The limitations of status as an obstacle in admission to the monasteries during the times of Gregory the Great based on his "Registrum epistularum" and the rules of Roman law

Janusz Lewandowicz

Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Łodzi , Poland


Abstract

Monastic life, which development has been significantly contributed by St. Gregory the Great, has an important place in the history of Europe. This paper attempts to go back to the period of monasticism in the Late Antiquity, of which there are numerous testimonies in the epistles of St. Gregory the Great. Based on Registrum epistularum, the paper presents the practice of admitting to the monas­teries candidates from different social backgrounds. Simultaneously, it discusses the evolution of the imperial law, from the reign of Constantine to the end of the sixth century, by concerning restrictions on the admission to the monasteries ari­sing from the fact of belonging to the specific state (obnoxii): decurions, tax col­lectors, colonate, slaves assigned to the land. The paper highlights the concern of Pope Gregory I for those who join the monasteries as well as draw attention to the motives, which guided the emperors to make laws concerning the admission to the monasteries and the Gregory’s attitude towards the secular law. The paper also draws attention to the efforts of the pope aiming at promoting the monastic life as the highest form of Christian life.

Keywords:

Gregory the Great, Registrum epistularum, letters, Roman law, monasticism, admission to the monasteries, obnoxii, tax collectors, coloni, adscripticii, slaves

Augustinus, De opere monachorum, PL 40, 547-582.

Concilium Chalcedonense (451), w: Dokumenty soborów powszechnych, [wyd. grecko-polskie], układ i oprac. A. Baron – H. Pietras, tłum. T. Wnętrzak, ŹMT 24 = DSP 1, Kraków 2001, 191-257.

Concilium Romanum (494/495), Epistula Gelasii ad episcopos per Lucaniam, Britios et Siciliam, w: Dokumenty synodów od 431 do 504 roku, [wyd. łacińsko-polskie], układ i oprac. A. Baron – H. Pietras, tłum. B. Frontczak, ŹMT 62 = SCL 6, Kraków 2011, 305-317.

Corpus iuris civilis, vol. 1: Institutiones, ed. P. Krueger; Digesta, ed. Th. Mommsen, Berolini 1889; vol. 2: Codex Iustinianus, ed. P. Krueger, Berolini 1877; vol. 3: Novellae, ed. R. Schoell – G. Kroll, Berolini 1895.

Fragmenta sub titulo Conciliorum Toletanorum, Mansi III, Florentiae 1759, 1007-1014.

Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi, ed. A. de Vogüé, SCh 251, Paris 1978.

Gregorius Magnus, Registrum epistularum, ed. P. Ewald – L.M. Hartmann, MGH Epistulae 1: Gregorii I papae Registrum epistolarum. Libri I-VII, Berolini 1891; ed. P. Ewald – L.M. Hartmann, MGH Epistulae 1: Gregorii I papae Registrum epistolarum. Libri VIII-XIV, Berolini 1899; ed. D. Norberg, CCL 140-140A, Turnholti 1982; tłum. J. Czuj: Św. Grzegorz Wielki, Listy, t. 1-4, Warszawa 1954-1955.

Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII, ed. Ph. Jaffé – W. Wattenbach – S. Loewenfeld – F. Kaltenbrunner – P. Ewald, vol. 1, Leipzig 1885.

Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis et leges novellae ad Theodosianum pertinentes, ed. Th. Mommsen – P.M. Meyer, Berolini 1905, vol. 1-2; Codicis Theodosiani Liber Sextus Decimus, wyd. łacińsko-polskie, oprac. M. Ożóg – M. Wójcik, tłum. A. Caba, ŹMT 71 = SCL 7, Kraków 2014, lub Les lois religieuses des empereurs romains de Constantin à Théodose II (312-438), vol. 1: Code Théodosien – Livre XVI, ed. Th. Mommsen – R. Delmaire, SCh 497, Paris 2005.

Augé M., L’abito monastico dalle origini alla Regola di S. Benedetto, „Claretianum” 16 (1976) 33-95.

Biondi B., Il diritto romano cristiano, t. 1-3, Milano 1952-1954.

Chapman J., St. Benedict and the sixth century, London 19296.

De Salvo L., Munera curialia nel IV secolo. Considerazioni su alcuni aspelti sociali, w: Il tardo impero. Aspetti e significati nei suoi riflessi giuridici. X Convegno internazionale in onore di Arnaldo Biscardi (Spello – Perugia – Gubbio, 7-10 ottobre 1991), Napoli 1995, 291-318.

Figueras C.M., De impedimentis admissionis in religionem usque ad decretum Gratiani, Scripta et documenta 9, Abbatia Montisserrati 1957.

