The text is a review of a chapter taken from a scholarly book on the resurrection of the body in medieval belief.
At a glance
- Grade: 1.3 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Review of Caroline Walker Bynum's chapter on medieval resurrection belief and iconography
- Contrasts views of Benedictines, Cistercians, Cluniac traditions, and Otto of Freising
Table of Contents
1. General Medieval Belief in Bodily Resurrection
2. Hildegard of Bingen and the Psychosomatic Person
3. Cistercian Perspectives on the Resurrected Body
3.1 Bernard of Clairvaux and Herman of Reun
3.2 Guerric of Igny
4. Peter the Venerable and the Pauline Seed
5. Otto of Freising: Scholastic and Monastic Synthesis
6. Iconography of the Resurrection and the Mouth of Hell
Objectives & Topics
This academic review examines Caroline Walker Bynum's chapter on resurrection imagery in medieval spiritual writing and iconography, analyzing how theologians, monastics, and medieval artists conceptualized the bodily resurrection, psychosomatic unity, and material continuity around 1200 AD.
- Distinction between the first (spiritual) and second (bodily) resurrection
- Metaphors of transformation, reassemblage, and stasis in Benedictine and Cistercian thought
- Organic versus inorganic imagery in medieval monastic texts
- Theological insistence on structural integrity and material continuity of the resurrected body
- Iconographic depictions of the general resurrection, Last Judgment, and the Mouth of Hell
Excerpt from the Book
Psychosomatic Persons and Reclothed Skeletons: Images of Resurrection in Spiritual Writing and Iconography
In chapter four of her scholarly work on the resurrection belief in the Middle Ages, Caroline Walker Bynum mainly focusses on the scholastic, monastic, and iconographic representations of death, redemption and the resurrection (of the body) in the High Middle Ages. By referring to popular medieval spiritual writers and by explaining their predominant images and literary devices, she tries to clarify the general resurrection belief around 1200 AD. The chapter has a fairly clear cut structure and, for reasons of plainness, I am going to stick to that structure.
Bynum starts her argumentation by initially explaining a few general ideas on that time´s resurrection belief: she indicates (and later says) that there was a distinction made between the first and the second resurrection, the resurrection of the soul immediately after the death and the resurrection of the body at the end of time. Unlike today, when many theologians do not believe in this resurrection of the body in the literal sense, this article of faith was totally normal and commonly approved in the Middle Ages. It seemed unlogical (since the soul was seen as incomplete without the body) and (according to God´s justice) unfair/unjust that the body should not be part of the soul´s eternal joy or punishment, although it was “the partner” in the soul´s earthly actions – whether good or evil.
After that the author continues her argumentation by exemplifying the ways with which resurrection and the resurrected body were described in medieval spiritual literature.
On account of this, Caroline W. Bynum refers to a very famous Benedictine abbess, natural philosopher, theologian, dramatist, and visionary: Hildegard of Bingen. She makes clear that in Hildegard´s literary works, there are two distinguishable “directions” of visualising the resurrection: on the one hand, Hildegard uses images of (positive) transformation to illustrate resurrection as for instance the flowering of plants into blossoms and seeds; and on the other hand she depicts resurrection as a reassemblage of scattered bones that would rise from the dead, be covered with flesh to form the body a person had in his or her life on earth, that could then join the soul in blessedness or punishment.
Chapter Summaries
1. General Medieval Belief in Bodily Resurrection: Introduces the medieval theological consensus that viewed soul and body as an indissoluble partnership deserving shared eternal reward or punishment.
2. Hildegard of Bingen and the Psychosomatic Person: Analyzes Hildegard's dual imagery of organic transformation and inorganic reassemblage of scattered skeletal remains into a refined psychosomatic whole.
3. Cistercian Perspectives on the Resurrected Body: Compares the dark metaphors of decay and inorganic reassemblage in Bernard of Clairvaux and Herman of Reun with Guerric of Igny's brighter imagery.
4. Peter the Venerable and the Pauline Seed: Explores Peter the Venerable's synthesis of the biblical Pauline Seed metaphor with concepts of material continuity, stasis, and crystal hardness.
5. Otto of Freising: Scholastic and Monastic Synthesis: Discusses Otto's synthesis emphasizing physical immutability, structural integrity, and the physical senses required for the beatific vision.
6. Iconography of the Resurrection and the Mouth of Hell: Reviews artistic motifs of rising bodies, reassembled parts, and the swallowing and vomiting of souls at the Mouth of Hell.
Keywords
Resurrection, Caroline Walker Bynum, Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter the Venerable, Otto of Freising, Psychosomatic Unity, Reassemblage, Pauline Seed, Iconography, Mouth of Hell, Material Continuity
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper is an academic review evaluating Caroline Walker Bynum's chapter on bodily resurrection beliefs, theological metaphors, and artistic iconography in Western Christianity around 1200 AD.
What are the central thematic fields explored?
The work focuses on medieval eschatology, the psychosomatic unity of body and soul, monastic spiritual writing, and Romanesque iconographic representations of judgment and resurrection.
What is the primary objective of the review?
The primary aim is to trace and clarify how medieval thinkers understood the transition from bodily corruption to spiritual resurrection while maintaining the literal identity of the earthly body.
Which academic method does the author employ?
The author uses a text-immanent structural review and comparative literary-theological analysis based on Caroline Walker Bynum's monograph.
What is discussed in the main body of the work?
The main text examines writings of Hildegard of Bingen, Cistercian authors like Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter the Venerable, Otto of Freising, and iconographic motifs of judgment and bodily reassemblage.
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include bodily resurrection, Middle Ages, iconography, psychosomatic unity, material continuity, and monastic theology.
How did medieval thinkers distinguish between the first and second resurrection?
The first resurrection referred to the spiritual resurrection of the soul immediately upon death, whereas the second resurrection denoted the reassemblage and rising of the material body at the end of time.
Why was the bodily resurrection considered essential for receiving the beatific vision?
Theologians like Otto of Freising argued that the risen body and its sensory faculties, specifically the eyes, were necessary to perceive God both literally and spiritually, fulfilling divine blessedness.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Mate Madunic (Autor:in), 2005, A chapter review of “Psychosomatic Persons and Reclothed Skeletons: Images of Resurrection in Spiritual Writing and Iconography”, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/115348
