The culture of medieval English monasticism / edited by James G. Clark.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clark, James G.

Series:

Studies in the history of medieval religion 0955-2480 ; v. 30.

Studies in the history of medieval religion, 0955-2480 ; v. 30

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monasticism and religious orders--England--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Monasticism and religious orders.

Monastic and religious life.

History.

England.

Monastic and religious life--England--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Physical Description:

xvi, 219 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge : Boydell Press, 2007.

Summary:

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; analysis of such patronage also contributes to a deeper 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, focusing 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 he analyses the historical circumstances affecting the commission and the purchase of art and architecture. Throughout, he situates 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.

Contents:

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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781843833215

1843833212

OCLC:

145554943