Life and death in a medieval monastery: The case of the Cistercian Abbey of Savigny (1112-c. 1250)

Journal article

This article looks to paint a picture of life and death at the reformed Benedictine (later Cistercian) abbey of Savigny, head of Normandy's only native monastic order. Using the abbey's extensive collection of charters, as well as narrative and annalistic texts, it traces in detail the different networks that underpinned recruitment at the abbey, from its abbots to its lay brothers, and attempts to reconstruct the community's lost sepulchral landscape, in particular with regards to the burial of its lay benefactors. As a result, it offers the first such evaluation of a Savigniac community, either in France or the British Isles, providing a case study that should be of interest not just to scholars working on the history of Savigny itself, but also to those looking to understand the various ways in which monastic institutions, both Cistercian and otherwise, helped to shape and influence the wider world in which they operated.

Authors: Allen, R

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Brepols
• Journal: Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies
• Volume: 7
• Pages: 79-125
• Publication date: 2018-12-14
• Acceptance date: 2017-10-07
• DOI: 10.1484/J.JMMS.5.116566
• EISSN: 2034-3523
• ISSN: 2034-3515
• Language: English
• Keywords: Cistercian; lay brothers; Savigny; benefactors; monastic recruitment; frontiers; burial; Normandy