About the website
The full title of this website is called 'Religious
Houses on the Anglo-Scottish Borders during the Scottish War of Independence
(1323-84): Violence, Strategy and Local Communities' which derived from my research proposal suggested by my potential supervisor. He thought that my master dissertation is fine to further study-- 'The border monastic houses during the mid-fourteenth century provided an interesting case study of the impact of sustained military conflict and political division in monastic communities -- but with an extended chronology. There are a large number of data available from the 1360s and 1370s that opened up the issue of recovery from war, perhaps a little discussion of the effect of the Battle of Duns and Otterburn both broken out in 1372 and 1388. Since 'we' are planning to survey the aftermath of the Second Scottish War of Independence, he advised me to have a look at the truces between 1323 and 1332 to compare the changes within monastic communities after experiencing intensive warfare.
1. Frequency
A post will thus be updated very slowly, I need more time to develop a clearer sense of those two periods through printed primary sources and secondary sources. I promise I will start writing when a part of the research is completed.
2. Case Studies
The Border monastic communities will be examined by a group of key case studies: Melrose Abbey, Kelso Abbey, Jedburgh Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey, Coldingham Priory and Coldstream Priory. Except for the Coldingham Priory, the examples have been gathered in my personal databases from the beginning of the dissertation workshop.
These houses were selected to represent the monastic communities because they were the wealthiest and the most significant religious centres in the border region. The foundations of Melrose, Kelso, Jedburgh and Coldingham were established by David I. Plus, they were from different religious orders might be worth paying attention to their wartime strategies and acts of violence led by the warfare which have not been discussed in any scholarly works.
Melrose Abbey= Cistercian
Kelso Abbey= Tironensian
Jedburgh Abbey= Augustinian
Dryburgh Abbey= Premonstratensian
Coldingham Priory= Benedictine
Coldstream Priory= Cistercian nuns
3. Period
The experience of these six religious houses will be answered according to the three different stages of the conflict.
1323-1332: truces after the First Scottish War of Independence, campaigns before signing the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton (1328)
1332-1357: the outbreak of the Second Scottish War of Independence
1357-the 1380s: the continuation of the Anglo-Scottish Warfare
4. Sections
The six religious houses will undoubtedly be studied in terms of violence, strategies and local communities.
A. Violence: What was the impact of
conflict on the monastic communities of the Scottish borders? How were they
affected as corporate bodies and in terms of the experience of individual
members of these religious bodies?
Any slight change in the religious houses during the period will be categorised in this section.
For instance, replacement and expulsion, destruction of church buildings, unpaid pension, uncultivated land as well as, the loss of livestock, properties and treasures. Mental violence is unseen in the description of the sources that should also be counted, such as, the black death, the depletion of the religious houses and secular duties ordered by the kings.
Of course, not every single event will be put in the section, their sufferings have to match the concept of immunity from war and the Just War theory. The criteria of religious violence are announced in military ordinances, decrees of Canon law, and philosophy works focusing on the laws of war. It is strongly advised to have a careful eye whilst consulting the materials, the understanding of hors de guerre might be varied to fit the military campaign and tactic. At this point, try to find out the contemporary account in your studied geographical regions.
As we are discussing the wartime violence that occurred within the religious communities, you should prepare to distinguish the sacrilegious events from a bunch of examples and consider having a systematic analysis of the definition of medieval sacrilege and its possible punishments.
This section will therefore be divided into three major parts.
Physical Violence
Mental Violence
Sacrilege
In these three major parts, similar evidence will be grouped under the same title, for instance,
Expulsion and Replacement: Expelled the monks, replaced with other monks
Failure of Compensation: Irregularly paid pensions; Lately delivered of the returned properties;
Loss of Properties, Goods and Livestock: Forfeiture; Stolen Oxen; Drove away their goods
Sacrilege: Churches and houses cast down by the engines; Burned; Raided; Reduced to ruins; Stolen Treasures; Thrown out the vessels of the temple; Plundered the monks' jewels; shattered the bones
B. Strategies: In what ways and with what
success did religious communities seek to protect their people, buildings and
rights over land and revenues during and after periods of sustained conflict?
Can the strategies they employed be identified?
