medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
By chance, right now I happen to be reading Geoffroi de Charny's "Book of Chivalry" (written c. 1351) which at one point near its end compares the priestly order and the knightly order. Though Charny is very reverent and says that the priesthood is "the worthiest order of all," he can't quite resist elevating the order of knighthood above it. For there is "no religious order in which as much is suffered as has to be endured by these good knights." And while priests "take up arms of Our Lord against the devils of hell," they do this within the security of the church building. But as to good knights, "it might well be considered that they should be of as great or even greater integrity than might be required of a priest, for they are in danger every day, and at the moment when they think themselves the most secure, it is then that may suddenly have to take up arms and often to undertake demanding and dangerous adventures." It's interesting to me how the physical risk inherent in a knight's career is Charny's main measure of why the order of knighthood carries more merit. He says that "this service [of men-at-arms] may not be fittingly performed in churches, which are beautiful and strong, nor can it by its nature be carried out there nor in safe places, but such services must perforce be performed on the field and in such danger as can and should pertain to such a calling."
I have to agree with George that the medieval priesthood encompassed too many various types (and, for that matter, stereotypes, e.g., Chaucer's Parson) for us to drawn pat images. It's clear that Lateran IV attempted to "professionalize" the secular priesthood by establishing codes for behavior, education, and permissible occupations for the clergy, and that its dress code for them was one visible way it attempted to set clergy apart. But it's hard to believe that younger ennobled sons who were sent into church careers, or the average aristocratic bishop, or those lucky attendant priests who got attached to royal or noble courts either as chaplains or bureaucrats would be able to resist the allure of the culture of "courtoisie" in which they moved.
Best,
John
------------------------------------------
John Shinners
Professor of Humanistic Studies
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Phone: 574-284-4494 or 574-284-4534
Fax: 284-4855
www.saintmarys.edu/~hust
"Learn everything. Afterwards you will see that nothing is superfluous." -- Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141)
----- Original Message -----
From: George R. Hoelzeman <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:13:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: [M-R] Nothing 'chivalric' about medieval priests
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Like the earlier thread on the function of medieval churches, there is no one answer to this. There is a significant difference in education, outlook, practice
and perception of clergy depending on if they are parochial, "secular", chapter, monastic, or other clerics. Also, bear in mind that during the period in
question one could be considered clergy - a clerk or cleric - if one had only received one of the various minor orders. Thus, a man who had been invested
as an acolyte was considered clergy even if he no longer was engaged in pursuing priesthood. Thus, there is a wide range from the less noble sorts of
behaviour of individuals "oblated" to monasteries to the more chivalic outlook of someone like Bernard of Clairvaux.
The most famous source from the period, of course, is the Canterbury Tales. A more modern source based on medieval documents is the book
"Montaillou" which discusses in some detail the character of the local priest who was involved with the Cathars as well as incidentally the perception of
other clerics not Cathars. Some discussion is also had about how the average layperson perceived the clergy, both from the view of Cathars/Albigensians
and Catholics.
There are other sources as well, which escape me at the moment.
All that having been said, I do not recall that priests were actually included in the chivalric code (insofar as such existed) although I do seem to recall that
the principles of chivalry were written/composed/encouraged by as many priests as it was others. . . in particularly, Marian devotion, etc. was heavily
oriented toward chivalry, if I recall correctly.
This should be an interesting thread.
George the Less
--Original Message Text---
From: Steve Higham
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:06:08 +0000
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Hello
I am unsure if this message ought to be posted to a medieval Catholic forum (if such a thing exists), but I am undertaking some research into the role or
behaviour of medieval Catholic priests. Tolkien, of Lord of the Rings fame, lumps together knights, castles, and damsels alongside priests as those principle
figures comprising romance and chivalry and I have hoping to suggest that there is nothing 'romantic' or 'chivalric' about the role they played.
Any suggestions as to references I may consult would be welcome, please.
Best regards
Steve
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