Spirituality of the Premonstratensians: The Twelfth and Thirteenth…

One of the few monographs on the Premonstratensians, Petit's book (first published in French in 1927; translated into English in 2011) covers the history of the Order's early years, with particular emphasis on its spirituality and theological writings. Well, I say 'the Order' but what I really mean is 'the male members of the Order'. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the time at which he was writing, Petit treats 'male Premonstratensian' and 'Premonstratensian' as synonyms, and the Order's female members get scant look in. (Except for their almost totemic use by men: see particularly the almost pathological way in which some of the writing describes the Virgin Mary). As Petit was also a member of the Order and thus a devout Catholic, this is also not an attempt at an objective history—he treats most of the medieval texts as factual and literal. Still, a useful summary which points in some interesting directions for further research. ( )