Studies in Carthusian history in later medieval England. With special reference to the Order's relations with secular society

Abstract
The subject of this dissertation is the Carthusian order in England between 1370 and the Reformation. The approach that has been adopted is to look particularly at the order's position within and relations with English society. The history of the Carthusian order differs significantly from that of other orders, and-such an approach enables the historian to offer an explanation for these differences.
The most obvious difference between the Carthusian order and other orders is that although the Carthusians attracted little support during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries when other orders were expanding rapidly., they began to outstrip those other orders in popularity during the late fourteenth century and continued to do so until the Reformation. This dissertation is concerned with the period of the Carthusians' greatest popularity., although it does also look at the order's previous history to account for the relative lack of support experienced earlier. It investigates the reasons for the order's late medieval popularity,, the nature of the order's reputation and the foundations upon which that reputation rested. It does this primarily by examining the attitudes of English-society towards the Carthusians. It looks at each foundation, and the motives which impeUed particular individuals to found or co-found Charterhouses in preference to houses of other orders; it inquires into the subject of patronage and the reasons why men and women chose to make bequests to the Carthusians; and it scrutinises the works of contemporary writers to discover how attitudes changed towards the Carthusians during the period under review.
The dissertation also examines the attitudes of the monks themselves. It asks what kind of men entered the order; and it looks at two of the literary works produced by those men, and deduces from these some insights into the devotional atmosphere of the priories and the monks' view of the world outside the cloister.