The Culture of Medieval English Monasticism (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion) (Volume 30)

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 notfor the insights they offer into the patterns of life and thought - the underlying norms, values and mentalité - 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 view. They exploit newly catalogued and newly discovered evidence - manuscript books,wall paintings, and even the traces of original monastic music - to recover the cultural dynamics of a cross-section of male and female communities. It is often claimed that over time the cultural traditions of the monasteries were suffocated by secular trends but here it is suggested that many houses remained a major cultural force even on the verge of the Reformation. James G. Clark is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. Contributors: DAVID BELL, ROGER BOWERS, JAMES CLARK, BARRIE COLLETT, MARY ERLER, G. R. EVANS, MIRIAM GILL, JOAN GREATREX, JULIAN HASELDINE, J. D. NORTH, ALAN PIPER, AND R. M. THOMSON. Highly Commended in the Longman-History Today Book of the Year Prize 2007 The patronage of Benedictine art and architecture, and the circumstances that made it possible and desirable, reveal much about the ambitions, beliefs and allegiances of both the order and those who interacted with it; moreover, analysis of such patronage also improves our understanding of some of the most important and beautiful buildings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass and other artefacts surviving from the middle ages.In this survey, focussing on the Benedictine monasteries and nunneries in south-west England [including Glastonbury] during the 240 years leading up to the dissolution of the religious orders under Henry VIII, the author discusses the question in terms of 'internal' practice, initiated by Benedictine monks and nuns, and 'external' practice, for which non-monastic agents were responsible; and analyses the historical circumstances affecting the commission and the purchase of art and architecture. Throughout, he takes care to situate the study of buildings and their embellishment within the broader context of Benedictine culture. The text is lavishly illustrated with forty-five black and white plates of art, architecture and documents, many of which have not previously been reproduced. Dr JULIAN M. LUXFORD is Senior Lecturer at the School of Art History, St Andrews University. CONTENTS 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 14 Introduction: The Culture of Medieval English Monasticism 18 An Early Tudor Monastic Enterprise: Choral Polyphony for the Liturgical Service 38 Monastic Murals and Lectio in the Later Middle Ages 72 The Meaning of Monastic Culture: Anselm and his Contemporaries 92 The Monks of Durham and the Study of Scripture 103 Worcester Monks and Education, c.1300 121 What Nuns Read: The State of the Question 130 Private Reading in the Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century English Nunnery 151 Holy Expectations: The Female Monastic Vocation in the Diocese of Winchester on the Eve of the Reformation 164 Culture at Canterbury in the Fifteenth Century: Some Indications of the Cultural Environment of a Monk of Christ Church 186 The Monastic Culture of Friendship 194 Monastic Time 220 INDEX 230 Architecture,Buildings,Religious,Art,history,Medieval Introduction: The Introduction: The -- James G. Clark Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper -- R.M. Thomson Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper -- R.M. Thomson -- David N. Bell Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper -- R.M. Thomson -- David N. Bell -- Mary C. Erler Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper -- R.M. Thomson -- David N. Bell -- Mary C. Erler -- Barry Collett Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper -- R.M. Thomson -- David N. Bell -- Mary C. Erler -- Barry Collett -- Joan Greatrex Introduction: The -- James G. Clark -- Roger Bowers -- Miriam Gill -- G.R. Evans -- A.J. Piper -- R.M. Thomson -- David N. Bell -- Mary C. Erler -- Barry Collett -- Joan Greatrex -- Julian Haseldine Introduction: The-- James G. Clark-- Roger Bowers-- Miriam Gill-- G.R. Evans-- A.J. Piper-- R.M. Thomson-- David N. Bell-- Mary C. Erler-- Barry Collett-- Joan Greatrex-- Julian Haseldine-- J.D. North. Examinations of the culture - artistic, material, musical - of English monasteries in the six centuries between the Conquest and the Dissolution.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 notfor the insights they offer into the patterns of life and thought - the underlying norms, values and mentalité - 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 view. They exploit newly catalogued and newly discovered evidence - manuscript books,wall paintings, and even the traces of original monastic music - to recover the cultural dynamics of a cross-section of male and female communities. It is often claimed that over time the cultural traditions of the monasteries were suffocated by secular trends but here it is suggested that many houses remained a major cultural force even on the verge of the Reformation. James G. Clark is Professor of History at the University of Exeter.Contributors: DAVID BELL, ROGER BOWERS, JAMES CLARK, BARRIE COLLETT, MARY ERLER, G. R. EVANS, MIRIAM GILL, JOAN GREATREX, JULIAN HASELDINE, J. D. NORTH, ALAN PIPER, AND R. M. THOMSON. 