Monasticism (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Elise Alonzi.

Monasteries were powerful social institutions in early and late medieval Ireland that took drastically different forms over time. Medieval historical records, such as annals and Saints’ Lives, and archaeological data, such as the layout of monastic buildings, suggest that small communities of monks at early medieval Irish monasteries followed ascetic or austere ways of life. Contrastingly, historical and archaeological sources indicate that monks at late medieval monasteries, founded by English...