Martha G. Newman – författare

Around the year 1200, the Cistercian Engelhard of Langheim dedicated a collection of monastic stories to a community of religious women. Martha G. Newman explores how this largely unedited collection of tales about Cistercian monks illuminates the religiosity of Cistercian nuns. As did other Cistercian storytellers, Engelhard recorded the miracles and visions of the order's illustrious figures, but he wrote from Franconia, in modern Germany, rather than the Cistercian heartland. His extant texts reflect his interactions with non-Cistercian monasteries and with Langheim's patrons rather than celebrating Bernard of Clairvaux. Engelhard was conservative, interested in maintaining traditional Cistercian patterns of thought. Nonetheless, by offering to women a collection of narratives that explore the oral qualities of texts, the nature of sight, and the efficacy of sacraments, Engelhard articulated a distinctive response to the social and intellectual changes of his period.In analyzing Engelhard's stories, Newman uncovers an understudied monastic culture that resisted the growing emphasis on the priestly administration of the sacraments and the hardening of gender distinctions. Engelhard assumed that monks and nuns shared similar interests and concerns, and he addressed his audiences as if they occupied a space neither fully sacerdotal nor completely lay, neither scholastic nor unlearned, and neither solely male nor only female. His exemplary narratives depict the sacramental value of everyday objects and behaviors whose efficacy relied more on individual spiritual formation than on sacerdotal action. By encouraging nuns and monks to imagine connections between heaven and earth, Engelhard taught faith as a learned disposition. Newman's study demonstrates that scholastic questions about signs, sacraments, and sight emerged in a narrative form within late twelfth-century monastic communities.

Around the year 1200, the Cistercian Engelhard of Langheim dedicated a collection of monastic stories to a community of religious women. Martha G. Newman explores how this largely unedited collection of tales about Cistercian monks illuminates the religiosity of Cistercian nuns. As did other Cistercian storytellers, Engelhard recorded the miracles and visions of the order's illustrious figures, but he wrote from Franconia, in modern Germany, rather than the Cistercian heartland. His extant texts reflect his interactions with non-Cistercian monasteries and with Langheim's patrons rather than celebrating Bernard of Clairvaux. Engelhard was conservative, interested in maintaining traditional Cistercian patterns of thought. Nonetheless, by offering to women a collection of narratives that explore the oral qualities of texts, the nature of sight, and the efficacy of sacraments, Engelhard articulated a distinctive response to the social and intellectual changes of his period.In analyzing Engelhard's stories, Newman uncovers an understudied monastic culture that resisted the growing emphasis on the priestly administration of the sacraments and the hardening of gender distinctions. Engelhard assumed that monks and nuns shared similar interests and concerns, and he addressed his audiences as if they occupied a space neither fully sacerdotal nor completely lay, neither scholastic nor unlearned, and neither solely male nor only female. His exemplary narratives depict the sacramental value of everyday objects and behaviors whose efficacy relied more on individual spiritual formation than on sacerdotal action. By encouraging nuns and monks to imagine connections between heaven and earth, Engelhard taught faith as a learned disposition. Newman's study demonstrates that scholastic questions about signs, sacraments, and sight emerged in a narrative form within late twelfth-century monastic communities.

Everyday Religion and Sacred Work in Roman Antiquity and Medieval Societies offers a groundbreaking exploration of religious attitudes and practices surrounding labor in Roman Antiquity and Medieval societies, bringing together diverse religious traditions and methodologies. It examines how work was imbued with religious significance, explores the practices of working people, and analyzes the boundaries between "e;religion"e; and "e;work"e; across pagan, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic contexts, spanning from ancient Rome to the later Middle Ages in Europe. The book offers a critical analysis of how premodern societies conceptualized and regulated the relationship between religion and labor, challenging modern categories and interpretations. The chapters from interdisciplinary perspectives critique the traditional narrative that a Christian valuation of work in Late Antique monasticism replaced classical disdain for labor, ultimately contributing to the emergence of capitalism. By addressing these themes, the book offers fresh insights into the cultural, social, and economic dimensions of work in ancient and medieval contexts.Ideal for students, scholars, and informed non-specialist readers, the book is particularly suited to those interested in religious studies, history, medieval studies, classics, sociology, and related fields globally.

Everyday Religion and Sacred Work in Roman Antiquity and Medieval Societies offers a groundbreaking exploration of religious attitudes and practices surrounding labor in Roman Antiquity and Medieval societies, bringing together diverse religious traditions and methodologies. It examines how work was imbued with religious significance, explores the practices of working people, and analyzes the boundaries between "e;religion"e; and "e;work"e; across pagan, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic contexts, spanning from ancient Rome to the later Middle Ages in Europe. The book offers a critical analysis of how premodern societies conceptualized and regulated the relationship between religion and labor, challenging modern categories and interpretations. The chapters from interdisciplinary perspectives critique the traditional narrative that a Christian valuation of work in Late Antique monasticism replaced classical disdain for labor, ultimately contributing to the emergence of capitalism. By addressing these themes, the book offers fresh insights into the cultural, social, and economic dimensions of work in ancient and medieval contexts.Ideal for students, scholars, and informed non-specialist readers, the book is particularly suited to those interested in religious studies, history, medieval studies, classics, sociology, and related fields globally.