Living and Dying in England, 1100-1540 The Monastic Experience [Paperback]

This is a fascinating account of daily life in Westminster Abbey, one of medieval England's most important monastic communities. It is also a broad scholarly exploration of some major themes in the social history of the Middle Ages by one of its most distinguished historians. Barbara Harvey exploits the exceptionally rich archives of the Benedictine foundation of Westminster to the full, offering numerous vivid insights into the lives of the Westminster monks, their pensioners, and their patrons. She examines their charitable practices, their food and drink, illness and death, the abbey servants and the institution of corrodies--a key aspect of the abbey's finances. Harvey sets her findings in the context both of other religious institutions and of the secular world. Full of color and interest,Living and Dying in Englandis a highly readable and authoritative contribution to medieval history.

An in-depth examination of life in Westminster Abbey during the later Middle Ages from the perspective of social history. --Historian

In a richly researched, sensitive, and fair-minded monograph, Harvey has given us an account of daily life at Westminster Abbey...Living and Dyingis a major contribution to medieval studies and will be much used by scholars in many fields of inquiry. --Speculum

This book will prove a mine of information about many aspects of the structure of daily monastic life...Scholars and students will ignore this soundly researched and engagingly written book at their peril. A gem. --The Catholic Historical Review