Age of the Cloister: The Story of Monastic Life in the Middle Ages - Softcover

Brooke, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1587680181 ISBN 13: 9781587680182

Publisher: HiddenSpring, 2003

Synopsis

The birth and flowering of monastic life and its impact on seekers today

This comprehensive study of medieval monasteries offers a fascinating history of everyday monastic life and the literature, society, economy and culture of the Middle Ages. Brooke's sweeping narrative offers a compelling look at monastic life for today's spiritual seekers and is well suited as a travel companion to many European destinations.

This meticulously researched book offers:

* everyday monastic life in exquisite detail, from the food served to the timing of prayers, to the interdependence between the monasteries and the local populace. *special attention to the 12th-century renaissance, a time of revitalizing ideas, when every village in Western Europe was within a day's pilgrimage of an abbey, monastery, or convent. * an exploration of the extraordinary movement of the human spirit at its peak, through its manuscripts, art, sculpture, and architecture. * the importance of the monastic world, its ideas and ideals, to the rise of Western civilization.

About this title

About the Author:

Christopher Brooke, the former Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University and a life fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, is a leading scholar of medieval history. A fellow of the British Academy and corresponding fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, he has written and edited numerous books.

Review:

A learned, comprehensive, and readable text covering all aspects of monastic life in the central Middle Ages. -- Giles Constable, Professor Em., Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

All those interested in monastic history will be well instructed by The Age of the Cloister. -- John R. Sommerfeldt, Professor of History, University of Dallas

It tells the fascinating story of those who fled the world while remaining so constructively engaged with it. -- Louis Dupre, T. Lawrason Riggs Professor Emeritus, Yale University

This beautiful book reads like a historical commentary on Wim Swaan's magnificent photographs of medieval monasteries. --Louis Dupré , Yale University

About this edition

• Publisher: HiddenSpring
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1587680181
• ISBN 13: 9781587680182
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368