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The Last Office: 1539 and the Dissolution of a Monastery

The Last Office: 1539 and the Dissolution of a Monastery

by Geoffrey Moorhouse (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2009

    $4.16
Synopsis

What happened to the monks, their orders and the communities they served after Henry VIII's break with Rome in 1536? In THE LAST OFFICE Geoffrey Moorhouse reveals how the Dissolution of the Monasteries affected the great Benedictine priory at Durham, drawing for his sources on material that has lain forgotten in the recesses of one of our great cathedrals. The quarrel between Henry VIII and the papacy not only gave birth to the Church of England but heralded the destruction of the 650 or so religious houses that played a central role in the spiritual and economic life of the nation. Durham proved to be the exception. On New Year's Eve 1539, the monks sang the last compline. Next morning the priory and its community were surrendered into the hands of the King's commissioners. But then nothing happened. An interregnum lasted 16 months before the priory was reborn as the new cathedral church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin, part of the new Church of England. The Prior became the Dean and 12 monks were retained as prebendaries. In Geofrey Moorhouse's original and absorbing study, one of the great catalytic events of our past comes alive through the personalities and events at one key monastery.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 304
 Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 02 Apr 2009
ISBN 10: 0753825759
ISBN 13: 9780753825754
Book Overview: Author has sole and unique access to contemporary documents that show why and how Durham's priory survived BBC TV anxious to turn into major TV documentary series Geoffrey Moorhouse never gets less than magnificent reviews: 'History as it should be written...Geoffrey Moorhouse has done a great service by filling in one of the great gaps in our understanding of England's past' Roy Hattersley, Observer 'Geoffrey Moorhouse's marvellous historical narrative...[his] riveting history which effortlessly blends scholarship and gripping narrative' Frank McLynn, Independent on Sunday 'A fine piece of popular history in the great tradition of Trevelyan and Macaulay, at once highly readable, thoroughly educative, and deeply satisfying' A.C. Grayling, Financial Times 'Geoffrey Moorhouse brings to the subject a deep knowledge and love of the period ... With infectious relish he tells us everything that was going on in England at the time It is a rich fruitcake of a story, laden with plums - he gives us a rich and colourful tapestry of the age' Nam Rodger, Guardian

Media Reviews
'Geoffrey Moorhouse is always a delight to read' INDEPENDENT 'Erudite and highly readable' HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER 'His [Moorhouse's] orginal and absorbing study of this period of transition for Durham is a tour de force.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE
Author Bio
Geoffrey Moorhouse is 'one of the best writers of our time' (Byron Rogers, THE TIMES), 'a brilliant historian' (Dirk Bogarde, DAILY TELEGRAPH) and 'a writer whose gifts are beyond category' (Jan Morris, INDEPENDENT). He is the author of nineteen books, which have won prizes and been translated into several languages. In 1982 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His TO THE FRONTIER won the Thomas Cook Award for the best travel book of its year in 1984. He has recently concentrated on Tudor history, notably with THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE and, in 2005, GREAT HARRY'S NAVY. He lives in North Yorkshire.