medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Medieval-Religion List Members,
Please forgive two (perhaps obvious) questions that are rather unrelated to
the recent discussion of Abelard, but I find this list one of the best
resources.
The first question:
In working with the fifteenth century monastic charters for a female house,
I found a charter in which they paid the bishop a certain amount of cash in
order to redeem the "visitation money" that they normally owed him.
According to the charter, in the future the convent would no longer be
required to render this fee. My question is: was it normal for a monastery
to pay the bishop such a visitation fee? (I confess I have never heard of
it before.) If so, does anyone have an idea of sources that might tell me
more about this practice?
My second question:
These same charters also discuss the problem of the convent's provost
alienating its properties. My question here is: did a provost have to be a
religious (of some shape or form) or could a respectable lay person serve as
the provost for a female community? Again, any ideas where I might find
such information would also be very welcome.
Many thanks in advance for your indulgence and insight,
June Mecham
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