Two recent books focusing on medieval monasteries—William Chester Jordan's A Tale of Two Monasteries: Westminster and Saint-Denis in the Thirteenth Century and Janet Burton and Karen Stöber's collection Monasteries and Society in the British Isles in the Later Middle Ages—both add immensely to our historical understanding of the ways in which the medieval monastic community, whether robust and powerful or relatively unknown, engaged with society. It may seem curious to pair these volumes in a single commentary. An initial look at the table of contents in each of the two books reveals little overlap in material. The fifteen articles in the Burton and Stöber collection cover a range of topics, and the salient references in the titles themselves tell us something of the scope. References to social networks, hospitality, border conflicts, patronage, benefactors, politics, power, secular education, community, and lay society disclose elements of a thematic compilation that brings the narratives together with the unifying intent of offering “insight into important interactions between two types of society in medieval Britain, the monastic houses and the broader communities of which they were a part” (7). A perusal of Jordan's table of contents reveals a single narrative, namely, that of “two great abbeys and two great men who headed them in a time of enormous change” (xiii). Jordan constructs a detailed story told through a number of intriguing pairings: most importantly that of two great abbots, Richard de Ware (r. 1258–83) and Mathieu de Vendôme (r. 1258–86); the two extraordinarily important monasteries they led, Westminister Abbey and the Abbey of St. Denis, respectively; the thirteenth-century political history of the two countries England and France; and their monarchies, Henry III and Louis IX; as well as their successors, Philip III and Edward I. If we explore the assumptions being challenged and the conclusions of both volumes, a comparatively fresh and important correspondence emerges.

The Burton and Stöber collection is drawn from the proceedings of a 2005 conference, Monasteries and Society in the Later Middle Ages, organized by the history departments of Aberystwyth and Lampeter bringing together medieval and early modern scholars and archivists from Glenstal Abbey, York, Leeds, Exeter, Bristol, Glasgow, Winchester, St. Andrews, Kent, Liverpool, and Birmingham. Accompanying that scholarly breadth, there is inclusive geographical range of the British Isles (Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England), as well as comprehensive coverage of the various orders (i.e., Cistercian, Carthusian, Franciscan, Austin Friars, Augustinian, and Benedectine).

Positioned to challenge long-held assumptions about monastic life in the Middle Ages, the collection functions as a very fine sociocultural commentary, a compilation of historical interpretations and reconstructions that demonstrate the various and vibrant interactions of monasteries with all levels of their surrounding communities as well as secular society at large. The essays explore intersections with laity, women, royalty, and benefactors between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Two essays, Julie Kerr's and Sheila Sweetinburgh’s, are especially important in representing the intent of the collection. Kerr's article, focusing on the responsibility of Cistercian houses to accommodate visitors, is a noteworthy commentary on the impact of any medieval monastery observing this monastic admonition. Sweetinburgh's essay is particular to the Austin friars and Canterbury in the later Middle Ages; nonetheless, her methodology, an anthropological and sociocultural examination of the disposition of space, lends itself to reconsidering much of our understanding of the medieval monastery in relation to the city and its environs. Other authors in this collection use a range of methodologies to explore all manner of expectation, necessity, and responsibility for the medieval abbeys of Briton—regardless of how remote the location, regardless of size and reputation—to engage with secular society (e.g., clearing roads, hosting visitors, seeking patronage, tending benefactors, teaching the young, exhibiting relics, burying royalty, and tending borders). Monks and nuns choosing a cenobitic life, fleeing society in order to live a life of solitude, vita contemplativa, must fulfill daily life as one of engagement, vita activa. While it is not possible to comment on each of the fifteen essays in this volume, suffice it to say that the importance and success of the book is fully attributable to the sum of the parts. Every essay makes a significant contribution to the fundamental thesis of the book as a whole. Burton and Stöber have edited an impressive volume telling a fascinating and vibrant story of late medieval monastic culture.

