The ''Nomasticon Cisterciense'' is a collection of legal documents pertaining to the
Cistercian Order
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...
. Published in 1664 with Julien Paris as its editor, it presents documents from the first three centuries of Cistercian legislation. The publication was initiated by Cistercian monks of the
Strict Observance. An expanded edition was published in 1892 in
Solesmes, edited by Father Hugues Séjalon.
Contents
Narrative texts about the origins of the Cistercian movement open the book. They describe the early history, the fervor of the monks, their way of life and biographical details about the monks who wrote the early legislation. The collection proper consists of three parts. The first contains the
Rule of St. Benedict
The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...
, the
''Carta Caritatis'', the ''Usus Antiquiores'' and several resolutions approved by the General Chapter. The second contains, among others, deliberations among abbots under Pope
Urban IV. and a text by Pope
Clement IV. regarding the interpretation of the ''Carta Caritatis''. The third section contains the reform bull ''Benedictina'' and papal missives to various Cistercian General Chapters.
Purpose
The ''Nomasticon'' was intended to strengthen the position of the Strict Observance in their endeavor to "reform" the Cistercian Order according to a literal interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict. The editor, Julien Paris, who taught at the University of Paris and was abbot of Foucarmont Abbey, was himself a supporter of the Strict Observance. He sought to return to a way of life he believed to have been lived by Cistercians in the first generations after the movement began in 1098. He writes in his foreword that the order's reputation for sanctity was based on the strict adherence to their early legislation. He perceived many of the monks of his day, among them those who belonged to the Common Observance, to be decadent. The Nomasticon was meant to give them the rules and regulations that would lead to sanctity.
[''Quis enim non aegre ferret, Leges tam sanctas, tam accuratas, tam omni ex parte perfectas haberi neglectui, immo et aliquando contemptui, etiam ab iis qui non nisi earum beneficio vivunt et subditis imperant?'' ]
Role in research
In both the first edition and that of 1892, the ''Nomasticon'' has served as an important collection of sources for Cistercian research. Scholars of recent generations{{Who, date=June 2019 have noted that the medieval sources in the book are not edited according to contemporary standards. Many more sources have become available since it was published. The edition published by Séjalon (1892) is the most recent.
Literature
* Julien Paris, Hugues Séjalon (eds.): ''Nomasticon Cisterciense seu antiquiores Ordinis Cistercienses constitutiones''. Typographeum Sancti Petri,
Solesmis 1892.
* Julien Paris (ed.): ''Nomasticon Cisterciense seu antiquiores Ordinis Cistercienses constitutiones''. Alliot, Parisiis 1664.
Online at the Bavarian State Library''
* David Bell, ''The Library of the Abbey of
La Trappe. A Study of its History from the Twelfth Century to the French Revolution'', with an annotated edition of the 1752 catalogue (
Turnhout
Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...
:
Brepols
Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout (Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...
2014), p. 510.
* Gilbert M. Wellstein: ''Zum Nomasticon Cisterciense''. In: ''Cistercienser-Chronik'' 21 (1909), pp. 21-22.
Notes
Codes of conduct
Monastic rules
Christianity in the Middle Ages
Medieval literature
Latin-language literature
Cistercian literature