Includes bibliographical references (pages 449-484) and indexes.
Contents:
The documents: edition, commentary, and translation -- Document edition and translation / Jeffrey F. Hamburger. Codicology and paleography of the Nivelles Liber ordinarius / Albert Derolez -- The context. Pilgrims, the poor, and the powerful : the long history of the women of Nivelles / Eva Schlotheuber -- Worlds apart? : Beguine communities of Nivelles and the Abbey of St Gertrude, from Marie d'Oignies (d. 1213) to the Liber ordinarius (c. 1300) / Walter Simons -- Order and disorder : the documentary additions to the LIber ordinarius of Nivelles / Rowan Dorin -- The cult. Elizabeth de Bierbais and the relics of Gertrude of Nivelles / Bonnie Effros -- Placet nobis electio : the election and investiture of the Abbess of fourteenth-century Nivelles / Alison I. Beach -- Liturgical history and hagiography as reflected in the Ordianal of Nivelles, with emphasis on the cult of St Gertrude / Margot Fassler -- The liturgy. Holy week in Nivelles / Louis van Tongeren -- On the road : the processions of the Canonesses of Nivelles and their attitude towards the outside world (c. 1350) / Charles Caspers -- The architecture. The Abbey Church of St Gertrude in Nivelles : observations regarding its architectural disposition / Klaus-Gereon Beukers -- Maiorem ecclesiam esse matrem omnium ecclesiarum totius villae : on the sacral topography of Nivelles based on the Liber ordinarius / Andreas Odenthal -- The documents: edition, commentary, and translation -- Personnel of the Church of Nivelles as seen in the Liber ordinarius / Thomas Forres Kelly -- The French of Nivelles : a vernacular legalese in the making / Virginie Greene -- Note on the language of the documents pertaining to the Abbey of Nivelles / Hannah Weaver -- Document edition and translation / Eva Schlotheuber, Jeffrey F. Hamburger.
Summary:
"Throughout the Middle Ages, the religious women of Nivelles Abbey governed one of the most venerable and powerful ecclesiastical institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, which played a critical role, not only as the center of the cult of St Gertrude, but also as a lynchpin in the power politics of the empire. The discovery of the oldest surviving manuscript from the abbey, its Liber ordinarius, thus represents a significant addition to our knowledge, not only of Nivelles' liturgy and the development of the cult of its patron saint, but also of the history of female monasticism in the High Middle Ages. In addition to a wealth of detail concerning the abbey's liturgical ceremonies, the LIber ordinarius permits fresh insight into the balance of power in this politically highly competitive region in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. It also sheds light on the social and the architectural history of the building, which was badly damaged in WWII. The documents incorporated in the manuscript, most of which were previously unknown and which are edited here for the first time, enhance greatly what is known about the politics of the period as well as the inner workings of the abbey at a time of economic and administrative conflict." -- Publisher, Inside front flap of dustjacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.