Monks had some very dirty habits
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THEIR GRAVE black garb was a decoy, it seems, their reputation for monastic rectitude a wild exaggeration. The monks of the Middle Ages in Yorkshire bent the rules and were shamelessly sinful.
The licentious nature of the Augustinian Black Canons, revealed in research for York University's Borthwick Institute, depicts Kirkham Priory, established in 1121 on the banks of the Derwent in Malton, as a hotbed of indiscipline.
The Archbishop of York is depicted as a baffled bystander amid the mayhem, trying to keep order among the canons, who were hugely popular with locals and who demonstrated a cunning that would have taxed today's Fraud Squad.
In the 13th century a prior explains in letters to the archbishop the case of a canon, Thomas, who forged two seals and applied them to forged letters, requesting money. On the run in Northumberland with these medieval- style credit cards, he obtained money to finance "high living the length and breadth of England". He was captured and had been in the priory jail for 17 years before the archbishop inquired of his crime.
For all the revelry, the clerics did good work. "They went out and about, helping people to interpret documents," said a spokesman for English Heritage, which runs the abbey. "They were a kind of social services for their day. They ... did a lot of good."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments