The Monks Of Westminster

Author : E. H. Pearce
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781332310562
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (15 download)

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Download or read book The Monks of Westminster written by E. H. Pearce and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Monks of Westminster: Being a Register of the Brethren of the Convent, From the Time of the Confessor to the Dissolution, With Lists of the Obedientiaries and an Introduction An effort has been made in this volume to re-people the Convent of St Peter, Westminster, by such an examination of the records as would enable me to cite the authorities for each name included and for each statement about the bearer of the name. The Abbots are in many cases already well known in their character and their work, though much more may yet be done to make the personalities of some of them a living reality to our generation by means of the documents which survive from their time and bear their seal. But the more we know of the Abbots, the more conscious we become that the daily round of conventual doings was from their life "a thing apart," while to the Prior and monks it was their "whole existence." The material that survives in the cases of Abbot Walter de Wenlok and Abbot William Colchester shows how small a portion of each year was spent by them at Westminster. The call of the King might send them to foreign parts; the affairs of the Order or the needs of the Convent might take them to Rome or Avignon; when they were in England, they flitted about from property to property, - Laleham, Pyrford, Cleygate, Denham, Islip and Peishore, - with a monk or two in their train to act as seneschal or chaplain; and even if they were at Westminster, they mostly resided outside the precincts at their manor-house of La Neyte. So the daily existence of the Abbey depended on the Prior and his Brethren. It was time, therefore, that these should be brought out of the shadow-land in which they have been allowed to remain. It needed some courage to undertake such a task, especially as I had had no experience in deciphering mediaeval documents when I came to live in the Abbey five years ago. But certain circumstances encouraged me. My colleagues, and more especially the Dean, were ready to give their favour to another instalment of the Westminster series. Dr Edward Scotty the Keeper of the Muniments, has never tired of allowing a beginner to draw upon his unique experience or to beg for his revision of transcripts made by a prentice hand. I had also before me the volumes already produced by the Dean of Wells, who has shown a constant interest in the continuance of his work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.