The English monastic experience, 15th - 21st centuries: Syon Abbey at 600

Syon修道院是英国唯一一座从中世纪延续至今的宗教建筑。这座修道院建于1415年，拥有60名修女和12名牧师，由一名女修道院院长管理，是中世纪英格兰最后的基础，也是最富有的基础之一。亨利八世没有解散修道院。相反，这个社区被流放，在1594年定居在里斯本（葡萄牙）之前，在荷兰和法国的一系列地点生活（以及玛丽女王的短暂恢复）。他们在那里一直呆到19世纪，当时宗教宽容的增加允许他们返回英国。他们在英格兰西南部的几个地方住过，最后在德文郡的南布伦特附近定居下来。修道院最终于2011年关闭，但幸存的三位姐妹在退休后继续着它的传统。这段漫长而复杂的叙述，穿越了北欧大部分地区，经历了巨大的宗教、社会和政治变革时期，对任何想要全面了解英格兰最后一座中世纪修道院历史的人来说，都是一个艰巨的挑战。但是，Syon修道院所代表的机会是，将六个世纪以来英国修道院经历的各种各样的学术研究汇集在一起，这是不容错过的。在Syon成立60周年之际，该项目将采取实质性步骤，使这段全面的历史成为现实。我们将建立一个研究网络，这个研究网络将拥有涵盖整个Syon漫长历史的专业知识，这将促进学者之间的对话，他们的专业（在不同的学科和时期）通常使他们分开。我们还将邀请学术界以外的人参与这些对话，包括业余历史学家、档案保管人、Syon物质遗产的其他保管人，以及宗教团体的现任成员。该网络的中心将是一系列三个研讨会，分别在Syon修道院的三个主要地点举行：Syon House、里斯本和埃克塞特。但该项目也将面向外部，通过在Syon House（伦敦）的草地上举行的一般兴趣讲座、展览和公共纪念活动，在中世纪修道院的基础轮廓内。

Syon Abbey is the only English religious house that can trace its history in an unbroken line from the Middle Ages to the present day. The monastery, for 60 nuns and 12 priests under the authority of an abbess, was founded in 1415, the last foundation of medieval England, and one of the richest. The Abbey was not dissolved under Henry VIII. Instead the community went into exile, living at a succession of sites in Holland and France (as well as a short-lived restoration under Queen Mary) before settling in Lisbon (Portugal) in 1594. There they remained until the 19th century, when increased religious toleration allowed them to return to England. They stayed at several locations in South-West England, before settling near South Brent in Devon. The Abbey finally closed in 2011, though the three surviving sisters continue its traditions in retirement.That long and complicated narrative, that traverses much of northern Europe through periods of enormous religious, social and political change, presents a daunting challenge to anyone proposing a comprehensive history of England's last medieval monastery. But the opportunity Syon Abbey represents to bring together the whole, diverse range of scholarship on the English monastic experience across six centuries is not to be passed up.In Syon's sexcenentary year, the project will take substantial steps towards making that comprehensive history a reality. We will develop a research network that, collectively, has the expertise to encompass the whole of Syon's lengthy history, and that will foster conversations among scholars whose specialisms (in different disciplines and time periods) more commonly keep them apart. We will also bring people from outside the academic community into those conversations, including amateur historians, archivists and other custodians of Syon's material legacy, and current members of the religious orders. At the centre of the network will be a series of three workshops, to be held at the three principal sites associated with Syon Abbey: Syon House, Lisbon and Exeter. But the project will also face outward, through general-interest talks, exhibitions, and a public commemoration held in the meadows of Syon House (London), within the outline of the foundations of the medieval Abbey.