Wandering monk

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Wandering monks are a form of monasticism known from various religions . They are known from early Christianity ( peregrinatio propter Deum / Christum ) as well as Buddhism and Hinduism . Missionaries or itinerant preachers are to be distinguished from wandering monks , whose relocation serves more to spread the ideas of their own faith than to promote asceticism.

In Christianity

From the beginning, the question of location was discussed in monasticism. There were monks who sought asceticism in homelessness and wandered restlessly, while others rejected free wandering as unworthy and praised the locality ( stabilitas loci ) .

For the Celtic Church , homelessness (peregrinatio) was an essential factor in their asceticism, which influenced the entire history of Europe: many European countries were Christianized by Irish wandering monks. Asceticism consisted of entrusting oneself to God's providence and renouncing the security of social ties. Following the example of Christ and his twelve apostles, they went on a journey. So Columban the Younger moved to what is now France, driven by the ideal of peregrination.

In Catholicism, on the other hand, the wandering monks' free wandering was regarded as “promoting immorality” and was soon no longer practiced. The monks were later forbidden to leave their monasteries, for example at the Synod of Agde in 507. The Benedictine Rule clearly criticizes wandering monks:

"10. The fourth type of monk are the so-called Gyrovagen. They move across the country all their lives and stay in various monasteries for three or four days.

11. Always on the move, never constantly, they are slaves to the whims of their own will and the cravings of their palate. "

In Hinduism

Sadhu in Varanasi

Already around 1200 BC, the Rig Veda in Book X mentioned keshi , a silent ascetic who is unkempt and undressed. This ascetic “is at home from sea to sea, from east to west”. So these early monks were at home everywhere and therefore without permanent residence.

In Hinduism, the wandering monks are still the order of the day, and they are not allowed to stay anywhere longer in order not to be able to establish social contacts. These wandering monks, the sadhus, also inspired some Christians to lead such a wandering life.

Well-known wandering monks

In Christianity

In Buddhism

See also

swell

  1. Robert Fischer: The Celtic religion in Ireland and its influence through Christianization. Diploma thesis of the University of Vienna, 2007, p. 9 ( PDF ).
  2. Wolfgang Hage: Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-33590-3 , p. 66 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  3. ^ Rule of St. Benedict. The types of monks (chap. 1). Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  4. Pierre François de Béthune: Buddhist monks and their habitat. Translated by Cyrill Schäfer OSB, St. Ottilien. In: Heritage and Mission . Volume 85, 2009, Issue 4, pp. 458ff.
  5. ^ Friso Melzer: Evangelical Sadhus - wandering monks in India . In: Quatember . 1955, p. 109–112 ( quatember.de [accessed November 14, 2009]).

literature

Monasticism and Wandering in Christianity:

  • Arnold Angenendt : Monachi peregrini. Studies on Pirmin and the monastic ideas of the early Middle Ages (= Münster medieval writings. 6). Fink, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-7705-0605-7 (also: Münster, Universität, Dissertation, 1969).
  • Arnold Angenendt: The Irish peregrinatio and its effects on the continent before the year 800. In: Heinz Löwe (Hrsg.): The Iren and Europe in the early Middle Ages Volume 1. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-12-915470- 1 , pp. 52-79.
  • Arnold Angenendt: Peregrinatio. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages. Volume 6: Lukasbilder to Plantagenêt. Artemis & Winkler, Munich et al. 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 1882-1883.
  • Hans von Campenhausen : The ascetic homelessness in early church and early medieval monasticism (= collection of generally understandable lectures and writings from the field of theology and the history of religion. 149, ISSN  0340-6954 ). Mohr, Tübingen 1930, (again in: Hans von Campenhausen: Tradition and Life, Forces of Church History. Essays and lectures. Mohr, Tübingen 1960, pp. 290-317).
  • Daniel Caner: Wandering, Begging Monks. Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity (= The Transformation of the Classical Heritage. 33). University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2002, ISBN 0-520-23324-7 .
  • Thomas M. Charles-Edwards: The Social Background to Irish Peregrinatio. In: David Greene, Brian Ó Cuív (eds.): Myles Dillon Memorial Volume (= Celtica. Vol. 11, ISSN  0069-1399 ). The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 1976, pp. 43-59.
  • Giles Constable : Monachisme et pèlerinage au Moyen Age. In: Revue historique. Année 101, No. 258, 1977, ISSN  0035-3264 , pp. 3-27 .
  • Ursmar Engelmann : Saint Pirmin and his little pastoral book (= Reichenau library. 1). 2nd, revised edition. Introduced and translated into German. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1976, ISBN 3-7995-3501-2 .
  • Jean Leclerq : Monasticism and Peregrinatio in the Early Middle Ages. In: Roman quarterly for Christian antiquity and church history . Vol. 55, 1960, pp. 212-225.
  • Peter R. Müller: Columban's Revolution. How Irish monks reached Central Europe with the Gospel - and what we can learn from them (= Edition IGW. Vol. 1). Neufeld, Schwarzenfeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-937896-64-9 .
  • Andreas Rüther : Stabilitas loci. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages. Volume 7: Planudes to City (Rus). Lexma Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7608-8907-7 , Sp. 2162-2163.