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 mentality - 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 view. They exploit newly catalogued and newly discovered evidence - manuscript books, wall paintings, and even the traces of original monastic music - to recover the cultural dynamics of a cross-section of male and female communities. It is often claimed that over time the cultural traditions of the monasteries were suffocated by secular trends but here it is suggested that many houses remained a major cultural force even on the verge of the Reformation. James G. Clark is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. Contributors: DAVID BELL, ROGER BOWERS, JAMES CLARK, BARRIE COLLETT, MARY ERLER, G. R. EVANS, MIRIAM GILL, JOAN GREATREX, JULIAN HASELDINE, J. D. NORTH, ALAN PIPER, AND R. M. THOMSON. "The patronage of Benedictine art and architecture, and the circumstances that made it possible and desirable, reveal much about the ambitions, beliefs and allegiances of both the order and those who interacted with it. An understanding of the context of such patronage casts further light on some of the most important and beautiful buildings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass and other artefacts surviving from the middle ages." "In this survey, focusing on the Benedictine monasteries and nunneries in south-west England (including Glastonbury) during the two and a half centuries leading up to the dissolution of the religious orders under Henry VIII, the author considers patronage in terms of 'internal' practice, initiated by Benedictine monks and nuns, and 'external' practice, for which non-monastic agents were responsible; and he analyses the historical circumstances affecting the commission and the purchase of art and architecture." "Throughout, he takes care to situate the study of buildings and their embellishment within the broader context of Benedictine culture. The text is illustrated with forty-five black and white plates of art, architecture and documents, many of which have not previously been reproduced."--Jacket 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 view. They exploit newly catalogued and newly discovered evidence - manuscript books, wall paintings, and even the traces of original monastic music - to recover the cultural dynamics of a cross-section of male and female communities. It is often claimed that over time the cultural traditions of the monasteries were suffocated by secular trends but here it is suggested that many houses remained a major cultural force even on the verge of the Reformation. The contributors include: David Bell, Roger Bowers, James Clark, Barrie Collett, Mary Erler, G.R. Evans, Miriam Gill, Joan Greatrex, Julian Haseldine, J.D. North, Alan Piper, and R.M. Thomson Introduction: The Culture Of Medieval English Monasticism / James G. Clark -- An Early Tudor Monastic Enterprise : Choral Polyphony For The Liturgical Service / Roger Bowers -- Monastic Murals And Lectio In The Later Middle Ages / Miriam Gill -- The Meaning Of Monastic Culture : Anselm And His Contemporaries / G.r. Evans -- The Monks Of Durham And The Study Of Scripture / A.j. Piper -- Worcester Monks And Education, C.1300 / R.m. Thomson -- What Nuns Read : The State Of The Question / David Bell -- Private Reading In The Fifteenth- And Sixteenth-century English Nunnery / Mary C. Erler -- Holy Expectations : The Female Monastic Vocation In The Diocese Of Winchester On The Eve Of The Reformation / Barry Collett -- Culture At Canterbury In The Fifteenth Century : Some Indications Of The Cultural Environment Of A Monk Of Christ Church / Joan Greatrex -- The Monastic Culture Of Friendship / Julian P. Haseldine -- Monastic Time / J.d. North. Edited By James G. Clark. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Introduction: The culture of medieval English monasticism / James G. Clark Early Tudor monastic enterprise : choral polyphony for the liturgical service / Roger Bowers Monastic murals and lectio in the later Middle Ages / Miriam Gill Meaning of monastic culture : Anselm and his contemporaries / G.R. Evans Monks of Durham and the study of scripture / A.J. Piper Worcester monks and education, c.1300 / R.M. Thomson What nuns read : the state of the question / David N. Bell Private reading in the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century English nunnery / Mary C. Erler Holy expectations : the female monastic vocation in the Diocese of Winchester on the eve of the Reformation / Barry Collett Culture at Canterbury in the fifteenth century : some indications of the cultural environment of a monk of Christ Church / Joan Greatrex Monastic culture of friendship / Julian Haseldine Monastic time / J.D. North. Julian M. Luxford. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [221]-258) And Index.