Abbey

Society of monks or nuns governed by an abbot or for women, an abbess, and by extension the buildings themselves. Abbeys gathered unto themselves large tracts of land as wealthy men became monks, but the constant struggle between the secular authority and the church resulted in many confiscations.

Monastic community of either monks or nuns. Ruled by an (m.) Abbot or (f.) Abbess Usually founded by a particular monastic order and bound by their rules. Abbeys often owe some form of feudal obligation to a lord/lady or higher organization. Basically they are self-contained with all basic functions performed by the residents and obtaining their needs from the local area.

Apart from their religious role, some medieval abbeys became centres of learning and industry. Partly out of the need for extra funds to support their religious duties, some orders, especially the Cistercians, used their overseas connections to import novel industrial processes and to develop overseas markets.

Recent research in Yorkshire suggests that one Cistercian community was close to developing a blast furnace for smelting iron, hundreds of years before this technology powered the Industrial Revolution.

large religious house belonging either to one of the orders of the Benedictine family or to certain orders of the Canons Regular (Augustinian Canons)