In the Company of the Preachers. The Archaeology of Medieval Friaries in England and Wales
Leicester Archaeology Monograph No.23

Detailed Description

O'SULLIVAN, D.

School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester (2013), 9780957479203

For the first time, a synthesis of the archaeological and historical evidence relating to the medieval houses of the mendicant friars in England and Wales. A resource that can be used to understand individual biographies of place, it also demonstrates the variety of communities, the range of settings and circumstances, and differences of scale of these convents. Drawing on the written, buried and upstanding record, this offers a new, and systematic approach to the study of a neglected field. In bringing together the evidence from every site, rather than just focussing on a handful of well-known case studies, discussion can be reframed around a broader range of issues, recognising diversity as well as conformity, and continuity as well as moments of change. This material will provide a basis for a more critical understanding of the development of mendicant sites, and their impact on medieval townscapes and their post-Reformation legacy.