The documents in this section discuss monastic life under The Benedictine Rule. The Benedictines, Cistercians, Cluniacs and many nunneries followed the sixth-century Rule of St Benedict, and other monastic orders were heavily influenced by its teachings.

In the years 1850–1922, the National School existed, as did other primary schools not controlled by the State, but secondary schools evolved only slowly in the early years of the twentieth century in the early years of the twentieth century into their present form. Vocational schools were not set up until after 1930, but technical training was given in many National Schools. Only a tiny minority of the population attended university, as not all of the professions demanded a university degree, and primary teacher-training colleges were set up only in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. In 1911 male and female literacy rates in Ireland were comparatively high and roughly equal, unusual in a largely agricultural Catholic country. Attendance at primary school was made compulsory in 1892.

This chapter provides a brief summary of their findings, but the bulk of the chapter is a discussion of change and continuity in everyday farm-work in Ireland between 1850 and 1922 for men, women and farm labourers.

John Hume was actively discouraged from any interest in politics under his father's influence. He was becoming politicised by various developments in Northern Ireland. His belief in the potential of the Action Committee to bring together the two communities in Derry was confirmed by the huge success of a public meeting on the university issue. Hume's actions in the University for Derry campaign showed a desire to reach across to the Protestant community, and an eagerness to engage the Stormont government. It is noted that the people of Ireland had to be united before territorial unity was worth considering. Hume's involvement in the civil rights movement may seem a logical progression from his earlier community activism. Reform of the Stormont security apparatus became a key demand of the civil rights movement. Hume also suggested that he was in fact advancing the civil rights agenda by bringing it directly into Stormont.

This chapter outlines the theological and political writings of the deists, conceived during a period described as political stability. While England dealt with yet another European war, deism as a perceived threat to political and theological stability faded from the collective mindset of the nation. Though deism continued to find advocates after Morgan died in 1743, the new followers failed to inflame passions as their predecessors had. One religious threat replaced another and theological concerns and sensibilities continued to play a role in the intellectual scene of the day. Some overall conclusions are apparent regarding the deists' conception of God and politics. The deists clearly believed in a God who created the universe and enacted certain relationships between himself and humanity. These consistencies existed in both the natural philosophical and political realms. The deists argued for an accountable government; as God must always act in accordance with the laws of nature, the monarch must rule within the boundaries of national law. They also argued that God, who acted only for the benefit of humanity, provided the correct model of government, which must place the well being of citizens before its own designs on maintaining power.

This documents in this section concern monastic learning and study, and the involvement of monks and canons in university studies from the late thirteenth century.

The turbulent career of Leudegar, bishop of Autun from 662 to 676 is central to the history of later Merovingian Francia. This chapter looks at how the oldest text of the Passio Leudegarii can be reconstructed and focuses on the context of the work. This will allow us to appreciate the difficulties faced by its author in presenting Leudegar's saintly credentials to an audience which may have had good reason to doubt them. The chapter assesses the value of the Passio as an historical source. In it is a Passio Leudegarii written at Poitiers, home of the saint's cult from the end of the seventh century onwards. Leudegar's family background therefore made him a member of that supra-regional elite which had connections throughout the Merovingian kingdom, and whose vested interests lay in unity rather than in separatism.

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered by the sources in this book. The book surveys the internal affairs of English monasteries, including recruitment, the monastic economy, standards of observance and learning. It looks at the relations between monasteries and the world, exploring the monastic contribution to late medieval religion and society and lay attitudes towards monks and nuns in the years leading up to the Dissolution. In the preservation and dissemination of learning, the spread of Christianity throughout Europe, the periodic reform of the Church, the stimulation of the economy and much else, the monastic contribution to the medieval world needs no elaboration. The later middle ages was an era of evolution in English monastic life in late medieval England. In comparison to earlier centuries, the later middle ages witnessed few new monastic foundations and few major grants of property to existing religious houses.

This chapter considers Byatt's critical output and its manifold intersections, both with the institutionalised study of literature in university departments and with the modern book market. It explores Byatt's role as public intellectual and sheds some light on the concept of ‘critical storytelling’. This chapter also describes her commitment to the paradigm of dialogical criticism, or criticism as conversation.

This chapter is comprised of annotated and translatedsource texts on the topic of the life of Joan ofArc.