From the thirteenth century, the creation and dissemination of orders of friars–dedicated religious, engaged with the needs of the broader social world–is one of the most striking European social and religious developments. Starting with England, this project is an attempt to map and analyze the patterns of settlement of the various orders of friars. We are attempting to add knowledge and arguments to the debates on the intentions and practices of Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians as they established centres across England. Were they in competition? To what extent were they an pheneomenon attached to larger urban places? What was the vision of their mission implied by the networks of houses they established. Similar questions might in future be put to other organisational settlements, most notably those of the monas and canons of England.
This project is directed by Gary Shaw. Jeesue Lee, ’17, Sharifa Lookman, ’17, Maia Reumann-Moore, ’19 and Melissa Mischel ’17 have contributed to this project in the most recent years.