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  3. Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism
  • Cited by 29
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      July 2009
      October 2007
      ISBN:
      9780511496417
      9780521860802
      9780521123938
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496417
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.47kg, 226 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.34kg, 228 Pages
      • Subjects:
      British History 1066-1450, Area Studies, European History 1000-1450, History, Religion, European Studies, Church History
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series (68)
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    Subjects:
    British History 1066-1450, Area Studies, European History 1000-1450, History, Religion, European Studies, Church History
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series (68)
    Information

    Book description

    Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism explores the rationales for religious silence in early medieval abbeys and the use of nonverbal forms of communication among monks when rules of silence forbade them from speaking. After examining the spiritual benefits of personal silence as a form of protection against the perils of sinful discourse in early monastic thought, this work shows how the monks of the Abbey of Cluny (founded in 910 in Burgundy) were the first to employ a silent language of meaning-specific hand signs that allowed them to convey precise information without recourse to spoken words. Scott Bruce discusses the linguistic character of the Cluniac sign language, its central role in the training of novices, the precautions taken to prevent its abuse, and the widespread adoption of this custom in other abbeys throughout Europe, which resulted in the creation of regionally specific idioms of this silent language.

    Awards

    Winner of the University of Colorado Kayden Book Award in History, 2009

    Reviews

    '… Bruce is an informative and insightful guide. … [an] instructive and perceptive study.'

    Source: Journal of Ecclesiastical History

    'This is a smart and lively book. A brief summary cannot discuss at length its important sub-themes, including the pedagogical and acculturating purposes of the Cluniac lexicon and its variations, the essential unity underlying apparently diverse developments in religious life in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and the deep influence of Cluniac practice across Europe.'

    Source: The American Historical Review

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