Lesson video

Hello, and thank you for joining me for another Oak Academy history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Knox, and today I'll be taking you through all of the resources you need to be successful in this lesson.

So let's get started now.

The lesson today is part of the AQA GCSE historic environment topic on Norman England.

In our lesson today, we'll be studying the functions of Castle Acre Priory, and by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain the different functions of Castle Acre Priory.

Now, there are a couple of key words that we'll use in our lesson together today.

The first key word that we'll use is Cluniac, which refers to an order of monks which focused on prayer and reflection.

We'll also use the word sin, which is an action or thought that is believed to go against what God wants for humans.

Our lesson today will be in two sections, so let's get started now on section one, which will focus on the religious functions of Castle Acre Priory.

Castle Acre Priory was established as a religious institution dedicated to the worship of God and the observance of monastic life according to the rule of St.

Benedict.

More than that, the Priory was specially created to provide a suitable home for an order of Cluniac monks who followed a reformed branch of Benedictine monasticism with the dedication to providing a constant round of prayer and worship through their divine office.

A cycle of long and elaborate services.

The priory's church, cloisters, chapter House, scriptorium, dormitories, vectary, infirmary, and even latrine were all designed to facilitate the routines of prayer, meditation, work, and communal living that it so impressed the Priory's founder William de Warenne and his wife Gundrada on their visit to Cluny Abbey in or around 1077.

Importantly, all these elements were also designed to ensure that the Cluniac monks would not mix with lay, that's non-religious people, as this would have gone against the rule of St.

Benedict.

Okay, let's have a quick check now of your understanding so far.

Why was Castle Acre Priory founded? Was it because A, it was founded as a charter house for an order of English Carthusian monks.

B, it was founded as a religious house for an order of Cluniac monks.

Or C, it was founded as a religious house for an order of Anglican Franciscan monks.

Press pause now and then press play to hear the correct answer.

You should have said that the correct answer was B.

It was founded as a religious house for an order of Cluniac monks.

Here's another quick question now.

True or false, Castle Acre Priory was designed to meet the religious needs of the townspeople of Castle Acre.

Press pause and then press play for the correct answer.

You should have said that the answer is false.

Press pause again to write an explanation to justify why the answer is false.

In your explanation, you could have said the priory was to meet the needs of the Cluniac order of monks who lived there, who needed spaces for a near constant round of prayer, together with meditation, study, and communal living, Mediaeval Christians were strongly influenced by sin, which they understood us going against God's laws and God's wishes.

Mediaeval Christians believed that no one could avoid sin for long because humans were such imperfect creatures.

However, God would always forgive people's sins, even the worst ones if they showed that they were sorry.

The church was there to help people repent and make up for their sins.

For very bad sins, such as killing people in war, people might need to do something really significant to show they were sorry, such as spending a lot of money on a new church or priory.

Prayer was very important in reducing sin also.

Mediaeval Christians believed that the more prayer, the better your chances in reducing your sins.

Here's another question now.

True or false, Mediaeval Christians believed that the only way to be forgiven for sins was through prayer.

Press pause and then press play to hear the correct answer.

You should have said that the correct answer is false.

Press pause again to write your justification for why the answer is false.

As part of your explanation, you could say that although prayer was important, wealthy Christians could also repent through their actions.

For example, by paying for a new church or priory to be built.

The church taught that this was a good way of repenting for very serious sins, such as killing people in battle.

The Cluniacs acts understood their role as to give up normal life and dedicate themselves to prayer in the hope of reducing the sins of the world and saving humans from God's punishment.

The function of a priory was therefore at the most fundamental level to act almost like a prayer factory pumping out prayer in the hope that this and the spiritual lives of its monks would reduce the sins of the world around it.

At the same time, the monks at Castle Acre Priory would also offer up constant prayer for their supporters, such as the de Warenne family, which would help reduce their sins and save them specifically from having to spend eternity in hell or purgatory, which was a temporary place of punishment to cleanse your soul of sin.

