Discord and strife: the granges as centres of dispute and uproar

Illuminated initial, showing an astrologer observing the heavens and a devil in a magic circle
[From the 'Omne Bonum' of Jacobus Anglicus]
© British Library
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Life on the granges was not always peaceful. The lay-brothers who staffed these complexes did not always observe the Cistercian way of life and in some cases revolted against their abbot and monastic officials. In 1195 the lay-brothers of Cymmer, in Wales, were so outraged by their abbot's prohibition of ale that they stole his horse in retaliation. The abbot of Meaux, in Yorkshire, found himself fleeing an angry mob of his lay-brothers in 1206, after he had deprived them of ale. The enraged brethren attacked their abbot and cellarer, pulling the cellarer from his horse and pursuing the couple for several miles. As a grand finale, the insurgents barricaded themselves in the monks' dormitory and refused to give the monks any food.(45) The abbot of Meaux faced further trouble in 1220, when he learned that several of the lay-brethren who managed the granges had disregarded the regulations. Seeking to humble their pride, he sent them to care for the cattle and pigs.(46) Kirkstall Abbey had its fair share of tumult. Adam, the granger, of Micklethwaite, was amongst those accused of beating the forester of Clifford to death; Peter, the granger of Barnoldswick, cut off the ear of one of the serving boys who had stolen two loaves of bread.(47)