This section will centre on the close links between the kings and the queens from both kingdoms, the papacy and the landowners from both kingdoms. It is a must to undertake a full survey of records printed by the repositories and their 'autobiographies' in the secondary literature. You are encouraged to trace these big figures along with their houses, dynasties and offices.
English Monarchy: House of Plategenent
Edward II--Isabella of France
Roger Mortimer Government
Edward III--Phillipa of Hainault
Richard II--Anne of Bohemia, Isabella of Valois
Scottish Monarchy:
House of Bruce: Robert the Bruce--Isabella of Mar, Elizabeth de Burgh
David II--Joan of England, Margaret Drummond
House of Balliol: Edward Balliol
House of Stewart/Stuart: Robert II--Elizabeth Mure, Euphemia de Ross
Papacy:
Nicholas V (Roman) -- John XXII (Avignon)
Benedict XII (Avignon)
Clement VI (Avignon)
Innocent VI (Avignon)
Urban V (Avignon)
Gregory XI (Avignon)
Urban VI (Roman) -- Clement VII (Avignon)
Landowners: (Will be added or altered)
Ralph Neville of Raby--House of Neville
Sir John de Graham--House of Menteith
Sir William Douglas of Liddesdale--House of Douglas
Evidence like petitions, letters of protection, safe conduct, permissions, writs, mandate, charters of confirmation, proclamations, letters of patents, licenses as well as memorandums will form the basis of this section. Do note down the dates, places of issue and issue authorities whilst reading the evidence of the printed primary sources. They will provide a clue if dating is recorded differently. When comes to the papal registers, you have to check the index not only with the name of the religious houses but also the kings and queens' names, I found the pope had been writing short letters begging them to watch over the liberty of the church. The landowner's part is still under research, the relevant evidence is normally 'kept' in chartularies and the family books series produced by William Fraser.
This section will not be limited to the examination of the relationship among the kingship, the papacy and landowners, the self-defence of both religious houses will be used as an element. The definition of self-defence, however, is vague and enclosed, you should undertake a close reading and indicate their ways confidentially with your findings. Quitting the monastery was a sort of popular way, the name of individual religious members and the religious head agreed with the leavings were listed in the papal registers. The hospitality of the religious houses was somewhat a good point to emphasize their protective measure, religious communities used to be destroyed after the king's departure. You have to rather direct the interpretations of what they do during the war might expose them to great danger, who are the protectors of the religious communities and how the pressure of choosing sites became acute in the border context. Though It is a well-established custom and has been dealt with in monographs concentrated on medieval religious studies, its wartime value has been neglected.
This section will similarly have four sub-section:
Seeking Protection: Loyalties changing, Letters of protection/Safe conducts/Licenses/Letter Patent/Proclamations/Charter confirmation/Writs/Mandates, Coat of arms, The appointment of Papal Plenipotentiary and Papal Nuncios, Petitions, Memorandum of homage, Regalities,
Seeking Compensation: Properties/Revenues/Rents restoring, Permission to cut wood in the royal forests, Victuals, Expenses of rebuilding/purchasing golden cloths for a big figure's pall, Fishery, The introduction of religious members, Pension, the renewal of the dedarations, Regality jurisdiction, Customs of wool export, Respites from outstanding debts,
Seeking Local Support: Free alms, Permanent Lordships, Baronies, Patronages, Churches, Annual sum, Annuities, Oblations, Rights on the tenement, Site of the resting places
Self-Defence: Comfortable lodgings for troops, Ample rooms for weapons storage, Leaving by night
Each sub-section will be studied under the cases of the three kinds of relationship:
English and Scottish Kingships
Roman and Avignon Papacy
Local Friends
C. Local Communities: What was the effect of sustained warfare and social change in the border
regions of Scotland on the relationship between these religious houses and the
local communities, lay and ecclesiastical, which inhabited them?
The six religious houses will first be studied as major local landowners. The local communities include not only the burghs, the sheriffdoms and the dioceses where the religious houses were but also the location of their principal estates. This section will therefore cover almost all the monastic properties, lands and rights of holdings over the British and Irish archipelago.
