As Martin Heale states at the very beginning of The Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reformation England, ‘the importance of the late medieval abbot needs no particular emphasis’. This was a group of men with responsibility for the spiritual and material wellbeing of thousands of monks and canons. Their influence extended far beyond the cloister, since they were also prominent figures in local and national government (both ecclesiastical and secular). Collectively their financial resources (mostly derived from the vast monastic landholdings) outstripped those of the crown; they were also significant patrons of learning and the arts. Given all this, it is surprising that historians have paid relatively little attention to the monastic superiors of medieval England.(1) This volume sets out to fill a significant historiographical void, and by providing the first major overview of the role of the monastic superior in medieval England.

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The Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reforming England Martin Heale 牛津大学出版社，牛津，2016 年，xvii + 452 页，16 幅黑白插图（精装书 65 英镑）ISBN：978-0-19-870253-5

正如马丁·希尔在《中世纪晚期和宗教改革英格兰的修道院院长和修道院院长》一开始所说的那样，“中世纪晚期修道院院长的重要性无需特别强调”。这是一群负责成千上万僧侣和教士的精神和物质福祉的人。他们的影响远远超出了修道院，因为他们也是地方和国家政府（教会和世俗）中的杰出人物。总的来说，他们的财政资源（主要来自庞大的寺院土地）超过了王室；他们也是学习和艺术的重要赞助人。鉴于这一切，令人惊讶的是，历史学家对中世纪英格兰的修道院上司的关注相对较少。 (1) 本书旨在填补一个重要的史学空白，