medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Phyllis Jestice <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Coloman (d. 1012)....Coloman's cult soon spread throughout the
German-speaking lands, especially among peasants.
puts me in mind of a recent discussion on Mediev-L concerning the extent to
which Christianity had permeated "down" to the peasantry during the early
middle ages --esp. in Merovingian gaul.
Coloman's example might be a bit late to serve as evidence of wide-spread
Christian practice among the rural masses, but one thing that impressed me
about the M-L string was the inability of the list participants to come up
with any solid evidence to demonstrate that the peasantry *was* largely
Christian in belief or practice.
perhaps the somewhat different perspective of this learned list might shed
some more light than smoke on the subject.
an otherwise fairly rational and very knowledgeable historian suggested that
the "immense donations to churches, which by the seventh century in Gaul is
considered to have amounted to 2/3 of the arable (Lesne followed by many
others)" was "proof" of peasant piety, as were the "major building
projects--urban and rural..."
but i ventured the opinion that, by definition, such donations of property
were made by the ruling elite, who constituted a *miniscule* proportion
(2-5%?) of the total population.
and, moreover, that the Propertied Class was the only one which
(1) supplied warm bodies to become monks, nuns and members of the secular
clergy;
(2) had the freedom and leisure time to visit pilgrimage centers.
from my own very limited reading, with very rare exceptions, the peasantry
*only* appears in 11th-12th c. documents
--as almost always anonymous property (in charters);
--or as mere props in larger, essentially sacred histories (e.g., the peasants
who have their seed corn ripped off to feed Philip I's horses when he sets up
his base in their village from which to strike at LePuiset in the _Miracles of
St. Benedict_);
--or, as in the opening chapters of Suger's _de Administratione_ (left out of
the Panofsky edition), as naughty, shiftless no-accounts, constantly trying
cheat their (Saintly) owners of their rightful dues, then having the audacity
to "grumble" at "changes in customs" imposed upon them by the Holy Abbot with
the aid of some of the local cappos.
St. Suger, particularly, is *only* concerned with them and their plight in so
far as the local knightly regime of rapine has diminished their productivity
and, therefore, the income rightly due to St. Denis.
hence, the testimony supplied by the _vita_ of Coloman, though also late, was
of particular interest.
*Is* there similar written evidence from the 5th through the, say, 9th century
which also sheds light on this question?
any other examples of **peasant** piety in this period?
best to all from here,
christopher
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|