Since much of Bernard’s activities and corpus reflect the Cistercian charism, it is important to understand what was distinctive about the Cistercians in the late Middle Ages and why that may have been attractive to Dante. The twelfth century has often been claimed as the century of the Cistercians. Part of the reason was due to a reforming impulse within the Church’s monastic community for greater simplicity in the religious life and more emphasis on interior contrition and virtue. Martha G. Newman argues that in the early ninth century the Benedictine rule, which was the dominant monastic rule in western Europe, often ignored the “implications about interior [spiritual] education and instead concentrated on the proper behavior and ritual actions of a military corps.” In contrast, the Cistercians emphasized spiritual contemplation within the context of a community. One of the differences between the Cistercians and other monastic orders is that they only accepted adults as novices. Since many of the new monks had lived in the world and were formerly of the upper classes, the formation of adult novitiates dealt less with basic education and more with spiritual reform. For new adult monks who had retreated from the world, the process of sinful purgation was emphasized. As an example of that emphasis, Bernard preached the sermon On Conversion to an audience of Parisian scholars and students who constituted the type of candidate that the Cistercians hoped to recruit. Bernard’s sermon is replete with verbal imagery that might at first may seem graphic and contemptuous of the body. He talks about the “enticements of pleasure” within sinner’s memory which is like “some cesspit [in which] runs all abomination and uncleanness.” Bern...
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... St. Thierry describes the many attempts to have Bernard established in an ecclesiastical office, particularly in Milan and in Reims where the clergy and the people chose him as a nominee for archbishop. Bernard did not seek advancements for himself, however, but only to advance the needs of the church. Bernard did not hesitate to help the church “whenever the requirements of Obedience or Charity become urgent.” For Bernard, Church governance was not separate from personal holiness. Jean Leclercq states that Bernard most often wrote about subjects that had to do with “the mysteries of salvation, the manner in which one should behave, act, [and] govern in keeping with Christian principles.” De Consideratione is Bernard’s work where all of the subjects that Leclercq mentions coalesce. De Consideratione is considered to be Bernard’s treatise on Church governance.
Dante’s works Vita Nuova and Purgatorio includes his own experiences with many dreams throughout the course of his journey. These dreams are not simply just extensions of his experiences, but rather they pose important symbolism of his works. Although the content and the actual symbolism of each dream are different, there are parallel allegorical aspects between them. The main symbolic similarity of each dream is that they foreshadows and bridges Dante’s current situation and upcoming undertakings.
Dante And His Guide, Virgil Thesis- Dante and Virgil have an interesting relationship that changes throughout Dante’s Inferno. They started off very different, and Virgil didn’t care much for Dante. Dante looked at Virgil differently after he heard Beatrice sent him to guide him. Throughout their travels, their relationship changed as they went through every layer of hell. Something happened to each one that changed their relationship either drastically, or barely at all.
When we are first introduced to Dante the Pilgrim, we perceive in him a Renaissance intellectual, who despite his intelligence and religiosity has lost the “path that does not stray” (I.3). Having thus lost touch with the tenets of orthodox Catholicism, a higher power has chosen for him to undertake an epic journey. (The devout are able to identify this power with the one Judeo-Christian God, while pagans and sinners often attribute the impetus behind the Pilgrim’s voyage to fate.)
In his youth, St. Boniface encountered many priests or clerics who traveled from town to town. Through these spiritual conversations, it became evident to St. Boniface that he wanted to pursue a life with God. Eventually, after continuos begging and his fathers fatal sickness, he was sent to the care of the Monastery of Examchester. (Appleton) It is here, that St. Boniface expressed to the Abbot at the time, that he wanted to live a monastic life. The father of the monastery, after council, granted him his wish. Here is where the saint began to prove his love for God, and could begin his journey of the Christian life. After exceeding all expectations and surpassing the knowledge of his teachers, he moved to a neighboring monastery, called Nursling, whereby he studied under the influence of Abbot Winbert.(St. Boniface Church) Here he gained vast knowledge of scriptures and the spiritual exposition of the Bible. Here, he gained such a reputation that men and women from far and wide traveled to study scriptures under his guidance. At the age of 30 he was humbly ordained a priest and yet another branch of his life was fulfilled.
