Nationality British Role Scholar Fields History Died November 21, 1974 | Education Downside School Name David Knowles Known for Monasticism | |
Born 29 September 1896
Studley, Warwickshire, England ( 1896-09-29 ) Other names Michel Clive Knowles (before monastic profession) Alma mater Christ's College, Cambridge People also search for Christopher N. L. Brooke Books Medieval religious houses - E, The monastic order in E, Religious orders in England, The evolution of medieval, The Benedictines | ||
Institutions Peterhouse, Cambridge | ||
David knowles the alchemist
M. David Knowles (born Michael Clive Knowles, 29 September 1896 – 21 November 1974) was an English Benedictine monk, Catholic priest, and historian, who became Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge from 1954 to 1963. His works on monasticism in England from the times of Dunstan (909–988) through the dissolution of the monasteries are considered authoritative.
Contents
- David knowles the alchemist
- David knowles on the road
- Biography
- Monk
- Academic at Cambridge
- Published works
- References
David knowles on the road
Biography
Born Michael Clive Knowles on 29 September 1896 in Studley, Warwickshire, England, Knowles was educated at Downside School, operated by the monks of Downside Abbey, and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he took a first in both philosophy and classics.
Monk
In 1923 Knowles became a member of the monastic community at Downside, being given the religious name of David, by which he was always known thereafter. After completing the novitiate he was sent by the abbot to the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome for his theological studies. Returning to Downside, he was ordained a priest. His research into the early monastic history of England was assisted by the library built up at Downside by Dom Raymund Webster.
Knowles became the leader of a faction of the younger monks of the abbey who wanted to resist the growing demands of the school on the pattern of monastic life at the abbey. They advocated a more contemplative life as the goal of their lives as monks. This effort led to a period of major conflict within the community and he was transferred to Ealing Abbey, another teaching establishment.
Academic at Cambridge
In 1944 Knowles was elected into a research fellowship in Medieval Studies at Peterhouse in the University of Cambridge, where he would remain for the duration of his academic career.
In 1947 he was appointed as Professor of Medieval History and then, in 1954, he became the Regius Professor of Modern History, a post he held until his retirement in 1963.
He served as president of the Royal Historical Society from 1957 to 1961.
While pursuing his academic life at Cambridge, Knowles was eventually, at the instigation of Abbot Christopher Butler, exclaustrated from Downside Abbey and finally released from his vows. Before his death on 21 November 1974 from a heart attack, however, he was readmitted to the order.
Knowles is best known for his history of early English monasticism, The Monastic Order in England: A History of Its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 (1940). His three-volume work, The Religious Orders in England (1948–1959), is also highly regarded. In 1962 he published a textbook, The Evolution of Medieval Thought (2nd ed. 1988) that "dominated medieval history courses in U. S. colleges for a quarter of a century." A splendid stylist and a perceptive biographer, many scholars consider him the leading Catholic historian of his day.