Thomas Sutton's reputation as the wealthiest commoner in England at the time of his death in 1611 was matched by the scale of the charity which he founded at the Charterhouse in Clerkenwell. This work examines the Charterhouse's significance as England's leading charity and the support and opposition that it attracted.

A weekly review of politics, literature, theology, and art.

Peter Ackroyd's The Life of Thomas More is a masterful reconstruction of the life and imagination of one of the most remarkable figures of history. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a renowned statesman; the author of a political fantasy that gave a name to a literary genre and a worldview (Utopia); and, most famously, a Catholic martyr and saint. Born into the professional classes, Thomas More applied his formidable intellect and well-placed connections to become the most powerful man in England, second only to the king. As much a work of history as a biography, The Life of Thomas More gives an unmatched portrait of the everyday, religious, and intellectual life of the early sixteenth century. In Ackroyd's hands, this renowned "man for all seasons" emerges in the fullness of his complex humanity; we see the unexpected side of his character--such as his preference for bawdy humor--as well as his indisputable moral courage.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the history of the numerous houses of monks, canons and nuns which existed in the medieval British Isles, considering them in their wider socio-cultural-economic context; historians are now questioning some of the older assumptions about monastic life in the later Middle Ages, and setting new approaches and new agenda. The present volume reflects these new trends. Its fifteen chapters assess diverse aspects of monastic history, focusing on the wide range of contacts which existed between religious communities and the laity in the later medieval British Isles, covering a range of different religious orders and houses. This period has often been considered to represent a general decline of the regular life; but on the contrary, the essays here demonstrate that there remained a rich monastic culture which, although different from that of earlier centuries, remained vibrant. CONTRIBUTORS: KAREN STOBER, JULIE KERR, EMILIA JAMROZIAK, MARTIN HEALE, COLMAN O CLABAIGH, ANDREW ABRAM, MICHAEL HICKS, JANET BURTON, KIMM PERKINS-CURRAN, JAMES CLARK, GLYN COPPACK, JENS ROHRKASTEN, SHEILA SWEETINBURGH, NICHOLAS ORME, CLAIRE CROSS

This study will significantly further our interpretations of the unique autobiography of Margery Kempe, lay woman turned mystic and visionary. Following the manuscript from a Carthusian monastery through history, Chappell bridges the gaps in our understanding of the transmission of texts from the medieval past to the present.

Vols. for 1971- include annual reports and statistical summaries.

"All aspects of England in the High Middle Ages are covered, including sections on social, economic, religious, military, intellectual and art history, as well as on political and constitutional history."--Publisher description.

This collection of essays by leading experts in manuscript studies sheds new light on ways to approach medieval texts in their manuscript context. Each contribution provides groundbreaking insight into the field of medieval textual culture, demonstrating the various interconnections between medieval material and literary traditions. The contributors’ work aids reconstruction of the period’s writing practices, as contextual factors surrounding the texts provide clues to the ‘manuscript experience’. Topics such as scribal practice and textual providence, glosses, rubrics, page lay-out, and even page ruling, are addressed in a manner illustrative and suggestive of textual practice of the time, while the volume further considers the interface between the manuscript and early textual communities. Looking at medieval inventories of books no longer extant, and addressing questions such as ownership, reading practices and textual production, Medieval Texts in Context addresses the fundamental interpretative issue of how scribe-editors worked with an eye to their intended audience. An understanding of the world inhabited by the scribal community is made use of to illuminate the rationale behind the manufacture of devotional texts. The combination of approaches to the medieval vernacular manuscript presented in this volume is unique, marking a major, innovative contribution to manuscript studies.