The Monks of Westminster

This 1916 work compiles all the biographical information provided in the archives for over 700 members of medieval Westminster Abbey.

In this scholarly compilation, Pearce has searched the muniments of Westminster Abbey to uncover the names, lives and careers of over 700 men who lived there over a period of almost five centuries. The result sheds new light on medieval monastic life in a major English religious house.For this 1916 work, Archdeacon E. H. Pearce searched through the extensive muniments of Westminster Abbey to provide a list of all the known members of the monastic community until the Dissolution. Over 700 individuals are included, with all the information about them available to the author. While the list is not complete, and the use of other sources would add additional names for the early period, Pearce completed a remarkable achievement. Westminster was a substantial foundation, with an average community of 47 for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. About half of these, who held some office or function, are naturally better documented than ordinary monks. Scholarship was evidently valued by the abbey, although the majority of the writings evidenced were on the history of the community rather than theological or literary works. Some monks were supported at Oxford, but little is known of the education offered to the remainder.