HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor

380 MICHAEL GOODICHvariety of authors, although her confessor Fulger may be the mostlikely candidate. 77 In any case, more attention is devoted to praisingthe virtues of her father Bartholomew, who endowed threeCistercian monasteries, which he joined along with his children.Following a long hiatus, the twelfth century witnessed a revival ofautobiographical literature. This may be related to the ‘rise of theindividual’ and the revival of theological and philosophical controversiesand included works by Petrus Alfonsi (a convert from Judaism),Guibert of Nogent, and Abelard. In the thirteenth century, the emphasison contrition and penance voiced by the Fourth Lateran Councilin 1215 produced a further flourishing of confessional literature,often associated with Franciscan circles and the women’s movement.Nevertheless, the more detailed lives of Hermann of Cologne andRamon Llull remain apologetical and polemical in tone, and includeextensive dialogues with religious adversaries. Hermann of Cologne(†1160), scion of a commercial Jewish family, converted to Christianityunder the influence of the theologian Rupert of Deutz, and his workprovides an intellectual justification for his abandonment of familyand community in favor of an alien faith. It shares much in commonwith contemporary ‘dialogues’ between Jew and Christian inwhich the differences between the two faiths were resolved throughthe allegedly superior arguments provided by Christian theology. 78Nevertheless, many of the details of Jewish communal life are described.Despite its somewhat stereotypical character, Hermann’s propheticdreams, his occupation as a moneylender, conflicts with the communityover his conversion, and anxieties over marriage, contain aring of authenticity. In the same way, the Majorcan nobleman RamonLlull (†1315) wrote of the crisis that led to his conversion from thelife of a courtier. He recounts his zealous attempt to convert nonbelieversthrough the composition of philosophical tracts, direct confrontationwith the Muslims, and the establishment of schools offoreign language in the course of meetings with public figures. Adetailed account of Ramon’s journeys throughout the Mediterraneanis laced with references to his considerable literary output. The volume77Vita Beatricis. De Autobiografie vaan de Z. Beatrijs van Tienen O. Cist. 1200–1268,ed. L. Reypens (Antwerp, 1964), 33.78Kleinberg (1992a).