Fountains Abbey: History
• Origins
• Sources
• Foundation
• Consolidation
• Trials and Tribulations
• Strength and Stability
• End of Monastic Life

Fountains Abbey: Buildings
• Precinct
• Church
• Cloister
• Sacristy
• Library
• Chapter House
• Parlour
• Dormitory
• Warming House
• Day Room
• Refectory
• Kitchen
• Lay Brothers' Range
• Abbots House
• Infirmary
• Outer Court
• Gatehouse
• Guesthouse

Fountains Abbey: Lands

Fountains Abbey: People

‘Honour and glory to God alone’: the abbacy of Marmaduke Huby

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A twentieth-century perspective
‘Marmaduke Huby stands out as by far the most distinguished of Cistercian abbots of his age and as the last of his race.’
[David Knowles, Religious Orders III, p. 37]

Marmaduke Huby was and remains one of the best-known and most greatly respected abbots of Fountains and indeed of the Order in England. He was celebrated by his contemporaries and esteemed by the highest authorities in the country, such as Henry VII and Cardinal Wolsey; modern scholarship has dubbed him the most distinguished abbot in the Middle Ages (see left).(114) Huby’s talents and dedication left an imprint on every aspect of monastic life at Fountains, from recruitment and estate management, to monastic discipline and the architecture. Indeed, for many modern-day visitors, the defining feature of Fountains is the magnificent tower that Huby constructed, which now looms over the site.

Coded letters
In the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries commissaries of the Cistercian chapter in England and Wales faced a problem: whereas Cîteaux demanded a tax from all its abbeys, the king ruled that no money should be taken out of the country; letters were checked at the ports just in case they mentioned any transfers of money across the water. Abbot Huby found an ingenious way around this problem and in his letters to the abbot of Cîteaux he referred to the various coins as ‘angels’, ‘roses’, ‘lilies’, the terms commonly used to describe these coins which had images of roses, angels, lilies etc impressed on them. Huby’s letters, which speak of angels and flowers, therefore seemed innocent, but in fact were notifications of moneys that had been sent to France. Huby’s method of alerting the abbot of Cîteaux was evidently effective, and even modern readers have been duped by his code.
[See C. Talbot, ‘Marmaduke Huby, abbot of Fountains’, p. 175.]

Huby’s achievements were not confined to Fountains and he played an active and energetic role in the administration of the Order in England and Wales. He officiated on many occasions as a commissioner for the national chapter. This involved visiting communities to deal with disciplinary matters, such as the deposition of unruly abbots and the imprisonment of miscreants. As a commissioner, Huby was also responsible for raising the tax that Cîteaux demanded from all Cistercian abbeys. On one occasion he organised a shipment of 1000lbs of lead to Cîteaux, for use at the General Chapter; this included a selection of plates and salvers, and it had taken Huby two years to gather together.(115) It was not always easy to meet Cîteaux’s demands, especially when resources were low and when the transport of money out of the kingdom was illegal. Huby, however, showed considerable resourcefulness, and sent coded letters to the General Chapter, notifying them of moneys sent.