Medieval History
When King Henry VIII on England set about the dissolution of monasteries in the years 1536 to 1541, one of the main reasons given the English government for the suppression of hundreds of religious communities was accusations of widespread illicit sex by monks and nuns. Now research by a scholar at the University of Toronto has shown that the evidence collected by King Henry?s officials did not even show many sexual crimes, but instead used accusations of masturbation to make the monastic communities seem like they were deviant.
Christian Knudsen, a PhD student at the Canadian university, presented his findings at a paper entitled ?Sodomitic Monks and Other Dissolution Myths: The Late Medieval Monastic Decline Narrative Re-visited.? They were presented this week to fellow medievalists on the campus of the University of Toronto. He makes use of the few available records about the state visitations that took place in 1535 and 1536, where about 85% of the monasteries in England were inspected by royal bureaucrats who were collecting evidence that would help Henry dissolve the monasteries.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
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Medieval History
Mischievous Monks and Naughty Nuns? Scholar re-examines the illicit sexual accusations against monasteries in England during the dissolution
When King Henry VIII on England set about the dissolution of monasteries in the years 1536 to 1541, one of the main reasons given the English government for the suppression of hundreds of religious communities was accusations of widespread illicit sex by monks and nuns. Now research by a scholar at the University of Toronto has shown that the evidence collected by King Henry?s officials did not even show many sexual crimes, but instead used accusations of masturbation to make the monastic communities seem like they were deviant.
Christian Knudsen, a PhD student at the Canadian university, presented his findings at a paper entitled ?Sodomitic Monks and Other Dissolution Myths: The Late Medieval Monastic Decline Narrative Re-visited.? They were presented this week to fellow medievalists on the campus of the University of Toronto. He makes use of the few available records about the state visitations that took place in 1535 and 1536, where about 85% of the monasteries in England were inspected by royal bureaucrats who were collecting evidence that would help Henry dissolve the monasteries.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
- New Image Of Henry Viii Discovered
One of the earliest and most remarkable depictions of the prince who was to become England?s King Henry VIII has been discovered at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. Poignantly, he is shown as a mourning 11 year old boy, weeping at the empty...
- Search Begins For Lost Grave Of King Richard Iii
The University of Leicester and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, are starting an archaeological dig to find the remains of King Richard III, the only English monarch whose resting place remains unknown. On Saturday...
- A Look At The Lives Of Those Who Built Jerpoint Abbey
A new book about the religious order that created Jerpoint Abbey is being launched this Friday night. A Monastic Landscape: The Cistercians in Medieval Ireland by Breda Lynch, who has worked as a guide and information officer at the abbey, will be launched...
- Mary Malloy Taps Medieval World For Murder Most Foul
Like Chaucer's Wife of Bath, Mary Malloy is an adventurous woman. She has hiked across England in the footsteps of the "Canterbury Tales" character and voyaged north to Spitsbergen, Norway, and in the South Seas. A professor of maritime history at...
- From Cloister To World: Monasticism In Society Cfp
FP: 44th International Congress of Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo "From Cloister to World: Monasticism in Society" Sponsored by the Graduate program of the Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame Throughout the Middle Ages, monks and monasteries often...