Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies

This article considers five broad areas of Cluniac studies that stand in need of further research, in spite of the amount of work that has been done on Cluny. First, what was Cluny and who were the Cluniacs? Second, the community at Cluny. Third, the occupations of the monks. Fourth, the order of Cluny and its governance. Fifth, and lastly, why Cluny? Under each heading what is unknown as well as what is known is discussed, though some of the questions raised are hard to answer in the present state of knowledge.

This article offers a cognitive approach to the study of the development of penance and penitentials. It focuses on the mid-sixth-century Irish Penitential of Finnian (Uuinniau), a monastic leader whose background in British as well as Irish monasticism equipped him with knowledge of the works of Basil and Cassian. Uuinniau extended the monastic practices of examination of thoughts and repeatable penance to the laity, producing a paradigm shift which meant that penance not only remedied sin but also stimulated belief in the Christian God.

Monks in the eleventh and twelfth centuries looked at the Merovingian age as strange and far away, yet also of vital significance for Benedictine houses that were founded then. Using examples from Burgundy, this article analyses how high medieval monks sought to come to terms with their distant past, sometimes through forging charters that they were surprised to find missing (especially foundation charters). Even when working strictly from available evidence, as they generally did, the monks attempted to embed their houses in royal Frankish history, suggested that their houses were older and more highly-regarded in the past than were other regional monasteries, and underscored the current regularity of their houses by creating a whole history of successive destructions and refoundations.

This paper concentrates on two aspects of ecclesiastical reform in Ireland: the formation and layout of sedes episcopalis (diocesan centres) and the influence of clerics trained as Benedictines in England and Scotland during the same period. The contribution of the Benedictines declined as the twelfth century progressed and as other orders such as the Cistercians and Augustinians expanded their influence. Finally, the study assesses the possible contribution of continental Irish Benedictine foundations and proposes that literature produced in these monasteries should be read primarily as Benedictine narratives written in the context of continental ecclesiastical and order politics.

The charterhouse of Val de Cristo near Segovia played an important role in the lives of King Martin and his queen and was closely allied with the monastic house of Portacoeli. The lands, benefices, and rights the two monasteries held in Castellón were the cause of a long dispute held between them and the diocese of Tortosa, which contended that the Castellón lands fell within its jurisdiction. The present article focuses on the way this contentious issue was resolved in the mid-fifteenth century and is supported by a documentary appendix outlining the process that led to the final decision almost fifty years later.

Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, has some of the best preserved monastic ruins in the British Isles, however the late medieval buildings at the abbey have received little scholarly attention. The primary focus of this paper is the patronage of Abbot William Marshall (1509-28), who raised the height of the abbey’s bell tower. The replanning and refurbishing of Kirkstall was in many respects representative of the developments seen at English Cistercian monasteries in the later medieval period. However, in a number of important aspects the works closely mirror the architectural improvements undertaken at the monastery’s motherhouse, Fountains Abbey.