The changing nature of monastic historical writing in late medieval England

Thesis

The idea for this thesis began by questioning the perceived decline in late-medieval monastic historical writing. It quickly expanded, however, into an exploration of how historical writing was used within the administrative, commemorative, and performative culture of late medieval English monasteries. It is therefore divided into two parts, the first addressing questions of potential decline and identifying trends of change, the second exploring how these changes were manifested in the use of historical texts within a monastic context.

The historiography of historical writing and monasticism provides a contextual grounding for both parts of the study and a number of theoretical literatures inform the discussion including those on social memory and its specific application in monastic commemorative practice, and on the intersections between literary style, material form and monastic function. This theoretical groundwork is elaborated in Chapter One.

Chapter Two undertakes a quantitative assessment of over 340 historical works produced in England between 400 and 1540. The analysis of this dataset provides an indication of the trends in the religious order affiliation and topic focus between 400-1349 and 1350-1539. These trends are then examined through a closer reading of relevant works.

Chapter Three examines the presentation of historical texts in church tablets and as libri vitae, two forms through which historical texts impacted the visual setting of monastic communities and reflected commemorative practice. Chapter Four explores the interconnections between historical writing, the liturgies of late medieval saints, and monastic sermons. Brought together, the influence of historical writing on monastic culture is seen as a central element not only in the creation of monastic identity but a major tool in the monastic response to late medieval criticism of the monastic way of life.

Authors: Macht, JC

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-e9yzz258k
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: historiography; libraries and archives; monasticism
• Subjects: Civilization, Medieval; Historiography--Great Britain--History--To 1500; Monasticism and religious orders