The convent elected various persons in various ways,
and so divided
were the electors that their votes fell upon seven, of whom Roger
Frank
had the majority … seeing the diversity in the election, and because
through
that diversity the election or appointment devolved upon them,
the abbot commissaries
quashed all the elections as invalid and by the authority
committed to them provided for the same monastery in the person
of the
same Roger, installing him and inducting him into corporeal and
real
possession. (92)
[William Swan, fifteenth-century English clerk]
Fountains had its own fair share of drama in the fifteenth
century, when a violent tussle emerged over the abbacy, following
the death of Abbot Robert Burley in
1410. The appointment of a successor caused several years of strife
and animosity, which took on national and international
dimensions, involving not only the pope, but the king of England,
parliament and the Council of Constance. Discord arose when the
Fountains community
was split over the election of Robert Burley’s successor. As none
of the candidates secured the required two-third majority, the
two English commissioners appointed by Clairvaux,
namely, the abbots of Rievaulx and
Jervaulx, installed Roger Frank,
a monk of Fountains, who (allegedly) had received the greatest
number of votes. This decision provoked outrage and
was vehemently denounced by another contender, John Ripon, the
abbot of
Meaux and one time cellarer of
Fountains. Ripon claimed that the appointment was unorthodox and
brought his complaint to Rome, where he engaged an English
clerk, William Swan, as his proctor. Swan’s account of the proceedings
survives, and provides valuable information regarding the nature
and complexity of events at this time.(93) The
case was damaging to the Order, for Ripon undermined the orthodoxy
of Frank’s
appointment, which was an indictment the commissioners’ decision.
It was also damaging to Frank and Ripon, for both parties cast
aspersion on the other’s character and capability
to preside as abbot of Fountains: whereas Ripon questioned Frank’s
suitability, he denounced Ripon’s conduct as abbot of Meaux and accused
him of wasting the abbey’s resources and wandering around, armed,
in public, without his habit. Ripon managed to convince the pope
(John XXIII), that he was in fact the true candidate since the
account of the election
sent to Cîteaux was misleading, as facts had been withheld. He then
set about evicting Frank from the abbacy. However, Ripon still
needed to convince parliament and also the General
Chapter of his legitimacy. Petitions,
interviews, litigation and paperwork ensued in what became a complicated
and long-drawn out affair. Each side sought to indict the other
and created discord, confusion and violence.(94)
Fountains
was in a state of turmoil, for
although Frank had been driven away from the abbacy, he continued
to exercise authority and retained the common seal, dispensing
the community’s
resources. Moreover, his men launched an attack on Ripon and allegedly
plotted his murder. The abbey was torn, as its tenants took sides,
and Fountains’ granges
were looted and destroyed. The gravity of the situation was such
that the matter was brought to the Council of Constance, and in
October 1415 the
Commons ordered that this discord should be brought to a head and
the abbacy decided one way or the other. The matter was resolved
in Ripon’s
favour. It was agreed that Frank’s appointment in 1410 had been based
on erroneous material; facts had been withheld and a misleading
account of events had
been given to the General Chapter. John Ripon was declared the
true abbot remained in power until his death and burial at Fountains
in1434. The fifteenth-century ‘President’s
Book’ describes him as ‘a man most worthy of praise and
pious remembrance’.(95) Whether
Ripon or Frank was the legitimate candidate, the account of this
complex, confused and damaging affair
underlines the
ambitiousness of men who sought the abbacy of Fountains at this
time, the extent to which they were prepared to fight for this
position, and how events
in a Yorkshire community could command the attention of parliament
and the Western Church.