The Age of the Cloister by Christopher Brooke

[Barry Northern]

“My imagination is a monastery and I am its monk.” - John Keats

Book Details

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Sutton Publishing Ltd; Rev. and updated ed. edition (25 Aug 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0750932880
ISBN-13: 978-0750932882
Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.6 x 3 cm

Reading Details

Started Reading: 15th July 2009
Finished Reading: 23rd September 2009

Review

I don't often read non-fiction books, but I always think I should, just to top up my brain with interesting facts that will hopefully seep out into my writing. I chose to find out more about monastic life because I've been having ideas about stories set in the monastic world, and it's an important part of medieval life and social history.

The book is interesting enough for a layman like myself, but it felt a little as if it were aimed for someone with a pre-existing interest and knowledge of monastic life. For example, Brooke never explicitly states what a cloister actually is until near the end of the book. It's an overview of the whole period of European monasticism from the time of the Apostles to the dissolution of the monasteries, and covers the main highlights such as the differences between the Rules of St Benedict and St Augustine, the development and differences between the big monasteries at Cluny, Clairvaux, Fountains, Mont St Michel and so on, and the debate on whether a monk should lead a contemplative, hermit-like, cloistered life, or lead an apostolic one, travelling abroad in the world doing good works among lay folk, if indeed they could agree that this was truly what it meant to be apostolic. In any case, the whole subject is a lot more complex than I once thought, and I am glad to have learnt something.

I am no longer particularly religious, but I am interested in history, and this book was well suited for me.