Folia Theologica et Canonica 10. 32/24 (2021)

Sacra theologia

THE ROLE OF PATRISTIC AND MEDIEVAL SOURCES.

57

in 1215.61 The first General Chapter took place in 1128 in Prémontre, with the abbots of Laon, Viviers, Floreffe, Anversa and Bonne-Espérance.62

Conclusion

The above explained concise analysis clearly shows us the main principles of the reform of the religious direction of the canonical life in the 11th and 12lh centuries, especially with regard to the Norbertine Order, which was the most influential and widespread of such communities.63 It can be seen that the reform itself was closely integrated into the contemporary process of ecclesiastical renewal, which also included the reform of the activity and erudition of the cathedral chapters (i.e. the works of St. Anselm of Lucca and St. Ivo of Chartres64), at the dawn of the rise of university education. However, it also involved - as Giles Constable accurately points out65 - a renewal of the religious way of life, both monastic (i.e. Cistercians) and canonical (i.e. especially the Norbertines). The essence of the latter reforms, as has been shown, was primarily based on patristic sources, which was a kind of return to the initial Benedictine or Augustinian tradition. St. Augustine’s works are prominent among these, which played a fundamental role in the development of the way of life and spirituality of the individual communities, together with the writings of other authors such as John Cassian (f435), St. Gregory the Great (f604), or Beda Venerabilis (f735). Furthermore, among the Eastern Church Fathers, the thoughts of Origen (f254) and St. Gregory of Nazianzen (t390) also played an important role in this process.66 However, it is also clear from the analysis of the disciplinary sources that the papal decrees of the 11th century (i.e. Popes Nicholas II and Gregory VII) were equally significant in the development of the renewed religious life, and also those significant innovations in lifestyle and organization which were introduced as their results. All this led to the flourishing of religious orders, which by the 13"’ century had made way for the establishment of a large number of new communities. As a result of this

61 In detal cf. Szuromi, Sz. A., Az egyházi intézményrendszer története, 148.

62 Ardura, B., Premonstratensi, nove secoli di storia e spirituality 56-58. Petit, F., Norbert et I 'origine des Prémontrés, 172-176.

63 Ardura, B., Premonstratensi, nove secoli di storia e spiritualitä, 15.

64 Szuromi, Sz. A., ‘Work in progress ’- The transformation of the cathedral teaching to the university instruction of the canon law at the end of the ll'h Century, in Zeitschrift der Savigny- Stiftung Kanonistische Abteilung 91 (2005) 758-766.

65 Constable, G., The Reformation of the Twelfth Century, 107-119.

“ Cf. Adam Scot, De ordine, in PL CXCVIII. 443.