Friars
The
first Franciscan friars, named after St. Francis of Assissi, arrived
in England in 1224 during Henry III's time. Franciscan friars
were itinerant and denied themselves worldly goods. If
Friar Tuck were a friar then he would not have been, as often stated,
of Fountains Abbey as this establishment was manned by monks
of the Cistercian order who became wealthy and lived within the cloistered
walls
For the "Curtal Friar", Phillips and Keatman suggest
that curtal refers to the cord around the friar's waist, they also
state friars were called "tucked friars' as they could tuck
their habits under this cord. This it is surmised gives us the popularised
name Friar Tuck1. However the term curtal
means ""to dock" in reference to the cutting of the hair in the form
of a tonsure. So the myth at best remains muddled.
Local religious houses were at:
1. Nostell Priory ("North Stall")
near Wakefield was established in 1120, originally as a church to St.
James, it possessed a large fish pond. The priory as such was refounded
by Lord Robert de Laci of Pontefract, this time dedicated to St. Oswald
for the Augustinian Order.
2. Monk Bretton Priory near Barnsley, a Cluniac
priory established in 1154 by Cluniac monks, an order of Benedictine
monks, from St. John's Priory at Pontefract. Both Bretton and Ponefract
houses were established and patronised by the De Laci family. A 'battle'
ensued for control of Bretton between the monks of Pontefract and
those at Bretton which lasted for over one hundred years. The brothers
at Ponefract could see that Bretton, which became the second largest
monastery in South Yorkshire, was a wealthy house. In fact we know
that the Cluniac zeal diminished in the 1100's and monastic reform
took place by absorption into the larger orders, eventually in 1281
the monks of Bretton joined the Benedictine Order. We might note here
that the church at Halifax was given to the Cluniac brothers of Lewes
by William II De Warrene, Lord of the Wakefield Manor.
3. Norton Priory on the River Went. Very
little is known about this priory except the name and the presence
of ancient stone coffins and some fishponds on the River Went.
|
Stone Coffins at Norton Priory, near Campsall, Yorkshire.
|
4. Fountains Abbey in "Fountains Dale" [Cistercian]
Black Friars (Dominicans) arrived in England at the same time as
Franciscans (Greyfriars) and both orders were well established
by the time of the Lancastrian Revolt. The Cistercians had arrived
earlier but quickly established themselves in large monasteries
(the residence of monks).
Later their wealth became both a source of concern
for the religious and laity and one of conflict with Henry VIII
leading to the eventual "dissolution" of the monasteries
in 1540.
Friars: Friars did not belong to any particular
monastic house but to a general order, working in the secular
world as individuals.
Order
|
a.k.a.
|
Papal approval
|
Appearance in England
|
Franciscans
|
Grey Friars
Friars Minor.
|
1209
|
1224
|
Dominicans
|
Black Friars*
Friars Preachers
|
1216
|
~1224
|
Carmellites
|
White Friars
|
1245
|
> 1245
|
Augustinians
|
Austin Friars
White Friars
|
1256
|
>1256
|
*Dominican or Black Friars in Yorkshire:
Friary of Black Friars, St. Richard's associated with Thomas's
Hospital, Tanshelf, Pontefract.
Friary of Black Friars,York.*
Friary of Black Friars, Beverley.
Friary of Black Friars, Scarborough.
Friary of Black Friars, Yarm.
* Also at King's Langley, Herts.
Monks: Monks were attached to a specific cloistered
community, with no direct contact to the outside world.
|
Order |
a.k.a
|
Examples
|
Cistercians
|
White Monks
|
Originally Citeaux, in England
Rievaulx, Roche, Fountains and Melrose abbeys.
|
Benedictines
|
Black Monks
|
St. Mary's,York.
|
Praemonstratensians
|
-
|
Beauchief Abbey.
|
Cluniac an order of Benedictines
|
-
|
St. John's, Pontefract.
Monk Bretton Priory. [Benedictine from 1280]
|
In early Robin Hood ballads the monks are referred to as 'black-headed
monks' from St. Mary's York, which would infer that they were
Benedictine monks of this house.
Home
Sources:
1. Phillips & Keatman. Robin Hood: The Man
Behind The Myth.
Copyright © Tim Midgley 2000, revised
18th August, 2009.
|