Hermeneutics of Distraction in Early Medieval England

Distraction is now too easily and often considered a metonym for modern consciousness, but it was also a medieval concern, which posed a particular threat to religious life. Distraction opened the door to all other temptations, and-most disturbingly of all for the monastic communities at the heart of this book-it invalidated central devotional acts like reading, praying, and reciting the Psalms. F...