Review: [untitled]

Author(s): H. E. J. Cowdrey
Reviewed work(s):
Vom Kloster zum Klosterverband. Das Werkzeug der Schriftlichkeit by H. Keller ; F.
Neiske
Source: The English Historical Review, Vol. 114, No. 458 (Sep., 1999), pp. 953-954
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/580575
Accessed: 31/07/2009 11:23

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1999 SHORTER NOTICES 953
crown of Jerusalem. There were also hereditary interests in France (Anjou,
Maine), in Burgundy and Provence (gained by marriage in 1246), in northern
and central Italy (thanks above all to championing the papacy in its long duel
with the Hohenstaufen). The long-lasting 'Guelf' alliance of Anjou and
Florence was formed; from 1268-78 Charles was 'senator of Rome' though a
succession of short-lived popes complicated his diplomacy still further.
Retaining the loyalty of his own family and a small group of powerful families
(mostly from Provence), Charles was able to make something of his 'imperial'
position thanks to his many territories,anticipating methods used by later rulers
like Alfonso V of Naples and Aragon or Emperor Charles V. Literary and
musical interests are attributed to him; though he was not a scholar, he
encouraged academic developments in Naples; he was certainly much con-
cerned with castle-building and visible displays of royal wealth. Certainly in
sustaining her case that 'Charles was a very influential figure with at least some
claims to greatness' (p. 8), Dunbabin has performed a signal service, synthesiz-
ing succinctly a wealth of scholarship on his life, last briefly surveyed in Peter
Herde's Karl I. von Anjou (1979), and providing a well-balanced account,
securely grounded in surviving documentation, which students and teachers
alike will find instructive.

University of Nottingham MICHAEL JONES

The eighteen papers in VomKlosterzum Klosterverband.Das Werkzeugder

Schrifilichkeit,ed. H. Keller and F Neiske (Munich: Fink Verlag, I997; pp. 486.
DM98), cover twelve centuries of the process whereby monks and monasteries,
and later friars, formed ever more developed forms of association which
culminated in the religious Orders of the twelfth and later centuries. As the
subtitle suggests, a main concern of the book is to investigate the role of the
written word, and written documents, in facilitating the stages of this process.
Among papers that most directly illustrate it, C. M. Kasper examines an early
manifestation as the monasticism of Lrins progressed from oral exhortation to
a written Rule as a basis of common life. B. Tutsch accounts for the transition
among the Cluniacs from the compiling of Customs to the drawing up of such
statutes as those of Peter the Venerable. G. Melville offers a full and well
documented account of what he calls the Sonderweg of the Grandmontines
from their founder's exclusive concentration upon the Regula regularum (the
Gospel) - 'Non est alia regula nisi evangelium Christi!' -to the eventual
drawing up of a distinctive Rule c.II42/55 by the fourth prior, Stephen of Liciac.
A lengthy study by J. M. Berger of the practice, problems, and regulation of
monastic hospitality, especially as provided for fellow-monks, is particularly
informative as regardsthe Cistercians; she sheds light upon Walter Map's satire
upon them. On broader topics, A. Angenendt's survey of monastic association
from Pachomius through Benedict of Nursia to Benedict of Aniane sets in
context the Celtic and Latin monasticism of the age of Bede. B. H. Rosenwein
sets out the paradox of monastic exemption in Carolingian times as tending to
cement relations among abbots, bishops, and kings. With further regard to
Cluny, M. Hillebrandt considers constitutional relations between abbot and
community within the Cluniac body; F Neiske uses Cluny's cartulariesto shed
fresh light upon papal relations with that body, and he makes comparisons with
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954 SHORTER NOTICES September
Saint-Victorat Marseillesandla Chaise-Dieu.E J. Feltenbreaksnew groundin
his consideration,with an especialeye to the Paraclete,Premy,and Fontevraud,
of how women's houses gatheredassociationsaroundthemselves.As regards
particularhousesandlocalities,attentionmaybe drawnto A. Zettler'sstudyof
early relationsbetween Reichenauand St Gall. A. Sohn's account of the
constitutionaldevelopmentof Saint-Martin-des-Champs fromhouseof canons
to Cluniacprioryand centreof an associationbearsupon the historyof Paris
and of the Capetianmonarchy.M. Petitjeanand D. W Poeckexamineand
documentrelationsduringthe lastmedievalcenturiesbetweenreligioushouses
and civic authoritiesand elitesat Dijon and Liibeck,providingcase-studiesin
urbanhistory.The volume ends with a list of JoachimWollasch'sbooks and
articles.

St Edmund Hall, Oxford H. E. J. COWDREY

ClementV was electedpope in 1305, two yearsafterthe outrageperpetrated

on BonifaceVIII at Anagniby officialsof PhilipIV of France.Contemporary
chroniclersand generationsof futurehistorianshavejudgedthe pontificateof
ClementV to have been in largemeasureresponsiblefor the collapseof the
internationalstandingof the medievalpapacy.Clement'sapparentsubmission
of the papacyto the politicalwill of PhilipIV,his indiscriminatesupportforthe
actionsof EdwardI and EdwardII of England,his ambiguousinvolvementin
the trial of the Templars,his scandalousreputationfor nepotism, and his
inaugurationof the so-calledAvignonperiodof papalhistoryhaveallcombined
to markhim out asone of the majorembarrassments of the medievalpapacy.In
ClementV(Cambridge:U.P.,1998;pp. xiv+3I5. 145) SophiaMenachesets out
to re-evaluateClementV and to presenta more balancedassessmentof papal
policy.Shearguesthathe wasa politicalrealistwho sawthe needto adaptpapal
policyto reachan accommodationwith the emergingnationalstatesof Europe,
in particularFranceand England.Whatmanyhaveseenassupinesubservience
to the seculararmthe authorcharacterizes as a formof realpolitikas a meansof
shoring up the papacy in a hostile international environment. Such an
adaptation had as one of its chief aims the launchingof a crusadefor the
recoveryof the Holy Land under the leadershipof the kings of Franceand
England.Thisventure,whichprovedto be abortive,wasdesignedto redoundto
the glory of the papacy.In constructingher thesis, Menachehas made an
exhaustiveanalysisof the extantofficialdocumentation,both ecclesiasticaland
secular,aswellasthe chroniclesandotherliterarysources.It is verymuchto her
creditthatshedoesnot confineherselfto the evidencewhichcanmoreeasilybe
used in supportof her arguments.On the contrary,the authorbalancesthe
scoreby furnishingan arrayof contemporarysourcesthatarerelentlesslycritical
of ClementV and his policies.Giventhe fact thatso manyfacetsof Clement's
thoughtand actionsmay be interpretedin differentways, Menache'sgeneral
techniqueis to resolvenumerousambiguitiesin the Pope'sfavourfollowingthe
most painstakingand scholarlysiftingof the pros and cons of the issueunder
discussion.Althoughherconclusionshaveto remainto somedegreeconjectural
she has succeededin formulatinga challengingand revisionistportraitof
ClementV whichwill stimulateusefuldebateamonghistoriansof the medieval
papacy.A final and importantpoint of intereststressedby the authoris that
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