This book investigates how Syon Abbey responded to the religious turbulence of the 1520s and 1530s. It examines the books three brothers - William Bonde, John Fewterer, and Richard Whitford - produced and argues that the Bridgettines used vernacular printing to engage with religious and political developments that threatened their orthodox faith.

• Introduction


• 1: Syon's textual community


• 2: A factory for books


• 3: Syon's cure of souls


• 4: The defence of the faith


• 5: Henry VIII's great matter


• 6: The contemplative and the mixed lives at Syon


• Conclusion


• Bibliography

Alexandra da Costa is a Fellow in English at St Hilda's College, where she is now working on a project investigating exchanges between conservative and evangelical writers printed between 1529 and 1531. Before coming to St Hilda's, she was a Research Fellow and Tutor at Keble College, Oxford, and prior to that an undergraduate and postgraduate at Oxford University.