Historica Olomucensia

Social Networks of Moravian Benedictine Monasteries in the Premyslid Period (Part 2 - Třebíč and Rajhrad)

The rise of new monastic rule orders of Cistercians and Premonstratensians in the 1100s is a traditional topic of Medieval studies worldwide. The Czech context is characterised by the claim that the reason for the success of these new orders was the inner exhaustion of Benedictine monasticism, which was allegedly not able to cope with new challenges. The evidence supporting such general claims is missing, however, which raises doubt as to whether the conclusion might be a too schematic one. The reasons arising from the establishment of a new foundation were related to a wide range of factors, from pastoral, memorial, and generally commemorative ones, through representation factors, to economic and political ones. Although there is no doubt that the arrival of Cistercians and Premonstratensians brought an end to a certain hegemony of the Benedictines, their monasteries did not disappear; new ones continued to be established, although less frequently, even in the 1200s and 1300s. The study focuses on the development of Moravian Benedictine monasteries in the Premyslid era (i.e. up until the end of the 1200s). The example of monasteries in Třebíč and Rajhrad and the subsidiary in Uherčice is used to illustrate the social networks with which the individual rule order monasteries were linked and to demonstrate the relationships maintained between individual Benedictine monasteries and the role they played in contemporary society.

Keywords: Middle Ages, Church history, Monasticism, Benedictines, Social networks, Moravia, Třebíč, Rajhrad, Uherčice