consisted of a preface, entitled Ordo monasterii, and the body of the Rule, the so-called
Praeceptum.
Regular canons found support and acceptance especially among bishops and clerics
dedicated to the Gregorian Reform, with its insistence on clerical celibacy. Monks were
sometimes hostile, being opposed to the regular canons’ claim to have ancient authority
through Augustine for their “new” form of disciplined life that was much like a monastic
regimen in almost all respects, save for priestly ordination and responsibilities. Moreover,
as the 12th century progressed, ordination of monks to the priesthood, with
responsibilities for preaching and the cure of souls, became more and more widespread,
so that this was no longer a significant differentiating factor. Nor did all communities of
regular canons seek actively to have parish responsibilities. If a differentiating factor can
be found for canonical spirituality, it may well be encapsulated in the phrase: “to teach by
word and example” (docere verbo et exemplo), implying responsibility for teaching
others, while Benedictines and Cistercians tended to emphasize the idea of the monk
embarking as a learner on a way dedicated to individual salvation.
As one of the three major types of medieval religious orders (the others being monks
and mendicant friars), the canons proved to be something of a mediating group. They
drew on examples of monastic practice to shape their lives, while in turn providing the
basis for St. Dominic’s formation of the mendicant Order of Preachers (Dominicans) on
the basis of his life as a regular canon.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: CHRODEGANG OF METZ; CISTERCIAN ORDER; DOMINICAN
ORDER; GREGORIAN REFORM; MONASTICISM; PRÉMONTRÉ; SAINT-
VICTOR, ABBEY AND SCHOOL OF]
Bynum, Caroline Walker. Docere verbo et exemplo: An Aspect of Twelfth-Century Spirituality.
Missoula: Scholars, 1979.
——. Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1982.
Dickinson, John Compton. The Origins of the Austin Canons and Their Introduction into England.
London: SPCK, 1950.
Verheijen, Luc. La règle de Saint-Augustin. 2 vols. Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1967.
Zumkeller, Adolar. Augustine’s Ideal of the Religious Life, trans. Edmund Colledge. New York:
Fordham University Press, 1986.
REIMS
. Throughout the Middle Ages, Reims (Marne) played a significant role in the political,
religious, and artistic history of western Europe. As Durocortorum, it served as the
administrative capital of the Roman province of Belgica Secunda, and its presumed
population of approximately 20,000 would have ranked it with Lyon, Nîmes, or
Narbonne. The city’s importance as a provincial center is attested by the monumental
gateway, the Porte de Mars, a spacious forum and cryptoporticus, villas embellished with
rich mosaic pavements, and extensive cemeteries. Christianity, established during the
second half of the 3rd century, weathered the successive assaults of Germanic tribes,
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