Exploring Medieval Monasteries, part 18

Hello. In the last session we saw how monasteries came to dominate economic life, and to some extent it's continuity of policy and of administration that enables long-term planning and long-term investment. But monasteries also have privileges and protections that gave them market advantages, freedom from certain tithes and tolls, privileges in markets and ports, all translated into wealth and power. Often they were in monopolistic positions, and they're involved in agriculture, industry, commercial development, they manage property portfolios. It's a long way from their beginnings as monks and hermits living as recluses, that subsistence level. Does this make them popular? Well, of course not. There is much envy and a widespread feeling that this is not what they should be about, and ultimately it led to their undoing, to suppression and dissolution. In terms of numbers, monasticism in England and Wales is at its peak just before the arrival of the Black Death in 1348-49, and there are about 17,000 men and women following a religious life. Now the Black Death decimated the population. It's a traumatic event. It changes attitudes. The old certainties were challenged. Add to that the discontent and disillusionment about the wealth and laxity in many monastic institutions, and it all adds up to a loss of respect and esteem. There are few new foundations after 1350. The rich patrons and their endowments are not there anymore. One or two new orders appear, dedicated to return to the basic principles of piety and austerity. The Brigittines, founded by St Brigitte of Sweden in 1346. There was an expansion of the Franciscan friars, the observant Franciscans, but amongst the older orders only the Carthusians maintained spiritual discipline. This singled them out for royal patronage, and in 1414 Henry V began building Sheen Priory, a charter house for 40 Carthusian monks beside the royal palace at Sheen, on the banks of the Thames. And the same year he endowed the first Brigittine house in England at Twickenham. They moved to Scion opposite Richmond Palace 17 years later. Now this was a double monastery, 60 nuns, but there were also some monks who acted as chaplains, but all under the control of an abbess. After the dissolution they were reformed briefly under Queen Mary, and then they went into exile in the Netherlands and France and Portugal. And the nuns returned to Devon in 1861, the only community to maintain an unbroken existence. They wear a crown of the five holy wounds, with red stones that are a reminder of Christ's wounds on the cross. Henry V also had plans for a house of Celestines. These were a branch of Benedictine nuns. Ran a little bit short of money, and then war with France intervened. Henry VII founded a house at Richmond for the observant Franciscans around about 1500. A tower remains in what is now a public garden, but there are few new foundations after 1350. And the new orders do not flower and spread. Amongst the old established houses, religious life is at a very low ebb. There are lots of reports of monks neglecting to observe and celebrate the divine offices, reports of the monks living comfortable worldly lifestyles, receiving visits from ladies of ill repute. And it's highly likely that some of those writing accounts of this have their own agenda, they're putting a spin on facts, but there is plenty of evidence of laxity. Abbot John Sudbury of Burton Abbey required a royal pardon in 1412 for various misdemeanours. We don't know quite what he'd been up to, but he'd been up to something. And we know that his bailiffs were encouraged to use pretty heavy-handed tactics to collect taxes, as it Three years later, in 1415, the abbot needed another royal pardon, and this time murder and rape were included on his rap sheet. Amongst the accusations was one of ravishing Marjorie Taverner in his chambers on Christmas Day. And if it's only a relative few monks and nuns who are living in conspicuous luxury, most of them are very comfortably fed and housed by the standards of the time. A study of a large number of monastic skeletons by the Museum of London found clear evidence of a better diet, that they lived longer and healthier lives than lay people. And they also found many skeletons that showed signs of obesity and even syphilis. Chaucer's monk in the Canterbury Tales is depicted as a fat, waddling and gluttonous figure of fun. He's a caricature, but rooted in reality. The kitchen records at Westminster Abbey show the monks consuming on average 6,200 calories a day. This is three times the recommended amount. And having something like 12 ounces of meat, five eggs, two loaves and a gallon of beer every day. And in larger houses, the observance of the canonical hours might be delegated to a subgroup of what were known as cloister monks, freeing up the rest to conduct their business and live much of their lives in the secular world. And grand monastic complexes dominate English towns and cities, most of them less than half full. Amongst the wider population, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the general state of religious life. The consequences will be suppression and the dissolution. I'm going to pick up on that next time. If you've enjoyed this video, hit the like and subscribe buttons and click on the notification bell to be informed when the next video is released. Or you can subscribe by clicking on the rose window over my shoulder.