The Benedictine monks that had decided to leave as their lives had become too comfortable had decided upon moving to Ripon, as it was a Cistercian principle to take land that was uninhabitable, that was overgrown and only fit for wild animals. They should also drain any bogs or marshes in order to reclaim the land and use it of purposes such as farming in which they could get enough money for food for the monks. The place where they moved near Ripon was good to settle because it had a river and plenty of wood from which to build wooden huts for the monks to sleep in.
The new Cistercian monks had to take three vows, which were:
- Chastity
- Poverty
- Obedience
Chastity is to abstain from sex, to have no possessions and money, and to remain obedient to God. The monks also had many other values, which seemed to be forgotten over time. There were two different orders of Cistercian monks, one of them were the Choir monks. These monks spent their time worshiping God, copying books and praying, they were also very well educated. The other order of monks, were the Lay Brothers. These monks worked on the land, looking after the sheep, they weren’t well educated and were normally illiterate. They also attended the same amount of church services as the Choir monks, which were usually eight services a day.
The wool industry was the main industry back when monks inhabited Fountains Abbey. The monks started making large amounts of money from the sheep and they employed local builders to build the monastery. One of the monks’ original values was to decorate their churches plainly, and worship God without needing decorative things. The monks strayed from this value because they built the church with marble columns, a tower was also built, and the glorification of god was evident through the architecture.
