Takes its place as perhaps the finest available study of a house for women religious. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW The fifteenth-century cartulary of the Benedictine nunnery of Chatteris Abbey in Cambridgeshire (founded in the early eleventh century) has important implications for the study of women religious, especially in the light of the small number of surviving cartularies from English nunneries, yet until now it has received little attention, perhaps due to its damage in the Cotton Library fire of 1731. This critical edition of the manuscript, which contains documents copied into it from the mid-twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, offers a full transcription, together with historical notes and apparatus. The introduction draws on the cartulary itself, as well as manorial and episcopal records, to analyse the nunnery's relationship with its patron, the bishop of Ely, and the development and management of its estates; it also examines the location and layout of the abbey, the social and geographical origins of the nuns, and the production and organisation of the cartulary. The edition is accompanied by an annotated list of all known abbesses, prioresses and nuns.CLAIRE BREAYgained her Ph.D. at the Institute for Historical Research at the University of London; she is currently a curator of medieval manuscripts at the British Library.
Reviews
A valuable addition to the corpus of printed sources available to historians of the religious orders, and especially those interested in the history of religious women. AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW Breay's meticulous edition and illuminating analysis represents a major contribution to this subject and takes its place as perhaps the finest available study of a house for women religious. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Its importance lies in being one of the very few surviving cartularies from English nunneries and in its consequent value for the study of women religious... An exemplary edition... comprehensive introduction. MEDIUM AEVUM [H E J Cowdrey]
Details
First Published: 03 Sep 1999
13 Digit ISBN: 9780851157504
Pages: 488
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: Boydell Press
Subject:
Medieval HistoryBIC Class: HBLC1
Details updated on 08 Feb 2012
