Most of the Normans
who arrived with William
the Conqueror
in 1066 were devout Christians.
Norman landowners in England gave a considerable amount of
money for the building of churches and monasteries.
The Clare family were
great supporters of the Church. In about 1135, Richard
of Clare, provided
the land and the money for the building of a priory
in Tonbridge. After 1140 the Priory of St Mary Magdalene supplied
the priests for the
villages controlled by the Clare family.
One of the first monasteries
built by the Normans was Canterbury
Priory. With the support of Lanfranc,
Archbishop of Canterbury, it soon became
one of the most important monasteries in England. Lanfranc left instructions
that all future Archbishops of Canterbury
should be elected by
the monks of Canterbury Priory.
The monks of Canterbury
Priory were followers of St. Benedict, who had
established several monasteries in Italy in the 6th century. St. Benedict
insisted that his
monks obeyed certain rules. One rule was that they had to
pray eight times a day. Another rule was that they should work with
their hands. The
monks were encouraged to work in the fields, as well as
doing their own cooking, washing and cleaning.
Benedictine monks were
instructed to eat two simple meals a day and were not allowed to eat
expensive food such as meat. The monks were also told that they should
not spend their time talking to each other. A prosperous monk would
be expected to donate all his personal wealth to
the monastery. While in the monastery a Benedictine monk had to wear
a habit made of dark, coarse, hard-wearing material.
When rich Normans died
they often left some of their money and land to monasteries. People
were especially generous to Canterbury Priory. By 1200 Canterbury
Priory had been given land in Kent, Essex, Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk,
Devon, Oxfordshire and Ireland.
Land owned by Canterbury
Priory was a source of great wealth. Twice a year, at Easter and Michaelmas,
a monk would travel to the villages owned by Canterbury Priory to
collect the rents from their tenants. By the end of the 13th century
Canterbury Priory was making a net profit of over £2,000 a year
from the land that it owned.
Another source of income
was the collection of religious relics associated with Thomas
Becket.
People suffering from diseases and illnesses believed they would be
cured if they touched these holy relics. In gratitude, the pilgrims
donated money to the priory. In some years it was not unusual for
the monastery to receive over a £1,000 from grateful pilgrims.
Despite these revenues,
the priory was deeply in debt. In 1285 the priory owed £4,924.18s.
4d. Although the monks had taken a vow of poverty, it became obvious
that they were spending much of their large income on themselves.
Even with an income of £3,000 a year the monks thought it necessary
to borrow money to help pay for their expensive lifestyle.
The monks spent a vast
amount of money on food. One visitor was surprised when he discovered
that the monks enjoyed sixteen-course meals, including the serving
of meat, a food that St. Benedict had forbidden them to eat. The monks
were especially fond of fish. The priory accounts show that in some
years the monks spent nearly £250 a year on fish. Wine from
France was another luxury item that the monks enjoyed.
The monks employed a large
number of servants to look after them. By the end of the 13th century,
the accounts reveal that there were more servants in Canterbury Priory
than monks. The monks employed people to buy and cook their food,
wait on them during dinner, tend their gardens, look after their animals,
wash their clothes, and to clean and repair the monastery. The monks
also paid actors and musicians to entertain them.
Benedictine monks took
a vow to help the poor. The priory appointed an almoner
who was in charge of organising their charity work. He had his own
building outside the gates of the priory. However, only about £20
a year was given
to the almoner for this work. This was less than what the monks
were spending on clothes every year.
A study of the priory
accounts reveal that between 1284 and 1373, less than
one per cent of the almoner's income was given to the poor who sought
help from the priory. The rest of the almoner's money was spent on
maintaining the household and in gifts to the monks in the priory,
who claimed that
they were so poor they needed financial help.
(1)
William
of Malmesbury, Deeds of the Kings
of the English (c. 1140)
To be a
member of the Cistercian order... is now believed to be the surest
way to heaven... Certainly many of their regulations seem severe...
they wear nothing made with furs or linen... They have two tunics
with hoods, but no additional garments... they do not take more than
one meal a day, except on Sunday. They never leave the cloister but
for the purpose of labour, nor do they ever speak, either there or
elsewhere, save only to the abbot or prior... While they look after
the stranger and the sick, they inflict intolerable tortures on their
own bodies, for the health of their souls.
(2)
Walter
Map, Courtiers' Trifles (c.
1215)
The Cistercians came to England... They obtain land from
a rich man... by much pretending of innocence and... putting in God
at every other word. The wood is cut down and levelled into a plain...
bushes give place to barley, willows to wheat... in order to give
them full time for these operations, their prayers have to be somewhat
shortened... The Cistercians do not eat meat... Yet they keep pigs
to the number of many thousands, and sell the bacon - though perhaps
not quite all of it. The heads, legs, and feet they neither give away,
throw away, nor sell. What becomes of them God knows.
(3)
Statement issued by a group of Cistercians in 1152.
We reject... fur garments, the linen and the mattresses on
the beds, and also the variety of dishes at meals... we will live
by our own labour... and condemn the use of tithes... We will not
live in cities, towns or villages, but in places far from the haunts
of men.
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