Everyday people seem change themselves in one way or another, but sometimes people change their appearance and personality to the point where those who were close to them, can not even recognize them in a crowd. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, is a story of a sailor, Edmond Dantes, who was betrayed during his prime time of his life by the jealousy of his friends. Dantes is sent to prison where he spends countless years planning an escape with the help of a fellow prisoner. The prisoner informs Dantes that he knows where a treasure is that one man can not even dream about. Dantes friend then happens to die, leaving Dantes with the information of where the treasure is. After escaping, and cheating death, Dantes strikes it rich when he discovers the treasure of which his friend talked about. From here on, the Count of Monte Cristo is born, and he sets off to seek revenge at those who put him in prison. Many people believe that Edmond abandoned his former self and tried to became the Count of Monte Cristo however, there are still some traces of Edmond Dantes locked up inside the Count.
...void money at all costs, but many cannot resist women or wine, all without recognizing the hypocrisy. It is important to note that while the observance of these superficial rules makes men of religion and monks think that they are getting closer to the original ideals of Christianity, they are actually straying farther from one of Christianity’s most basic principles, simplicity. Each monk points to his own sacrifices and particularities of faith, never remembering that Christ judges each based off of his own standard of charity. However, the thing which Erasmus criticizes the most about monks, and one of the biggest sources of corruption he sees in the church, that they hold the key to the confessional. They know that they hold the power to rectify a person’s relationship with God, and can abuse this power freely, despite the fact that this is highly immoral.
Late in the fifth century the son of a well-off family in Italy left for isolation on his mission to truly seek god. This man was St. Benedict, who is credited with the first establishment of the concept of withdrawing from all temptation for Christian beliefs in the west. St. Benedict left his home and went to the top of a mountain, where he established a monastic community. In this community the individuals who resided there, constantly reiterated their faith. They sacrificed whatever they may have had to prove their true commitment to God. This became an early ideal of Christianity, that one must suffer loss and sacrifice to prove their loyalty to the faith. It was believed in this time period that if one is content with only what they truly need one is freer to think about other people and to think about God . These individuals were called Regular Clergies (monks) and were considered heroes of the faith.
...h Giovanni Boccaccio’s comments in the Decameron may be interpreted as anticlerical, his portrayal of clerics is fitting of many members of the clerical and religious state in the Late Middle Ages. Through this analysis, and Boccaccio’s support of the Church through the story of Abraham the Jew, Boccaccio in fact seems to be devoted to the Church, and seeks to reform it through his suggestions.
In chapter two, ‘Francis and His Companions,’ Cunningham exposes the considerable growth in Francis of Assisi’s influence, as he recounts his companions that joined him after deciding to live his life. The chapter is significant because it exposes how Francis of Assisi’s gospel is different from the orthodox Catholic practices, which recognized the pope, as the sole Vicar of Christ. (Cunningham 32). This chapter is important in my life because it reinforces my conviction God is the almighty and all-powerful, and all people regardless of the status of the needed to worship
Many bishops and abbots (especially in countries where they were also territorial princes) bore themselves as secular rulers rather than as servants of the Church. Many members of cathedral chapters and other beneficed ecclesiastics were chiefly concerned with their income and how to increase it, especially by uniting several prebends (even episcopal sees) in the hands of one person, who thus enjoyed a larger income and greater power. Luxury prevailed widely among the higher clergy, while the lower clergy were often oppressed. The scientific and ascetic training of the clergy left much to be desired, the moral standard of many being very low, and the practice of celibacy not everywhere observed. Not less serious was the condition of many monasteries of men, and even of women (which were often homes for the unmarried daughte...
The medieval mind was schematic in nature. From the Great Chain of Being to the orders of angels, medieval thinkers were fond of organizing and classifying the physical and spiritual worlds. One of the schema that has endured in some form to the present day appears in the notion of the Seven Deadly Sins. As Morton Bloomfield observed in 1952, an understanding of the sins might provide a means of understanding the quality and “absolute worth” of the “medieval fabric” (243).
In Dante’s, The Divine Comedy, Virgil leads Dante through the Inferno, where Dante undergoes changes in his compassion. I am going to argue that Dante expresses less compassion during his journey when Virgil leads him through the Inferno. This essay will prove how Dante shows more feelings at the beginning of the Inferno compared to the end of the Inferno.
Cantor, Norman F. The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the
Saint Francis of Assisi was a uniquely spiritual man who gave up a life of wealth and position to lead a life of poverty in accordance and service to God. Embracing a life according to the Gospels, Francis went on to establish a Monastic Order, known as the Franciscans. In the midst of the political climate within the religious community of Italy, Francis emerged a champion for the poor and sick, with humility and no regard for himself. Francis exhibited his love for God through his love and admiration for all of God's creation including nature. The principles of Saint Francis are as relevant today as they were in thirteenth century Italy; service and love to all of God’s creation.
Turner, William. (March 1, 1907) The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I, online edition. Retrieved February 2, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm