No abstract

No abstract

Between 1233 and 1258, Franciscan friars attempted to establish themselves in the town of Bury St Edmunds, which was jealously guarded by the Benedictine monks of St Edmunds abbey. In the ensuing conflict (which sometimes spilled over into acts of violence), the monks invoked St Edmund as the protector of the abbey. Although the monks eventually managed to eject the friars from the town in 1263, they were forced to grant the friars a friary site just outside Bury. This article examines how the monks deployed the figure of St Edmund in their battle with the friars, while also exploring the friars’ less well-documented responses. By calling on the saints, both sides elevated the clash between new and old religious orders to the heavenly plane, but the popularity of the new saint, Francis, complicated the monks’ efforts and produced a nuanced response from the Benedictines that eventually accommodated the friars.

No abstract

Exorcism was an integral part of the post-Reformation Catholic mission in England and, from the late sixteenth century, an ideological battleground between Catholic and Protestant. As in the Gospels, the obedience of demons was seen as the ultimate sign and supernatural seal of religious authority. Exorcism, unlike other aspects of Catholic mission, often brought recusant priests into direct contact with non-catholics and provided an unparalleled opportunity for conversions.