Seminar: Relics and monastic identity in late medieval England, Michael Carter, 12 November 2019

Michael Carter, Senior Historian at English Heritage, analyses the importance of relics in the construction of monastic identities in late medieval England. It will focus on two Benedictine (Battle and Whitby) and two Cistercian (Hailes and Rievaulx) abbeys. He will demonstrate that these monasteries used relics to promote and sustain their wider religious role until the time of the Suppression, and that relics were also used to affirm relations between religious houses. Relics and the development of local liturgical observance will also be discussed. Calling upon relic lists, chronicles, heraldry, wills and extant material remains, Michael will also give an idea of the broad range of sources available for the study of the cult of relics at English monasteries, and show that significant material remains unexplored or capable of reinterpretation. The talk is a work in progress, and presents preliminary findings from a projected large-scale study into relics and monasteries in the two centuries before the Suppression.

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The talk takes place on Tuesday 12th November, at 5pm in the History of Art Department (43, Gordon Sq., London WC1H 0PD) in The Keynes Library (Room 114).

Like all the seminars, the talk will finish by 5.50pm to allow those with other commitments to leave, and is then followed by discussion and refreshments.  

These talks are supported by the Murray Bequest in memory of the Department’s founder Peter Murray, and are open to all.

No booking required, but if you are sure you are coming it can be helpful to our planning if you let us know here  http://www.bbk.ac.uk/events/remote_event_view?id=8569