A rich and wide-ranging body of surviving evidence
sheds considerable light on the lives of the monks and lay-brothers who
belonged to Fountains during the Middle Ages. Written documents
include charters granting (or confirming) lands and rights to the
community,(2) letters, royal privileges
and papal bulls. A history of the abbey from its foundation to
c.1220 is recorded in the
Narratio de fundatione Fontanis monasterii, the
foundation history of the abbey.(3) Interesting
and important sources for the later history
of Fountains are the ‘President’s Book’, the ‘Bursar’s
book’ and the ‘Memorandum Book of Thomas Swinton’.
These were compiled during the abbacy of John
Greenwell 1442-71.(4) The ‘President’s
Book’ chronicles the abbots
of Fountains from its foundation until Greenwell’s abbacy,
although the earlier material is taken from the Narratio. The ‘Bursar’s
Book’ is a neatly-written record of Abbot John’s household
expenses from 1456 to 1459, but is much more than a collection
of facts and figures. The book provides a wealth of information
regarding the daily life and administration of the monastery and
of the abbot’s household. It reveals, for example, that in
1457 the abbot travelled to two of Fountains’ daughter-houses,
Meaux and Woburn,
for the installation of its abbots, and that payments were made
to men who directed the party through unfamiliar
territory. We learn that the abbot received a gift of ‘sealfish’ from
the prior of Newminster,
that deerskin was bought for his boots, and that he served calves,
faggots and figs at his table. The ‘Bursar’s
Book’ records all purchases made by the community, from felt
hats and bell-strings, to urinals and a pair of clavichords. Unfortunately,
the book has suffered over the years from dampness and mice, but
still retains its vellum cover. It now forms Leeds City Archives
VR 5497; a printed edition is available in Memorials of Fountains III.
An insight to the financial administration
of the abbey is provided by the 'Memorandum
Book' of Thomas
Swinton, 1446-58’.
Swinton was at this time an important office–holder of Fountains,
although it is not certain which office he held; he presided as
abbot of Fountains from 1471-1478.
The ‘Memorandum Book’ is a small, rather untidy book
of accounts and is now preserved in the British Library. It includes
information regarding the wages paid to servants and tenants of
the abbey and of rents received, of debts owing to the abbey and
purchases made. It also reveals details relating to Swinton’s
business trips, such as his expenses and transactions, and offers
a wealth of unusual information relating to Fountains at this time.
For example, there are details about the abbey’s sales of
manure and hides, of purchases of livestock and gloves, and of
the help of women at harvest. We learn that when Swinton was at
York on All Saints Day, he and his companions dined on goose,
but during Lent they kept the fast and ate fish, sometimes with
mustard and salt, and perhaps also figs and raisins.