The Most Dangerous, because the Most Carnal? The Sense of Touch in the Monastic Sources from the 10th to the 12th Century

The purpose of this paper is to characterise the meaning of the sense of touch for medieval monastic culture from the tenth to the twelfth century using selected sources created at the Cluny abbey as example in comparison to other monastic sources. The paper discusses methodological approaches to the study of the history of the senses. Then, the issues of the sense of touch in Christian theology are described based on the analysis of moralistic and exegetical works created in Cluny Abbey. Examples of the association of touch with particular sins are also indicated, taking into account the temporal context, in which the sources were created (including treatises, poems, sermons and hagiography). Finally, the meaning and function of touch in the daily life of a medieval monastery is described, using the content of Cluniac consuetudines from the eleventh century. The papers concludes with a summary containing reflections on the sensual type of monastic culture and what may have been the basis for the authors’ bias against the sense of touch.