Embrasser l'état monastique à l'âge adulte (1050-1200). Étude sur la conversion tardive

Résumé En

Taking the monastic habit late in life A study of adult conversion (1050-1200). This article takes a fresh look at the numerous medieval laymen and clerics who took the monastic habit either late in life, or on the verge of death (conversion ad succurrendum). This pattern of conversion seems to appear in the middle of the llth century and to decline from the beginning of the 13th century on. Its initial success is far from self-evident, because the integration of new adult converts into the monastic community could be problematic. Their arrival could not only jeopardize the stability of the community, but the juridical status of adult converts was also quite complex. Why then was this new pattern of conversion so successful ? This article argues that a continuum existed, during the llth and 12th century, between adult conversion and the practice of establishing friendship bonds between monasteries and the nobility. Lay donors were expected to offer gifts to monasteries in order to establish and confirm their friendship ; to convert oneself was considered as the ultimate gift, of both body and belongings. The mechanism of late conversion can be observed in charters, theological debate about conversion and gift giving and changes in the rituals of entrance into religious life.