Monastic Commentary on Biblical and Ecclesiastical Literature from Late Antiquity to the Twelfth Century

Monastic reading and interpretation are examined in two complementary modes: firstly, the basic practices and theories, which pertain throughout the medieval period, are described; secondly, the developments in these practices are charted through a survey of the different texts that supported monastic exegesis. The history of medieval monastic reading consists above all in the internalization and tropological application of biblical and patristic literature.