The Making of the Monastic Community of Fulda, c.744–c.900

Description

The monastic community of Fulda was one of the most powerful institutions in early medieval Europe. This book traces the development of the community from its foundation in the 740s over one and a half centuries, a period richly documented by a variety of texts and archaeological remains. These sources reveal how Fulda’s success forced the monks to rethink their goals and the ways in which they sought to achieve them. Its close connection to the Carolingian royal court also makes Fulda a fascinating case study of how local events influenced life in the palace, and vice versa. The importance of Fulda and the rich array of sources associated with it have long been recognised, but this is the first study, bringing together history, religion, architectural history and archaeology. The result is a vivid picture of life in this monastery and also in early medieval religious communities in general. List of illustrations page x Preface xi A note on annotation, citation and translation xiv List of abbreviations xv Introduction 1 The making of a monastic community 7 The structure of the book 16 1 The early years: Boniface 19 Boniface and ‘the peoples to whom we are preaching’ 19 The foundation of Fulda 26 ‘A wooded place in the waste of a vast wilderness’ 28 Acquiring legal status 30 Oberabt 32 ‘Men of strict abstinence’ 34 ‘There we have placed a group of monks living under the Rule of Benedict’ 36 Identity 38 2 After Boniface’s death: from familia to institution 41 The struggle for Boniface’s inheritance 41 Boniface’s cult-site 44 A royal abbey 50 Writing Fulda’s past 55 Unity through time 58 Annales necrologici 61 An image of community 65 Creating coherence 68 3 Baugulf: the cultivation of learning, land and the Church 72 The Baugulf list 74 Books, learning and monastic goals 80 The abbey church: an expression of the community’s growing self-awareness 83 The bigger picture: the Carolingian ‘Renaissance’ 91 An epilogue 96 4 Ratger: church and conflict 99 More building: the transept in the west 100 The rhetoric of architecture 102 Liturgy 107 Building fatigue 114 The Chronicon Laurissense breve and the Annales Fuldenses antiquissimi 116 The Supplex Libellus 119 The abbot 122 An image of community 126 5 Eigil: new unity 132 Eigil’s crypts 135 A monastic programme 137 A rel ection of the universal Church 141 A monument to Fulda’s past 146 The Vita Sturmi 150 A foundation history 151 A place of holiness and solitude 154 From eremitism to the Rule of Benedict 157 The mentor and the founder 161 A new patron saint? 163 Harmony and reconciliation 165 The chapel of St Michael 168 6 Hrabanus, part I : re form and record 175 An update and renewal of the Annales necrologici 179 Lists of monks 181 More selves on the shelves 189 Organising and recording Fulda’s archival memory 198 Exploring the cartulary and its meanings 201 Hrabanus’ ‘family cartulary’ 206 7 Hrabanus, part II: sins, saints and the stabi lity of the realm 214 Hrabanus’ relic translations 215 A reliquary and a church: rel ections of Fulda as the ecclesia 218 Dei ning Fulda and spreading the cult of saints 221 Bringing Boniface’s cult to the outside world 225 An answer to sin 227 Rudolf and the Miracula sanctorum 231 A spider in a web of churches 233 The cloister as a frame of reference 234 Solitude 236 Brun Candidus and the Vita Aegil 237 An opus geminatum 240 A monastic programme in prose 243 Discussions concerning the new abbot 244 Admonition and reform 246 Penance and humility 249 Issues of the past and present 253 Texts as pillars of monastic reform 256 ‘See with the eyes of the mind’ 258 The unicorn and the ecclesia : fall and rise of a monastery 259 8 Royal power and monastic prayer 265 The gesta of three abbots 267 Conventio , 863 271 A worried king and a call for prayer 276 The diptych 279 The Annales necrologici revisited: the inclusion of ‘outsiders’ 283 Gaining independence 292 Conclusion 297 Bibliography 306 Index 347