Contemplation and Action: The Other Monasticism

This book considers the archaeology of 'the other monasticism', a range of religious vocations and associated settlements - hospitals, preceptories of the military orders, monasteries for women and hermitages - that were constant and integral to medieval life, yet have remained on the margins of modern scholarship. Evidence for the social and religious roles of the monasteries is outlined, together with a consideration of their relationships to lay society and the changing nature of religious mentalities. Archaeological and historical evidence is brought together in an examination of the meaning of monasticism to medieval people. Monastic identities are explored through the connection between material culture and issues such as belief, gender, membership of a monastic order, patronage and a sense of liminality, or otherness.