Life in the Medieval Cloister

Julie Kerr's vivid account provides insights into the thoughts and experiences of the medieval monk.This book will make an important contribution to our understanding of monastic life by exploring key aspects that have been either inadequately addressed or overlooked by historians. For example, what effect did the ascetic lifestyle have on the monks' physical health and mental well-being? How difficult was it for newcomers to adapt to the rigours of the cloister? Did the monks suffer from anxiety and boredom; what caused them concern and how did they seek comfort? What did it really mean to live the solitary life within a communal environment and how significant were issues of loneliness and isolation? Drawing on chronicles, letters, customaries and miracle stories, the experience of medieval monastic life will be presented through the monks' own words.

ISBN 1847251617   Pages 272 ISBN13 9781847251619 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.   Weight (grammes) 581 Imprint Hambledon Continuum   Published in London Format Hardback   Height (mm) 234 Publication date 28 May 2009   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 271.00902   Spine width (mm) 25 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Postgraduate

1		The precinct, the people, the daily regime		17
2		The severity of monastic life (1) : diet, sleep, clothing and bathing		43
3		The severity of monastic life (2) : family ties, health and sickness		63
4		The sound of silence (1) : the silence of the cloister		79
5		The sound of silence (2) : the silence of the night		101
6		A life of obedience		111
7		Crimes and misdemeanours		131
8		The work of God (1) : the communal life		149
9		The work of God (2) : the monk alone		175
		Epilogue		195
		Glossary		199
		Notes		213
		Bibliography		235
		Index		249

'Dr Kerr is sympathetic as well as objective and the combination makes this a very good introduction to a way of life, that was, at one time, so important to our civilisation.' - Contemporary Review

Although sources concerning the Military and Mendicant Orders have been excluded, this book provides a fascinating insight into conventual life in the Middle Ages. For those whose understanding of this subject has been influenced by the picture of monastic life painted by Cromwell to support the case for the Dissolution, this book provides an invaluable corrective. Sources describing the experience of women in monastic life, no doubt less in any case than those for men, and further eroded by the passage of time, mean that the story told in this account is tilted towards the experience of men, but the author has done much to try to redress this inevitable imbalance. Well referenced and very readable. - Robin Saunders

Although sources concerning the Military and Mendicant Orders have been excluded, this book provides a fascinating insight into conventual life in the Middle Ages. For those whose understanding of this subject has been influenced by the picture of monastic life painted by Cromwell to support the case for the Dissolution, this book provides an invaluable corrective. Sources describing the experience of women in monastic life, no doubt less in any case than those for men, and further eroded by the passage of time, mean that the story told in this account is tilted towards the experience of men, but the author has done much to try to redress this inevitable imbalance. Well referenced and very readable. - Robin Saunders



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