CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2008
| Author | Snyder, Parker Allen |
|---|---|
| Title | Cistercian Network Analysis: A Road Map through the Mental Imagination of the First Generations of Monks |
| Summary | The Cistercians were a twelfth century monastic reform originating in Burgundy. After a slow start, they expanded quickly to number some 350 foundations by the death of their notable promoter Bernard of Clairvaux. But was there a master plan for the development of the Order? Even though the Cistercians were a contemplative reform and largely self sufficient in their economic life, they recognized the importance of regular communication between abbeys. To connect the members, the twin pillars of the Cistercian Constitution were 1. parental visitation among filia and 2. an annual chapter in Burgundy. Because of these two features, the Cistercian expansion can be modeled as a network. From the nineteenth century, scholars have studied the chronological sequence of early foundations and one major mapping project has been completed to date, but no one has analyzed network relationships. I argue that Cistercian foundations can be read like a charter to present a general picture of the monks’ strategy before administrative structures had been formalized. This thesis treats each foundation as a node and each filial relationship as a link, while the network in its entirety is read like a road map to discover the mental imagination of the first generations of monks. ; Keyw ords: cistercians network analysis cistercian early expansion constitution carta caritatis bernard clairvaux spatial temporal distribution patterns italy hungary |
| Supervisor | Jaritz, Gerhard; Laszlovszky, József |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2008/snyder_parker.pdf |
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