Saturday, March 21, 2009

Moors and Ruins


There are lots of scenic, secret places in Yorkshire.  Lots of ruins suitable for hiding.....something!  Like Rieveaulx Abbey....which houses the named saint of an old friend of ours, Prior Aelred:
Rievaulx Abbey, founded in 1132, was the first Cistercian abbey in the north of England. The abbey's greatest importance came during the rule of its third abbot, St Aelred (1147-67), when many of its surviving buildings were begun. Under Aelred, the community grew to 140 choir monks and perhaps 500 lay-brothers and lay servants.
When the abbey was suppressed in 1538, there were only 22 monks in residence, though they were supported by no fewer than 102 paid servants.
I'm sure Mimi will do fine despite the minor setbacks. Perhaps it's Maddy who should be worried!

3 comments:

Leonard said...

Great ratio of servants vs. management...probably similar to the Palace of Akinola in Nigeria.

Unknown said...

I may have the details and some of the facts wrong, but I'm sure the gist of this story is correct!

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

The "servants" or "lay brothers" of the big Benedictine and Cisterciensian Houses of yore were Serfs.

Serfs were a kind of Slaves (varying conditions over Time).

I find this, often "forgotten" fact, one of the most shocking things about the pretended "religious" life lived in times passed.