The Late Medieval Cistercian Monastery of Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire

A previously unknown manuscript from Fountains Abbey, a wealthy Cistercian monastery, has been identified through analysis of its secular records. This discovery sheds new light on the abbey's economic strategies and historical significance during the 14th and 15th centuries, including its response to the Black Death and an abbot's allegiance to the Lancastrian cause during the Wars of the Roses. The study reveals how Fountains Abbey managed vast landholdings across Yorkshire, generating wealth through wool production, agriculture, fisheries, tanning, mining, and metalworking, rivaling aristocratic fortunes. By tracing data from original charters through cartularies, the research also highlights the worldly skills of the monastic community and their adaptive record-keeping practices.

Spence, M. (2020). The Late Medieval Cistercian Monastery of Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire. Medieval Monastic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1484/m.mms-eb.5.110111