Not much has changed in a thousand years

When you have access to a library of a few million books and journals just two miles away and freedom to browse in the stacks, it is easy to come home with topics about which you never gave a thought, such as The reformation of the 12th century by Giles Constable (Cambridge University Press, 1996). So far, I've only made it through the preface and introduction, the extensive bibliography and index, and skimmed a few chapters, but I've seen so much that looks familiar in the religious and secular life of the 11th and 12th centuries that reminds me of the 21st. Other names, titles, and concepts are totally unfamiliar like names of monasteries, phrases in Latin that don't translate well into English, places, and Roman Catholic theology. Even when I get out the dictionary, or check the extensive index, I don't have a frame of reference to understand. A Cluniac is not someone obsessed with movie star George Clooney, nephew of Rosemary, for instance. And black and white monks have nothing to do with race. And then there's the internet problem, always there when I read a book, finding things like The Medieval Sourcebook, which I didn't know I needed until I started browsing.

But before I run off on another tangent about medieval times I'll just note a few phrases that caught my eye, that reminded me that everything we (or at least I) think is contemporary, happened before, because human nature really doesn't change that much.

• . . . reform and revival was seen as a result of the increasing population and approaching end of the world. Whether you're a global warmist fanatic follower of Al Gore, holy Cap and Trade, robed in the vestments of green hype or a Christian dispensationalist scanning the headlines to compare with the Books of Daniel and Revelation--this should sound familier
  
• whether the reformers were from wealthy or humble origins, their followers were often well off [and from my cursory reading, feeling a bit guilty about it], but since it is the writings of the reformers that are available, the diversity and equality that is described may be the exception rather than the rule
  
• charismatic preachers [politicians] recruited actively for converts to their reform movement--transfers from one house or community to another created personal, legal and political problems
  
• rules circulated in written form, such as manuscripts and letters, but were carried out mainly through associations, personal contacts and visits--personal influence and connections were paramount
  
• opponents of reform were not necessarily bad men, but they were set in their ways and opposed to change in principle as well as in practice
  
• when faced with change, they resisted both passively and actively
  
• resistance to change has been recorded by the reformers, not the resisters so is distorted or left out of the record
  
• it was easier to start a new house than reform an old one
  
• reforms of existing institutions and communities almost always involved some pain and difficulty, occasionally with activie resistance and open violence
  
• an involuntary reform or change of order was a blow to the self-esteem of members and resistance was not always selfish or unreasonable
  
• even the poorest monastic community needed land, buildings, books, vestments and other supplies, thus it needed patrons as well as spiritual founders, and these patrons often claimed rights over the community so the interests often clashed
  
• even the most generous patrons hoped to get away as cheaply as possible
  
• some reformers removed existing settlers
  
• recruiting the next generation [of the reformed group] was always a problem when the first generation died out--newcomers didn't share the memories and ideals of the early years. The second generation was often the most dangerous period of institutional development
  
• almost every new, reformed house that survived and flourished later went through a painful period, even a crisis as it grew in wealth and numbers
  
• the new orders and reforms created diversity in the 12th century, with unforeseen consequences of competition and eventually greater uniformity and traditional solutions, so that as the age of experiment drew to a close, the traditional ideals and institutional patterns reasserted themselves within the monastic order and brought the period of change to an end.

Ah, change. It's an interesting concept, isn't it?