Hermits and Anchorites of England by Rotha Mary Clay

(go to Abbey Pages Home)
Leave a Comment

Return to the Monastics Page

The Hermits and Anchorites of England

On this page you will find full text chapter links to Rotha Mary Clay's book Hermits and Anchorites of England. Clay published the book through the Antiquaries Book Series in 1914. It is now in the public domain. I will transcribe Clay's original text here. As such, I am making my own notes available to you; there may be transcribing errors, factual errors in the text, or historical points on which historians or theologians do not agree. Read it, use it, love it, hate it, on your own terms and at your own risk.

Public Domain text transcribed and prepared "as is" for HTML and PDF by Richenda Fairhurst, historyfish.net. August 2008. No commercial permissions of this transcription are granted. Text may contain errors.

Confused? See my article What are Anchorites?

THE HERMITS AND
ANCHORITES
OF ENGLAND

by
ROTHA MARY CLAY
AUTHOR OF "THE MEDIEVAL HOSPITALS OF ENGLAND"

WITH 54 ILLUSTRATIONS

[Illustration: Richard Rolle, Hermit of Hampole.
MS. Cotton, Faustina, R V. I. pars. ii. f. 8 b. B. M.]
[Download 1,500KB jpg.]

METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON

First Published in 1914

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
THE REVEREND CANON CHARLES HILL WALLACE
WHO, LIKE THE HONOURED HERMITS OF OLDEN TIME,
HAS BEEN TO MANY
FATHER, FRIEND, AND COUNSELLOR

CONTENTS

Preface

List of Plates (PDF 133KB)................................xi

Introduction....................................................................xv

I.	Island and Fen Recluses.......................................................	1
II.	Forest and Hillside Hermits...................................................	17
III.	Cave Dwellers.....................................................................	32
IV.	Light-Keepers on the Sea Coast...........................................	49
V.	Highway and Bridge Hermits................................................	57
VI.	Town Hermits......................................................................	66
VII.	Anchorites in Church and Cloister.........................................	73
VIII.	Order and Rule....................................................................	85
IX.	Concerning the Body............................................................	101
X.	Trial and Temptation............................................................	116
XI.	Human Intercourse...............................................................	128
XII.	Prophets and Counsellors.....................................................	146
XIII.	Literary Recluses..................................................................	167
XIV.	The Sixteenth Century..........................................................	183
Appendix A. Office for the Enclosing of an Anchorite....................		193
Appendix B. Office for the Benediction of a Hermit.......................		199
Appendix C. Tabulated List of Cells..............................................		205
General Index (698KB)................................................................		265

Historyfish pages, content, and design copyright (c) Richenda Fairhurst, 2008
All rights reserved. No commercial permissions are granted.

The Historyfish site, as a particular and so unique "expression," is copyright. However, some (most) source material is part of the public domain, and so free of copyright restrictions. Where those sections are not clearly marked, please contact me so I can assist in identifying and separating that material from the Historyfish site as a whole.

When using material from this site, please keep author, source, and copyright permissions with this article.

Historyfish intends to generate discussion through shared information and does not claim to provide, in any way, formal, legal, or factual advice or information. These pages are opinion only. Opinions shared on historyfish are not necessarily the opinions of historyfish editors, staff, owners or administrators. Always consult proper authorities with questions pertaining to copyrights, property rights, and intellectual property rights.

It is my intent to follow copyright law (however impossibly convoluted that may be). Please contact me should any material included here be copyright protected and posted in error. I will remove it from the site. Thank you.