Garino A., Storia del rito Romano, Napoli 1996.

Gordini G.D., Origine e sviluppo del monachesimo a Roma, „Gregorianum” 37 (1956) 220-260.

Gregorio Magno e il suo tempo. XIX Incontro di studiosi dellàntichità cristiana in collaborazione con l’Ecole Française de Rome (Roma, 9-12 maggio 1990), SEA 33, vol. 1-2, Roma 1991.

Heather P., Upadek Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, tłum. J. Szczepański, Poznań 2014.

Jenal G., Grégoire le Grand et la vie monastique dans l’Italie de son temps, w: Grégoire le Grand. Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Chantilly, Centre culturel Les Fontaines, 15-19 septembre 1982), ed. J. Fontaine – R. Gillet – S. Pellistrandi, Paris 1986, 147-157.

Jenal G., In cerca di ordine quando l’apocalisse sembra vicina: Gregorio Magno e il monachesimo del suo tempo in Italia, w: Gregorio Magno nel XIV centenario della morte. Convegno internazionale (Roma, 22-25 ottobre 2003), Atti dei Convegni Lincei 209, Roma 2004, 221-246.

Leclercq J., Spiritualità e Cultura nel Monachesimo del Pieno Medioevo, w: Cultura e Spiritualità nella Tradizione Monastica, ed. G. Penco, Studia Anselmiana 103, Rome 1990, 105-128.

Lenski N., Servi publici in Late Antiquity, w: Die Stadt in der Spätantike – Niedergang oder Wandel? Akten des internationalen Kolloquiums (München, am 30. und 31. Mai 2003), hrsg. J.-U. Krause – Ch. Witschel, Stuttgart 2006, 335-357.

Lizzi Testa R., Come e dove reclutare i chierici? I problemi di Sant’Agostino, w: L’adorabile vescovo di Ippona. Atti del Convegno di Paola (24-25 maggio 2000), ed. F.E. Consolino, Soveria Mannelli 2001, 183-216.

Marković M., The Later Roman Colonate and Freedom, Philadelphia 1997. (Crossref)

Markus R.A., Grzegorz Wielki, tłum. P. Nehring, Warszawa 2003.

Müller B., Gregory the Great and Monasticism, w: A Companion to Gregory the Great, ed. B. Neil – M. Dal Santo, Leiden 2013, 83-108. (Crossref)

Noetlichs K.L., Das Kloster als „Strafanstalt” im kirchlichen und weltlichen Recht der Spätantike, „Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte” 111 (1994) 18-40. (Crossref)

Pellegrini P., Militia clericatus monachici ordines: istituzioni ecclesiastiche e società in Gregorio Magno, Testi e studi di storia antica 20, Catania 20082.

Penco G., Il monachesimo fra spiritualità e cultura, Milano 1991.

Penco G., Storia del monachesimo in Italia: dalle origini alla fine del Medioevo, Milano 20023.

Porcel O., San Gregorio y el Monacato. Cuestiones Controverdidas, Monastica 1, Scripta et Documenta 12, Abbatia Montisserrati 1960.

Porcel O., La doctrina monastica di san Gregorio Magno y la „Regula Monachorum”, Madrid 1951.

Prinz F., Das westliche Mönchtum zur Zeit Gregors des Grossen, w: Grégoire le Grand. Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Chantilly, Centre culturel Les Fontaines, 15-19 septembre 1982), ed. J. Fontaine – R. Gillet – S. Pellistrandi, Paris 1986, 123-136.

Rudmann R., Mönchtum und kirchlicher Dienst in den Schriften Gregors des Großen, St. Ottilien 1956.

Sitek B., O ciężkiej doli decuriones w okresie późnego cesarstwa rzymskiego uwagi poczynione na podstawie wybranych konstytucji cesarskich, w: Procesy ujednolicenia prawa prywatnego w świetle integracji europejskiej, red. B. Ziemianin – B. Sitek – M. Tkaczuk, Szczecin 2001, 109-123.

Świat Bizancjum, t. 1: Cesarstwo Wschodniorzymskie 330-641, red. C. Morrisson, tłum. A. Graboń, Warszawa 2007.

Vogüé A. de, La Règle du Maître et les Dialogues de s. Grégoire, RHE 61 (1966) 44-76.


Published
2015-12-15


Lewandowicz, J. (2015). Ograniczenia stanu jako przeszkoda w przyjmowaniu do klasztorów w czasach Grzegorza Wielkiego na podstawie jego "Registrum epistularum" oraz norm prawa rzymskiego. Vox Patrum, 64, 317–344. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.3718

Janusz Lewandowicz 
Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Łodzi



License

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.