Fountains Abbey (Part Two).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Fountains Abbey,

Yorkshire, England.

Photo: 28 June 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Diliff.

Attribution: Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The roofless ruins of Arnsburg Abbey, Germany.

Deutsch: Ruine der Klosterkirche Arnsburg bei Lich, Hessen, Germany.

Photo: 13 May 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Presse03.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Arnsburg Abbey (Kloster Arnsburg) is a former Cistercian Monastery in the Wetterau,

Hesse, Germany. It was founded from Eberbach Abbey in 1174. Secularised in 1803,

and abandoned by its Monks in 1810, its secular buildings were given to the

Counts Solms-Laubach, who adapted them as their Seat. The Abbey Church stands

as a ruin near Lich, Hesse; since 1960, it has been the site of a War Memorial.

After Henry Murdac was elected to the Abbacy, in 1143, the small stone Church and timber Claustral (Cloistered) buildings were replaced. Within three years, an Aisled Nave had been added to the stone Church, and the first permanent Claustral buildings, built in stone and roofed in tile, had been completed.

In 1146, an angry mob, displeased with Abbot Murdac's rôle in opposing the election of William FitzHerbert to the Archbishopric of York, attacked the Abbey and burnt down all but the Church and some surrounding buildings. The Community recovered swiftly from the attack and founded four Daughter Houses.

Henry Murdac resigned the Abbacy, in 1147, to become Archbishop of York, and was replaced, first by Maurice, Abbot of Rievaulx, then, on the resignation of Maurice, by Thorald. Thorald was forced by Henry Murdac to resign after two years in Office. The next Abbot, Richard, held the Post until his death in 1170 and restored the Abbey's stability and prosperity. In twnty years as Abbot, he supervised a huge building programme, which involved completing repairs to the damaged Church and building more accommodation for the increasing number of recruits. Only the Chapter House was completed before he died and the work was ably continued by his successor, Robert of Pipewell, under whose Rule the Abbey gained a reputation for caring for the needy.

The Nave,

Fountains Abbey,

Yorkshire, England,

(compare with photo of Arnsburg Abbey, Germany, above).

Date: 5 September 2006 (original upload date).

Source: Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is/was here.

Transfer was stated to be made by User:Jalo.

Author: Original uploader was LordHarris at en.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

The next Abbot was William, who presided over the Abbey from 1180 to 1190, and was succeeded by Ralph Haget, who had entered Fountains Abbey at the age of thirty, as a Novice, after pursuing a Military career. During the European famine, of 1194, Haget ordered the construction of shelters, in the vicinity of the Abbey, and provided daily food rations to the poor, enhancing the Abbey's reputation for caring for the poor and attracting more grants from wealthy benefactors.

In the first half of the 13th-Century, Fountains Abbey increased in reputation and prosperity under the next three Abbots: John of York (1203 – 1211); John of Hessle (1211 – 1220); John of Kent (1220 – 1247). They were burdened with an inordinate amount of administrative duties and increasing demands for money in taxation and levies, but managed to complete another massive expansion of the Abbey's buildings. This included enlarging the Church and building an Infirmary.

In the second half of the 13th-Century, the Abbey was in more straitened circumstances. It was presided over by eleven Abbots, and became financially unstable, largely due to forward selling its wool crop, and the Abbey was criticised for its dire material and physical state, when it was visited by Archbishop John Romeyn in 1294. The run of disasters that befell the Community continued into the Early-14th-Century, when Northern England was invaded by the Scots and there were further demands for taxes. The culmination of these misfortunes was the Black Death of 1349. The loss of manpower and income, due to the ravages of the Plague, was almost ruinous.

Deutsch: Westansicht der Ruine von Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire, England.

Blickrichtung Ost links und Süd rechts.

Eigenes Panoramabild, zusammengesetzt aus mehreren eigenen

Digitalbildern, aufgenommen 27. August 2005.

Das originale Bild

Image:Fountains Abbey view 2005-08-27.jpg geht noch weiter nach rechts.

English: Fountains Abbey ruins seen from West, looking East and South. This Abbey in North Yorkshire, England, is a ruined Cistercian Monastery, founded in 1132 and operating until 1539.

Panoramic image, stitched from own digital photos taken 2005-08-27.

The original photo Image:Fountains Abbey view 2005-08-27.jpg extended further right,

this has been cropped.

Français: Les ruines de l'Abbaye de Fountains vues de l'ouest, en regardant vers l'est et le sud. Cette abbaye située au nord du Yorksire, en Angleterre, a été fondée en 1132 et fut utilisée jusqu'en 1539.

Image panoramique issue de l'assemblage de photos originales prises le 27 aout 2005.

Photo: 27 August 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Klaus with K.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A further complication arose as a result of the Papal Schism of 1378–1409. Fountains Abbey, along with other English Cistercian Houses, was told to break off any contact with the Mother House of Citeaux, France, which supported a rival Pope. This resulted in the Abbots forming their own Chapter to rule the Order in England and, consequently, they became increasingly involved in internecine politics.

In 1410, following the death of Abbott Burley of Fountains, the Community was riven by several years of turmoil over the election of his successor. Contending candidates John Ripon, Abbot of Meaux, and Roger Frank, a Monk of Fountains, were locked in discord, until 1415, when Ripon was finally appointed and presided until his death in 1434.

Under Abbots John Greenwell (1442–1471), Thomas Swinton (1471–8), John Darnton (1478–95), who undertook some much needed restoration of the fabric of the Abbey, including notable work on the Church, and Marmaduke Huby (1495–1526), Fountains regained stability and prosperity.

Fountains Abbey,

Yorkshire, England,

seen from the South-West.

Photo: 27 August 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Klaus with K.

(Wikimedia Commons)

PART THREE FOLLOWS