July 10, 2012
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Rievaulx Abbey
The Dissolution of the Catholic Church in England by Henry VIII in 1539 is probably the biggest origin of the ruined abbeys that dot the country. I've posted some pictures (most recently in Winter) of St. Mary's Abbey in York. But we took a small side trip to Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire to see one of the largest and most intact ruins. At its height during the Dark Age religious fervor, the abbey held around 800 Cistercian monks. The Cistercians succeeded the Benedictine monks philosophically, trying to more closely follow the austere rules of St. Benedict, too far from which (it was felt by the Cistercians) the Benedictine order had deviated. Eventually, the Cistercians, too, succumbed to more worldly conforts as the result of its success.
As the Catholic Church lost its hold under Henry VIII, all of the monastic orders lost influence and, along with it, members under the (often violent) pressure from the English crown, and in 1539, Henry VIII closed all of the abbeys and confiscated their wealth to fund the crown. By that time, the roster of monks at Rievaulx had dwindled to around 18 or so monks when the Abbot finally bowed under the pressure of the crown and closed the monastary. The treasure was looted and handed to Henry, and the resources that couldn't be moved or had no immediate value to the crown were stripped and absorbed into the local populace, including the very stones used to construct the abbey.
Despite the depletion, a large chunk of the abbey still stands and the grounds "resdiscovered" after much silt and topsoil had buried the larger grounds. It was excavated and continues to be preserved as an English Heritage site.
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