Selected sources translated and annotated with an introduction by Martin Heale.
'Monasticism in Late Medieval England, c. 1300-1535' provides the first collection of translated sources on this subject. The volume covers both male and female houses of all orders and sizes, and offers a range of new perspectives on the character and reputation of English monasteries in the later middle ages.
The first section surveys the internal affairs of English monasteries, including recruitment, the monastic economy, standards of observance and learning. The second part looks at the relations between monasteries and the world, exploring the monastic contribution to late medieval religion and society and lay attitudes towards monks and nuns in the years leading up to the Dissolution. This book is an ideal introduction to this topic for students and scholars. Supported by an extended and accessible introduction this collection of documents gives an unrivalled insight into the last phase of monastic life in medieval England.
Author(s): Martin Heale
Series: Manchester Medieval Sources
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 262
City: Manchester
Series editor’s foreword page xi
Preface and acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: Monasticism in late medieval England, c. 1300–1535 1
Part one: monastic life in late medieval England 6
Part two: monasteries and the world 37
PART ONE: MONASTIC LIfE IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLAND 75
I: The essence of the monastic life: the Benedictine rule 77
1. Extracts from the Rule 77
II: Recruitment and economy 81
2. The recruitment of monks to Canterbury Cathedral Priory, 1330 81
3. The ordination and profession of Benedictine nuns 83
4. The estates of Meaux Abbey in the late fourteenth century 86
5. The lease of a rectory, a close and a manor by Oseney Abbey, 1474 88
III: Everyday life and administration 92
6. An account from the nunnery of St Radegund, Cambridge, 1481/82 92
7. An account from Yarmouth Priory, 1496/97 96
8. Pocket money and recreation at Eynsham Abbey, c. 1403/4 101
9. Carthusian life in late medieval England: the inventory of Thomas Golwynne, 1520 104
10. Administration in a late medieval nunnery: the cellaress of Barking 106
11. The role and status of the monastic superior: the Barnwell Observances 112
IV: Buildings and adornment 115
12. The buildings of Wilberfoss Priory, c. 1539 115
13. Construction and adornment at St Albans Abbey, 1420–40 118
14. Building at late medieval Glastonbury Abbey 121
15. A Venetian observer’s impressions of English monasteries, c. 1500 123
V: Reform and visitation 125
16. The Cistercians and women: access to Kirkstall Abbey church 125
17. The Benedictine response to the proposed reforms of Cardinal Wolsey, 1520 126
18. The visitation of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, 1439 128
19. The visitations of Cockersand Abbey, April and December 1488 131
VI: Liturgy and spirituality 135
20. The provision for the liturgy of the Augustinian canons: Wolsey’s reforming statutes, 1519 135
21. Public liturgy in a monastic church: the Rites of Durham 137
22. The spirituality and asceticism of Abbot Thomas de la Mare 139
23. Carthusian spirituality and sanctity: Dom John Homersley of the London Charterhouse 141
24. Monastic devotion at Godstow and Missenden 144
VII: Learning 147
25. Benedictine constitutions for university study, 1363 147
26. Learning in the cloister: Winchcombe Abbey under Richard Kidderminster 150
27. The preface to Bishop Fox’s translation of the Benedictine Rule, 1517 151
PART TWO: MONASTERIES AND THE WORLD 153
VIII: Monastic foundation and suppression in the later middle ages 155
28. The foundation statutes of Maxstoke Priory, 1337 155
29. The endowment of the London Charterhouse 160
30. A petition for the confiscation of alien priory property, 1414 164
31. The closure of St Radegund’s Priory, Cambridge, 1496 166
IX: Patronage 169
32. The induction of new patrons at Marrick Priory 169
33. The founders’ chronicle of Tewkesbury Abbey 171
34. Durham Cathedral Priory and Sir Robert Ogle: the exchange of patronage between monastery and aristocracy 174
35. An unheralded benefactor of Hatfield Regis Priory, 1329 175
X: The religious services of late medieval monasteries 178
36. Testamentary bequests to late medieval monasteries 178
37. A letter of confraternity from Hailes Abbey 181
38. Entrants into the confraternity of St Albans Abbey in the 1420s 182
39. A prohibited saint cult at Frithelstock Priory, 1351–52 186
XI: The social services of late medieval monasteries 189
40. Monastic hospitality: Henry VI’s visit to Bury St Edmunds Abbey, 1433–34 189
41. The education of Bridget Plantagenet at St Mary’s Abbey, Winchester 193
42. The appointment of a schoolmaster at Llanthony Secunda Priory, 1502 195
43. The reconfiguration of monastic charity at Gloucester Abbey, 1516 196
XII: Relations with lay neighbours 201
44. The monastery as employer: the household list of Butley Priory, 1538 201
45. Crowland Abbey and its neighbours 204
46. An agreement between Reading Abbey and town, 1507 207
47. The dispute over Wymondham Church, 1409–10 211
XIII: Criticism of the monastic life 213
48. William Langland, 'The Vision of Piers Plowman' 213
49. The Order of Brothelyngham, 1348 216
50. The Lollard Disendowment Bill, 1410 217
51. Desiderius Erasmus, the letter to Abbot Paul Volz 220
52. An evangelical attack on monasteries: 'Rede Me' and 'Be Nott Wrothe' 223
XIV: Monasteries and the Crown 228
53. The new privileges of the abbots of Tavistock 228
54. Lay interference in monastic affairs: the abbot of Faversham’s reply to Thomas Cromwell, 1536 230
55. Plans for monastic reform, 1529 233
References for printed works cited 236
Index 245
