<div><i><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'">Life in the Medieval Cloister </span></i><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'">makes extensive use of primary sources and quotations from chronicles, letters, customaries and miracle stories, and the experience of medieval monastic life is presented through the monks' own words. Medievalist Julie Kerr provides day to day account of life in the medieval monastery from the Norman conquest to the Dissolution, with a particular focus on the high Middle ages, exploring such questions as: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span><br/><p class=MsoPlainText><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'">‧ What effect did the ascetic lifestyle have on the monks' physical health and mental well-being? <o:p></o:p></span></p><br/><p class=MsoPlainText><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'">‧ How difficult was it for newcomers to adapt to the rigors of the cloister? <o:p></o:p></span></p><br/><p class=MsoPlainText><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'">‧ Did the monks suffer from anxiety and boredom; what caused them concern and how did they seek comfort? <o:p></o:p></span></p><br/><p class=MsoPlainText><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'">‧ What did it really mean to live the solitary life within a communal environment and how significant were issues of loneliness and isolation? <o:p></o:p></span></p><br/><p class=MsoPlainText><i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Life in the Medieval Cloister</span></i><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS ??'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> makes an important contribution to our understanding of medieval monastic life by exploring key aspects that have been either inadequately addressed or overlooked by historians, but also offers an up close and personal perspective on a fascinating, but little known, corner of history. </span></p></div>>
