Naughty Nuns and Promiscuous Monks: Monastic Sexual Misconduct in Late Medieval England by Christian D. Knudsen A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of the Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto Copyright © by Christian D. Knudsen ABSTRACT Naughty Nuns and Promiscuous Monks: Monastic Sexual Misconduct in Late Medieval England Christian D. Knudsen Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto This dissertation examines monastic sexual misconduct in cloistered religious houses in the dioceses of Lincoln and Norwich between and . Traditionally, any study of English monasticism during the late Middle Ages entailed the chronicling of a slow decline and decay. Indeed, for nearly years, historiographical discourse surrounding the Dissolution of Monasteries (-) has emphasized its inevitability and presented late medieval monasticism as a lacklustre institution characterized by worsening standards, corruption and even sexual promiscuity. As a result, since the Dissolution, English monks and nuns have been constructed into naughty characters. My study, centred on the sources that led to this claim, episcopal visitation records, will demonstrate that it is an exaggeration due to the distortion in perspective allowed by the same sources, and a disregard for contextualisation and comparison between nuns and monks. In Chapter one, I discuss the development of the monastic ‘decline narrative’ in English historiography and how the theme of monastic lasciviousness came to be so strongly associated with it. Chapter two presents an overview of the historical background of late medieval English monasticism and my methodological approach to the sources. ii Abstract iii In Chapter three, I survey some of the broad characteristics of monastic sexual misconduct. In particular, I discuss the overall rate of sexual misconduct, the sexual partners of monks and nuns, same-sex relationships, and conventual pregnancies. Chapter four examines the episcopal response to sexual scandal and their use of visitatorial inquisition, compurgation, penance and written injunctions. Finally, in Chapter five, I discuss the connection between the Dissolution and sexual misconduct, and in particular, the sodomy accusations made by Suppression agents in the infamous Compendium Compertorum. The overarching conclusion is that monastic sexual misconduct in the medieval monasteries of Lincoln and Norwich (at the level of individuals) occurred at very low and predictable rates. Nearly half of the monasteries experienced a case of sexual misconduct over the years examined for this study, and certainly a bishop could expect to encounter numerous instances of it during his career. However, although sexual misconduct was clearly considered a sin and corrected by bishops and monastic leaders, in general, it was very much de-emphasized compared to other disciplinary issues. Time and time again, the bishops examined for this study emphasized economic and leadership issues over problems with chastity. Meae uxori et filiae, sine quibus nihil sum. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge the tremendous contribution of so many people who helped make this dissertation possible. First of all, I must thank my supervisor, Professor Isabelle Cochelin, who has truly been a Doktormutter to me during my graduate career. It has been nearly a decade since I wandered into her course “Medieval Monasticism” as an undergraduate lacking the proper prerequisite. Thankfully, she let me take the course anyway! Professor Cochelin always insists that her students strive for the highest standard of scholarship in their work and under her direction, I grew into the scholar I am today. She is, without exaggeration, the best supervisor a graduate student could ask for and I am forever indebted to her. I would also like to thank my committee, Professor Michael Gervers, Professor Joseph Goering and Professor Jill Ross. They have been my bedrock of support throughout my graduate career. Jill Ross introduced me to the study of gender and women’s history, and inspired me to look always for the ‘other’ in medieval society. Joseph Goering taught me to get my hands dirty with sources and not be afraid to find out something for yourself. I still remember his instructions to me as a new graduate student to skip the modern electronic summaries and pull the dusty old tomes of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica off the shelf myself. Michael Gervers introduced me to English social history. Under his direction, I first explored the documentary sources of medieval England. Most importantly, his work with the DEEDS project showed me the power of using computer databases to analyse a wide corpus of sources. In so many ways, my committee helped me develop confidence as a scholar and a teacher. Moreover, I sincerely appreciate their patience and faith in me over the years, when at times I struggled to find it in myself. I am also grateful to my external examiner, F. Donald Logan, Professor Emeritus at Emmanuel College, for his helpful and insightful feedback on my work. In many respects, his excellent monograph, Runaway Religious in Medieval England, c.-, was an inspiration and template for this dissertation. And also to Professor Richard Helmholz of the University of Chicago who kindly provided me with an off-print of his recent article which made a very important contribution to Chapter four. Also, to Professor Shannon McSheffrey of Concordia University, who read an early draft of of the third chapter of this dissertation and gave me some welcome advice on further sources. I have benefited enormously from a supportive and congenial atmosphere, and an environment which encourages and cultivates world-class research at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. In particular, I would like to thank Andy Orchard who was an early supporter of mine and who gave me the opportunity to thrive v Acknowledgements vi at the Centre. And to Grace Desa, who always patiently helped me to navigate through the complexities of the university bureaucracy. I am especially grateful to A.G. Rigg, David Townsend, Mark Meyerson and the late Virginia Brown who helped me develop the linguistic and palaeographical skills needed to succeed as a medieval and early modern scholar. I have also been blessed by tremendous friends and colleagues at the University of Toronto. In particular, I am especially grateful to to my friend, Eileen Kim, who made me a copy of the Compendium Compertorum manuscript and has been my fellow T.A. in several courses. And also, to Jon Robinson, who first introduced me to the typesetting system of LATEX(in which this dissertation was written) and patiently fielded my innumerable questions about it. I would also like to thank (in no particular order) Alexandra Guerson, Lisa Chen, Kris Kobold, John Geck, Sam Cohen, Jen Reid, Dan Brielmaier, and Anthony Cantor – all of whom have made my journey through graduate school all the better and to whom I feel privileged to have known. I am also grateful to my fellow ‘dissertators’ in our Facebook Dissertation Support Group who could always be counted upon for unconditional support and cheer. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support of the University of Toronto who provided me with a graduate fellowship to pursue these studies, and to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities who provided me with an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. The Centre for Medieval Studies and the School of Graduate Studies generously awarded me travel funds so that I could attend conferences and travel to England for research. I was also very fortunate to have an understanding and supportive supervisor, Anna Slawek, during my tenure as a Graduate Assistant Library Technician at Robarts Library. I should also thank the competent and helpful staff at the Lincolnshire Archives, the National Archives in London, the Norfolk Record Office and the Bodleian Library in Oxford. In particular, I would like to thank Rob Waddington of the Lincolnshire Archives who was a tremendous help in securing images of Alnwick’s manuscript and Colin Harris of the Bodleian Library, who arranged for me to access the original Tanner manuscripts of the Norwich visitations. I gratefully acknowledge permission to reprint some material (presented here as portions of the Introduction and Chapter three) from “Promiscuous Monks and Naughty Nuns: Poverty, Sex and Apostasy in Later Medieval England.” In Poverty and Prosperity: The Rich and the Poor in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, ed. by Anne Scott and Cindy Kosso. Belgium: Brepols, . On a personal level, I would like to thank my best friend, Jonathan Leitch and his wife, Ashwini James, who have been such good friends over the years. My sister, Carrie Knudsen and my brother-in-law, Joshua Ostroff. And most especially, my parents, Donald and Judith Knudsen, who taught me to follow my dreams and who have been incredibly supportive of me. I cannot thank them enough. Acknowledgements vii Finally, and most important of all, I would like to thank my wife, Sarah Fink, and our daughter Emma. They are the inspiration for everything I do and this dissertation is as much their accomplishment as mine. CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgementsv Contents viii List of Figuresx List of Tables xi Abbreviations xii Introduction The Construction of ‘Naughty Nuns’ and ‘Promiscuous Monks’ in English Monastic Historiography . The Monastic ‘Decline Narrative’.....................