Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Clark, James G.
2. Preest, David

Description

1. xvii, 990 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits; 24 cm

Summary

1. The Deeds of the abbots of St Albans is the longest continuous chronicle of a medieval monastery in England, following its fortunes from its first foundation in the wake of the first Viking raids to its status as a proud and prosperous pillar of the church establishment more than six centuries later. More than merely a common, conventual annal, the Deeds drew contributions from the most accomplished chroniclers of the St Albans school including Matthew Paris, Thomas Walsingham and perhaps William Rishanger. It is a history of one of the most important abbeys, under royal patronage and always at the apex of the church hierarchy; it also offers a glimpse of life inside the monastic community from the Conquest to within a century of the Dissolution. There are detailed descriptions of the building, and rebuilding, of the abbey church, and recounts the abbey's commitment to the making of books, from the first flowering of the scriptorium in the twelfth century - when a famous psalter was made for the anchorite Christina of Markyate - to its Indian summer in the years before 1400 under Thomas Walsingham himself. There are rare snapshots of the daily routine of the monks, their liturgical observances, their interactions with their staff, tenants, townspeople and guests. And it captures the colour and character of the celebrated figures seen at the abbey, from King John to Edward the Black Prince.

Alternative title

1. Gesta abbatum monasterii Sancti Alban

Subject

1. St. Albans Abbey > History > Sources
2. St. Albans Abbey
3. Monasticism and religious orders > England > St. Albans > Early works to 1800
4. Monastic and religious life > England > St. Albans > Early works to 1800
5. St. Albans (England) > Church history > Sources

Genre/Form

1. History.
2. Sources.

Call number

1. JFE 19-8737

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 937-959) and index.

Author

1. Walsingham, Thomas, active 1360-1420, author.

Title

1. Deeds of the abbots of St Albans = Gesta abbatum monasterii Sancti Alban / translated by David Preest and edited by James Clark.

Publisher

1. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK : The Boydell Press, 2019.

Copyright date

1. ©2019

Type of content

1. text
2. still image
3. cartographic image

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 937-959) and index.

Added author

1. Walsingham, Thomas, active 1360-1420. Gesta abbatum monasterii Sancti Alban. English (Preest)
2. Clark, James G., editor.
3. Preest, David, translator.

ISBN

1. 9781783270767 (hardback)
2. 1783270764 (hardback)

Research call number

1. JFE 19-8737