Parergon

Reviews 291 interactions between the old and the new, the ways that the older pre-Christian past has been incorporated into and was in dialogue with the literary monuments of the early Christian era. Its place in the study of Irish hagiography is probably more as a 'dip in' text, a reference point w h e n examining either individual texts or traditions to see what readings have been done around the central metaphor of conversations, rather than for complete readings or account of any one saint or corpus of hagiographical texts. Dianne Hall Department ofHistory University of Melbourne Newman, Martha G., The Boundaries of Charity: Cistercian Culture and Ecclesiastical Reform, 1098-1180 (Figurae: Reading Medieval ''Culture), Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1996, cloth; pp. 387; 1 map, 6 b / w illustrations; R.R.P. AU$85. [Distributed in Australia by Cambridge University Press]. This interesting study is concerned to provide a holistic accoun the philosophy and lived monastic culture of the twelfth-century Cistercians. Often there is perceived to be a disjunction between the Cistercian withdrawal from the world, and their vigorous participation in the ecclesiastical hierarchy and other worldly activities, such as the acquisition and transformation of land. Newman argues that until her study 'the question of h o w a religious group following a tradition of social withdrawal played such a pivotal role in society' remained unanswered (p. 3). Her book is in two sections: thefirstexamines the creation of Cistercian religious culture through documents such as the Carta caritatis; and the second section focuses on this culture in action. Criticism of the Cistercian 292 Reviews position by other monastic writers aids in distinguishing the precise nature of their differences from other orders. The central concept of caritas N e w m a n links to the mores of the aristocratic class from which many Cistercian monks were drawn. Bernard of Clairvaux's writings are filled with the language of love, and the twelfth century is characterized by the rise of mystical and emotional theology, emphasising God's love of humanity and humanity's potential to return that love. However, for Bernard caritas was not related to an individual's feelings or emotions, it was an abstract virtue. Very early on, the Cistercians determined only to accept adults into their community, and not to run schools for children. This recruitment of adults gave them a peculiarly intense focus on the process of conversion or inner transformation. The most famous early Cistercian conversion was that of Bernard and his companions, nearly thirty in number, in the spring of 1113. Because many recruits were from knightly families, and -the benefactors of the Cistercians tended to be from that class also, there were m a n y exempla in Cistercian writings which used the imagery of battle and chivalry, and the concept of the monk as a soldier became central. This enabled aristocratic recruits to channel their knightly aggressiveness toward spiritual ends. This soldierly image was also at the heart of Cistercian ideas about the individual spiritual progress of monks, and the support they received from other community members. Chapter Two, 'Individual Progress and Community Support', covers familiar Cistercian history, examining the writings of important early abbots such as Robert of Molesme and Stephen Harding. Newman's focus is on the role of friendship within the Cistercian communities, and the w a y in which the physical and emotional dimensions of such friendships were acknowledged and incorporated into the model of spiritual progress developed by the community. N e w m a n contends that Reviews 293 these spiritual friendships were modelled on the friendships of men-at-arms within the knightly context. Chapter Three, "The Cultivation of the Soul', examines the Cistercian attitude to property and its acquisition, and notes that other monastic critics frequently accused them of avarice and that their methods of acquisition were often ruthless. Here it is argued that there was a spiritual component to this transformation of land in that they separated land permanently from secular concerns and functions; and 'the monks' confidence that they could manipulate and transform their land paralleled their confidence that they could transform their wills and create from their carnal love...