As mentioned before, the daily routine and social network of religious communities had been fundamentally altered by the warfare between two hostile kingdoms for years, their interactions among merchants, burgesses,
local secular elites and sheriffs will be the focal point. I am thinking of outlining their personal history, political affiliation, and special affection for religious belief, then, examining the minor and the major changes within these sixty years through the patrons, possession, revenues, administrative help as well as secular rights of the religious houses. Before commencing the more detailed assessment, you have to take a long and deep breath, it will take time. Neither the interpretations on secondary sources nor the printed transcript on chartularies, the personal name is the only information for you to follow up the study. I used to jot down the names regardless of the spelling differences and repetition, getting a quick result from search engines or a brief understanding from Wikipedia, and locating the information while looking through book indexes. It might be a stupid way to collect the most evidential information about these groups of people, I do not know which databases or academic societies will be effective yet. I could just advise academic works concerning the history of economics, wool trade, medieval merchants, local government, family history, medieval burghs and urban administration along with some general bibliographies with a complete list of the position and offices in this application.
More specifically, the key research points of this part are as follows:
Merchants: the identity of the merchants, the medieval law of trade, the route to Southern Scotland and Northern England, the price fluctuation of wool during the intensive wars, the market value of monastic wool production, the development of sheep farming in religious communities, the permission of the ports accessing, the freedom from custom and taxation of the religious houses
Burgesses: the establishment of the siege, the garrison and the fortifications, the location of the monastic lands and properties, the certain description of secular rights over the burghs (e.g., fishery, salt work, ironwork, entrance and exit of the ships, wine import, mils, felling, a place for drying fishing nets), the application of the defence strategy of the burghs on the religious communities, the economic contribution of the religious houses to the burghs
Local secular elites: the family connections with the religious communities, personalized spiritual services, the burial site choosing, the appointment of the keeper or guardian and master of the religious houses, the form of 'gifts' (e.g., patronage, endowment, oblation for the feast, long-term lordship, free alms, barony, churches, new religious members, secular monks, tenements, tithes, coat of arms, family's chief symbol, travelling fees, rent collecting), the significant changes of the friendships during and after the conflicts
Sheriffs: the personal history of the sheriffs, the role of the sheriffs on the border warfare issue, the management of religious violence, the communication between the king, royal officials and the parliaments, the performance of the local governance, the interactions with neighbouring burghs and its incumbent offices.
Since this section is about the life of border communities in the aftermath of the First Scottish War of Independence, the phases of the Second Scottish War of Independence as well as the outbreak of the major military events in the 1360s to 1380s, the discussions and the interpretations will be highly repetitive. In this case, the word 'aforementioned', the phrase 'as mentioned before' and footnotes of the page numbers of the overlapped cases will be utilized.
We are exploring the local communities of the religious houses in this section, it will be a good opportunity to look into the wider religious communities. I assume the complex friendships between the abbots or the priors and the bishops and the function of the church councils and the ecclesiastical courts in the border regions might provide an interesting perspective of the Scottish Independence War. It will give a fresh insight into the punishments and sanctions of sacrilege, the 'policy' on the difference monastic orders, the responsibilities of dioceses and archdeaconries and parishes as well as the administrative works between the monarchs, the leadership of the lay network, the Rome and Avignon papacy and the head of the religious communities as well as the wartime election of the ecclesiastical office. Not to forget the relevance of the parish church, the mother houses, the grandmother houses, the daughter houses, the granddaughter houses, and the 'controlled' churches of the religious houses in this section. They will probably show which campaign they supported, the assistance of the same monastic order, the closer ties in the dioceses and the parishes, and the supervisions from the mother houses and the possessed religious houses about the sustained wars.
If you are interested in the medieval British Isles' religious network, you have to do a deep survey of these people, religious areas and ecclesiastical institutions, particularly, a close reading of the lists of witnesses in the original texts.
