Robert Grosseteste and How the Soul Moves the Body

The purpose of this chapter is to come to a view of Robert Grosseteste’s (c. 1168–1253) conception of music in the pastoral life of the diocese of Lincoln, and how his pastoral vision was influenced by his work on celestial harmony within the cura animarum. Archbishop Stephen Langton’s (c. 1150–1228) notion of ‘rustic exhortation’—the idea that polished or refined preaching should be avoided in the cure of souls—is considered first and helps to provide a lens through which to investigate the soul and the body in the medieval world, specifically through Grosseteste’s letters. Taken with poetry written about Grosseteste after his death and a short consideration of the Intelligences (angels), we will attempt to describe Grosseteste’s insights into music’s ability to affect the body and soul and why this might have been important for him during his episcopate.