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.
Reviews
A valuable addition to a growing body of new research on the old monastic orders at the end of the middle ages. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
An important addition to the literature on the religious orders in the late middle ages. * AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW *
A useful volume. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *
A work of meticulous scholarship that makes a valuable contribution to the subject. * HISTORY *
This new study is to be welcomed.... Gribbin's discussion...is persuasive and revealing. * SPECULUM *



Book Information
ISBN 9780851157993
Author Joseph A. Gribbin
Format Hardback
Page Count 306
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g