Abbots/ Priors
Dryburgh Abbey: William (III)--Roger (III)--David (I)--Andrew (I)--John (II)
Jedburgh Abbey: Robert Marshal--John de Eskdale--Robert
Kelso Abbey: William de Dalgarnock [Warden: Thomas de Hassynden]--Roger--William--William de Bolden--Patrick
Melrose Abbey: William de Fogo--Thomas de Soutra--William de St Andrews
Coldingham Priory: Richard de Whitworth--Adam de Pontefract--Robert de Graystanes--Alexander de Lamsley--William de Scaccario--Alexander de Lamsley--John Fossour--
Walter de Skaresbrekis--William de Bamburgh--Robert Berrington de Walworth
--Robert de Claxton
Archdeacon of Teviotdale:
William de Yetholm
John de Berwick
John de Boulton
Henry de Smalham
John de Ancrum
Bishop:
Bishop of Glasgow: John de Egglescliffe--John de Lindsay--John Wishart--William Rae--Walter Wardlaw
Bishop of St Andrews: Wiliam de Lamberton--Alexander de Kininmund--James Bane
--William Bell--William de Landallis
Mother Houses:
Melrose Abbey: Rievaulx Abbey (England)
Dryburgh Abbey: Alnwick Abbey (England)
Coldingham Priory: Durham Priory (England), Dunfermline Abbey (Scotland)
Daughter Houses:
Melrose Abbey: Newbattle Abbey (Scotland)--Kinloss Abbey (Scotland)--
Coupar Angus Abbey (Scotland)--Balmerino Abbey (Scotland)
Kelso Abbey: Kliwinning Abbey (Scotland)--Lindores Abbey (Scotland)--Lesmahagow Priory (Scotland)--Arbroath Abbey (Scotland)
Dryburgh Abbey: Carrickfergus--Drumcross
Controlled Church ( will be updated once the date of 'possessed' or the founded time and the actual location is confirmed)
Coldstream Priory: The church of Hirsell
Kelso Abbey: King's church--The church of Eglimalesoks--The church of Carluke--
The church of Tyntou--The church of Crawfordjohn--The church of Altercummin (Lennox)--
The church of Culter--The church of Wilbaldington--The church of Leshmahagap
Melrose Abbey: The church of Melrose--The church of Hassenden--The church of Mauchline--The church of Hounam--The church of Ettrick--The church of Dunscore--
The church of Ochiltree--The church of Wastirker--The church of Tarbolton--
The church of Wilton
Jedburgh Abbey: A chapel (opposite Hevnwingeslawe), A church of Barton and Grendon--The church of Oxenham--A religious house on the Lidal, The church of Kirchanders--
The church of the vale of Lidal--The church of Dodington (near Berton)--
The church of Alboldesle--The rectorial church of Bassenthwaite (Cumberland)--
The church of Dalmenie (Linlithgowshire)--The church of Hownam (Teviotdale)
Coldingham Priory: The church of St Ebba--The church of Eyemouth--The church of Ayton--The church of St Nicholas de Reston--The church of Nathansthirn (Nenthorn)
--The church of Nesbit--The church of Newton--The church of Lamberton--
The church of Fishwick--The church of Swinton--The church of Edrom--
The chapel of Kimmerghame--The chapel of East Nisbet--The chapel of Blackadder--
The chapel of Earlston--The church of Stitchel--The church of Smalham (Smailholm)--
The church of Berwick
Dryburgh Abbey: Mertoun church (Tweeddale)--a chapel (Caddisley)--
The chapel of St Leonard (the west side of the Leder)--
The chapel of Glengelt (Parish of Childenchirch/Channelkirk)
--A chapel of Carfrae (Channelkirk)--A chapel (Herdmanston)--A hospital (Soltre)
--The church of Sawelton--The church of St Michael (Saulton)--A church (Pencaithland)
--The church of Golyn--A chapel (Dirleton)--The church of Kilrenny--The church of Maxton--
The church of Lessedwyne--The church of St Mary (Etterick Forest)--
The church of St Kentigern of Lanark--The chapel of Pedynane--
The church of Lesser of Sowerby/Sorbie (Wigtownshire)--The church of Worgis--
The church of Bosjeth--The church of Sembry--The church of Vogrie--
St John's chapel (Caddislee)--The church of Smailholme--The church of Saltoune--
The church of Channelkirk (Lauderale)--The church of Asby (Westmorland)--
The church of St Cuthbert (Channelkirk)--The church of Lauder--
