The Meditation and Prayer of Nuns at Dartford Priory in the Late 15th Century

Abstract

This article considers what can be learned about the meditation and prayer of the Dominican nuns at Dartford Priory in the late 15th century from an examination of Downside Manuscript 26542. The aim is to reconstruct cautiously elements of the sisters’ experience from one of only eight surviving manuscripts from the priory. The focus of this exploration is on one of the Middle English works contained within MS 26542, the Pricking of Love. After a brief outline of the history of the priory, a short description of the contents and relevance of the manuscript and the sisters who made up its audience, the discussion falls into two parts. The initial sections generally characterise the meditation of the sisters. The second part examines how the article deals with the Lord’s Prayer, using examples from chapter 35 of the Pricking of Love; ‘A deuoute exposicyoun of þe pater noster’.