Landscapes of Monastic Foundation

The Establishment of Religious Houses in East Anglia C. 650-1200

• Author(s): Tim Pestell,
• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Pages: 279
• ISBN_10: 1843830620
  ISBN_13: 9781843830627
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Architecture / Landscape , Architecture / Buildings / Religious , History / General , History / Europe / Great Britain / General , History / Europe / Medieval , Religion / General , Religion / Christianity / History , Religion / History , Religion / Monasticism , Religion / Christian Church / History , Social Science / Archaeology ,

Description:... A history of monastic foundations in East Anglia, from the middle Anglo-Saxon period to the Normans.

Monastic studies usually focus upon the post-Conquest period; here, in valuable contrast, the focus is on pre-Conquest monastic foundations, in the present-day counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Tim Pestell considers the place of the monastery in wider landscapes - topographical, social, economic and political. He observes that by 1215 the Diocese of Norwich contained about a tenth of all English monasteries, a remarkable richness of patronage was no suddenflush of enthusiasm, but a manifestation of religious devotion that had been evolving in East Anglia since the seventh-century Conversion. By integrating archaeological and historical sources, Dr Pestell presents an in-depth examination of where and how communal religious life developed in the region over half a millennium. In so doing, he demonstrates how the more visible and better-evidenced post-Conquest monastic landscape was typically structured by its Anglo-Saxon past.

Dr TIM PESTELL is Curator of Archaeology at Norwich Castle Museum.