Alvingham Priory, situated just to the north-east of Louth in Lincolnshire, was one of the famous Gilbertine houses of the county: double houses of monks and nuns following the rule of St Gilbert of Sempringham. The documents in the cartulary edited here shed important light on the way in which the house developed and worked; they demonstrate also its relationships to other religious houses and to the king, but most importantly they reveal its interactions with the small landowning families who were its most frequent donors. The cartulary is a window into the daily lives of these "lesser" men and women and their religious beliefs. The documents are presented with an introduction and elucidatory notes.