The Last Office by Geoffrey Moorhouse

The Last Office by Geoffrey Moorhouse

What happened to the monks, their orders and the communities they served after Henry VIII's break with Rome in 1536? In THE LAST OFFICE Geoffrey Moorhouse reveals how the Dissolution of the Monasteries affected the great Benedictine priory at Durham, drawing for his sources on material that has lain forgotten in the recesses of one of our great cathedrals. The quarrel between Henry VIII and the papacy not only gave birth to the Church of England but heralded the destruction of the 650 or so religious houses that played a central role in the spiritual and economic life of the nation. Durham proved to be the exception. On New Year's Eve 1539, the monks sang the last compline. Next morning the priory and its community were surrendered into the hands of the King's commissioners. But then nothing happened. An interregnum lasted 16 months before the priory was reborn as the new cathedral church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin, part of the new Church of England. The Prior became the Dean and 12 monks were retained as prebendaries. In Geofrey Moorhouse's original and absorbing study, one of the great catalytic events of our past comes alive through the personalities and events at one key monastery.

'Geoffrey Moorhouse is always a delight to read' INDEPENDENT 'Erudite and highly readable' HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER 'His [Moorhouse's] orginal and absorbing study of this period of transition for Durham is a tour de force' GOOD BOOK GUIDE

Geoffrey Moorhouse is 'one of the best writers of our time' (Byron Rogers, THE TIMES), 'a brilliant historian' (Dirk Bogarde, DAILY TELEGRAPH) and 'a writer whose gifts are beyond category' (Jan Morris, INDEPENDENT). He is the author of nineteen books, which have won prizes and been translated into several languages. In 1982 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His TO THE FRONTIER won the Thomas Cook Award for the best travel book of its year in 1984. He has recently concentrated on Tudor history, notably with THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE and, in 2005, GREAT HARRY'S NAVY. He lives in North Yorkshire.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780753825754
ISBN 10	0753825759
Title	The Last Office
Author	Geoffrey Moorhouse
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Orion Publishing Co
Year published	2009-04-02
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable