![]() ![]() At the heart of the anchoritic ways of life is the search for solitude and withdrawal from public life in order to concentrate on prayer, spirituality and becoming closer to God. Anchoritism may seem very extreme to us today, but to people in the medieval period, it would have been quite a familiar and a revered decision. Archaeologically, however, it is one of the most poorly represented aspects of medieval life and there are many issues to discuss. It is richly represented in medieval literary sources, and has been much discussed by modern literary scholars. The ways in which gender affected the religious experiences of Winchester's citizens and their consecrated brothers and sisters are complex, but they are also important in understanding how the saints and their servants on earth related to God, to each other and to the surrounding urban space.Īnchoritism is a very interesting phenomenon. Ecclesiastical and lay individuals alike allied themselves to these religious houses, seeking commemoration and often also burial in their cemeteries and hoping to benefit spiritually from their prayers. The importance of prayer to the inhabitants of the city and the wider locale can be seen in the documents that request liturgical services – most often prayers and masses – in return for grants of land and other gifts. While gender segregated these communities, both liturgy and the urban context integrated them, as can be seen from the books used and produced by religious men and women in this city in later Anglo-Saxon England. This paper addresses ways in which the three foundations collaborated and co-ordinated with each other and with the city. By the later Anglo-Saxon period, Old Minster was a monastic cathedral and New Minster and Nunnaminster were monastic communities for men and women respectively. ![]() ![]() In early medieval Winchester, three monastic communities were enclosed together in the south-eastern corner of the town. ![]()
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