The Trauma of Monastic Reform: Community and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Germany

This book opens a window on the lived experience of monastic reform in the twelfth century. Drawing on a variety of textual and material sources from the south German monastery of Petershausen, it begins with the local process of reform and moves out into intertwined regional social, political, and ecclesiastical landscapes. Beach reveals how the shock of reform initiated decades of anxiety at Petershausen and raised doubts about the community's communal identity, its shifting internal contours and boundaries, and its place within the broader spiritual and social landscapes of Constance and Swabia. The Trauma of Monastic Reform goes beyond reading monastic narratives of reform as retrospective expressions of support for the deeds and ideals of a past generation of reformers to explore the real human impact that the process could have, both on the individuals who comprised the target community and on those who lived for generations in its aftermath.

Table of Contents:
Prologue: Felix Mater Constantia; 1. Raw cloth unto old garments: monastic reform as cultural trauma; 2. Because they destroyed the beauty of my house: trauma in the core community; 3. Rootstock of the living vines: the arrival of The Bearded Brothers; 4. Women among the Apostles? The complexities of the double monastery; 5. Cockle among the wheat: Petershausen as agent of reform; 6. A whole kingdom laid waste: Petershausen and its patrons in a violent landscape; Epilogue; Postscript; Appendix 1: a manuscript in a reformed landscape; Appendix 2: timeline of events.

About the Author :
Alison I. Beach is Associate Professor of History at the Ohio State University, Columbus. She is the author of Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in Twelfth-Century Bavaria (Cambridge, 2004) and is also editor, with Isabelle Cochelin, of the forthcoming two-volume Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West for the Cambridge New History Series.

Review :
'Her excellent study is eminently grounded in the sources and her prose is exceptionally readable as she weaves an accessible narrative out of complicated and disparate evidence. Even when her technical paleographical and codicological methodology appears in the book, it never distracts from, and only enhances, the story she tells. This is an accomplishment, to be sure. The Trauma of Monastic Reform will be useful not only for monastic historians and medievalists, but also for those interested in the dynamics of reform in general.' Jacob Doss, Reading Religion 'Alison Beach's short but rich monograph on what she calls the 'trauma' of medieval monastic reform is both inspired and inspirational … [It is] one of the most readable and accomplished studies on a medieval monastic community and the shared experiences of its members since the publication of Susan Boynton's classic monograph on the imperial abbey of Farfa.' Benjamin Pohl, The Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies 'Readers will appreciate this book not only as a novel contribution to the issues surrounding resistance to reform in medieval monasticism, but also as an introduction to the abbey of Petershausen's remarkable Chronicle, which is rich in vivid anecdotes about the many local and regional challenges facing a Benedictine community in the early twelfth century.' Scott G. Bruce, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History '… The Trauma of Monastic Reform is a valuable and insightful book.' Phyllis G. Jestice, The American Historical Review