Abbeys are like very big Cathedrals but they have rooms for monks to stay in and live in, they worship God at least eight times a day: breakfast; lunch; and tea.
Why did people join the abbey?
Some people left ordinary lives to become monk's. If you joined the abbey you had privileges, such as good food and hospitality; some people couldn't afford food! So that is why they joined.
Other people joined just because they were very religious, and wanted to worship God with other people. Monastries' were very wealthy in those days.
What are the differences between 'choir monks and 'lay brothers'?
Choir monks-
Choir monks spend most of their time in the abbey praying and meditating, they knew how to read and write, and they were very religious; they hoped on achieving mystical communication with God.
Lay brothers-
Lay brothers are the workers of an abbey, they were mason, tanners, shoemakers, and smiths or they brewed and backed. A large role of the lay brothers was involved in farming, looking after the animals (mainly sheep) and managing the crops.
Differences-
The differences are that the choir monks are well educated and very religious, while the lay brothers are not so well educated still are very religious but also have a trade. They share the abbey but are cut off from each other by screens. The lay brothers had their own altar, they attended fewer services. They had longer hours of sleep and ate more, because they were the labour force of the abbey
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What did monks
When the monks and nuns wanted to join the abbey had to make three vows: the first one was called 'the vow of poverty'; the second vow was called 'chastity'; the third vow was called 'the vow of obedience'. 'The vow of poverty' meant you had to give up all your personal possessions. 'Chastity' meant you had to stay single. 'The vow of obedience' was a vow to promise to obey the church and the monastery.
The nuns and the monks did not always keep their promises and they disobeyed some of the vows!
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How were the sites chosen for each abbey?
The choice of 'no abbey' or 'abbey' varied on what the land was like. If the ground was not good for grazing sheep or very near a town or city the monks and nuns would not let them build the abbey at that site. On the other hand if the ground was good for grazing sheep, in the country and a very scenic site they would want to build an abbey there. They usually built them near rivers.
The Cistercian monks, however, tended to build their abbeys in 'dismal and savage sites'.
Sometimes the local landowners gave the monks some land.
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Who paid for the building to be built?
Taxes had to be paid to the church in those days so the abbeys would always get a little money from that. The Lay brothers earned money for the abbey from the goods they traded, and managing the farms. Landowners often donated land to the monks.
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Who built the actual abbey itself?
Before they built the abbey the people who were going to be in charge of the monks would have some monks who would help build the abbey.
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How did the abbey become wealthy?
The abbeys' became wealthy because lots of people went there: parents send their children to get educated, people went there to worship etc. So in the end the abbey gets a bit of money and it gets more and more popular. The main wealth came from the land which was donated and from agriculture.
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How did the
The monks or nuns of the abbey would help the people living around it; and if you had to live on the street with no money for food you could go to the abbey and the monks would let you stay in a room and have food for a while. They would look after you if you were badly wounded and even give you medicine if you needed it! They would sew clothes for other people than themselves, and help people in times of need.
Briefly ... they helped the surrounding villages as much as they could without becoming just a place to go on a boring day! The Lay Brothers provided services e.g. Black Smiths, tanners, for the local people.
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The abbey layout
The abbey layout is always (supposed to be) shaped as a cross:
Click on the picture above, to go to the catholic encyclopedia. (From the Catholic Encyclopedia)
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What did the monks do all day? / What was their daily routine
Choir monks worship God eight times a day. Monks woke up at two O' clock in the morning. Their day included prayers, writing, teaching, and devoting themselves to God. Most monks would do some scriptorium writing.
The Lay Brothers most important duty was worshipping God but they were also skilled in many crafts. They were mainly farmers; at harvest they would sometimes pray in the fields. Or spend the day doing their job; e.g. pottery, mining, forging.
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Why were abbeys so important in Yorkshire?
Abbeys were very important in Yorkshire because they were the offshoots from the great abbeys of York. At that time York was the capital of Northern England. Yorkshire was a good place for abbeys anyway because there were lots of rivers, and stone to build it out of; not forgetting lots of land to build the abbeys on.