Medieval Theology of Work: Peter Damian and the Medieval Religious Renewal Movement / Edition 1

by P. Ranft

Overview

This study addresses the need to learn what medieval thinkers had to say about the concept of work by examining the thought of Peter Damian and numerous other religious leaders and groups of the High Middle Ages for evidence of their contributions, deepening our understanding of this concept.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403968470
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	04/21/2006
Series:	The New Middle Ages
Edition description:	2006
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

PATRICIA RANFT, Professor of History, Emerita, at Central Michigan University, USA, is the author of numerous studies on religious, intellectual and women's history. Her books include Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe (1996), a History Book Club selection, Women and Spiritual Equality in Christian Tradition (1998), A Woman's Way: The Forgotten History of Women Spiritual Directors (2000) and Women in Western Intellectual Culture, 600-1500 (2002), all published by Palgrave Macmillan. With this current study she returns to her earlier interest in the medieval religious renewal movement, about which she published some dozen articles.

Table of Contents

Introduction PART ONE: THE FOUNDATION: EARLY CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIES OF WORK Early Christian Attitudes toward Work PART TWO: THE FRAMEWORK: PETER DAMIAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS The Eleventh-Century World of Peter Damian Damian's Social Theology Damian's Apostolate: Theology of Work in Action PART THREE: THE COMPLETED EDIFICE: MEDIEVAL MONASTIC MOVEMENT Regular Canons The Cistercians Women and Other Reformers The Mendicants The Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

"Ranft's The Theology of Work is innovative in relation to both theological discussions of work and current discussions of labor in medieval cultural history. It brings to the table a valuable consideration of the deep history of labor in the world of medieval monasticism. Moreover, it pushes this investigation back to an era earlier than is often considered, and adds a detailed meditation on the influence of Peter Damian. Ranft's study should serve as a useful reminder of the range and complexity of medieval debates concerning the category of labor in both religious and lay contexts." -- Ethan Knapp, Ohio State University

From the Publisher