Doubt in an Age of Faith: Uncertainty in the Long Twelfth Century

232 Pages·2008·2.882 MB·English

by  Sabina Flanagan

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D A F
OUBT IN AN GE OF AITH
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DISPUTATIO
Editorial Board
GeorgianaDonavin WestminsterCollege
Cary J.Nederman Texas A&MUniversity
Richard Utz Western Michigan University
Previouslypublishedvolumesin thisseriesare listedatthe backofthisbook.
VOLUME17
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D A F
OUBT IN AN GE OF AITH
Uncertainty in the Long Twelfth Century
By
Sabina Flanagan
H
F
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BritishLibrary Cataloguingin PublicationData
Flanagan,Sabina, 1948-
Doubtinanageoffaith:uncertaintyinthelongtwelfth
century.-(Disputatio;v.17)
1.Religiousthought-MiddleAges,600-1500
2.Civilization,Medieval - 12thcentury3.Faith4.Belief
anddoubt
I.Title
270.4
ISBN-13:9782503527482
©2008,BrepolsPublishersn.v.,Turnhout,Belgium
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedina retrieval system,or transmitted,inanyformor byanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
without theprior permissionof the publisher.
D/2008/0095/167
ISBN:978- 2-503-52748-2
Printed in theE.U.on acid-freepaper
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A. W.
(1915–2007)
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CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
List ofAbbreviations xi
Chapter 1:SitesandSoundings 1
Chapter2:SecularDoubt 15
Chapter3:SpiritualDoubt 57
Chapter4:Discussionsofthe NatureofDoubt 91
Chapter5:TheBenefitsofDoubt 125
Chapter6:DisadvantagesofDoubt 157
Chapter7:A CommendationofDoubt? 185
Index 207
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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T
hisbook isfoundeduponresearchundertaken while IwasanAustralian
ResearchCouncilFellow atthe University ofMelbourne,andlater at the
University of Adelaide, both ofwhich provided congenial surroundings
and accommodating libraries. I wish also to thank the Australian Research
Council for their support of a topic which did not obviously appear tofit well
with thenationalresearchpriorities.Ihopethatoneresultwillbeto indicate how
the past,eventhemedieval past,can speak to our present condition. In the course
ofmysomewhatperipatetic endeavours,I wasalso ableto enjoy thehospitality of
the Duke Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the History
Department at Princeton, together with the libraries ofthese universities, aswell
as Cambridge University Library, the Bodleian and Taylorian at Oxford, the
library ofthe University ofDurham,the Warburg Institute and theInstitute for
HistoricalResearchinLondon,andthe librariesof the University ofToronto as
wellasa numberofAustralasian university libraries.I should like to thank the
helpful staff in all these places for their assistance to a visiting researcher. The
generosity of distant scholars whose interests are close to mine should also be
acknowledged.Iam mostgratefulto David BellinNewfoundland,RainerBerndt
in Frankfurt am Main, Peter Dronke in Cambridge, Anne Clark in Vermont,
EstherCohenin Jerusalem,JohnHudson in St Andrews,Henry Mayr-Harting
and Alexander Murray in Oxford, and Anne Scott in Arizona for sending,
or otherwise giving,mecopies of their articles and books.Within Australia, I
wish to thank Constant Mews, my closest colleague, both geographically and
academically,whosereadiness to share hiserudition and enthusiasm with scholars
and students alike is an example to us all. While the lot of an Australian
medievalist hasin thepast beensometimesratherisolated,Ishould mentionwith
appreciation the vibrant virtual community of medievalists which can now
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x
Preface andAcknowledgements
flourish electronically via the Network for Early European Research (NEER) in
addition to well-establishedconferencessuchasANZAMEMS.Closerto hand,
I am gratefulforthe confidenceplaced in mebymyfamily,who never seemedto
doubtthatthe projectwould onedaybecomplete,even ifIwasnotso sure.
Finally,Idedicatethisbook to my father,who schooled meinscepticism, but
whose abilitytoappreciatethe work hasbeen sadly eclipsed by the time it took to
write.ADRIANOINUMBRIS.
Sabina Flanagan
1 December 2006
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