Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T03:59:42.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

53 - Books and Libraries within Monasteries

from Part IV - Forms of Monasticism in the Late Middle Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2020

Alison I. Beach
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Isabelle Cochelin
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Get access

Summary

To Jerome of Mondsee (d. 1475), master of the University of Vienna and proponent of the Melk reform, the omnipresence of books within monasteries was self-evident. He expressed this sentiment in the title of his short work “Remarks that religious should have table readings, not only in the refectory, but also in other places (within the monastery).” Reading aloud was thought to make the contents of a text more accessible, individual reading to promote introspection, and above all, to encourage compliance with the rule of silence, since reading aloud to one’s self was not the same as talking. Humbert of Romans (1200–77), Dominican master general, wrote in his instructions for the various offices of the order that the librarian was to open the library regularly, but also to ensure that the books that most of the brothers did not personally possess were located in “appropriate places of silence,” usually chained to desks.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bell, David N. The Library of the Abbey of La Trappe: A Study of Its History from the Twelfth Century to the French Revolution. Turnhout, 2014.Google Scholar
Bell, David N. What Nuns Read: Books and Libraries in Medieval English Nunneries. Kalamazoo, MI, 1995.Google Scholar
Bischoff, Bernhard, ed. Mittelalterliche Schatzverzeichnisse. Vol. 1: Von der Zeit Karls des Großen bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts. Munich, 1967.Google Scholar
Bünz, Enno, ed. Bücher, Drucker, Bibliotheken in Mitteldeutschland. Neue Forschungen zur Kommunikations- und Mediengeschichte um 1500. Leipzig, 2006.Google Scholar
Carmassi, Patrizia, Schlotheuber, Eva, and Breitenbach, Almut, eds. Schriftkultur und religiöse Zentren im norddeutschen Raum. Wiesbaden, 2014.Google Scholar
Caspers, Charles, and van Tongeren, Louis, eds. Unitas in pluralitate: Libri Ordinarii as a Source for Cultural History. Münster, 2015.Google Scholar
Christ, Karl. The Handbook of Medieval Library History. Metuchen, NJ, and London, 1984.Google Scholar
Clark, James G.Print and Pre-Reformation Religion: The Benedictines and the Press, c.1470–c.1550.” In The Uses of Script and Print, 1300–1700, edited by Crick, Julia and Walsham, Alexandra, 7192. Cambridge, 2004.Google Scholar
Coates, Alan. English Medieval Books: The Reading Abbey Collections from Foundation to Dispersal. Oxford, 1999.Google Scholar
Hamburger, Jeffrey, Schlotheuber, Eva, Marti, Susan, and Fassler, Margot, eds. Liturgical Life and Latin Learning at Paradies bei Soest, 1300–1425: Inscription and Illumination in the Choir Books of a North German Dominican Convent. 2 vols. Münster, 2017.Google Scholar
Heinzer, Felix. Klosterreform und mittelalterliche Buchkultur im deutschen Südwesten. Leiden, 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janota, Johannes, and Williams-Krapp, Werner, eds. Literarisches Leben in Augsburg während des 15. Jahrhunderts. Tübingen, 1995.Google Scholar
Kautz, Michael. Bibliothek und Skriptorium des ehemaligen Klosters Lorsch. Katalog der erhaltenen Handschriften. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, 2016.Google Scholar
Ker, Neil R., and Watson, Andrew G., eds. Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books. London, 1987.Google Scholar
Klein, Peter, ed. Der mittelalterliche Kreuzgang. Architektur, Funktion und Programm / The medieval cloister / Le cloître au Moyen Age. Regensburg, 2004.Google Scholar
Lehmann, Edgar. Die Bibliotheksräume der deutschen Klöster im Mittelalter. Berlin, 1957.Google Scholar
Mentzel-Reuters, Arno. Arma spiritualia. Bibliotheken, Bücher und Bildung im Deutschen Orden. Wiesbaden, 2003.Google Scholar
Milde, Wolfgang. “Über Anordnung und Verzeichnung von Büchern in mittelalterlichen Bibliothekskatalogen.” Scriptorium 50 (1996): 269–78.Google Scholar
Roest, Bert. A History of Franciscan Education (c. 1220–1517). Leiden, 2000.Google Scholar
Schlotheuber, Eva. Die Franziskaner in Göttingen. Die Geschichte des Klosters und seiner Bibliothek. Werl, 1996.Google Scholar
Schlusemann, Rita, Hermans, Jos. M. M., and Hoogvliet, Margriet, eds. Sources for the History of Medieval Books and Libraries. Groningen, 1999.Google Scholar
Sharpe, Richard. “Accession, Classification, Location: Shelfmarks in Medieval Libraries.” Scriptorium 50 (1996): 279–87.Google Scholar
Thompson, James Westfall. The Medieval Library. Chicago, IL, 1939.Google Scholar
Willing, Antje. Die Bibliothek des Klosters St. Katharina zu Nürnberg. Synoptische Darstellung der Bücherverzeichnisse. 2 vols. Berlin, 2012.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×