PHD and Current Research
My PhD
My thesis explored monastic definition and identity and how it was realised through the entrance complex of English Benedictine, Cluniac and Cistercian monasteries. This included the main gatehouse, but also associated buildings such as guesthouses, hospitals and alms-houses. It explored these buildings physically but also functionally and symbolically; questioning why these buildings were placed in this zone, and what this placement meant for the monastic institution.
The approach taken was very broad and interdisciplinary and traces monasticism back to its roots in the fourth century, through to the dissolution in England. This approach meant that developments in monasticism, and the motivations for change, could be identified and analysed in reference to how monastic communities perceived themselves.
This self-perception was realised in their entrance complex, their ‘public face’ to the rest of the world. Through the range of evidence and using an interdisciplinary approach, my thesis argued that monastic communities were consciously manipulating their entrance complexes in the Middle Ages. Through the buildings themselves but also the functions they located in this zone, monastic communities created and expressed their changing identity to the world outside their monastery.
Current and Future Research
Like many new post-docs, I am hoping to publish my thesis in some form as my motivation for doing it in the first place was a ‘dearth’ of texts on the topic of medieval gatehouses.
However, there is still much that still fascinates me and that I wasn’t able to cover in my thesis. At the moment, I am particularly interested in the following topics and I am looking to explore them in future. Do check my Academic.edu page for a more up-to-date snapshot of my current research.
- Cistercian precinct plans. How did they use the inner and outer gates of their monasteries, and did this differ geographically?
- Other orders. My thesis only explored Cistercian, Cluniac, and Benedictine houses but there are many surviving gatehouses for houses of regular canons, nuns, and even friars. I hope to take a similar approach to that of my thesis in the analysis of these groups: considering how the daily life and administration of the houses, reflects the physical design and arrangement of the entrance complex.
- International. Again, my thesis only focused on England so I would like to expand the focus to explore the monastic gatehouses of other countries and begin constructing a picture of European trends, and geographical characteristics.