E-grāmata: Abbatial Authority and the Writing of History in the Middle Ages

Benjamin Pohl's monograph on abbatial authority and history-writing is a work of remarkable breadth and ambition. Pohl sets out to explore the abbatial contribution to historical production (defined in the most capacious terms as any form of narrative about the past) carried out in monasteries throughout the medieval period (c. 500-1500), and across the whole of north-west Europe [ ...] It is perhaps the most impressive feature of his book that-not withstanding its breadth of coverage-each of these studies is detailed, sensitive to specific contexts, and engages perceptively with current historiographical trends and interpretations. Pohl is comfortable handling a wide range of texts from across the medieval period, as well as codicological, art historical, and architectural evidence. * Martin Heale, Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies * His arguments about the central role of monastic superiors in historiographical activity have important ramifications for our understanding of the intellectual life of medieval monasteries more generally, and for that reason his book will be widely used and debated by scholars of the religious orders. * Martin Heale, The Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies * Using a rich bibliography, as can be seen from the footnotes and the list of references at the end of the book, highlighting a topic that had not previously been the focus of sufficient contemporary research, Benjamin Pohl's book entitled: Abbatial Authority and the Writing of History in the Middle Ages, published by the Oxford University Press in 2023, fills a gap in contemporary research, and provides a portrait of how historical research took place in the Middle Age abbeys and at the same time invites discussion and dialogue. * Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Astra Salvensis - review of history and culture * At the heart of this splendid monograph lies a simple truth previously more or less unnoticed. Where the activities of monastic chroniclers have been treated as literary achievements attributable to the skills and energy of lone 'historians', we would do much better to look to the role played by heads of houses in encouraging, in themselves undertaking, or on occasion in deliberately suppressing such work. This is a clever, lively and highly imaginative book. After reading it, our view of themonastic chronicler can never again be quite the same. * Nicholas Vincent, Czech Journal of Political Science *