What is it about?
Thomas Swalwell was a well-educated Benedictine monk living in the Durham Priory on the eve of the English Reformation. He collected books and wrote notes in their margins throughout his life. This chapter provides an overview of his books and the types of annotations he penned in them. It also provides an overview of subsequent chapters.
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Why is it important?
What was monastic life like on the eve of the Reformation? Swalwell’s marginal notes are lively first-hand sources for addressing this question. Because of the range of the books he annotated, his notes provide insight into communal life, administrative duties, intellectual interests, spiritual values, and responses to contemporary events.
Perspectives
It took me quite a while to become practiced at reading Swalwell’s handwriting! But, because it is so distinctive, I always had the sense of encountering an individual through his notes. I felt as if I were reading over his shoulder.
Dr Anne T Thayer
Lancaster Theological Seminary / Moravian Theological Seminary
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Introduction, February 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004720114_002.
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