The Benedictines and the Writing of English History
Antonia Gransden on historical writing in medieval England.
It cannot be claimed that the Benedictines were solely responsible for historical writing in medieval England. Research into past history and the record of recent events – that is contemporary historiography – was also undertaken by members of other religious orders and by secular clerks and even, especially in the later Middle Ages, by laymen. But it can be claimed that until the end of the thirteenth century by far the greatest contribution to these activities was made by Benedictine monks.
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