The Carmelites and Antiquity
Mendicants and their Pasts in the Middle Ages
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:18th Jul '02
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The Carmelites, the only contemplative religious order to have been founded in the Crusader States, first emerged as a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel, a site associated with the prophet Elijah. Soon after migrating to the West, in the mid-thirteenth century, they began to develop the geographical associations into a complex historical tradition based on the claim to have been founded by the prophet. Carmelite historical myths were first developed as a response to the threat of suppression, but increasingly came to form the basis of a distinctive ecclesiology and mission. This book, which is the first full-length study of the Carmelite historical legendary, examines the circumstances under which the traditions were constructed, describes the evolution of the traditions themselves from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, and places them within the wider context of historical writing by religious orders, and attitudes to the past more generally in the later Middle Ages.
In this sympathetic study, Jotischky has helped us to understand how and why the Carmelites evolved this myth of their origins, and in doing so has also shed much welcome light on late-medieval attitudes to antiquity. * Bernard Hamilton, Crusades, 5 *
In this volume Andrew Jotischky establishes himself as the foremost scholar currently working on the medieval Carmelites. He provides an illuminating and important account ... This is also an important contribution to our understanding of mendicant ideas of antiquity. * Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Jotischky is aware of the limitations of an approach which cannot trace the lay reception of the arguments presented, but this remains an important project, accomplished with enviable lightness of touch. * Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Jotischky's account is clear and thorough. It is enriched by a narrative of the documentable early history of the Order as well as by insightful comparisons with myth-making in the rival Orders. * Robert Lerner, Times Literary Supplement *
An invaluable contribution to Carmelite historiography ... The Carmelites and Antiquity is a major contribution to Carmelite studies. It has grown out of an earlier work, The Perfection of Solitude (Penn University Press, 1996) and not only represents an awareness of Carmelite historical studies but also says something significant about the Order's self-awareness. It has much to offer the Carmelite Family in the twenty-first century for its own current growth in self-understanding. * Wilfrid McGreal, O'Carm, Food For The Journey (Mount Carmel April-June 2003) *
ISBN: 9780198206347
Dimensions: 224mm x 146mm x 26mm
Weight: 550g
384 pages