New movements of the 12th century: diversity, belonging, and order(s)

This chapter explores the revolutions in religious life that took place during the long twelfth century, that is, between the foundation of the community of Fontevraud c. 1100 and the promulgation of the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, which forbade the foundation of new religious orders. The discussion focuses on three different patterns grouped under the loose headings of experimentation, ambivalence, and tradition. Experimental responses have attracted the most attention, especially when they were institutionalised: a community with a rule, charters, and endowments is more visible to both contemporaries and subsequent generations of historians than a community without. Ambivalent responses generated occasional comment – and occasional controversy – amongst contemporaries; they have attracted considerable attention from historians, who have sought to explain why they did not conform to trajectories and trends which may be more visible with the benefit of hindsight. Finally, the impact of the new monasticism on more traditional forms of life has attracted less scrutiny, but this does not mean that they were unmoved by the broader currents of innovation and reform