Sommer Hallquist: From Fear of Hell to Love of Christ: The Monastic Devotional Use of MS K.21 in the Library of St. John’s College, Cambridge

Supervisor: Dr Laura Slater 

Research overview:

This thesis represents the first sustained study of St. John’s College, Cambridge, MS K.21. The research argues that this volume was created in England over two main phases (c.1270-90 and c.1300-1320) for an educated male Benedictine audience at St. Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. The unique Christological narrative K.21 contains, comprised of 101 Anglo-Norman text passages and 103 illuminated miniatures, is argued to have served as a useful aid to its Benedictine reader-viewer in his progression from acting out of fear of Hell to love of Christ. This goal is prescribed in Chapter 7 of the Rule of St. Benedict. Through the study of MS K.21, this thesis explores the role non-punitive imagery played in the spiritual progression of late medieval monks, a subject which has not hitherto received adequate scholarly attention. 

Biography:

Sommer Hallquist is a PhD candidate in the History of Art at the University of Cambridge. Her research has been funded by grants from the British Archaeological Association, Trinity Hall, and the James and Lucilla Joll Trust. Sommer completed an MPhil at the University of Cambridge in 2019, supervised by Professor Paul Binski. This work was supported by the Lord Frederick Cavendish Studentship. Sommer obtained her BA in Anthropology and Art History from the University of Alabama in 2018 and has gained experience in field archaeology and cultural resource management. Her current research interests include the collection of illuminated vernacular manuscripts by late-medieval Benedictines, the dating of textile curtain adherence in medieval volumes (using analysis of stitch types), and the influence of the monastic Orders on parochial art and architecture in late-medieval England.