This comparative study analyses Cistercian strategies on the northern and north-eastern frontiers of medieval Europe. Through case studies of six houses in Pomerania and Neumark (Ko?bacz, Marienwalde, and Himmelstadt) and on the Scottish-English border (Melrose, Dundrennan, and Holm Cultram), the au[...]
As a historical and cultural phenomenon, monasticism always had a close connection with frontiers. The earliest monasteries were believed to be founded in wildernesses and deserts, thus existing beyond society and the inhabited world in general. As intercessors praying for their patrons and benefact[...]