DISCOVERING THE MIDDLE AGES:

Monks in 17th-Century France

 

In 17th-century France, one religious order flourished as never before, and thereafter scholarship became a characteristic associated with Benedictine monks. It was in 1621 that a reform group of Benedictine abbeys known as the Maurists came into being, and by 1675 some 178 monasteries had joined the Congregation of Saint Maur. Headquartered at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, Maurist monks pursued a life that combined ascetic discipline with a devotion to scholarship that far exceeded anything seen in medieval monasteries.

Maurist scholars were particularly devoted to history and the writings of the early Church, and monks scoured libraries for the texts which allowed them to produce critical editions of Basil, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Bernard and others. In many cases the quality of their work has endured to the twentieth century. From Maurist study also came the Gallia Christiana (1715-65), the Acta SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti (1668-1701, 1733-40), and the Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti (1703-45.)

Certainly the most famous of Maurist scholars was Jean Mabillon (1632-1707), who lived at Saint-German-des-Prés and is buried there today. Throughout his long career, he worked collaboratively with his confreres on some of the most important scholarly projects that the Congregation produced. Mabillon appreciated the value of textual study, and under his guidance monks systematically searched libraries throughout western Europe for the earliest and best manuscript editions of texts. It was his ability to analyze texts that caused him to write in defense of the Merovingian charters that had endowed Saint-Germain-des-Prés; the resulting book, De re diplomatica, laid the foundation for medieval textual analysis.

Maurist presses continued to turn out dignified and beautiful editions until the French revolution brought a temporary end to monasticism in France. On September 2, 1792, Dom Antoine Chevreux, the superior general, went to the guillotine with forty of his monks. With them died the great scholarly enterprise. But the books they produced so lovingly endure to impress both readers and viewers today,

 

EXHIBIT CONTENTS

Study of Manuscripts

Monastic History

Editions

Gathering Manuscripts