The Design of History: St Albans Abbey and the Representation of the Past, c. 1200 - c. 1600

Abstract

The Benedictine abbey of St Albans was a centre of manuscript production and history writing in England throughout the late Middle Ages. This thesis will, for the first time, study the entire corpus of historiographical manuscripts produced at and associated with St Albans and its historians, from the beginning of history writing at the abbey in the thirteenth century to antiquarian production four centuries later. By utilising a visual approach to manuscript analysis, this thesis will establish key changes in history writing during this period and, moreover, re-evaluate the roles of individual historians and their chronicles within the wider monastic context. What will be demonstrated is that the importance placed on certain works by modern historians is not representative of the contemporary significance of these chronicles, with other St Albans historiographical traditions instead proving more relevant to medieval audiences. Furthermore, continuing the research through to the period of early printing and aftermath of the Dissolution of the monasteries allows us to see how traditional monastic chronicles were viewed and used in a changing intellectual climate. The historiographical manuscripts of St Albans Abbey, therefore, provide a consistent and continuous insight into cultural, intellectual and religious changes in England between 1200-1600.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Stephen Mossman (Supervisor) & Charles Insley (Supervisor)