Bernard of Clairvaux and the Shape of Monastic Thought: Broken Dreams

390 Pages·1994·39.132 MB·English

by  Marinus Burcht Pranger

BRILL'S STUDIES
IN
INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
General Editor
A.J. VANDERJAGT, University of Groningen
Editorial Board
M. COLISH, Oberlin College
J.I. ISRAEL, University College, London
J.D. NORTH, University of Groningen
H.A. OBERMAN, University of Arizona, Tucson
R.H. POPKIN, Washington University, St. Louis-UCLA
VOLUME 56
BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
AND THE SHAPE OF MONASTIC
THOUGHT
BROKEN DREAMS
BY
M.B. PRANGER
EJ. BRILL
LEIDEN · NEW YORK · KÖLN
1994
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pranger, Μ. Β.
Bernard of Clairvaux and the shape of monastic thought : broken
dreams / by M.B. Pranger.
p. cm. — (Brill's studies in intellectual history, ISSN
0920-8607 ; v. 56)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 9004100555 (alk. paper)
1. Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 91-1153. 2. Monastic and
religious life—History—Middle Ages, 600-1500. I. Title.
II. Series.
BX4700.B5P73 1994
27Γ.1202—dc20 94-3716
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufhahme
Pranger, Μ. Β.:
Bernard of Clairvaux and the shape of monastic thought :
broken dreams / by M. B. Pranger. - Leiden ; New York ; Köln
: Brill, 1994
(Brill's studies in intellectual history ; Vol. 56)
ISBN 9O-04-10055-5
NE:GT
ISSN 0920-8607
ISBN 90 04 10055 5
© Copyright 1994 by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior wntten
permission from the publisher.
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Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
To Mieneke

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface XI
Introduction 3
PART I: HISTORY
Chapter One. Perdite Vixi: Life as Failure 21
PART H: A WAY OF WRITING
Introduction 47
Chapter Two. Literary Timidity: The Twenty-Third Sermon
on the Song of Songs 51
1. Arrival and withdrawal 51
2. Reading and writing 54
3. Puppets on a string 60
4. Further retreat 74
Chapter Three. Configurations: The Treatise on the Steps
of Pride and Humility 85
1. Places and images 85
2. Downhill all the way 91
3. Ascent: every man is a liar 108
4. 'The order of my descent' 115
PART ΙΠ: A WAY OF LIVING
Introduction 125
Chapter Four. Love. Shadows and Fog: The Sermons on
the Virgin Mary 134
vm TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 134
2. The Song of Songs and love-lyric 135
3. Courtly love and religious prose 138
4. The Virgin Mary by day: the Sermons on the
Praise of the Virgin Mother 145
5. The Virgin Mary by night: the Sermon on The
Nativity of the blessed Virgin 150
Chapter Five. Death. A Passage to Paradise: Sermon 26
on the Song of Songs 163
1. The last of the Fathers 163
2. Narrative order and disorder 165
3. Rhetorical order and disorder 167
4. Monastic order and disorder 180
5. From dust to dust 201
PART IV: A WAY OF CELEBRATING
Introduction 209
Chapter Six. Gems and Glitter: Suger of St. Denis and
Bernard of Clairvaux on Art 215
1. Respectability and philosophy: the case of
Erwin Panofsky 215
2. Wildness and precision 222
Chapter Seven. The Gems of Christmas: the Sermons
on the Nativity and Abstract Art 233
1. Introduction 233
2. The text: Sermones in nativitate domini 234
3. The scene 244
4. The geometry of Christmas 247
5. Paradise as verbum abbreviatum 251
6. Christmas à la hausse 257
7. Christmas à la baisse 263
8. Scherzo 269
9. Finale 272