Sterven als symbolische performance van leiderschap: een kijk op de doodsbeschrijvingen van enkele elfde-eeuwse Lotharingische kloosterhervormers

Abstract

Dying as symbolic performance of leadership : a view on the descriptions of the death of eleventh-century Lotharingian monastic reformers. This article focuses on the symbolic context of how several reform abbots of eleventh-century Lotharingia shaped their process of dying. The narrative sources that describe their deaths on the one hand continued the tradition of hagiographical topoi and monastic models of the proper way to die. On the other hand, the sources emphasize that these abbots had a very particular view on the process of dying. Through significant acts, symbolic last words, the presence of individuals belonging to their network at their deathbed and the choice of the location of their tomb, these leaders tried to symbolically represent the most important aspects of their leadership, so that they could continue to influence their flocks after their demise. As a result of these attitudes, study of “ abbatial deaths” likely contributes to our understanding of reform ideology in this period.