Student Placement Progress

23 Jan 2017

Downside Abbey Archives and Library has had a thriving relationship with Bath Spa University for many years now, and the current group of students have been working hard on their placements since September.

Bath Spa University students are in the process of turning our Liber Professionum into an online database of monks of Douai, our original home in northern France, that came from Lamspringe Abbey in Germany, the only English Benedictine Congregation abbey of the former English Benedictines in exile.

After many weeks of work, we have over one hundred entries in our database, all of which have been fully translated from the original Latin text. The students have built on their existing Latin reading skills in this experience, picking up a further understanding of historical and religious awareness and digital literacy in the process.

This information has shed light on many exciting characters including Brother Benedictus Gibbon, who, by means of the King’s brother, then Duke of York, helped bring King Charles II into the Roman Catholic church on his deathbed in 1685.
This database will prove a valuable resource for both historians and Downside staff alike, showcasing another collection of the Abbey’s rich history. This project is just another example of the thriving partnership between Downside Abbey Archives and Library and Bath Spa University.

As always we thank our students for their hard work and dedication! To read more about our Bath Spa students click here.