| Abstract | Paper -a:
The guest house at Kirkstall Abbey, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, has the distinction of being the most fully excavated in the country. During the years 1979 and 1981-1986 many thousands of items and item fragments were unearthed at the site, the majority of which date from the medieval period and were deposited by people visiting the Cistercian community. This paper evaluates different categories of objects and the kind of activities suggested by them, thereby deriving a portrait of the monks' guests. Questions of particular concern are social standing, gender, and the purpose of the guest's visit to the abbey.
Paper -b:
Following the death of Abbot Robert Burley in May 1410, his successor was named as Roger Frank, but his election was subsequently challenged by another of the candidates, John Ripon, then abbot of daughter-house Meaux, and previously bursar at Fountains. For three years Ripon persisted with objections and, after several failed attempts, eventually in 1413 he succeeded in obtaining papal endorsement, which enabled him to evict Frank and assume the abbacy. Even so, the issue dragged on for a further three years as Frank appealed to Parliament and to the papal court to try and overturn the ruling. Ostensibly, surviving records of Fountains carry no references to the matter, but on closer inspection they appear to reveal a tale of divided loyalties, violence, and six years of disruption to the life of the monastery.
Paper -c:
This paper will examine the relationship between Fountains, the Percy family and Sallay Abbey in the 12th and 13th centuries, and how, as ever, Fountains acquired exactly what they wanted as the changing relationship with donors, land market, and the economy developed. The crucial date is 1296 when Fountains exchanged their property in Langstrothdale at the head of Wharfedale for the forest and manor of Litton at the head of adjoining Littondale, exchanging a predominantly cattle and horse-breeding one for a vast mostly manorialised arable-based holding. The paper will outline how Fountains re-modelled their newly acquired holdings and established new lines of communication, and explore the extensive monastic earthwork remains of this important landscape, which can only be understood from an appreciation of the documentary evidence.
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