Understanding Benedictine Responses to Papal Reform Legislation. Normative Practice at Saint-Trond during the Abbacy of William of Ryckel (1249-1272)

Abstract

This article examines the contents of manuscript 3704 (II 1031) of the Royal Library of Belgium, a mid-13th-century chapter book that once belonged to the abbey of St.-Trond. The chapter book was manufactured at the request of Abbot William of Ryckel (1249- 1272) and contains several types of monastic legislation: the Rule itself, the Ordinationes that were imposed on Benedictine Monasticism by Pope Gregory IX in 1237, and finally a series of statutes (referred to as constitutiones) that were drawn up for the community of St.-Trond by papal legate Hugues of St.-Cher and other ecclesiastic visitors from the Liege diocese during the 1250s. By carefully reconstructing the historical context of these visitations (in particular William's attempt to tighten his grip on the abbey's economic management) I will try to adjust the common held belief that Benedictine communities resisted the reform ideals that were promoted by the papacy. The conclusion is that Benedictines were essentially receptive to new trends in monastic government, be it by integrating them in tailor-made institutions that served local reform initiatives.