William Chester Jordan is a prominent American medievalist specializing in the social, cultural, and political history of the English and French monarchy. Meticulous in historical detail, A Tale of Two Monasteries tells a remarkable and rather captivating narrative. The book unfolds from 1258, when two relatively obscure monks, Brother Mathieu de Vendôme and Brother Richard de Ware, become abbots of their monasteries, transforming not only their own lives but the histories of the monasteries they led, as well as having an enormous impact on a national and international scale. Their abbacies may have lasted only a quarter of a century, but Jordan so thoroughly narrates this pairing with background details and intersecting stories that the book functions as an outstanding introduction to thirteenth-century French/English sociopolitical history. Even though neither Richard nor Mathieu played a significant role in the negotiations of the Treaty of Paris, 1259, Jordan draws the dramatic connections that inextricably tie each abbot to his monarch and the intercontinental political narratives they represent.

Jordan's research is based on a thorough reading of a huge array of documents. He notes that there are 57,500 medieval documents in Westminster Abbey's archive alone. The bibliography is impressive, and the citations and discursive footnotes are immensely valuable to medieval scholarship. But Jordan is also a storyteller; he captures something of the spirit of daily life. Let me cite two examples among many. When discussing the royal successions in chapter 6, both in the description of the solemn procession after the death of Louis IX (137) and the account of the illness and subsequent death of Henry III (150–51), Jordan employs the language of a storyteller. The reader has a sense of being there and is guided through the poignancies, the portent, and the bearing these royal successions will have for the abbeys and their abbots.

Core themes recur in the penultimate chapter, “Diplomacy and Governance.” Issues of power and status that emerge with government service along with the concomitant requirements for travel and funding are presented. Richard's need to borrow money to cover the expense of travel on behalf of both Henry III and Edward I is itself an intriguing aspect of medieval monasticism, just as his appointment as royal treasurer challenges the view of a medieval abbot's necessity to concentrate exclusively on the life and needs of the abbey. And, although Mathieu traveled far less, working consistently on the renovation and refurbishment of Saint-Denis, he did emerge as an important diplomat serving as Regent under Philip III, Louis IX's successor. Their mutual interactions at the highest levels with the political needs of the monarchy make absolutely clear the integration of the stories and inextricable pairings. As Brothers Richard and Mathieu assume the abbacies of their respective powerful and mighty monasteries, they become the ideal parallels for telling the stories of their powerful kings and the countries they ruled.

Let's return to the motivation to review these two volumes jointly. The Burton and Stöber collection is solely concerned with comparatively minor and relatively obscure monasteries in the British Isles; Jordan is wholly focused on two very large, extremely well-documented abbeys and their eminent abbots. Nonetheless, both are about monasteries (medieval and late medieval) and how the operations of all the abbeys considered were necessarily engaged with secular society. Inasmuch as both Richard and Mathieu are integrally tied to the monarchs they served, their accounts further demonstrate the underlying theme of the Burton-Stöber collection, namely, the extent to which the story of the medieval monastery is interwoven with the political, economic, and social histories of the time. What is very gratifying for medievalists is the array of evidence, the sheer quantity of sources accounted for in these two volumes. It is clear that there are enough questions to go around and enough sources for all. There is meticulous research and abundant and informative footnotes in both volumes. Whether recounting the twenty-five-year story of two renowned abbots and their mutual trajectories or weaving the societal interactions of a wide range of little-known monasteries over several centuries, the interpretative analyses reflect significant parallels. Read together, the Burton and Stöber collected essays and William Chester Jordan's detailed account make clear that the vibrancy, in fact, the survival, of a monastic community and the achievements of an abbot were dependent on a rather inclusive engagement with—and to some degree, integration with—the secular world at large. Both volumes share a mutual interest in challenging views regarding medieval monasticism. Collectively, these two books suggest significant optimism for the future of British medieval studies as well as enrich our knowledge of the medieval abbey and the culture in which it flourished. Finally, does this review lay out any criticism of either book? Not really. Perhaps there might have been more maps or perhaps better indices in both books, but these small comments aside, the two books considered together or individually are enormously important and will be for any future research, whether on medieval monasticism in the British Isles or the abbeys and abbacies of Mathieu de Vendôme and Richard de Ware.