Carta Caritatis

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The Carta Caritatis is the constitutional document of the Cistercian Order . The document regulates the relations between the Cistercian monasteries. It was approved by Pope Calixtus II in 1119 and reached its matured form around 1155. As canonical rules it made the Cistercian Order for the first medal of church history. It is one of the essential characteristics of the order and is universally valued as a legal monument.

Surname

The name Carta Caritatis is explained in the document itself: "They wanted to give this decree the name Carta Caritatis, because it excludes any burden of taxes and thus has the sole aim of the love and well-being of souls in divine and human matters."

The name is often misinterpreted as a “certificate of love” in the affective or spiritual sense due to a lack of knowledge of the text's content . In fact, it is an administrative and constitutional text. The "charity" ( caritas ) of the title refers to the exemption of the monasteries from financial contributions to the mother monasteries. In the previous Cluniac model, from which the Cistercians wanted to differentiate themselves, high taxes had to be paid.

content

The Carta regulates the joint existence of several monasteries in an association mainly through the legal remedies of the visitation by the father abbot (whose monastery founded the daughter monastery) and the annual general chapter in Cîteaux , the mother abbey of all the Cistercians.

The Carta also regulates the following points:

  • Ban on material burdens on start-ups,
  • uniform rites and liturgical books,
  • mandatory interpretation of the Rule of Benedict by the Cîteaux monastery,
  • Prohibition of privileges or burial of founders,
  • Questions of rank when several abbots meet,
  • Profession rites ,
  • Visitation,
  • Start-ups,
  • Procedure at the general chapter,
  • Abbot elections or vacancies ,
  • Resignation,
  • Admonition and dismissal procedures for abbots,
  • different location of the General Chapter and
  • Stabilitas loci .

The passage that has found the most widespread use in the wording is: una caritate, una regula, similibusque vivamus moribus (“We want to live in one love, under one rule and according to the same customs”). This statement, as well as the entire content of the text, is only upheld by the Order in a figurative sense today. The abolition of the filiation system by the modern congregations has made the system of the Carta Caritatis impracticable.

reception

The Carta achieved its full historical impact through the IV Lateran Council , as it was proclaimed as a model for all new orders there - mainly because of the mandatory visitation. Successor popes have also declared them a “treasure chest of virtues”.

Frames

For centuries there has been a dispute about whether Stephan Harding can be considered the author of the Carta. As with almost all constitutions, the constitution is to be seen as the result of many authors. Two finds spurred Carta research in particular in the 20th century: In 1932, Father Tiburtius Hümpfner discovered a version of the Summa Cartae Caritatis , Auguste Trilhe in 1939 one of the Carta Caritatis prior . To this day it enjoys great attention from legal and religious historians.

A first, non-preserved version is referred to by the Center Européen pour le Rayonnement de la Culture Cistercienne (CERCCIS) in Cîteaux and in French research as the Charte de charité et d'unanimité (Carta of love and unanimity). The Carta Caritatis is now available in three versions.

Carta Caritatis prior

The oldest version is the Carta Caritatis prior , which was written soon after Cîteaux's first subsidiaries, which took place between 1113 and 1115. This document deals with the relationship between the daughter monasteries and their mother abbey, Cîteaux. Each subsidiary abbey is visited once a year. The mother monastery Cîteaux is not visited. In addition, the document gives the Abbot of Cîteaux extensive powers at the General Chapter. This version of the Carta Caritatis was unknown for a long time. Josef Turk found the manuscript of what he called the Carta Caritatis prior in 1939 in Codex 31 of the University Library of Ljubljana ; it was edited in 1947 by Canisius Noschitzka. Today eight manuscripts of the Carta Caritatis prior are known; the manuscript of Codex 31, which dates from 1152, is still the oldest.

Summa Cartae Caritatis

In 1927, the priest Auguste Trilhe from Toulouse discovered a forerunner of the only known tradition of the Carta in a manuscript in the Paris National Library . In the text edited by Tiburtius Hümpfner in 1932, Trilhe's discovery was given the title Summa Cartae Caritatis (SCC). The importance of this discovery was not recognized until later years. The SCC is a summary of the Carta Caritatis prior . Another copy of the SCC can be found in the Trento Code, which Jean Leclercq discovered. This manuscript is thought to come from the years 1130 to 1134. Today five manuscripts of the Summa Cartae Caritatis are known, the Summa was probably created around 1124. In terms of content, the Summa goes into more detail on the relationship between father and daughter abbots, and the authority of a visitor is also described in more detail.

