Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England
– May 21, 2014
Monastic Space and the Use of Books in Anglo-Norman England
Tessa Weber (Trinity College, Cambridge)
Yesterday’s paper at the Institute of Historical Research examined the eleventh and twelfth century use and placement of books in the monastic community. Weber provided an insightful understanding into monastic reading by comparing various abbeys and traditionsin Anglo-Norman England.
Christchurch Canterbury
Weber began by showing a page for the Eadwine Psalter that details the location of the books rooms and the eventual emergence of a designated library during the later Middle Ages. She wanted to draw our attention to the wide variety of books used for public reading which have gone relatively unreported. Although the information is a bit piecemeal, there were some definite consistencies: there was a broad similarity of practice existing at this time and a significant number of books survived from the twelfth century.
Books used for Mass and Office of Matins
Books were usually recited from memory, however, the focus of this paper was on Matins readings that weren’t memorised. By the eleventh century, Monks attended mass twice daily. They also celebrated private and votive masses on their own or in groups. Missals were widespread by the twelfth century as they were practical not only for masses but as works of reference. Reading Abbey had seventeen missals. Three were used for the high altar, and one was encased in plain binding for the Morrow Mass, however, missals did not entirely replace other books for Mass. Material for the books is uneven in survival, with epistle readings being very rare. Twelfth century sources record an abundance of gospel books but not all gospel books were used in mass, they were used in important processions, weekly Sunday processions, when meeting dignitaries, for various rituals and some were reserved for special occasions and functions.
Readings for the office of Matins were far more complex. Matins was comprised of twelve readings including three on regular week days and one for summer. The readings contained medieval exegesis, narratives prayers and chants. Attempts were made by the eleventh and twelfth centuries to make compilations of matins readings. These compilations of matins readings were referred to as “Brevaries”, however this was misleading; they should be viewed as individual compendiums. Readings became much later in the period and Brevaries became portable. Readers for Matins often made use of the full text from which the readings were derived. These were often marked with instruction in Roman numerals and occurred mainly in Saint’s Lives. Such markings were intended as directions to the reader. Combinations of Saint’s Lives and miracles known as Legenda were not regularly used for liturgical study but they could see use by the choir at Matins.
The Chapter House and The Refectory
For the rest, see:
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