Diem Research on the History of Monastery of Reichenau in Germany Featured in Der Spiegel Article

June 27, 2024

Der Spiegel

Albrecht Diem

History Department

Europe

Gender and Sex

Religion

Der Spiegel

Albrecht Diem

Albrecht Diem, professor of history, contributed two book chapters to an academic volume and an exhibition catalogue produced for the 1300th centenary of the foundation of Monastery of Reichenau (Southern Germany).

One chapter, “The Reichenau - A Queer Place?” discusses the evidence of queer life in the monastery during the early medieval period, based on a ninth-century visionary text and early medieval commentary to the monastic rule of Benedict of Nursia. The chapter is extensively discussed in an article published in Der Spiegel, “The queer monastery of Lake Constance.”

The second chapter, “Regulation of Life,” discusses how medieval manuscript evidence can shape our understanding of the use of normative texts in Reichenau and other medieval monasteries. It especially focuses on one of the oldest preserved manuscript fragments of the Rule of Benedict, which has, so far, been largely overlooked by historians.