ABSTRACT
There is an inner unity which manifests itself in the Catholic Reformation of the late Middle Ages; it is well described by John C. Olin (who however did not have Staupitz in mind at all when he elaborated on the Catholic Reformation):
The life and work of Johann von Staupitz must be seen not only in the wider context of the ‘observant movements’ of the late Middle Ages comprising monasteries and friaries, but also and specifically in connection with Order of ‘Friars Hermits of St Augustine’ that Staupitz joined as a young man. The Order’s name is something of a misnomer, because its members were not ‘hermits’ in the strict sense. In fact, by the beginning of the sixteenth century it was a powerful, mobile, international religious organization that numbered about 20 000 friars, living in around 1000 friaries, grouped into 26 provinces. The early reform movement was concerned with the proper community life in those friaries. All private property, as well as the numerous dispensations from all kinds of tasks, were to be given up, although, from the beginnings of the Order, individual members had been able to possess private property and indeed friars responsible for alms collection were allowed to keep some of the income for themselves. In addition, common meals and worship were stressed as important for any reformed friary, as this had not always been the case in the past. Especially during times of pestilence in the fourteenth century, it had been recommended that not more than three friars live under one roof in order to reduce the
1 J.C. Olin, Catholic Reform From Cardinal Ximenes to the Council of Trent 1495-1563 (New York, 1990), p. 35. For a historical review of the Augustinians’ involvement in pastoral care, see D. Gutierrez, The Augustinians in the Middle Ages 1357-1517 (History of the Order of St. Augustine) trans. T. Martin, 2 vols, (Villanova,
possibility of infection – with the effect that friars had to live outside the friary and return only for prayer or Mass. The reform movement sought the abolition of this rule which had come into existence during times of necessity and the observant friars wanted to return to the strict rules of the Order. Their efforts found official recognition in 1493.2
While much of the reform effort went into the renewal of life in the local friaries, the mendicants per se were (and still are) not bound by the monastic oath of loyalty to one locality (stabilitas loci) whereby a monk or nun entered a particular monastery and remained there until death. In contrast, mendicant friars were moved around to wherever they were needed. Their loyalty was not to the place where they made their profession (as is the case with monks), but to the rule of their mendicant Order as such, within which they could be assigned and reassigned according to need. This specific characteristic of the mendicants may help explain Staupitz’s (and others’) mobility from friary to friary, both as a student and as a leading officer in his Order. It also may account for his personnel politics in that it allowed him to transfer subordinates from place to place – a prerogative of which he made ample use, as we shall see.
