Brepols Online Books Medieval Miscellanea Collection 2019 - bob2019mime

Monasticism became part of European culture from the early period of Christianity and developed into a powerful institution that had a profound effect on the greater Church, on wider society, and on the landscape. Monastic communities were as diverse as the societies in which they lived, following a variety of rules, building monasteries influenced by common ideals and yet diverse in their regionalism, while also contributing to the economic and spiritual well-being inside and outside their precincts.

This interdisciplinary volume presents the diversity of medieval European monasticism with a particular emphasis on its impact on the immediate environs. Geographically it extends from the far west in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, to the east in Romania and the Balkans, through the north of Scandinavia to the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Drawing on archaeological, art and architectural, textual and topographical evidence, the contributors explore how monastic communities were formed, how they created a landscape of monasticism, how they wove their identities with those around them, and how they interacted with all levels of society to leave a lasting imprint on European towns and rural landscapes.

It is only in recent years that Byzantine poetry - a long-neglected aspect of Byzantine literature - has attracted the attention of philologists, literary and cultural historians. This holds true especially for the poetry written in middle and late Byzantium.Though many collections of poems are available in modern critical editions, a considerable amount of texts still remains completely unedited or accessible only in outdated and unreliable editions. Moreover, many works of this period have never been studied thoroughly with regard to their cultural impact on society. Issues of authorship and patronage, function, literary motives, generic qualities, and manuscripts still await further study.

This volume aims to take a step to fill this gap. Although it includes studies on poetry from the early tenth to the fifteenth centuries, the main focus is placed on the Komnenian and Palaeologan times. It presents editions of completely unknown texts, such as a twelfth-century cycle of epigrams on John Klimax. It includes studies on various types of poetry, including didactic, occasional, and even poetry written for liturgical purposes. By analysing these works and placing them within their literary and socio-cultural context, we can draw conclusions about the cultural tastes of the Byzantines and acquire a more nuanced picture of middle and late Byzantine poetry.