IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 1011: Riches and Recycling: St Albans For Richer For Poorer

Organiser:	Katharine R. Handel, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Moderator/Chair:	Thomas O'Donnell, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Paper 1011-a	Monastic Bling: The Attitude to Riches Displayed by the Roman de Toute Chevalerie (Language: English) Katharine R. Handel, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Monasticism
Paper 1011-b	Roman Re-Cycling: The Material Record as a Topos for 12th-Century Literary Production (Language: English) Jane-Héloïse Nancarrow, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Architecture - Religious
Paper 1011-c	Matthew Paris, Heresy, Inquisition, and Wealth and Poverty (Language: English) Pete Biller, Department of History, University of York Index terms: Economics - General, Religious Life
Abstract	The fortunes of medieval monasteries were notoriously precarious, and St Albans went through periods of relative wealth and relative poverty. Wealth was a necessity for the running of the monastery, but the monks also had to negotiate between the need for riches in order to undertake the most perfect service of God and the corrupting potential of wealth, the accumulation of which went against the Benedictine Rule. This session will examine some of the attitudes displayed by the administrators and monks of St Albans towards the accumulation of wealth, the reuse of existing materials and the economic impacts of heresy.