Naslov
Towards the Rule of Law: Consensus and Constitution in the Formation of Religious Orders, izlaganje na skupu Authority and Consent in Medieval Religious Communities (Zagreb, 28.-29. 10. 2021.)
(Towards the Rule of Law: Consensus and Constitution in the Formation of Religious Orders, presentation at the conference Authority and Consent in Medieval Religious Communities (Zagreb, 28.-29. 10. 2021.))

Autori
Jerković, Marko

Vrsta, podvrsta
Ostale vrste radova, ostalo

Godina
2021

Ključne riječi
Authority, Consent, Constitutions, Cistercians, Premonstratensians, Dominicans

Sažetak
This presentation discusses how the human will was functionalised in the formation of religious orders, i.e. of spiritual communities aiming to stabilise their terrestrial frameworks. The constitutions of various orders indicate the tendency to promote even more than in earlier periods the system of shared responsibility in the normation of the observances and organisational issues. In that way, the vertical models of authority resting on the quasi-monarchical powers of the caput ordinis or the charismatic leadership were gradually being replaced with the conception which we can call the “rule of law”. The sources indicate that exactly the impersonal laws started to be understood as the adequate means of directing the internal organization within the congregated religious houses and of conceptualizing desired types of salvific communities. However, these tendencies manifested itself in different ways, thus indicating different understandings of the role of human action in the realisation of the earthly mission (the propositum vitae) of each of the order. By taking into account the Cistercian, Premonstratensian and Dominican example, the presentation focuses on two questions: how the consenting practises were being utilised (and adjusted) to sustain the “rule of law”, and how the “rule of law” was validated. Both questions help us to comprehend better how communities within which the desired form of life was the “passive consensus” (the willingness to obey) rationalised and validated the human need to exercise power. They also invoke the discussion concerning the formation of the “constitutional rhetoric”, i.e. of the repertoire of reforming conceptions (mirroring the order’s spiritual programs and the proposita vitae), which were enabling acceptance and sustainability to the (changing) consenting practises.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest

POVEZANOST RADA