Convents were an important part of medieval monastic life, but only now, with the upsurge of interest in women's history, are they beginning to receive the attention they deserve. The prevailing view has been that female monasticism was bankrupt, spiritually and socially as well as financially, but Professor Oliva shows the reality to have been otherwise. In her study of the eleven female monasteries in the diocese of Norwich between 1350-1540, the convents emerge as integral parts of the local social and spiritual landscape, with nuns more active in the local community than their male...
Convents were an important part of medieval monastic life, but only now, with the upsurge of interest in women's history, are they beginning to receiv...
Debra Birch's lively account of pilgrimage to Rome throughout the medieval period is well-documented and clearly presented. HISTORY TODAY (Emma Mason)Well researched, clearly written, and, quite apart from the eternal city, provides an excellent introduction to pilgrimage as a whole. CHURCH TIMES (Nicholas Orme) Rome was one of the major pilgrim destinations in the middle ages. The belief that certain objects and places were a focus of holiness where pilgrims could come closer to God had a long history in Christian tradition; in the case of Rome, the tradition developed around two of the...
Debra Birch's lively account of pilgrimage to Rome throughout the medieval period is well-documented and clearly presented. HISTORY TODAY (Emma Mason)...
Monasteries were a dominant feature of the landscape of medieval England, but although much critical attention has been devoted to them, comparatively little has been written on the thirty abbeys of the English Premonstratensians (White Canons'), a gap which this book, the first detailed study since the early 1950s, seeks to fill. Centred upon the remarkable visitation records of Richard Redman (d.1505), commissary-general and visitor of the English Premonstratensian abbeys, it covers topics such as the foundation and development of the English Premonstratensian province; Redman's visitation...
Monasteries were a dominant feature of the landscape of medieval England, but although much critical attention has been devoted to them, comparatively...
One of the most unusual contributions to the crusading era was the idea of the leper knight - a response to the scourge of leprosy and the shortage of fighting men which beset the Latin kingdom in the twelfth century. The Order of St Lazarus, which saw the idea become a reality, founded establishments across Western Europe to provide essential support for its hospitaller and military vocations. This book explores the important contribution of the English branch of the order, which by 1300 managed a considerable estate from its chief preceptory at Burton Lazars in Leicestershire. Time proved...
One of the most unusual contributions to the crusading era was the idea of the leper knight - a response to the scourge of leprosy and the shortage of...
The position of an abbess or prioress in the middle ages was one of great responsibility, with care for both the spiritual and economic welfare of her convent. This book considers the power wielded by and available to such women. It addresses leadership models, questions of social identity and the varying perceptions of the role and performance of the abbess or prioress via a close examination of the records of sixteen female houses in the period from 1280 to 1540; the large range of documentary evidence used includes selections from episcopal registers, account rolls, plea rolls, Chancery...
The position of an abbess or prioress in the middle ages was one of great responsibility, with care for both the spiritual and economic welfare of her...
In the wake of his murder in December 1170, an extraordinarily large number of Lives of Thomas Becket were produced.They provide an invaluable witness to the life and death of Thomas and the dramatic events in which he was involved, but they are also works of great literary value, more complex and sophisticated than has been recognised. This book, the first to be devoted to the biographers and their works, consists of an examination the individual Lives, followed by an analysis of the biographers' treatment of the major themes in Thomas's life - conversion, conflict, trial, exile and...
In the wake of his murder in December 1170, an extraordinarily large number of Lives of Thomas Becket were produced.They provide an invaluable witness...
The cultural remains of England's abbeys and priories have always attracted scholarly attention but too often they have been studied in isolation, appreciated only for their artistic, codicological or intellectual features and not for the insights they offer into the patterns of life and thought - the underlying norms, values and mentalite - of the communities of men and women which made them. Indeed, the distinguished monastic historian David Knowles doubted there would ever be sufficient evidence to recover -the mentality of the ordinary cloister monk-. These twelve essays challenge this...
The cultural remains of England's abbeys and priories have always attracted scholarly attention but too often they have been studied in isolation, app...
St Edmund's Abbey was one of the most highly privileged and wealthiest religious houses in medieval England, one closely involved with the central government; its history is an integral part of English history. This book (the first of two volumes) offers a magisterial and comprehensive account of the Abbey during the thirteenth century, based primarily on evidence in the abbey's records (over 40 registers survive). The careers of the abbots, beginning with the great Samson, provide the chronological structure; separate chapters study various aspects of their rule, such as their relations with...
St Edmund's Abbey was one of the most highly privileged and wealthiest religious houses in medieval England, one closely involved with the central gov...
Hospitality was an integral part of medieval monastic life. In receiving guests the monks were following Christ's injunction and adhering to the Rule of St Benedict, as well as taking on an important role within society and providing a valuable service for fellow religious. This book draws on a wide range of sources to explore the practice and perception of monastic hospitality in England c. 1070-c. 1250, an important and illuminating time in a European and an Anglo-Norman context; it examines the spiritual and worldly concerns compelling monasteries to exercise hospitality, alongside the...
Hospitality was an integral part of medieval monastic life. In receiving guests the monks were following Christ's injunction and adhering to the Rule ...
The chantry -- a special, often private, chapel within a church dedicated to a particular benefactor or benefactor's family, where prayers for the benefactor's soul were said -- was probably the most common, and also one of the most distinctive, of all late medieval religious foundations. These structures, although much altered with time, are still a very noticeable feature of many late medieval parish churches. However, no systematic, thorough or comparative examination has been undertaken to discover what they may reveal about contemporary devotion, aspiration and planning. This is a void...
The chantry -- a special, often private, chapel within a church dedicated to a particular benefactor or benefactor's family, where prayers for the ben...
