Over the last several decades, Syon Abbey–the sole English house of the Birgittine Order–has emerged as a rich source of study for those interested in late medieval religious culture and fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century England. Susan Powell has been at the forefront of this field since the late 1990s, and The Birgittines of Syon Abbeyserves as an excellent overview of progress on Syon, by Powell and others, since then. It is the eleventh volume in the Early Book Society's Texts and Transitions series, published by Brepols, and fits well with the series' mission to "explore the transition from manuscript to print" and to "examine questions to do with readers and literacy, owners and patronage, the dissemination of texts, and the reception of medieval texts." Like some other titles from Brepols, it is not a fully newly written monograph but rather a collection of previously published articles. While these have not been substantially updated, their combination with new opening and closing chapters as well as a hearty set of appendices make this book an indispensable contribution to scholarship on Syon Abbey.
First I will consider the freshly written material, which, in my view, really makes this an outstanding book. Chapter 1, "The Birgittines of Syon Abbey," serves as a comprehensive introduction to the house and its inhabitants. It assumes little prior knowledge and gives an overview of St. Birgitta, her vita,the Order of St. Saviour, Syon's foundation, the brothers, the sisters, the Carthusians in neighboring Sheen Charterhouse, Syon's books, and its outreach. While introductory, the chapter is far from rudimentary, weaving together a large amount of information in a new and illuminating way. In an advanced undergraduate or graduate course it would be excellent assigned reading alongside any classic Syon text, like the Myroure of Oure Ladye, for instance. Also extremely helpful for both scholars and students, however, is something Powell has included just before the first chapter: a short "Note on the Bibliography of Syon Abbey and the Birgittine Order." Here she methodically discusses the various scholarly resources now available, what they cover, and how to access them.
The next new essay is the long final chapter, Chapter 7, "Syon Abbey in the Reign of Henry VIII and Beyond," which does include some (minimal) material from Powell's previous article "Margaret Pole and Syon Abbey," Historical Research, 78 no. 202 (November 2005), 563-67. Chapter 7 concludes the volume by first focusing on a subset of lay aristocratic people connected with Syon, and then moving to trace the house's history through the Reformation and to the second suppression. Although there are other accounts of Syon in this period, the present chapter, like the first, manages to give a worthwhile fresh look at the known evidence and also contribute new evidence, especially on the Pole family and others in the Syon milieu somehow connected to Lady Margaret Beaufort. Powell focuses specifically on Margaret Windsor (a goddaughter of Lady Margaret Beaufort), Henry Parker, Margaret Yan, Thomas Jane, and Margaret Pole. The chapter is concluded by two interesting sections, first on Syon's extant books, and finally eight case studies of printed books inscribed by Syon sisters. By tracing these provenance histories Powell adds important data to what we know about the sisters' book ownership, from work by Christopher de Hamel, Ann Hutchison, and others.
Other new material includes Appendix A, "A Bibliography of Syon Texts Before and After 1519," a useful resource covering over 30 different texts that were written by Syon authors either known or unknown, or produced or disseminated from Syon. Appendix B, "A List of Woodcuts of St Birgitta in Printed Editions Associated with Syon Abbey (in Chronological Order of Publication)," likewise presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive list of its kind. It reproduces images of and identifies source texts for five different woodcuts. Much shorter versions of these appendices had previously been published with the original essay that is now Chapter 5, and it is quite valuable that they have been brought up to date and substantially expanded.
Now, to turn to the pieces that have been reprinted. Each of chapters 2-6 is accompanied by a preamble, giving some background on the essay and what changes might have been made, as well as an afterword, tracking subsequent research and how it may affect the chapter's findings. Chapter 2, "Preaching at Syon Abbey," has had little substantive updating from its appearance in Leeds Studies in English, n.s. 31 (2000), 229-67. It still remains an incisive discussion of what Latin and vernacular sermons might have been delivered at Syon, and which survive.
The next chapter, Chapter 3, "A Rare Survival of Sermons Preached at Syon Abbey," follows up the topic of preaching to discuss the privately owned Cox MS 39, a manuscript bound at Syon and containing Latin sermons possibly by a Birgittine brother, John Lawsby. First published in Medieval Sermon Studies 52 (2008), 42-62, the piece's call to give the manuscript more detailed study and to edit the sermon has still not yet been answered. Scholars, take note! This is one of many suggestions for future projects that Powell includes throughout this volume.
To conclude the preaching theme, Chapter 4, "Links to Syon Abbey in Caxton's Editions of John Mirk's Festial" is mostly material reprinted from the introduction to Powell's edition, Three Sermons for Nova Festa, together with the Hamus Caritatis, MET 37 (Heidelberg: Winter, 2007). An added final paragraph sums up and supports the article's conclusions that "Hamus caritatis may therefore be Thomas Betson's first (anonymous) foray into print," that "it seems likely that the sermon for the Transfiguration was preached at Syon," and that the four sermons "issued by Caxton […] also reveal Birgittine associations" (123).
Chapter 5 moves on to the broader concern of "Manuscript and Print at Syon Abbey." It was first published as "Syon Abbey as a Centre for Text Production" in Saint Birgitta, Syon and Vadstena: Papers from a Symposium in Stockholm 4-6 October 2007, ed. Claes Gejrot, Sara Risberg, and Mia Åkestam, Konferanser 73 (Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 2010), 50-70. Here Powell considers vernacular printed texts and spans both the early and later periods. In the afterword, she discusses the relevant publications of the last decade, by Alexandra da Costa, Mary Erler, and Claire Waters. To this list can now be added Brandon Alakas, who with Stephanie Morley has edited Richard Whitford's Dyuers Holy Instrucyons and Teachynges Very Necessary for the Helth of Mannes Soule (Liverpool University Press), published April 2020.
Powell moves to focus on Syon's connections with the laity in Chapter 6, "Lady Margaret Beaufort: Books, Printers, and Syon Abbey," originally published in The Library, Sixth Series, 20 (1998), 197-240 (as "Lady Margaret Beaufort and her Books"), here basically unrevised and supplemented with some additional evidence, mostly restricted to the footnotes, from a later article, "Syon Abbey and the Mother of King Henry VII: The Relationship of Lady Margaret Beaufort with the English Birgittines," Birgittiana 19 (2005), 211-24. The essay focuses on Margaret Beaufort's books, how they show her devotion to the Holy Name, her sponsorship of print, her translations, her confessor John Fisher and his works, and her household accounts (which Powell is editing at the moment). Lady Margaret Beaufort continues to be a rich source of insight into literary patronage and textual circulation in the late medieval period, and this article remains seminal.
This volume is definitely worth purchasing or recommending to libraries for the new material and the convenience of the previously published works compiled together. Because the reprinted chapters have not been substantially revised, it will not matter that much if scholars cite the originals or the book versions, which in my view decreases the potential confusion sometimes associated with this type of volume. Taken as a whole,The Birgittines of Syon Abbey presents the most comprehensive appraisal of the literary culture of Syon Abbey yet, and lays the groundwork for new research moving forward.