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The development of financial management and control in monastic houses and estates in England c. 1200-1540

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  • Alisdair Dobie

Abstract

This paper traces developments in the financial management and control of monastic houses and their estates in England in the later Middle Ages, and seeks to identify the factors which lay behind these developments. It draws upon ecclesiastical, economic and accounting history literature. It finds first that this period of monastic history is not as uneventful as sometimes depicted; and second that previous accounting history studies have focused largely on the agency relationship between the lord and the steward responsible for the management of agricultural properties, whereas the network of accountability and information flows in monastic establishments was more complex. Furthermore, the impetus for accounting change was more diverse than is often portrayed. A large variety of possible factors existed: these were not mutually exclusive and may have acted to reinforce each other. This paper concludes that there is a need for more detailed research at the micro-level on individual monastic houses to reconstruct and explain the evolution of their accounting and management techniques and processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Alisdair Dobie, 2008. "The development of financial management and control in monastic houses and estates in England c. 1200-1540," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 141-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acbsfi:v:18:y:2008:i:2:p:141-159
    DOI: 10.1080/09585200802058677
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent Delabastita & Sebastiaan Maes, 2020. "The Feudal Origins of Manorial Prosperity in 11th-century England," Working Papers 0190, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. Matteo Palmaccio & Alessandra Lardo & Benedetta Cuozzo & Rosa Lombardi, 2017. "Bookkeeping methods and accounting controls: Developments within the Abbey of Montecassino from the 15th to the 17th century," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 7-27.
    3. Giraudeau, Martin, 2017. "The farm as an accounting laboratory: an essay on the history of accounting and agriculture," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 74106, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Dobie, Alisdair, 2015. "The role of the general and provincial chapters in improving and enforcing accounting, financial and management controls in Benedictine monasteries in England 1215–1444," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 142-158.
    5. Bigoni, Michele & Maran, Laura & Ferramosca, Silvia, 2021. "Time, space and accounting at Nonantola Abbey (1350–1449)," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).

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