St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury: Book Production in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries

My dissertation is concerned primarily with the palaeographical side of book-production at St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Effectively, it covers the period between ca A.D. 930 and 1100, from the first signs of scriptorial revival after the decline of the ninth century until the first generation after the Norman conquest of England. Also relevant are manuscripts produced at the abbey prior to the tenth century, as they may have had importance as models later on. After an introduction describing the history of the mediaeval library at St Augustine's and discussing the problems surrounding the attribution of manuscripts, the greater part of my dissertation is concerned with the palaeography of the abbey's manuscripts; I trace the development of the various script-styles practised at St Augustine's from the earliest period until ca 1100. Particular attention is paid to the careers of Anglo-Saxon Square minuscule in the tenth century and of Anglo-Caroline minuscule between ca 960 and 1010, and to the interaction between English and Norman handwriting after the Conquest; there is also a discussion of the apparent drop in book-production at the abbey during the first two-thirds of the eleventh century. Reference is made where possible to the historical background to these developments. After dealing with the development of handwriting at St Augustine's, I describe the physical characteristics of the manuscripts. A final chapter is devoted to the intellectual interests of the monks, as revealed by the content of the book-collection.