The English Benedictine Cathedral Priories

Joan Greatrex retired early from her teaching post at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, in order to pursue her research at first hand. Her interest in the English medieval cathedrals, in which monks rather than canons comprised the chapter, arose during the preparation of her doctoral thesis on Winchester cathedral. Since then, she has edited the monastic accounts of the former Peterborough abbey and the earliest surviving register of Winchester cathedral. The Biographical Register of the English Cathedral Priories (OUP, 1997) is the forerunner of this present volume. She has also published some fifty articles on related subjects in various scholarly journals and conference proceedings. She is a member of the Ecclesiastical History Society and of the standing committee of the Monastic Research Bulletin. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

The result of her work is a commendable well-contextualised, rich and colourful account of the daily lives, inside as well as outside the choir, of these particular black monks.

• 1. Introduction ; 2. The early years of monastic life ; 3. The community of professed novices and junior monks ; 4. The years of maturity and responsibility: the duties of obedientiaries and senior monks ; 5. Feria, fast, and feast: the rhythm of the liturgical year ; 6. The closing years: illness, age, infirmity and death ; 7. Conclusion ; Appendices: Books for study and leisure ; Bibliography ; Index