Living and Dying in England 1100-1540: The Monastic Experience
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Author Description
This is a fascinating account of daily life in Westminster Abbey, one of medieval England's most important monastic communities. It is also a broad scholarly exploration of some major themes in the social history of the Middle Ages by one of its most distinguished historians. Barbara Harvey exploits the exceptionally rich archives of the Benedictine foundation of Westminster to the full, offering numerous vivid insights into the lives of the Westminster monks, their pensioners, and their patrons. She examines their charitable practices, their food and drink, illness and death, the abbey servants and the institution of corrodies--a key aspect of the abbey's finances. Harvey sets her findings in the context both of other religious institutions and of the secular world. Full of color and interest, Living and Dying in England is a highly readable and authoritative contribution to medieval history.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
How did the daily operations, social obligations, and physical realities of Westminster Abbey reflect the broader monastic experience in medieval England between 1100 and 1540? Barbara B. Harvey, a distinguished historian of the Middle Ages, utilizes the extensive archival records of the Benedictine foundation at Westminster to reconstruct the lived experience of its inhabitants. By analyzing financial documents, charitable records, and personal accounts, she constructs a framework that bridges the gap between the cloistered life of monks and the secular world surrounding them. Her argument posits that the abbey functioned as a complex social and economic hub, deeply integrated into the fabric of English society.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Detailed analysis of monastic dietary habits and food consumption patterns.
- Examination of the institution of corrodies and their impact on abbey finances.
- Investigation into medieval attitudes toward illness, aging, and death.
- Comparative study of charitable practices across various religious and secular institutions.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts recognize this work as a foundational text for understanding the intersection of monastic administration and medieval social history. Readers frequently note the meticulous use of primary source archives to provide a vivid, grounded perspective on life within a major Benedictine foundation.
Page Count:
50
Publication Date:
1993-10-28
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0198201613
ISBN-13:
9780198201618
History
Social History
England
Monasticism
