03/12/2024
“What medieval monks and nuns didn’t want you to know” Our guest speaker on Monday night was David Banks, a guide from the National Trust at Fountains Abbey who started his talk by showing us a surprising image of a nun and a monk in the stocks in the 13th century, clearly illustrating that any wrong doings, which were common, were punished! Yorkshire had the largest number of monastic houses, totalling 150, with North Yorkshire having 75 of those. Recruitment of monks from the age of fifteen came from nobility as they needed to be able to read and write Latin. Lay brothers were peasants and farmers. Nuns were recruited from the age of thirteen. Research into the Bishops’ registers has found reports of visits to the monasteries, where any misdemeanours were listed. The monks worked an 18 hour day from 2am to 8pm with only one meal at noon. Monks were punished by being whipped by fellow monks for being late to service; sleeping in; eating extra food; excessive drinking; telling lies or physical contact. There were instances recorded of murder, with one monk being imprisoned in chains for 15 years at Fountains Abbey for killing a fellow monk with his belt knife. Both monks and nuns often travelled into the communities to help the poor and needy and where other “temptations” could be found, at times resulting in pregnancy! After the dissolution of the monasteries, 4000 monks and nuns were displaced. Many of the monks had been herbalists and were given King’s money to create apothecaries in towns and villages, the precursor of the pharmacies of today. Nuns often went to be governesses.
