Klöster im Hochmittelalter

124 | Steven Vanderputten
human, suffering for humanity’s redemption. Writing for a monastic audience, John
of Fécamp found in the exploration of the details of Christ’s suffering the ultimate
means of pursuing spiritual union with the divine; ⁶⁴ so did Petrus Damiani. ⁶⁵ Several
key figures in Richard’s closer circle of ecclesiastics broadcast similar views. In his
famous discourse against a group of heretics which had sprung up in Arras, written
shortly after 1025, his contemporary and friend Gerard of Cambrai countered the
heretics’ objections against the use of images and specifically defended representations
of Christ’s passion and death. ⁶⁶ And we should also not forget that Richard’s
appointer, Bishop Haimo of Verdun, like his master Notger of Liège and, to a more
limited extent, Gerard of Cambrai, at the time were reorganizing their respective
urban landscapes in view of creating a new Golgotha. ⁶⁷ Richard undoubtedly also
did some broadcasting in favor of venerating the suffering Christ. ⁶⁸ One anecdote,
recorded in the Miracles of St Solemnis, has Richard celebrating mass and preaching
in a church in Blois during his return journey from a visit to the shrine of St Martin
in Tours. The subject of his sermon was the Passion of Christ, and the lance; as the
abbot was discussing these things, the crucifix was bathed in heavenly light, and
christal clear water began to flow from the wounds on the crucifix which hung in
the church. ⁶⁹ More reliable evidence, preserved in a letter from 1012/1013, is Richard’s
own account of a vision experienced by a monk of Saint-Vaast, in which an
angel revealed the meaning of Christ’s suffering. ⁷⁰
Richard nonetheless also relied on his devotion to the suffering Christ as means
of demonstrating his virtuosity, grounded in his personal identification with Christ’s
suffering. ⁷¹ As various authors have noted, an ambiguous subtext ran through his
organisation of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Even though different accounts
64 On John of Fécamp, see especially Fulton, From Judgment (note 40 above), esp. pp. 89 –106, who
comments on a growing sense of urgency in this devotional culture.
65 André Wilmart, Les prières de S. Pierre Damien pour l’adoration de la Croix?, in: Revue des sciences
religieuses 9, 1929, pp. 513 – 526.
66 Acta Synodi Attrebatensis (note 16 above), p. 622. See Fulton, From Judgment (note 40 above), pp.
83 – 87.
67 Frank G. Hirschmann, Stadtplanung, Bauprojekte und Grossbaustellen im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert.
Vergleichende Studien zu den Kathedralstädten westlich des Rheins (Monographien zur Geschichte des
Mittelalters 43), Stuttgart 1998.
68 As did many of his contemporaries; see Sansterre, Le moine (note 63 above).
69 Miracula Sancti Solemnis, ed. Lucas d’Achéry/Jean Mabillon/Thierry Ruinart, in: Acta Sanctorum
Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, vol. 6,1, Paris 1701, col. 534.
70 Hugh of Flavigny, Chronicon (note 9 above), pp. 383 f.: Angelus: Dico tibi, tunc dicet Salvator: O omnes
gentes. Angeli, archangeli, apostoli, O omnes gentes, videte dolores meos; palpate et videte; videte passionem
meam. manus meas; sicut fui in cruce propter vos, sic sum coram vobis. O omnes gentes, non
aurum et argentum propter vos dedi, nec ullum hominem, sed corpus meum. O omnes gentes, ego ama
vivos, tradidi corpus meum propter vos. videte dolores meos. Anima: O Domine, quid respondebunt
tunc? Angelus: Omnia opera vestra respondebunt propter vos.
71 Compare with Fulton, From Judgment (note 40 above), p. 75 onwards.