The church of St Nicholas (the island of Edlbottle)--The church of Bozeat (Northamptonshire)--The Church of Borgue (Galloway)--
The church of Greater Sorbie (Wigtownshire)--The chapel of Lanark--
The chapel of Pettinain--The church of Pettinain--The church of Nemphar--
The church of Cartland
The churches in the same parishes:
Teviotdale: Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose
Abbotrule--Ancrum--Ashkirk--Bedrule--Bowden--Castletown (St Martin)--Cavers Magna--
Cavers Parva--Crailing--Eckford--Ettleton--Galashiels--Hassendean (St Kentigern)--Hawick--Hobkirk--Howam--Lampitlaw--Lilliesleaf--Linton--Longnewton--Maxton--Maxwell--Minto--Morebattle--Mow--Nisbet--Old Roxburgh--Oxnam--Rankilburn--Roxburgh (Holy Sepulchre)--Roxburgh (St James)--Selkirk Abbatis--Selkirk Regis--Southdean--Sprouston--
St Boswells (St Bosil)--Wheelkirk--Wilton--Yetholm
Merse: Coldingham Priory, Coldstream Priory
Berwick--Channelkirk--Chirnside--Cranshaws--Duns--Earlston--Eccles--Ednam--Edrom--Ellem--Fishwick--Fogo--Foulden--Gordon--Greenlaw--Hallyburton--Hilton--Horndean--Hume--Hutton--Lamberton--Langton--Legerwood--Lennel--Lauder--Makerstoun--Mertoun--Mordington--Nenthorn--Old Cambus--Polwarth--St Bathans--Simprim--Smailholm--Swinton--Stichill--Upsettlington--Wedale--Whitsome
So, this section will centre on the relationship between religious houses in the border region and the social change of the local communities during the studied period through detailed research on merchants, burgesses, local secular elites, sheriffs, abbots or priors, bishops, dioceses, archdeaconries, parishes, church possessions, mother houses, grandmother houses, daughter houses, granddaughter houses, church councils as well as ecclesiastical courts. These research elements are understudied and have not yet been touched upon by me and myself. They are tentative ideas based on my doubt and curiosity about my master's research project. Every argument and interpretation in this section will be altered once new result findings are found. I dare not make a promise about the structure and the so-called 'research direction' as usual. What I can assure you at this moment is the assessment of these groups of people which will lead to the understanding of life on the Anglo-Scottish Border during the wars. To develop a clearer sense of this section, I will apply techniques of social network analysis and mapping projects to highlight the relationship of monastic houses between the lay network and the religious world in late medieval Britain. That is to say, this section will conduct under the approaches of digital humanities.
5. Sources
As you can see, this research project is an interdisciplinary work, it covers war and strategy studies, religious history, the historical overview of the border and the frontier, the family history, medieval canon law, the society and government of local history, the philosophical and theological concepts of the immunity from war and Just War theory, the landscape on the feudal and landowning issue, the history of economics, medieval environmental studies as well as the examinations on the monastic archaeology and architecture.
A. Secondary Sources
You should not limit yourself to searching the published primary sources and secondary monographs with a title of the name of religious houses, kings and queens from both kingdoms, the popes, the houses of the local secular elites, the bishop, the place name and so on. Do 'expand' your studies a little bit on bibliographies, articles, unpublished PhD thesis and conference papers about the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), the French dynasties, the French monarchy, the Black Death and the Western Schism (1378-1417). I am confident that the reading experience will surprise your understanding of medieval Scottish history and the local communities of the Anglo-Scottish border.
