The Cloister and the World
Subtitle: Essays in Medieval History in Honour of Barbara Harvey
Contributors: John Blair (Editor); Brian Golding (Editor)
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Oxford University Press
Published: April 27, 1996
Language: eng
Number of pages: 354
ISBN-13: 9780198204404
Description: This outstanding collection of essays honours a distinguished scholar best known for her work on late medieval economy, demography, and estate management, and on the monastic community at Westminster. The uniting theme is the imprint of the church, especially the monastic church, upon society at large.

Contributions range from the eighth to sixteenth centuries, with an emphasis on the later middle ages, looking at urban religion, monastic education, and the role of religious communities in stimulating economic growth.

Westminster Abbey figures prominently, alongside essays on the effects of the Dissolution on nunneries, the role of sanctuary in local communities, and on individuals such as Matthew Paris and Robert of Knaresborough. In a worthy tribute to a great medievalist, the contributors show us a world where the influence of the cloister reached into almost every aspect of daily life.