Abbots and Abbesses as a Human Resource in the Ninth- to Twelfth-Century West

This volume provides a record of the response, by eight expert scholars in the field of medieval monastic studies, to the question'To what extent did abbots and abbesses contribute as a `human resource'to the development of reformed monastic communities in the ninth- to twelfth-century west?'Covering a broad geographical area, papers consider one or several of three key points of interest: the direct contribution of abbots and abbesses to the shaping of reformed realities; their influence over future modes of leadership; and the way in which later generations of monastics relied upon the memory of a leader's life and achievements to project current realities onto a legitimizing past.