The beginnings of a monastic reformer. The younger years of Poppo of Stavelot (Lotharingia, 978-1020)

Abstract

This paper investigates the underlying mechanisms and different contexts which played a decisive role in the advancement of the pre-abbatial monastic careers of adult converts living in the eleventh century. Whereas most studies on these individuals have focused primarily on their abbatial careers, this article will consider the years preceding their attaining an influential monastic leadership position. Based upon the case of Poppo of Stavelot, traditionally regarded as one of the principal proponents of monastic reform in early-eleventh-century Lotharingia, this paper argues that the key factor leading up to a person’s nomination as abbot was not so much his religious reputation, extraordinary character, or even the result of his accumulated experience. Rather, the evolution of an individual’s pre-abbatial career depended to a large extent on how his social identity was perceived by others, as well as on the confrontation between his social capital and the concrete and short-term political context of the time.