Rievaulx Abbey - Financial Prosperity

Financial Prosperity

The abbey lies in a wooded dale by the River Rye, sheltered by hills. To have enough flat land to build on, a small part of the river was diverted several metres west of its former channel. The monks altered the course of the river three times during the 12th century. The old course of the river is visible in the abbey's grounds. This is one illustration of the technical ingenuity of the monks, who over time built up a very profitable business mining lead and iron, rearing sheep and selling wool to buyers from all over Europe. Rievaulx Abbey became one of the greatest and wealthiest in England, with 140 monks and many more lay brothers, receiving grants of land totalling 6,000 acres (24 km²) and establishing daughter houses in England and Scotland.

Towards the end of the 13th century the abbey had incurred a great deal of debt with its building projects and lost revenue due to an epidemic of sheep scab (psoroptic mange). This ill fortune was compounded by Scottish raids in the early 14th century. To make matters worse the decimation of the population caused by the Black Death in the mid 14th century made it difficult to recruit new lay brothers for manual labour. As a result the abbey was forced to lease much of its land. By 1381 there were only fourteen choir monks, three lay brothers and the abbot left at Rievaulx, and some buildings were reduced in size.

By the 15th century the original Cistercian practices of strict observance according Saint Benedict's rule had been abandoned in favour of a more comfortable lifestyle. It was then permitted to eat meat and more private living accommodation was created for the monks, and the abbot now had a substantial private household.