Landscapes of Monastic Foundation: The Establishment of Religious Houses in East Anglia, C.650-1200 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781843830627)

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.

Author: Timothy Pestell
ISBN-10: 1843830620
ISBN-13: 9781843830627
Publisher: Boydell Press
Language: English
Published: 11/01/2002
Pages: 296
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.58lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.52w x 0.94d