This thesis proposes that Northumbrian monastic liturgy evolved in ways distinct from those of the rest of Britain, and traces its development through three markedly contrasting periods of its history. The first chapter is concerned with the origins of monastic life in Northumbria, up to the death of the Venerable Bede in 735. Taking as source material the historical works of Bede and other contemporary lives of the saints, specific references to liturgy and chant are analysed, with the purpose of determining the importance of liturgical music in the evangelization of Northumbria, the type and provenance of the chants used, and the methods of musical transmission in the absence of notation. It becomes apparent from this analysis that by the early eighth century, Northumbrian monastic liturgy had reached a degree of sophistication unsurpassed even by Canterbury. The second chapter shows, mainly by evidence from liturgical books, how a small remnant of monastic life survived the ravages of the Viking raids, until the return of relative stability after the Norman Conquest. The persistence of cults of Northumbrian saints throughout Britain is also documented, using evidence from liturgical kalendars. The revival of monastic life after the Conquest is the subject of the third chapter, with emphasis on how the new or revived monasteries compiled their liturgical books. Strands of influence on the Durham Missal are investigated, and a little-known Scottish Tironensian missal is used as evidence of the growing importance of the reformed Benedictine orders in the north of Britain at the beginning of the twelfth century, largely due to the encouragement of David, Earl of Northumbria, who was later King David I of Scotland.

Interest in the history of Latin monasticism in southern Italy has been stimulated in recent years due to the important excavations at the site of the monastery of S.Vincenzo al Volturno. These excavations have revealed an immensely opulent monastic complex which has reinforced Angelo Pantoni's famous statement when he referred to the site as a medieval Pompeii. Despite the importance of the excavations, and the rich historiographical and documentary tradition in southern Italy, many questions remain unanswered concerning the history of monastic development in the Lombard principalities during the ninth and tenth centuries. We still do not know why monasticism was so important in southern Italy or the exact role it played in Lombard society. There is a pressing need to address these questions because many of the historical works which have been produced in association with the excavations at S. Vincenzo have simply sustained long standing assumptions about the influence of the Carolingian and Byzantine Empires and in so doing have obscured the true history of monastic development in southern Italy. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that it is incongruous to explain the importance of monasticism in the Lombard principalities in terms of Carolingian or Byzantine influences or in comparison with developments in other regions of Europe. It will be established that the importance of monasticism in Lombard southern Italy had more to do with the immense role it played in southern Lombard society and above all its significance as a mechanism through which the Lombards expressed their ethnic identity. Part I will establish that the Lombards did indeed possess an exceptionally strong sense of ethnic identity. The genesis of this identity owed much to topographical and historical developments in the seventh century but was strengthened through contacts with external aggressors who threatened Lombard independence.

The critical study of colonial literature in Canada has focussed largely on the writings of explorers, soldiers, scientific travellers, tourists, land speculators, emigrant settlers, and even artists. Comparatively little study, however, has been devoted to another Canadian traveller and writer of the period: the missionary. This thesis surveys the literary history of the Protestant missionary in Canada and examines in detail three individual texts representative of the genre of missionary writing in an attempt to describe and assess its discursive characteristics and to establish the place of the Protestant missionary writer on the Canadian literary continuum. Chapter One establishes the importance of missionary and missionary-inspired literature to the development of the Canadian literary and cultural imagination. Chapter Two introduces the reader to the history of Protestant missionary literature in Canada by exploring the three missionary societies which did the most to produce and promote it: the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Methodist Missionary Society, and the United Brethren Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen. Chapters Three, Four and Five offer readings of individual missionary texts: Benjamin Kohlmeister's and George Kmoch's <i>Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay</i> (1814), Joshua Marsden's <i>Narrative of a Mission to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Somers Islands</i> (1816), and Joseph Abbott's <i>Philip Musgrave; or, the Memoirs of a Church of England Missionary in the North American colonies</i>. (1846). The discussion of each of these texts is devoted to an introduction, biographical sketch of the author, literary and publication details, critical analysis, and conclusion. Critical readings focus on narrative strategies and methods by which the author's experience of the Canadian landscape, and its inhabitants and their manners and customs is communicated to the reader.

