Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c.600–900

by Sarah Foot

This major 2006 history of monasticism in early Anglo-Saxon England explores the history of the Church between the conversion to Christianity in the sixth century and a monastic revival in the tenth. It represents the first comprehensive revision of accepted views about monastic life in England before the Benedictine reform. Sarah Foot shows how early Anglo-Saxon religious houses were simultaneously active and contemplative, their members withdrawing from the preoccupations of contemporary aristocratic society, while still remaining part of that world. Focusing on the institution of the 'minster' (the communal religious community) and rejecting a simplistic binary division between active 'minsters' and enclosed 'monasteries', Foot argues that historians have been wrong to see minsters in the light of ideals of Benedictine monasticism. Instead, she demonstrates that Anglo-Saxon minsters reflected more of contemporary social attitudes; despite their aim for solitude, they retained close links to aristocratic German society.

Genres: History

414 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Sarah Foot is the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Christ Church, Oxford. She is the author of AEthelstan: the First English Monarch (2011); Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600-900 (2006) and has written widely on perceptions and uses of the past in the early medieval West.

Reviews

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c600-900, by Sarah Foot, 2006, 349 pages

This book is both well written and well researched, but it's one that I never really began to find myself that invested in. Whenever I picked it up, I was always quite glad to put it down again and that is no fault of Foot.

My interest is in Anglo-Saxon England itself and not monasteries per se and so a lot of the more detailed sections, such as about meals, I just didn't find myself grabbed by. Obviously if you are deeply fascinated by monasteries and the daily life within them, then you'll be bowled over by this.

There's nothing wrong with the scholarship in here and it's definitely worth reading if you are into the topic, but obviously if your interest is Anglo-Saxon history in general and not this in particular, then you'll get less out of it. It's very good on the contents within the monastic enclosure and entry into holy orders. Daily life in the monasteries was thorough and the parochial life of the monasteries was solid.

This work concentrates on monastic life c600-900 and it feels like it should be part one, with a second volume covering 900-1086, as a lot of the best sources are post 900. As it is, though, it makes a fine companion to Blair's book on the Church.

The copy I bought of this book came from ebay and the sportsman that sold it forgot to mention that this was an ex library copy, with no dust cover, a big '1 week loan' sticker on the front and notes in the margins. In fairness, these notes did give me a laugh when I was reading about the obstacles placed in the way of people joining Benedict's monastery and these made me think of Fight Club and I saw that the last owner had jotted that down at the foot of the page.

[Garden Utensil]

READ THE WHOLE THING THE WHOLE THING

gonna need to revisit the second to last chapter where it gets into financial stuff between nobility and the minster leaders

+ need to make list of cited material to follow up
+ need to review some terms

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for the specialist or the amateur historian. I found the author's logic easy to follow, and really appreciated the insights into early monastic life - especially the lives of women monastics in this period. The same author has written a two volume work specifically on women monastics that I am dying to add to my library. What was frustrating, as is usually the case with Anglo-Saxon histories, is the mystery and conjecture...there's just so much that we DON'T know about the Anglo-Saxon era. Much of the published histories are simply historians' best guesses based on the scanty evidence. However, that's also what (in my opinion) makes Anglo-Saxon history so much fun!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foot's outstanding study is focused on the English minster, an institution combining the monastery and the mission church in the Anglo-Saxon period. Foot dispels lingering suggestions of the early arrival of Benedictine monasticism, focusing instead on the unique expression of Christianity within the Anglo-Saxon culture. Easily my favorite book of the semester.