Supposedly, keywords on these additional readings are:
Crisis of the Late Middle Ages
The Black Death/ The Plague
Hundred Years' War
Anglo-French Wars
Edwardian Wars (First Phase: 1337-60)
Battle of Auberoche--Battle of Crecy--
Battle of La Roche-Derrien--Truce of Malestroit--Storming of Caen--Battle of Blanchetaque--Battle of Sluys--Siege of Calais--Battle of Poitiers--Reims Campaign--Treaty of London--
Black Monday--Treaty of Bretigny--Truce of Calais
Caroline War (Second Phase: 1369-89)--Edward the Black Prince--
Battle of Najera/ Battle of Navarrete--Battle of Montiel--Battle of La Rochelle--John of Gaunt--John of Gaunt's chevauchee of 1373--Treaty of Guerande--Treaty of Bruges
Castilian Civil War (1351-69)
War of the Breton Succession (1341-65)
War of The Two Peters (1356-75)
Battle of Champtoceaux--Battle of Auray--Treaty of Guerande
Gascon campaign of 1345
Battle of Bergerac--Battle of Auberoche--Siege of Aiguillon--Crecy campaign
Lancaster's chevauchee of 1346
House of Capet: Charles IV 'The Fair'/ Charles I 'The Bald'--Blanche of Burgundy--
Marie of Luxembourg--Jeanne d'Evreux
House of Valois:
Philip VI 'The Fortunate'--Joan the Lame--Blanche of Navarre
John II 'The Good'--Joanna I of Auvergne
Charles V 'The Wise'--Joanna of Bourbon
Charles VI 'The Mad'/ 'The Beloved'--Isabeau of Bavaria
The Western Schism/ The Papal Schism/ The Great Occidental Schism
B. Primary Sources
The contemporary chronicles, the historical account of war studies, the series of official documents, the collections of the papal letters, the local registers, the chartularies of the religious houses, the royal acts and the bishop's records will be widely used in this research project. I have recently had no permission to access the original manuscripts in the special collections, the archives and the libraries. I will try my best for it and post my version of palaeography and translation here.
C. Antiquary Works
It is not a wise choice to consult your research project in this way. The sources are old and outdated, and the discussion is nationalism. Supervisors have a bad impression of their 'appearance' in the citation box and the list of bibliography. Due to the uneven survival sources, students were only allowed to use the description of the religious houses in their research project. If the antiquary works are more 'primary sources'-like, the inclusion of archival materials, the collections of historical works, complete index of the primary sources of the religious houses, for instances, will be safer to use.
6. Publication Orders
This research project is set out with a strange and 'abnormal' structure. The introduction of the six religious houses and the critical bibliography of the sources will come before the three main sections. Things like maps, graphs, tables, charts, translations, images, digitalised data, the editing of archival texts, the format of abbreviations, terminology of Latin, Older Scots, Middle English and Anglo-French terms, the location of the original sources as well as the leading scholars, mainstream publications, distinguished series of scholarly works and the relevant manuscript's collection in medieval Scottish history, Anglo-Scottish Border studies and other disciplines I have noted in this introductory chapter will be put into a chapter named after 'the additional information'.
The situation of this research project has been aforementioned, it is stagnant and stalled by the disappointing PhD application result. The research path is unknown, and the archival and manuscript materials are hard to be accessed. What I can do right now for the development of this research project is to undertake a full survey of the periods before and after the Second Scottish War of Independence on printed primary sources and secondary literature, which is from 1323 to 1332 and the 1360s, the 1370s and the 1380s. Then, jot down the quotes, citations, and entries and categorise them according to the chapter plan. Briefly speaking, these 'personal research data' will first be followed by the section of the six religious houses, grouped into the presentation of critical bibliography, involved in the discussion of the three main chapters and highlighted its significance and errors in the part of the additional information.
Due to the difficulties of the research project, I decided to continue my studies under this informal structure you are looking at. I am not pretty sure when a whole new section or chapter will be published, it is supposed to be a years-long project--it might even take the whole of my life to finish it. But if I strictly followed the structure above, the research elements will be been posted sooner. It is not only a timetable of the research project to ensure a clearer sense of the structure but also can be a handbook for you guys (the audience of this informal academic blog). These are my foremost concern in developing this structure, I sincerely hope that it will not affect your reading experience.
The very first version of the content of this research project will be:
1. Introduction of the Religious Houses
a. Coldingham Priory
b. Coldstream Priory
c. Dryburgh Abbey
d. Jedburgh Abbey
e. Kelso Abbey
f. Melrose Abbey
2. Sources
a. Primary Sources
b. Secondary Sources
3. Violence
4. Strategies
5. Local Communities
6. Additional Information
a. Illustrations: Maps, Graphs, Table, Charts, Images,
b. Abbreviations
c. Personal Editing
d. Palaeography and Translations
e. Latin, Older Scots, Middle English and Anglo-French Terms
f. Repositories
g. Leading Scholars
h. Academic Publications
I. Distinguished Scholarly Series
J. The Collections of Manuscripts
Sub-chapters and the name of sections will be updated when the first two chapters have been completed.
Comments
Post a Comment