Martin Heale

The Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reformation England

As Martin Heale states at the very beginning of The Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reformation England, ‘the importance of the late medieval abbot needs no particular emphasis’. This was a group of men with responsibility for the spiritual and material wellbeing of thousands of monks and canons. Their influence extended far beyond the cloister, since they were also prominent figures in local and national government (both ecclesiastical and secular). Collectively their financial resources (mostly derived from the vast monastic landholdings) outstripped those of the crown; they were also significant patrons of learning and the arts. Given all this, it is surprising that historians have paid relatively little attention to the monastic superiors of medieval England.(1) This volume sets out to fill a significant historiographical void, and by providing the first major overview of the role of the monastic superior in medieval England.

Veneration and renovation at a small Norfolk priory: St. Leonard’s, Norwich in the later middle ages*

Much remains obscure about the many small monasteries of late medieval England, and it is generally thought that they made little contribution to the religious life of the country. The large collection of accounts surviving from St. Leonards priory, Norwich (a daughter house of the cathedral priory), however, presents an interesting picture of a priory sustained almost entirely by offerings to its image of St. Leonard. This cult continued to attract broad support throughout the later middle ages, with its income reaching a peak at over forty pounds per year in the mid fifteenth century. Almost the entirety of this windfall was set aside for a systematic renovation of the monastery, which can be chronicled in some detail. Although the cult was on the wane by 1500, the importance of the priory for the popular religion of the region emerges clearly.

Guide to the muniments of Westminster Abbey

The final module focuses on designing descriptive and access systems. As with the previous modules, the author of this one emphasises that providing access is one of the most important aims of keeping archives and of the arrangement and description process in particular. The third module is more technical in nature and makes a good case for ensuring that any accessioning or description data should be captured in a structured (e.g. xml or tab-delineated) format – a Word table would be barely acceptable because of the amount of resource needed to upgrade it to a decent metadata management system. The module systematically goes through the functionality that is needed for descriptive and access systems, including evaluation and performance measurement. The module also provides the greater context in which description metadata need to sit and so make mention of preservation and more general management metadata. It offers a range of options for delivering descriptive metadata including encoded archival description (EAD), across different systems (‘discovery layers’), user contribution systems and content management systems. Each option is described and analysed. The publication of digital images of archival collections linked to the description is also covered. This guidance offers solutions for not only well-resourced environments but also for small and cash-poor repositories. For example, the first appendix is a summary of recommendations which gives simplest, more advanced and most advanced options. Two case studies are also given in the appendices – they serve to highlight one of the points the author makes about no one system having all the functionality needed to manage the process. Another appendix gives a useful list of the available tools to support description and access and of course there is a further reading list. Archival Arrangement and Description is an excellent handbook for the arrangement and description process. It explains the issues and provides methodologies and practical solutions to the challenges posed by modern recordkeeping habits. Although the book is quite North American in feel, many of the issues and solutions are universal. Taken as a whole, this publication will enable new professionals as well as archivists in low resource environments to work out how to create standards compliant on-line finding aids in an effective and efficient way.

Monasticism in late medieval England, c. 1300–1535

Foreword Preface and acknowledgements Introduction: Monasticism in late medieval England, c.1300-1535 PART ONE: MONASTIC LIFE IN LATE MEDIEVAL ENGLAND 1. The Essence of the monastic life: the Benedictine rule 2. Recruitment and Economy 3. Everyday life and administration 4. Buildings and adornment 5. Reform and visitation 6. Liturgy and spirituality 7. Learning PART TWO: MONASTERIES AND THE WORLD 8. Monastic foundation and suppression in the later middle ages 9. Patronage 10. The Religious services of late medieval monasteries 11. The social services of late medieval monasteries 12. Relations with lay neighbours 13. Criticism of the monastic life 14. Monasteries and the crown Bibliography of printed works cited Index