Bøker i Studies in the History of Medieval Religion-serien

Normandy transformed from military power base of pagan Norse invaders to Christian political entity.

New approaches to understanding religious women's involvement in monastic reform, demonstrating how women's experiences were more ambiguous and multi-layered than previously assumed.

A record of material and spiritual gifts to churches, compiled from 3000 wills made over 180 years.Reads like a medieval detective story. A splendid book... should be treated as a companion volume to The Stripping of the Altars. JULIAN LITTEN, CHURCH TIMES In the late medieval churches of the former deanery of Dunwich there are many features which were provided by testamentary gifts; this study of three thousand wills from fifty-two Suffolk parishes, written between 1370 and 1547, records such material and spiritual bequests. Many purchased prayer (the prayers of the poor being particularly sought), vital for the swift passage of the soul through Purgatory; other testators left instructions for the acquisition of liturgical books, church plate and embroideredvestments. Gifts and outright donations also provided stained glass, seven-sacrament fonts and rood-screens which have survived. The wills give no hint of the destruction that was to come - a medieval chancel with vacant niches and whitewashed walls says more than the wills are prepared to tell - but the pennies and shillings which had helped towards building expenses in this coastal district of East Anglia produced at least two of the finest parish churches in the country within a few decades of the Reformation. The late JUDITH MIDDLETON-STEWART was a tutor for the Board of Continuing Education for the universities of Cambridge and East Anglia.

A detailed examination of the patronage rights exerted over the church by the nobility, illuminating the complex network of relationships between them, the Church, and the clergy.While there has been work on the nobility as patrons of monasteries, this is the first real study of them as patrons of parish churches, and is thus the first study to tackle the subject as a whole. Illustrated with a wealth of detail, it will become an indispensable work of reference for those interested in lay patronage and the Church more generally in the middle ages. Professor David Carpenter, Department of History, King's College London This book provides the first full-length, integrated study of the ecclesiastical patronage rights of the nobility in medieval England. It examines the nature and extent of these rights, how they were used, why and for whom they were valuable, what challenges lay patrons faced, and how they looked to the future in making gifts to the Church. It takes as its focus the thirteenth century, a critical period for the survival and development of these rights, being a time of ambitious Church reform, of great change in patterns of land ownership in the ranks of the higher nobility, and of bold assertion by the English Crown of its claims to control Church property. The thirteenth century also saw a proliferation of record keeping on the part of kings, bishops and nobility, and the author uses new evidence from a range of documentary sources to explore the nature of the relationships between the English nobility, theChurch and its clergy, a relationship in which patronage was the essential feature. Dr Elizabeth Gemmill is University Lecturer in Local History and Fellow of Kellogg College. University of Oxford.

A complete reappraisal of the papacy of Honorius II, highlighting the strategies to which this pontificate turned in order to govern ecclesiastical institutions and to deal with secular matters.

Traces the careers and fortunes of the last priests ordained before the Reformation.

A study of the lives of cathedral clergy in the middle ages.

Detailed study of female monasticism in the later middle ages, with particular emphasis on the nuns' importance to the local community.

The first systematic investigation of monastic dedications in England and Wales.

Five cartularies from what was probably the most important Augustinian house in England.

Essays on English medieval ecclesiastical history, focusing particularly on administration.

A pioneering, comprehensive investigation into a major Italian monastery.

The first complete critical edition and English translation of Barcelona Archivo de la Corona de Aragon, Cartes Reales, MS 3344.

How guests were cared for in medieval monasteries, exploring the administrative, financial, spiritual and other implications.

Analysis of the patronage of Benedictine monasteries has much to reveal about both monastic life and material culture of the time.

Detailed study of monastic life of the English white canons, based on 15c visitation records.

A lavishly illustrated account of the buildings of the friars in the middle ages, bringing them vividly to life.

Papers reflecting current research on orthodox religious practice and ecclesiastical organisation from c.1350-c.1500.

An archaeological investigation into the structure of the medieval chantry chapel, with many implications for religious practice at the time.

Essays provide evidence for the vigour and involvement of religious orders in the years immediately prior to the reformation.

Detailed investigation into a transitional period of the Abbey's history, covering the whole community.

An alternative view of the Conquest and settlement from north-east England, charting relations between the monastic community and the invading Normans.

Our major sources for the life and death of Thomas Becket are rigorously examined in this major new book.

Year 2000 is a Jubilee year for the Catholic church and very large numbers are expected to make the pilgrimage to Rome.

A study of late medieval religious gilds, their form, function, and influence in the community.

Study of the life of bishop of Winchester (1447-86), one of the great educationalists and patrons of learning of late medieval England.

A study of the personal religion of King John, presenting a more complex picture of his actions and attitude.

The relationship between people and parish in the late medieval ages illuminated by this study of a remarkable survival from the period.

First full-length study of Pope Gregory X in relation to Crusade, demonstrating his significant impact.

The monastic life, traditionally considered as an area of withdrawal from the world, is here shown to be shaped by metaphors of war, and to be actively engaged with battle in the world outside.