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This study covers the first fifty-five years (1875-1930), of the work of the Church Missionary Society (hereafter referred to as Anglican Mission), in Asaba and its hinterland. The period under survey witnessed the foundation, growth and subsequently maturity of the Mission. Begun in 1875, by the terminal date of this study Asaba (with other Districts of the Niger Mission) had become the Church of the people with its own ecclesiastical constitution. The work begins with an account of the primal society of Asaba and its hinterland as the missionary agents saw it in the nineteenth century. The points examined here include: traditions of origin of the people, their early contacts with other peoples, their traditional religion, social organization, and their relationship with the Royal Niger Company which was both a trading and governing firm that made Asaba its headquarters. The foundation and initial growth is discussed next, in the Second Chapter, while the Third Chapter considers the processes by which the mission evolved into an indigenous Church. This last point is examined in relation to the propagation of the Gospel, self-support and church organization. In the mission field itself, among the factors that affected the work of Anglican agents two are outstanding. The first, a missionary factor, is the rivalry with the Roman Catholic Mission. The second, a product of the environment, is the Ekumeku resistance movement. Chapter Four attempts to trace the historic origins of the Protestant-Catholic rivalry as Asaba, while Chapter Five takes up the study of the influence of the Ekumeku wars on missionary operation. Chapter Six explores the Christian and western impact on Asaba society. Some facets of the pre-Christian social institutions are discussed. They include traditional titles, slavery, burial customs and the primal concept of the 'sacred'. This is followed by a consideration of the changes brought about by the Christian evaluation of these. The work is concluded with the identity and nominal role of the Apostles of Asaba. This is the subject of Chapter Seven.

This study describes and analyses the development and influence of the British Missionary Movement's attitudes towards India over a period of nearly fifty years. It is concerned with the early genesis and growth of the missionary cause among evangelicals and the interest which they showed in India as a field for missionary operations. An attempt has been made to trace their response to India, her peoples, cultures, religions and ways of life by giving an account of their writings. These have been set against the general context of the British discovery and interpretation of India's religious and literary heritage. In an attempt to judge the contemporary influence and respective merits of these representations, attention has been given to the reviews which the various publications received in the religious and literary periodicals of the day. A further indication of the importance and influence of the missionary attitudes has been sought by examining the growth of the missionary societies and their active participation in India. For this reason the study commences in 1786 with the beginning 6f evangelical missionary interest in India, and terminates in 18 30 when the first missionary of the Church of Scotland arrived in India. Between these two dates all the major missionary societies and both established churches in Britain commenced missionary activity and made India a major field for their work. The concern shown by missionary supporters to promote Christianity in India was closely related to their understanding of and attitudes towards India. Attention has therefore been given to the approaches which they made to the missionary societies, the government and the East India Company in an attempt to defend, extend and gain approval for missionary activity. In particular, the missionary controversy 1807-09 and the renewal of the East India Company's Charter in 1813 have been examined in some detail. As far as possible the views of the individuals who shaped the missionary attitudes towards India have been expressed by giving extensive quotations from their own writings. Although this has led to some repetition of the ideas and images which the missionary publicists used, this in itself is an indication of the way in which missionary propaganda reinforced the stereotypes which were basic to its portrayal of India. Particular interest has been shown in the publicity devices employed by the missionary societies and individuals to propagate their attitudes. The use of sermons, annual meetings, religious periodicals, missionary papers, itinerating preachers, children's stories, missionary auxiliaries, pamphlets, missionary publications and university prizes were all part of the missionary propaganda. These have been examined and discussed mainly in terms of the way they described India.

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The late medieval and early modern church in Scotland has been under studied. The contrast with the voluminous bibliography on the Scottish Reformation could not be greater. The Franciscan Order was the subject of a two volume history written by William M. Bryce and published in 1909 and there has been recent work on the monastic foundations, by Mark Dilworth, published in 1995. The research on the Order of Friars Preachers presented here complements these works but also stands with them in something of a historiographical vacuum. Primary sources were found to be more abundant than this lack of secondary study might suggest. This thesis draws upon a wide range of manuscripts including the exchequer rolls, the treasurers accounts, burgh records, commissary court records, court of session records, private collections and the Vatican Archives. This evidence points to and reflects the view that the Dominican Order was a central feature of civic Christianity and at the forefront of the Catholic Reform of the Scottish Church in the late medieval and early modern period. The history of the order over the 110 years from 1450 to 1560 is given in the first chapter. The next two chapters place that history in context by examining the personnel of the order and the relationships between the Dominicans and the lay communities in which they lived and worked. These three chapters demonstrate that the Dominicans were highly educated, mobile and politically aware. Formally breaking from England, the Dominicans set up their own province in 1481 and began to put into practice the ideals of Dominican Observance in the early sixteenth century and were involved in the reform which was current in the Catholic Church during the period. Chapters Four and Five examine the income of the different houses of friars and how they dealt with the property which they owned. The feuing of lands and the pursuit of rents in court are interpreted as showing the friars to be active in defending their interests within the burghs. The relationship between the laity and the friars is further examined in Chapter Six, through the donations given to the friars for prayers for the dead. These foundations reveal the long-term nature of investment in the order for anniversaries and other divine services. Finally, attitudes to the friars revealed in the Scots literature for the period are examined and there is found to be widespread use by Scots poets of the traditions of anti-mendicant literature.

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