Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of History
First Advisor
Caroline Litzenberger
Date of Publication
2004
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.) in History
Department
History
Language
English
Subjects
Barking Abbey, Nuns -- England -- History -- 16th century, Monasticism and religious orders for women -- England -- History -- 16th century, Abbeys -- England -- History
DOI
10.15760/etd.948
Physical Description
1 online resource (iv, 175 pages)
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to gain an understanding of the daily lives of nuns in an English nunnery by examining a particular prominent abbey. This study also attempts to update the history of the abbey by incorporating methods and theories used by recent historians of women's monasticism, as well as recent archaeological evidence found at the abbey site. By including specific examinations of Barking Abbey's last nuns, as well as the nuns' artistic and cultural pursuits, this thesis expands the scholarship of the abbey's history into areas previously unexplored. This thesis begins with a look at the nuns of Barking Abbey. the social status of their secular families, and how that status may have defined life in the abbey. It also looks at how Barking fit into the larger context of English women's monasticism based on the social provenance of its nuns. The analysis then turns to the nuns' daily temporal and spiritual responsibilities, focusing on the nuns' liturgical lives as well as the work required for the efficient maintenance of the house. Also covered is the relationship the abbey and its nuns had with their local lay community. This is followed by an examination of cultural activity at the abbey with discussion of books and manuscripts, music, singing, procession, and various other art forms. The final chapter examines the abbey's dissolution in 1539 under Henry VIII's religious reforms, including the dissolution's effect on some of the abbey's last nuns.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/9755
Recommended Citation
Barnes, Teresa L., "A nun's life : Barking Abbey in the late-medieval and early modern periods" (2004). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 948.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.948
Comments
Master of Arts in History