Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Monasticism and Patronage in England and Wales: Continuity and Change
- 2 Manifestations of Monastic Patronage in the Later Middle Ages
- 3 The Burial Preferences of Monastic Patrons in the Later Middle Ages
- 4 The Monastic Patronage of Five Noble Families
- 5 Patrons at the Dissolution
- Conclusions
- Appendix: Late Medieval English and Welsh Monasteries and their Patrons
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- Other Volumes in Studies in the History of Medieval Religion
1 - Monasticism and Patronage in England and Wales: Continuity and Change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Monasticism and Patronage in England and Wales: Continuity and Change
- 2 Manifestations of Monastic Patronage in the Later Middle Ages
- 3 The Burial Preferences of Monastic Patrons in the Later Middle Ages
- 4 The Monastic Patronage of Five Noble Families
- 5 Patrons at the Dissolution
- Conclusions
- Appendix: Late Medieval English and Welsh Monasteries and their Patrons
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- Other Volumes in Studies in the History of Medieval Religion
Summary
The houses of monks, canons and nuns which once were, and in many respects still are, such a characteristic feature of the European countryside, have generated a strong fascination and interest among laymen and laywomen ever since their first appearance in the fourth century. From their earliest beginnings, monastic communities were inevitably linked to the lay communities from which they sprang, and from which they were aiming so strongly to distance themselves in order to pursue a life dedicated as far as possible to a purely spiritual existence. From the start the lay community looked up to these groups of pious men and women, some with suspicion, but others with genuine admiration for their lifestyle of contemplation, self-denial and physical mortification, the perceived effectiveness of their prayers and their charitable acts, and they recognised the potential that these holy communities afforded for the salvation of their own souls, or rather the souls of those members of the lay community who had the financial means to afford monastic endowment.
In England and Wales, as in the rest of Christian Europe, monasteries and nunneries were an essential part of the medieval landscape and of medieval society. Just as elsewhere in western Christendom, the local lay community was involved with communities of religious men and women on several levels. Laymen supplied the recruits for the many and multiplying communities, they endowed them, and they traded with them. The religious, on the other hand, provided essential services for the lay community.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Late Medieval Monasteries and their PatronsEngland and Wales, c.1300–1540, pp. 9 - 64Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2007