ABSTRACT
Christian churches dominate the late medieval built heritage of Britain, and their study at a whole range of levels is facilitated and enriched by a large body of literature. Modern liturgical scholarship has paid less attention to late medieval liturgy; instead, studies of this area have more often been undertaken by palaeographers, scholars of text and sources, and art historians, each with their own emphases and concerns. The performance of a late medieval liturgy requires the investigation of texts, artefacts, ritual dress and movements, and their application to a specific sacred space. That is one major stage of preparation. Rehearsal of such a liturgy can remain purely practical, or it can engage the performers in a broader process of briefing on late medieval religious practice and social mores. Late medieval clergy and singers used several books, or different parts of a single book, for the recited texts in a single service.
