The Historiography of Medieval Monasticism: Perspectives from Northern Europe

The article provides a thematized discussion of the development of the historiography of European monasticism in northern Europe (north Atlantic, North Sea to the Baltic). Whilst it does not offer a comprehensive overview of the field, it discusses the significance of major currents and models for t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Main Author: Emilia Jamroziak
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12070552
https://doaj.org/article/570598be45604be5aee15d3b36c606ac
Description
Summary:The article provides a thematized discussion of the development of the historiography of European monasticism in northern Europe (north Atlantic, North Sea to the Baltic). Whilst it does not offer a comprehensive overview of the field, it discusses the significance of major currents and models for the development of monastic history to the present day. From focusing on the heritage of history writing “from within”—produced by the members of religious communities in past and modern contexts—it examines key features of the historiography of the history of orders and monastic history paradigms in the context of national and confessional frameworks. The final section of the article provides an overview of the processes or musealization of monastic heritage and the significance of monastic material culture in historical interpretations, both academic and popular.