Definitive history of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds during a crucial period in its history.
St Edmund’s Abbey was one of the most highly privileged and wealthiest religious houses in medieval England, one closely involved with the central government; its history is an integral part of English history. This book (the first of two volumes) offers a magisterial and comprehensive account of the Abbey during the thirteenth century, based primarily on evidence in the abbey’s records [over 40 registers survive]. The careers of the abbots, beginning withthe great Samson, provide the chronological structure; separate chapters study various aspects of their rule, such as their relations with the convent, the abbey’s internal and external administration and its relations with itstenants and neighbours, with the king and the central government. Chapters are also devoted to the monks’ religious, cultural and intellectual life, to their writings, book collection and archives. Appendices focus on the mid-thirteenth century accounts which give a unique and detailed picture of the organisation and economy of St Edmunds’ estates in West Suffolk, and on the abbey’s watermills and windmills.
Dr ANTONIA GRANSDEN is former Reader atthe University of Nottingham.
Inhoudsopgave
Samson’s biographer, Jocelin of Brackland (de Brakelond), and his work
Samson’s early life and career
Samson’s election to the abbacy
The early years of Samson’s abbacy and reform of estate management
Conflict with the government
Relations with the town of Bury St Edmunds
Samson and secular law
Samson and the knights of St Edmund
Relations with the Angevin kings
Samson and the papacy
Samson as a builder
Religious and intellectual life under Samson
Samson’s death and burial
The vacancy, 1211-1215, and election of Hugh of Northwold
The Abbots 1215-1256
Observance of the Rule of St Benedict
Learning
Books
Buildings
St Edmunds’ liberties and the crown
Henry III and the cult of St Edmund
Abbreviations and Select bibliography
Index
Meer e-boeken van dezelfde auteur (s) / Editor
2.331 E-boeken in deze categorie
