values. The third and final set of chapters (II.3. and III.3.) addresses the re-
spective group formation processes. Its focus lies on the social dimension of the
intensification of normative discourses. The analysis shows how historical actors
could be included in the reform community by having shared values ascribed to
them, while other individuals were deliberately excluded from the group by the
attribution of norm violations.
Finally, the thesis's results are briefly summarised and put into the wider
context of medieval studies via six programmatic essays (IV). These essays aim to
facilitate further research on the topics beyond the two case studies chosen here.
Based on the results, a relatively clear-cut pattem emerges of what constitutes a
reformer in Late Anglo-Saxon Latin prose vitae. Reform communities pursued an
overarching goal - the (re)establishment of a god-fearing society - and thus
paradoxically strove ultimately to lose their specific Status as a distinct social
group, as it was their goal to convince everybody to join their cause. This am-
bition was pursued in two distinct Steps. First, reformers sought individual
perfection by harmonising the requirements for a life pleasing to God with the
obligations that resulted from worldly Offices and functions. However, this in-
dividual perfection was but the first achievement. In a second Step, reformers
strove to implement these values in society as a whole by utilising the scope for
action provided by their respective social position or 'political' function. Ad-
monition and preaching played just as important a role as setting a living ex-
ample of these ideals. This overarching purpose of reform communities as well as
the means employed to fulfil it form a fundamental similarity between Alfredian
and 'Benedictine' reform discourse. This has not been recognised so far, but
might also prove to be a characteristic of other (Early) Medieval reform contexts.
In order to provide access to a wider readership, a short English abstract will
be provided at the end of each major part (I.-IV), summarising the chapter's
approaches, arguments, and findings.
Reformers as Value Communities
main parts with only marginal variations due to both the difference in source
material available and peculiarities of the respective reform contexts: The first
part (II.1. and III.l.) contextualises both the methodological approach and the
sources by providing a critical review of scholarship on the respective reform,
thereby putting the analysed vitae in a wider context. It also addresses the im-
portant questions of the texts' supposed functions and audiences. The second
part (II.2. and III.2.) offers a catalogue of the different values discussed in the
sources. It highlights their elusive nature, their use as moral arguments, and,
therefore, the broad variety of meanings the different ideals could have. The
chapter is subdivided by eleven categories: obedience, justice, repentance, piety,
chastity, sociability, humility, generosity, mercy, agonality, and productivity. The
use of modern concepts - rather than Contemporary terminology - is deliberate.
It facilitates consideration of implicit references to and metaphorical expressions
of values. The third and final set of chapters (II.3. and III.3.) addresses the re-
spective group formation processes. Its focus lies on the social dimension of the
intensification of normative discourses. The analysis shows how historical actors
could be included in the reform community by having shared values ascribed to
them, while other individuals were deliberately excluded from the group by the
attribution of norm violations.
Finally, the thesis's results are briefly summarised and put into the wider
context of medieval studies via six programmatic essays (IV). These essays aim to
facilitate further research on the topics beyond the two case studies chosen here.
Based on the results, a relatively clear-cut pattem emerges of what constitutes a
reformer in Late Anglo-Saxon Latin prose vitae. Reform communities pursued an
overarching goal - the (re)establishment of a god-fearing society - and thus
paradoxically strove ultimately to lose their specific Status as a distinct social
group, as it was their goal to convince everybody to join their cause. This am-
bition was pursued in two distinct Steps. First, reformers sought individual
perfection by harmonising the requirements for a life pleasing to God with the
obligations that resulted from worldly Offices and functions. However, this in-
dividual perfection was but the first achievement. In a second Step, reformers
strove to implement these values in society as a whole by utilising the scope for
action provided by their respective social position or 'political' function. Ad-
monition and preaching played just as important a role as setting a living ex-
ample of these ideals. This overarching purpose of reform communities as well as
the means employed to fulfil it form a fundamental similarity between Alfredian
and 'Benedictine' reform discourse. This has not been recognised so far, but
might also prove to be a characteristic of other (Early) Medieval reform contexts.
In order to provide access to a wider readership, a short English abstract will
be provided at the end of each major part (I.-IV), summarising the chapter's
approaches, arguments, and findings.