spine 25mm P 9 Mar 10 Studies in W J Syon Abbey o Modern British n Founded in 1415, the double monastery of a l e Syon Abbey was the only English foundation Religious History sh s of the order established by the fourteenth- am an and its Books century mystic St Bridget of Sweden. After its d ( dispersal at the Dissolution, the community e d survived in exile and was briefly restored s ) during the reign of Mary I; with Elizabeth’s accession, some of the nuns and brothers once again sought refuge on the Continent, first in the Netherlands and later in Lisbon. This volume of essays traces the fortunes of Contributors Syon Abbey and the Bridgettine order between Virginia BainBridge 1400 and 1700, examining the various ways in Caroline Bowden which reading and writing shaped its identity S Peter CuniCh and defined its experience. It explores the Y Claes gejrot B interconnections between late medieval and VinCent gillesPie O post-Reformation monastic history and the O C. annette grise rapidly evolving world of communication, N ann M. hutChison O learning, and books. The essays extend e. a. jones our understanding of religious culture and Claire walker K A institutions on the eve of the Reformation and alexandra walshaM SB the impulses that inspired initiatives for early , modern Catholic renewal. They illuminate the B Cover: The Syon bookplate, BL MS c spread of literacy and the gradual and uneven .E transition from manuscript to print, in the C.11.b.8 (British Library); Series logo: 1 Y King’s College Chapel by Walter Hoyle 4 process engaging with larger questions about (Artist’s estate/Fry Art Gallery). 0 the origins and consequences of religious, A 0 intellectual and cultural change in late medieval N and early modern Europe. – 1 E. A. JONES is Senior Lecturer in English, D 7 University of Exeter; ALExANDRA WALSHAM 0 is Professor of Reformation History, University I 0T of Exeter. S reading, writing and religion c. 1400 –1700 an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and 668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620-2731 (US) edited by e. a. Jones and alexandra walsham www.boydellandbrewer.com STUDIES IN MODERN BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY Volume 24 SYON ABBEY AND ITS BOOKS READING, WRITING AND RELIGION, c.1400–1700 STUDIES IN MODERN BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY ISSN: 1464–6625 General editors Stephen Taylor Arthur Burns Kenneth Fincham Thisseriesaimstodifferentiate‘religioushistory’fromthenarrowconfinesof churchhistory,investigatingnotonlythesocialandculturalhistoryofreligion, butalsotheological,politicalandinstitutionalthemes,whileremainingsensi- tive to the wider historical context; it thus advances an understanding of the importanceofreligionforthehistoryofmodernBritain,coveringallperiodsof British history since the Reformation. Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of this volume. SYON ABBEY AND ITS BOOKS READING, WRITING AND RELIGION, c.1400–1700 Edited by E. A. Jones and Alexandra Walsham THE BOYDELL PRESS © Contributors 2010 All Rights Reserved.Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner First published 2010 The Boydell Press, Woodbridge ISBN 978–1–84383–547–9 The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. This publication is printed on acid-free paper Printed in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne CONTENTS List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Notes on Contributors x List of Abbreviations xiii Syon Abbey: An Outline Chronology xv Introduction: Syon Abbey and its Books: Origins, Influences and Transitions 1 E. A. Jones and Alexandra Walsham I Brothers and Sisters 1. The Brothers of Syon, 1420–1695 39 Peter Cunich 2. Syon Abbey: Women and Learning c.1415–1600 82 Virginia R. Bainbridge II Syon Abbey and the Book Trade 3. Syon and the English Market for Continental Printed Books: 104 The Incunable Phase Vincent Gillespie 4. ‘Moche profitable unto religious persones, gathered by a brother 129 of Syon’: Syon Abbey and English Books C. Annette Grisé III The Bridgettines in Exile 5. Continuity and Isolation: The Bridgettines of Syon in the Sixteenth 155 and Seventeenth Centuries Claire Walker 6. BooksandReadingatSyonAbbey,Lisbon,intheSeventeenthCentury 177 Caroline Bowden IV