The Premonstratensian Order in Late Medieval England (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, 16)

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 of the Premonstratensian abbeys; conventual food and clothing; misdemeanours, such as sexual immorality and apostasy; liturgical observances; spirituality and learning; and English Premonstratensian libraries. It thus offers evidence for the vitality of the English Premonstratensians, as well as re-evaluating their monastic observances.JOSEPH GRIBBIN works at the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. A detailed study of monastic life of the English white canons, based on 15c visitation records. 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 of the Premonstratensian abbeys; conventual food and clothing; misdemeanours, such as sexual immorality and apostasy; liturgical observances; spirituality and learning; and English Premonstratensian libraries. It thus offers evidence for the vitality of the English Premonstratensians, as well as re-evaluating their monastic observances Preliminaries......Page 1 Contents......Page 5 Illustrations......Page 6 Preface......Page 9 Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction......Page 15 1 The Establishment of the Premonstratensians in England and the Development of the Provincia Angliae......Page 21 2 The Visitation Records of the Late Medieval English Premonstratensians......Page 40 3 The Visitation of England's Premonstratensian Abbeys, c.1478±1500......Page 60 4 The English Premonstratensian Liturgy......Page 121 5 Learning, Spirituality and Pastoralia: English Premonstratensian......Page 152 6 Richard Redman, O.Praem.......Page 194 Conclusion: From Cessation to Dissolution......Page 226 Appendices......Page 233 Bibliography......Page 271 Index......Page 289 "This book ... concentrates on the period c.1458-1500 in particular. It focuses primarily on the conventual observances of the abbeys of the 'white' canons and their visitation by Bishop Richard Redman ..., Commissary-General of Prémontré and English Visitor, as revealed in his visitation register and other manuscript sources"--Preface