Monasticism is a form of religious life in which participants renounce worldly activities to dedicate themselves primarily to spiritual matters, living in small communities subject to a set of rules and isolated from the secular world. Christian monasticism, which originated at the end of the 3rd century in Egypt and North Africa, spread to different parts of Europe in the 6th century. However, it was not until the Middle Ages that monastic communities became one of the most powerful institutions in Europe. Monasteries and convents played a very important role not only as centers of spirituality but also as focal points of economic, technological and cultural activity. This multiplicity of activities carried out alongside their religious, social and political roles make monasteries spaces that can be studied from very different perspectives and that unfailingly provide essential information about our history. This second of two titles originates from an international conference that took place in Barcelona in January 2024, which sought to examine different aspects related to monastic life in the past and to promote and disseminate the results obtained in the latest studies undertaken within the framework of monastic complexes and their environments. These include contributions and multidisciplinary studies from archaeological, bioanthropological and/or documentary perspectives. Specialists from different disciplines present developments on the topic of monasticism from different fields of study, such as zooarchaeology, bioanthropology, palaeopathology, archaeology, history, documentary disciplines, archives, cultural heritage, etc. Volume 2 focuses on diet, food practices, water management, and the organization and use of space within monastic complexes and landscapes.

Table of Contents:
List of contributors List of reviewers Introduction by the editors Part 1: Monastic diet 1. Birds eaten in monastic houses in England in the Middle Ages (1066-1540): the archaeological evidence Dale Serjeantson 2. Meat and monastic meals: the case of the friary of Santa Caterina in Barcelona (north-eastern Spain) during the medieval and post-medieval periods Carme Querol, Jordi Nadal, Josefa Huertas, Lluís Lloveras 3. Revisiting dietary rules: animal bone evidence of food practices at the 12th- to 16th-century Abbey of Notre-Dame sous l’Eurin, Hénin-Beaumont (Nord, France) Tarek Oueslati, Damien Censier 4. Meat and fish in the nuns’ diet at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes (Barcelona, Spain) in the medieval and modern periods Lluís Lloveras, Josep Cruells, Anna Castellano-Tresserra, Santiago Riera, Jordi Nadal 5. Zooarchaeology studies at Sant Agustí Vell (Barcelona): consumption of food of animal origin in a mendicant order Jordi Nadal, Ricard Marlasca, Philip Banks, Lluís Lloveras 6. An insight into dietary habits at the Monastery of St Barbara (south-western Serbia) during the early modern period: a zooarchaeological perspective) Teodora Mladenović, Mladen Mladenović, Irina Kajtez 7. Vinum oleum cera spens et mel. What documents can reveal about the medieval monastic diet Karen Stöber Part 2: Monastic landscapes, spaces and buildings 8. The uses of water in a Cistercian nunnery through archaeology: the refectory and the kitchen Ester Penas González 9. To share or not to share. Churches of Regular Canons in the Western Alps (former Diocese of Geneva) from the 13th century onwards Sidonie Bochaton 10. Interpretation of the archaeological and architectural space of the monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes based on space syntax Yang Mei, Ji Zhiwei 11. The medieval priory of Sant Genís de Rocafort (Martorell, Barcelona): life, death, power and social hierarchy after ten years of archaeological excavation and material analysis. Esther Travé Allepuz, Josep Socorregut Domènech, Pablo del Fresno Bernal, Rosario Navarro Sáez, Montserrat Farreny Agràs, Alfred Mauri Martí 12. Irrigation and urbanisation. The role of the convent of Sant Pere de les Puel·les (Barcelona) in the 12th and 13th centuries. Philip Banks 13. Monasteries on Islands – archaeological research approaches across Europe Sophie Hüglin 14. Socio-economic characterisation of the monastery of Santa Cecília de Els Altimiris (6th–7th centuries): supply areas and material culture Marta Sancho Planas, Walter Alegría Tejedor 15. Ecclesiastical marriage in the Apostolic Church of the East: a polemic reflected in the Monastery of Mount Îzlâ. New interpretations David Hernández Jiménez 16. The monastic landscape in Castile in the early Middle Ages: mirage or miracle? José Ángel Lecanda