Life Inside the Cloister

Thomas Coomans is a full professor of architectural history and built heritage conservation at KU Leuven and director of the Advanced Master in Conservation of Monuments and Sites (RLICC), at the Faculty of Engineering Science.

• Introduction. Understanding Monastic Architecture Origins. Organising Sacred Space and Time 1. The Cell 2. The Rule 3. The Community 4. The Church 5. The Cloister Building Types. Identities and Reformations 6. The Abbey 7. The Charterhouse 8. The Castle 9. The Friary 10. The Beguinage 11. The Hôtel-Dieu 12. The College 13. The Palace 14. The House Characters. Embodying the Sacred 15. Place and Stability 16. Enclosure and Gender 17. Liturgy and Identity 18. Death and Memory 19. Scale and Growth 20. Style Afterlife. Adaptive Reuse and Heritagisation 21. Destruction and Ruins 22. Manors, Farms and Factories 23. Residential Use 24. Barracks, Arsenals, Prisons and Courthouses 25. University Colleges and Lyceums 26. The Sacredness of Culture Conclusion. Tradition, Heritage and the Spirit of the Place Bibliography Index of Places Index of Names Colophon

"This is an authoritative historical review of monastic architecture which could be recommended for use in undergraduate and taught postgraduate teaching. The text is written to a high scholarly standard, and adopts a clear and logical line throughout. It is up to date both in terms of current questions about the future of these buildings and also in terms of its consideration of published scholarship about them. From the point of view of a basic textbook, it is clear, thorough, and comprehensive."--Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin, University of Kent