The priory of Lanthony by Gloucester: An Augustinian house in an English town, 1136-1401.

摘要

Studies of Benedictine monasteries and cathedral chapters have dominated English monastic historical scholarship. The relative dearth of studies of Augustinian houses has become especially troublesome in recent years, as historical inquiries have turned to urban history and questions of urban/monastic relations. Like the Benedictines, the Augustinians could possess significant urban interests, yet in a number of important ways the Augustinians differed from the black monks; these differences might influence the course of their relations with the outside world.;Whereas conflict normally has been characterized as typifying relations between urban and monastic corporations, this study found that Lanthony and the borough of Gloucester for many centuries enjoyed close and harmonious ties, marked with compromise and bonds of patronage. During its first century, Lanthony was deeply embroiled with its founding family, the earls of Hereford, and the feudal group of the earls; as these bonds began to erode in the early thirteenth century, the ties between the priory and the borough strengthened. In matters of pious donations, monastic recruitment, and patronage, Lanthony and the borough can be observed interacting positively. The canons were committed to the optimal administration of their urban estate, which further drew them into the town. Most significantly, Lanthony appears consistently compromised with the borough over such points of contention as common pasturing rights, borough taxation, and the exercise of courts in the borough.;Conflict did erupt in Gloucester in the final decade of the later fourteenth century, but it was the result of circumstances specific to that time. Lanthony, experiencing a massive crisis in its economic situation after the onset of the plague cycle (largely due to the circumstances of the priory's Irish estate), implemented innovations in the borough that threatened the privileges and well-being of the burgesses. The burgesses reacted in protest.;While some factors related to Lanthony's Augustinian origins--for example, recruitment practices and the shape of the priory's endowment--probably facilitated amicable ties between priory and town, such factors were neither especially particular to Lanthony, nor sufficient to prevent conflict at the end of the fourteenth century. Specific circumstances of time and place played a much more important role in shaping monastic/borough relationships than any overarching features based on religious order.