CAP Flashcards
Religion
safeguard the souls of his family
Act of penance and atonement
the monks of all Cluniac priories would pray for him, not just those at Castle Acre.
There were an estimated to be 700 Cluniac foundations over Europe and 36 by the end of the 12th century in England.
It would ensure redemption for the sins for killing people during the Battle of Hastings.
(Other Normans built monasteries for the same reason, including William I himself, at Battle.).
William de Warenne and his wife had been inspired to build their first Cluniac priory, at Lewes, after staying at the Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, France, between 1081 and 1083. Warenne wanted to build another priory, and chose to do so at Castle Acre.
CAP was a key centre of prayer, lots of key nobles such as Roger Balford would use Castle Acre Priory as a centre for prayer instead of making pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Political
Castle Acre was the headquarters of the large estates that William de Warenne owned in Norfolk. Therefore the priory was very closely connected to de Warenne as its benefactor.
Showing that the Warenne family was closely connected to the Church helped to establish Norman power - it showed that God was on the Normans’ side.
The Priory would house Cluniac monks from Normandy so they would be loyal to the Normans and as landlords they would control the local population.
Because the priory was Cluniac, and therefore French, it had no links to the earlier, Saxon Church. This also helped to demonstrate the power of the new, Norman regime.
What were the social reasons for Castle Acre Priory being built?
Monasteries served an important social function, as they provided work for the local population. This was especially true of Cluniac priories, as they relied on laymen to do the manual work, allowing the monks to concentrate on prayer and worship.
The monastery could provide a home and living for the younger sons of nobles, who would not inherit lands from their fathers, due to the new Norman inheritance law of primogeniture.
The monastery provided education, hospitality, and healthcare to the community.
The monks produced books, and were the hub of intellectual developments all over Europe. Because Castle Acre
Priory was Cluniac, it was also at the forefront of new intellectual ideas coming from France.
Building
A less valid reason for the building of monasteries was to show a change in building design.
The new design the Normans brought over was known as Romanesque and the most clear example of that in CAP is the west front.
This was a clear change in design with the high ceilings and increase in funding very apparent but the overall design, being in the shape of a cross stayed the same.
It could be argued that the presence of Cluniac monks had an impact on building design as they had a range of rituals linked to their worship so extra processional doorways were added to CAP particularly in the south transept.
This shows that the Cluniacs were exerting an influence over design meaning design was secondary to the occupants for the reason why monasteries were built the way they were.
Intro
Castle Acre Priory (CAP) of Norfolk, founded by William De Warenne (WDW) and his wife Gundred can arguably support the statement that monasteries were built mainly to [FACTOR IN THE QUESTION] as It was tied to new wave of Cluniac reform. However, another/more important reason for monastery building would be to demonstrate [DIFFERENT FACTOR] whereas a less important reason/another important reason would be to demonstrate [DIFFERENT FACTOR].
