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Tag Archives: Abbeys

A Study of Abbeys Part II

18 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History, Misc

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Abbeys, Borvo, King Alfred, libraries, manuscripts, monks

AbbeysLife inside an Abbey was mostly one of hard, physical work, scholarship and prayer.  Some monasteries and Orders encouraged the existence of “lay brothers” – monks that did the majority of the physical labour in the fields and the workshops, whilst the fully-fledged monks were able to concentrate on prayer and learning.

The Abbey was under the authority of an Abbot or Abbess, beneath whom there was the Prior or the Prioress who would run the monastery in the Abbot’s absence.  Other offices included the Cellarer who was in charge of food storage and preparation, and specialists in areas such as building, farming, masonry, education and caring for the sick.

A day in the Abbey would consist of regular prayer services in the Church every three hours, throughout the day and night, and when prayers weren’t taking place monks would spend their time on other tasks that would help grow and maintain a self-sufficient community.

Abbeys grew their own food, did all their own building and often became quite prosperous doing so.  Certain Abbeys, such as Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, grew to have a huge wealth through raising sheep and selling the wool.

Throughout the medieval period, Abbeys were the only places for scholarship and learning, with their inhabitants often being the only educated members of society.  Monasteries were the libraries for ancient manuscripts and many monks occupied their time by copying out sacred texts in a room in the Abbeys called the Scriptorium.  They also created “illuminated manuscripts” which were beautifully detailed Bibles and Prayer books that had images on most pages.  One of the most famous, the Lindisfarne Gospel, now resides in the British museum and is regarded as one of the most precious remnants of early Christian Britain.

When the Dissolution of the Monasteries occurred, one of the biggest loses was to culture, as many of the monastic libraries that were full of the priceless illuminated manuscripts were destroyed with little or no regard for their value.

The decline of the monasteries occurred gradually.  During the early 14th century there were as many as 500 different monastic houses but the Black Death in 1348 wiped out many nuns and monks and most houses never fully recovered. Dissolution

When Henry VIII then engineered his break with Rome in 1538, one of his first targets were the very rich monastic houses.  He began by confiscating the property of the small, less powerful houses and by making the buildings themselves unsuitable for use.  This was followed the next year by the larger houses, with the power of the King over the Church, plus his greed for money, being the driving factors.  The buildings were either sold to the wealthy gentry as country estates or used as sources for cheap building materials for the local inhabitants.  Although a few survived in the form of cathedrals or parish churches, such as Canterbury Cathedral, Durham Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, almost all the more isolated ones, including the Cistercian monasteries, were destroyed.

Shaftesbury Abbey, founded by King Alfred, was destroyed in 1539 and Thomas Hardy– whose own ashes are buried in the Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey – wrote of its ruins:

“Vague imaginings of its castle, it’s three mints, it’s magnificent apsidal Abbey, the chief glory of South Wessex, its twelve churches, its shrines, chantries, hospitals, its gabled freestone mansions – all now ruthlessly swept away – throw the visitor, even against his will, into a pensive melancholy which the stimulating atmosphere and limitless landscape around him can scarcely dispel.”

Denny Bradbury, whose second novel, Borvo, is to be released imminently, talks of how the inspiration for the journey her main character Borvo undertakes was enhanced by an early visit to Shaftesbury Abbey when she was a student at Bristol University.  As can be read here Denny talks of how the Abbey spoke to her in such a way that years later, when writing Borvo, she felt it was natural to make it part of the character, Borvo’s, story.

The novel is set during the reign of King Alfred and when the monasteries were dissolved, Hyde Abbey was one that was ruined in an act of historical vandalism, with the tombs of a number of the Saxon Kings being destroyed.  Some of the bones from the tombs were collected into caskets and placed above the Chancel in Westminster Cathedral – and King Alfred’s bones are believed to be amongst them.

Elizabeth Bridgefield

To purchase one of Denny’s books please click on the images below or contact Denny directly at email denisebradbury@btinternet.com.
The Reunion Denagerie of Poems by Denny Bradbury

A Study of Abbeys Part I

04 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Misc

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Abbeys, Borvo, Christianity, King Alfred, monks, Paganism

AbbeysAn abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent that is ruled under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess.  The earliest monasteries originated in Egypt and were places where wandering hermits gathered, with the first monks living on their own but meeting up in a common chapel.

By the fifth century, the monastic movement had spread as far as Ireland and St. Patrick set out on his mission to convert the Irish to Christianity.  The Irish monks then spread the word of Christianity as far south as Cornwall, to Wales and as far north as Scotland.

The medieval period, known as “The Middle Ages” lasted from the 5th century through to the 15th and it was during this period that the monasteries and abbeys were established – the first being a Benedictine monastery begun by St. Benedict in 529AD.  St. Benedict’s vision was of a community of people who would live and work in prayer and in isolation from the rest of the outside world and he did this through the introduction of the Benedictine Rule, which was brought to the British Isles with St. Augustine when he landed in Kent in 597AD.

Over the next one hundred years a wide variety of orders of monks and nuns were introduced into many communities throughout Britain, the only difference being the religious specifics of each Order and how strictly the rules themselves were applied. monks

Those who occupied the medieval monasteries and convents were the wealthiest land owners of the time- often wealthier than the Kings and Queens themselves.  Such wealth was accumulated through the beliefs of the existence of Heaven and Hell.  People were taught from childhood that the only way to be sure of securing a place in heaven was through the Church hence they would willingly work for the Church and its land for no pay.  Every family also had to pay an annual tithe which was one tenth of their yearly income and whenever a marriage, funeral or baptism was held the Church would receive fees from those attending.

As the monks and nuns who lived and worked in the medieval monasteries were considered to be exceptionally holy, abbeys dominated the Church of the time.  Denny Bradbury, author of Borvo, her soon to be released second novel, writes of a time when the introduction and influence of Christianity began to play an important part in England’s history, with King Alfred himself founding a number of monasteries such as Athelney Abbey in celebration of his regaining the kingdom and one at Shaftesbury for his daughter Princess Aethelgirtha.  Borvo tackles the subject of the battle between Paganism and Christianity, with the main character himself attending a monastery.  It is to be noted that it was a monastery that was the first place the Pagan Vikings attacked Britain in 793 – the monastery at Lindisfarne, a holy island situated off of the Northumberland coast in the North East of England.

The Vikings continuously raided and pillaged the monasteries and as these buildings were the main locations of basic education at the time this meant that such educational standards were gradually eroded.  To counteract this, Alfred founded a court school to educate the nobles, encouraging the great scholars of the day to take up residence in England.  Christian teachings encouraged the idea that Kings were God’s representatives on earth and King Alfred was one who always managed to use this to his advantage.

When Alfred died in 899 his body was initially buried at the Old Minster in Winchester but at a later date was transferred to the New Minister which Alfred himself had founded – called Hyde Abbey.

Abbeys had many functions – they existed to serve God through worship and prayer; to help the poor, the elderly, the sick and the travellers; offered a certain number of places to teaching people the elements of reading, writing and Latin and were virtually the only sources of education in the Middle Ages.

Medieval Abbeys played a large part in alleviating the suffering of poverty and ignorance that existed during the days of war and hardship and in Part II we will discuss further the role and hierarchy of those who lived and worked in the abbeys and the devastating effect of the dissolution of the monasteries.

Elizabeth Bridgefield

To purchase one of Denny’s books please click on the images below or contact Denny directly at email denisebradbury@btinternet.com.
The Reunion Denagerie of Poems by Denny Bradbury

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