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This volume consists of nine articles and an introduction to twentieth-century anchoritic studies. The book's focus is restricted to Western Europe--the lands that today are more or less coterminous with the Low Countries, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The articles summarize the state of knowledge and research on the subject of medieval anchorites and hermits, and frequently offer suggestions for future research.
Owing to careful planning and the firm hand of the editor, these nine articles manage to present a coherent description and analysis of the many roles played by anchorites and hermits in medieval spirituality, both reflecting and to some extent influencing its development. The authors contend that in Christianity's conquest of the European West, these solitaries were perhaps the most accessible representations of Christian spirituality. Seen as "the virtuosi of the ascetic life" (Gabriela Signori, "Anchorites in German-speaking Regions," 58), they were often considered by the populace to be living saints and paragons of perfection.
The authors stress the similarities and differences between hermits and anchorites. Both sought God and spiritual development in relative isolation while maintaining intermittent social contact with the communities on whose edges they lived; both performed ascetic and intercessory acts of penance for those who supported them. The hermit, however, was physically free and mobile while the anchorite was, theoretically at least, tied to a single geographical location--and...