Monks and local life

In most places, the monastery's great stone church was the largest building for miles around. The monks played a big part in local life. They looked after the old and sick. They took in travellers who needed a bed for the night.

Monks not only copied books. They also wrote them. Some of them wrote chronicles, which were records of things that happened each year. Monks heard the news from travellers who stayed with them. Chronicles written by monks are useful sources for students of history.

People who were accused of crimes could ask for sanctuary at a monastery. This meant that they could ask to stay there for 40 days. While they were there, no-one could arrest them. To avoid arrest after the 40 days was up, they had to go straight to the nearest port and take the first ship to a foreign country.

Monasteries owned a lot of land. The local peasants worked in their fields. Food from the monasteries' farms fed the monks and their guests. But the monks also sold the spare corn and wool. The money they made paid for the schools and hospitals they ran. What was left paid for extra buildings and decorations for the church.

Walter Robson: Medieval Britain; Oxford University Press, 1991/2000, page 21 f.