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Western Monasticism and Economic Organization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2009

J. A. Raftis
J. A. Raftis
Affiliation:
Toronto
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Extract

In turning from the monasticism of the East the historian is struck by the comparative complexity of the institutions of Western monasticism. Christian monasticism has taken many forms. At some periods and places it performed nearly all the organized work of the church, at other times it would appear as a very specialized vocation in isolation from society. In this sense, the monastery, as the church, has borrowed from and adapted to its needs a wide range of institutions at different stages of development in the history of the West. While the description of this structural complexity is a fascinating though immense problem in the sociology of religion into which we cannot enter here, there was a ‘monastic period’ in the history of western Christendom that warrants comparison with monasticism in the East. From the time of the breakup of the Roman Empire to the rise of the nation-state monastic institutions maintained a continuity unique in the history of western Christianity. Although only rarely the sole ecclesiastical institution, the monastery was in most regions of western Europe for a long time the dominant form of ecclesiastical organization. Accordingly, we can expect to find during this period something of a common monastic reaction to problems of economic organization.

Type
Research Article
Information
Comparative Studies in Society and History , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , July 1961 , pp. 452 - 469
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 1961

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References

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2 For a general statement of these points, see Chapters IV and V of The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, II (1952).Google Scholar

3 Perhaps it will be helpful to stress at this point that the political structure of society, and the stage of economic growth, are by now recognized essentials for the study of the western monastic economy, whereas the main queries about Eastern monasticism would still seem to turn about the possible importance of these very factors. To the student of Western monasticism, the growing cluster of jisa supply depots about Lamaist monasteries, described above by Mr. Miller, is indicative of a monastery situated in a relatively stable political and economic order. In contrast, it is not surprising to find with M. Bareau that the “great innovation” entered Buddhist monastic administration with the gift of land, opening the way in a more highly developed economy to “independent use”, and even “private ownership”. M. Bareau only points to the Emperor Asoka, and Mr. Miller mentions the impact of the Manchu dynasty as political influences in the economic life of the monastery. We know that “feudalization” had its influence upon religious of the East too, in terms of military cost (e.g. Lonfgrais, F. Jouon Des, L'Est et l'Ouest, Institutions du Japon et de l'Occident comparées, Paris, Institut de Recherches d'Histoire Étrangère, 1958, pp. 51,Google Scholar 55–61). But apparently there was no distinctly political influence as such since “the performance of rites was the state's business” (Coulborn, Rushton, “The State and Religion: Iran, India, and China”, CSSH, I, p. 55). For mediaeval Europe, in contrast, the distinction of political and religious jurisdictions is of primary sociological importance.Google Scholar

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13 There is no doubt that the military obligations proper of many monasteries were reduced for religious reasons from the eleventh century. But it is still a question for historical investigation as to how much, if at all, the total financial burden of “public taxation” upon the monastery was relieved.

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