Relations between the laity and the religious in medieval Durham reveal much about lay religion of the time. Although religious life in medieval Durham was ruled by its prince bishop and priory, the laity flourished and played a major role in the affairs of the parish, as Margaret Harvey demonstrates. Using a variety of sources, she provides a complete account of its history from the Conquest to the Dissolution of the priory, with a particular emphasis on the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. She shows how the laity interacted vigorously with both bishop and priory, and the relations between them, with the priory providing schools, hospitals, chantries and regular sermons, but also acting as a disciplinary force. On a wider level, she also looks at the whole question of lay religion and what can be discovered about it. She finishes by an examination of local reactions to the Reformation.

[A] meticulously researched and detailed book. Harvey's excellent book contributes to substantially to our understanding of Durham's late medieval church administration and how it engaged with the lay population. This book is recommended to anyone with an interest in the institutional history of the late medieval church.'

Source: Church History Journal

Filled with minutiae gleaned from a careful reading of all the pertinent original sources, woven into a story that is at once expansive yet personal, local in nature, and, at times, extremely intimate. This excellent book illuminates well late medieval Durham and stands as a good example to all scholars of how to conduct highly localized research.'

Source: Sixteenth Century Journal

[A] comprehensive, scholarly study. [...] [An] important book [and] an engrossing study of the period.'

Source: Northern Catholic History