P. Eugenius Lersch OCist on Joachim of Fiore and Geofrrey of Auxerre – A Medieval Controversy within the Cistercian Order. Book Review
P. Eugenius Lersch OCist on Joachim of Fiore and Geofrrey of Auxerre – A Medieval Controversy within the Cistercian Order. Book Review

Summary/Abstract: This review examines the intellectual and theological confrontation between Joachim of Fiore and Geoffrey of Auxerre as reconstructed by Eugenius Lersch OCist in his monography written in German dedicated to those two medieval figures: Joachim von Fiore und Gottfried von Auxerre - eine mittelalterliche Kontroverse im Zisterzienserorden (be+be-Verlag: Heiligenkreuz, 2024). While both thinkers were firmly rooted in Benedictine–Cistercian spirituality and shared a concern for the reform of the Church, they advanced markedly different models of interpreting history and ecclesial life. Joachim developed an innovative trinitarian vision of historical progression organized into three ages, a framework that later inspired both reformist and anti-clerical currents. Geoffrey, by contrast, defended a more traditional ecclesiology centered on hierarchical order, doctrinal integrity and moral interiority, sharply criticizing Joachim’s speculative methods. Lersch situates this conflict within a broader intellectual shift: the transition from monastic to scholastic theology around the year 1200. Geoffrey’s opposition to Joachim thus reflects not merely personal or institutional disagreement but a deeper epistemic reorientation within medieval theology and philosophy.

• Details
• Contents