The Monastery as a Space of Urban Relationships Outside the City: The Case of the Jura

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of how the two brothers Romanus and Lupicinus, founders and leaders of the Jura monasticism in 5th-century Gaul, even after their retreat to the alpine forests, continued to comprehend and engage in (Christian) religion and social relationships as though they were still residing in an urban setting. By virtue of their religious role as abbots, they conducted practices typical of the urban ruling classes – including bishops – closely monitoring their agricultural workers and striving to defend the rights of poor people unjustly oppressed by the civil legal system. The hagiographical source suggests that they acted this way due to their monastic status; however, upon closer examination, their actions were not significantly different from other historical instances of religiously infused urban practices.