History and Memory 7. The Syon Martiloge 203 Claes Gejrot 8. Syon Abbey Preserved: Some Historians of Syon 228 Ann M. Hutchison Appendix: Syon Abbey’s Books at the University of Exeter 252 Index 255 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure1.1:ThomasRobinson,TheanatomieoftheEnglishnunneryatLisbonin Portugall:dissectedandlaidopenbyonethatwassometimeayongerbrotherof the covent (London, 1630), title page. © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. British Library shelfmark RB23.a.9192. Figure 1.2: William Bonde, Here begynneth a deuout treatyse in Englysshe, called the Pylgrimage of perfection very p[ro]fitable for all christen people to rede: and in especiall, to all relygious p[er]sons moche necessary (London, 1526),sig.A6v.©TheBritishLibraryBoard.Allrightsreserved.BritishLibrary shelfmark G.11740. Figure1.3:HerebegynneththeorchardeofSyoninthewhicheisconteynedthe reuelacyonsofseynt[sic]KatheryneofSene,withghostlyfruytes[and]precyous plantesfortheheltheofmannessoule(London,[1519]),sig.A1v.©TheBritish Library Board. All rights reserved. Figure4.1:HerebegynneththeorchardeofSyoninthewhicheisconteynedthe reuelacyonsofseynt[sic]KatheryneofSene,withghostlyfruytes[and]precyous plantes for the helthe of mannes soule (London, [1519]), title page, sig. A1r. © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. British Library shelfmark C.11.b.6. Figure 4.2: William Bonde, Here begynneth a deuout treatyse in Englysshe, called the Pylgrimage of perfection very p[ro]fitable for all christen people to rede: and in especiall, to all relygious p[er]sons moche necessary (London, 1526),sig.A1v.©TheBritishLibraryBoard.Allrightsreserved.BritishLibrary shelfmark G.11740. Figure4.3:HereafterfolowiththebokecallydthemyrroureofOureLadyvery necessary for all relygyous persones (London, 1530), sig. A1r. © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. British Library shelfmark C.11.b.8. Figure6.1:N.Caussin,Theholycourtfourthtome(Rouen,1638).ExeterUniver- sityLibraryshelfmarkSyonAbbey1638/CAU/X.BypermissionoftheAbbess of Syon Abbey, South Brent, Devon. ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 6.2: Exeter University Library, Syon Abbey unnumbered MS: ‘English Saintes of Kinges & Bishopps in the primitive times of the Catholique Church when our Countrie of England was governed by Heptarchie of seaven Kinges translated out of Surius Carthusianus his eight tomes of the lifes of Saintes by revrdFatherBrotherBibianusaliasJohnBibianmonckeoftheholyorderofSt BirgittourHolyMother.Revivedbythehelpe&industrieofPFreyEstevanof theconceptionMonckeofthesameorderonthe41yearofhisprofessionbeing 69 yeares of age, borne in 1593 the yeare before this monasterie removed to Lisbon1594’,titlepageofvol.2.BypermissionoftheAbbessofSyonAbbey, South Brent, Devon. Figure7.1:TheSyonMartiloge:BritishLibrary,MSAdditional22,285,fol.55v: (Septembris). © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thisvolumearoseoutofaconferenceon‘SyonAbbeyanditsBooks’heldatthe UniversityofExeterinOctober2005tomarkthedepositforsafe-keepinginthe University’s library of medieval and early modern manuscripts from Syon Abbey.Italsocommemoratesthefurtherdepositofsome150manuscriptsdating from the sixteenth through to the twentieth century, which took place in March 2009. WeareindebtedtotheBritishAcademyforitsgeneroussupportoftheconfer- ence.Theeditorsaregratefultoallwhoattended,offeredpapers,andparticipated inthelivelydiscussionsthatfollowedthesessions.Wethankthecontributorsto thevolumeforrespondingtotheinvitationtocontributetothecollectionandfor tolerating considerable delays. We also wish to thank Jessica Gardner, Special CollectionsLibrarianattheUniversityofExeter,andCharlotteBerryandChris- tine Faunch, Archivists, for their support and assistance over many years. At Boydell & Brewer, we are indebted to Caroline Palmer for her interest in the projectattheoutsetandfortheexemplarypatienceshehasdemonstratedinthe intervening years. Chapter 3 is reprinted by permission of the University of Notre Dame, from Religion and Literature,37.2 (Summer 2005). WededicatethiscollectiontotheAbbessandnunsofSyonAbbey.Wethank themforentrustingthecareoftheirpreciousbooksandmanuscriptstothelibrary of the University of Exeter. E. A. Jones and Alexandra Walsham (University of Exeter) ix