Carta Caritatis posterior

In addition to the Carta Caritatis prior and the Summa Cartae Caritatis , there is a third version, which is now called the Carta Caritatis posterior . Until the first half of the 20th century, it was the only known version of the famous Cistercian constitution. The last version of this version is likely to have been established around 1165; it is attested in 26 manuscripts.

Editions

  • Patrologia Latina , Vol. 166, pp. 1377-1384.
  • M. Hildegard Brem OCist, Alberich Martin Altermatt (ed.): Unanimous in love. The earliest source texts from Cîteaux - Antiquissimi textus Cistercienses Latin-German (= sources and studies on Cistercian literature, vol. 1). Bernardus-Verlag, Langwaden 1998, ISBN 2-503-50695-X .

literature

in order of appearance

  • Polycarp Zakar : Art. Carta Caritatis . In: Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione , Vol. 2: Cambiagio - Conventualesimo . Edizioni Paoline, Rome 1975, col. 609-613.
  • Jean-Baptiste Auberger: L'unanimité cistercienne primitive. Myth ou réalité? Editions Sine Parvulos, Achel 1986.
  • Monika R. Dihsmaier: Carta Caritatis. Constitution of the Cistercians. Legal historical analysis of a manifestation of monastic reform ideals in the 12th century . Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-13404-5 .
  • M. Hildegard Brem OCist: The Carta Caritatis . In: Cistercienser Chronik , 126th vol. (2019), pp. 194–214.
  • Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori OCist: Être utiles à tous. Speaking of the carta caritatis . In: Alliance Inter-Monastères: Bulletin de l'AIM , ISSN  1779-4811 , vol. 2020, No. 118, pp. 83-87.

Remarks

  1. ^ Carta Caritatis Prior ( Memento of June 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ^ Antonio García y García: Constitutiones concilii quarti Lateranensis una cum commentariis glossatorum . Rome 1981, Constitutio 12.
  3. ^ "Thesaurus virtutum", so the formulation of Pope Innocent IV. In a bull dated May 2, 1245, quoted in Jörg Oberste : Visitation und Ordensorganisation. Forms of social standardization, control and communication among Cistercians, Premonstratensians and Cluniacens (12th - early 14th centuries) (= Vita regularis, vol. 2). Lit, Münster 1996, ISBN 3-8258-2587-6 , p. 64, fn. 38.
  4. ↑ Éric Delaissé: La Charte de Charité (1119–2019): Un document pour préserver l'unité entre les communautés . In: Alliance Inter-Monastères: Bulletin de l'AIM , ISSN  1779-4811 , Vol. 2020, No. 118, pp. 88–91, here p. 88.
  5. ↑ Josef Turk: Prvotna Charta charitatis . Akademija znanosti in umetnosti, Ljubljana 1942.
  6. ↑ Canisius Noschitzka: Codex manuscriptus 31 Bibliothecae Universitatis Labacensis. In: ACi , 6, 1-124 (1950).
  7. ↑ Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms lat. 4346.
  8. ↑ Tiburtius Hümpfner: Exordium Cistercii cum summa Cartae caritatis et fundatio primarum quattuor filiarum Cistercii . Typographia catholica, Vác 1932.
  9. ↑ Trento, Biblioteca Comunale, ms 1711.
  10. ^ Jean Leclercq: Une ancienne rédaction des coutumes cisterciennes . In: Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique (RHE), vol. 47 (1952), pp. 172-176.
  11. ↑ M. Hildegard Brem OCist, Alberich Martin Altermatt (ed.): Einmütig in der Liebe. The earliest source texts of Cîteaux - Antiquissimi textus Cistercienses . Bernardus-Verlag, Langwaden 1998, p. 23.
  12. ↑ M. Hildegard Brem OCist, Alberich Martin Altermatt (ed.): Einmütig in der Liebe. The earliest source texts of Cîteaux - Antiquissimi textus Cistercienses . Bernardus-Verlag, Langwaden 1998, p. 23f.