The Lives of Monastic Reformers 2 - (Cistercian Studies) by Hugh B Feiss & Maureen M O'Brien & Ronald Pepin (Paperback)

About the Book

"All four of these lives are translated from editions of E. P. Sauvage. the vitae of Vitalis and Godfrey from "Vitae BB. Vitalis et Gaufridi, primi et secundi abbatum Saviniacensium in Normannia," Analecta Bollandiana 1 (1882): 355-410, and the vitae of Peter of Avranches and Hamo "Vitae B. Petri Abrincensis et B. Hamonis monachorum coenobii saviniacensis," Analecta Bollandiana 2 (1883): 475-560."

Book Synopsis

This volume offers translations of the twelfth-century Latin vitae of four monks of the Monastery of Savigny: Abbot Vitalis, Abbot Godfrey, Peter of Avranches, and Blessed Hamo. Founded in 1113 by Vitalis of Mortain, an influential hermit-preacher, Savigny expanded to a congregation of thirty monasteries under his successor Godfrey (1122-1138). In 1147, the entire congregation joined the Cistercian Order. Around 1172, two monks of Savigny, Peter of Avranches and Hamo, friends but very different personalities, died. Their stories were told in two further vitae.

The vitae of these four men exemplify the variety of people and movements found in the monastic ferment of the twelfth century.