Castle Acre Priory was designed to meet both these functions with its extra apses containing more altars to enable more prayers more often, as well as providing more spaces for the tombs of members of the de Warenne family.

Burial close to an altar was believed to also help with the reduction of sins.

Here's another check now of your understanding.

Which family in particular did the Cluniacs hope would benefit from their prayers? A, the Bigod family, B, the Neville family, or C, the de Warenne family.

Press pause and then press play for the correct answer.

Well done if you said the correct answer was C.

They prayed for their supporters, the de Warenne family.

Another important religious function of Castle Acre Priory was its role as a centre of Christian learning and manuscript production.

Monks were educated and literate, unlike almost everyone else in Norman England.

In the cloister and in the scriptorium monks at the Castle Acre Priory would've been engaged in the copying of manuscripts, preserving religious texts, and producing illuminated manuscripts, which is a handwritten book with painted decoration.

These were considered vital for the continuation of religious and intellectual traditions.

Here's another question now to test your understanding so far.

Why was the work of monks in Castle Acre Priory's cloister and scriptorium seen as important? Press pause and then press play once you've written your answer.

Your answer could have included some of the following.

In the cloister and in the scriptorium, monks at Castle Acre Priory would have been engaged in the copying of manuscripts, the preserving of religious texts, and the production of illuminated manuscripts.

These were considered vital for the continuation of religious and intellectual traditions.

Finally, in this section, I'd like you to answer this question.

Explain three religious functions of Castle Acre Priory.

To help you, you could use the sentence starters on the screen now.

Press pause to complete your answer, then press play.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on with your answer.

Your answer might include some of the following.

One religious function of Castle Acre Priory was that it served as a religious house for an order of Benedictine monks known as the Cluniacs.

This meant that the priory had to be able to support the needs of the monks by having facilities such as the church, cloisters, scriptorium, and chapter house.

These facilities were necessary to allow the monks to perform their divine office of worship as well as study and administration without mixing with lay people, which would've gone against the rule of St.

Benedict.

A second religious function was that it served as a place to carry out prayers for all those living with sin that is everybody.

Mediaeval society believed God's forgiveness had to be requested for sin in order to avoid going to hell or being trapped in purgatory.

The Cluniacs developed a ceaseless routine of long elaborate prayer services as they believed that this could help save such a sinful world from God's punishment.

Castle Acre Priory was designed to meet this function as it had extra apses containing more alters to enable more prayers more often.

And a third religious function was Castle Acre's use as a centre for Christian learning and manuscript production.

The monks used the cloisters and scriptorium to copy out illuminated manuscripts.

By doing this, they were able to spread knowledge and preserve religious texts which were of great importance to the continuation of religious and intellectual traditions.

Okay, we're now ready to move on to the final section of our lesson today.

In this section we'll be focusing on the political functions of Castle Acre Priory.

Castle Acre Priory was founded in 1089, while the Normans were still in the process of getting control over England.

It was the second Cluniac priory that William de Warenne had founded.

The first being in Lewis in perhaps 1077 or the early 1080's.

De Warenne had been rewarded by William I for his support for William's invasion and had fought with him at the Battle of Hastings.

De Warenne established the priory as part of his efforts to secure and legitimise his holdings in Norfolk.

As in Lewis, by founding a religious institution, de Warenne not only demonstrated his faith and commitment to the church, but also reinforced his status and authority as legitimate Lord of his Norfolk estates.

Here's a quick question now.

In what year was Castle Acre founded? A, 1066, B, 1079, C, 1089.

Press pause and then press play when you're ready for the answer.

Well done if you remembered that the correct answer is C.

It was founded in 1089.

The monks from Cluny Abbey, who were sent by their Abbott, Hugh, to Castle Acre set up inside the bailey of Castle Acre Castle.

The castle, a motte-and-bailey design with a stone keep was a significant military fortification that like all Norman castles had an impressive impact on its landscape symbolising Norman military power.

After around a year in the bailey, the new priory began to be constructed nearby on flatter land with the space to build.

The Priory was still close enough to the castle to continue to symbolise the close relationship between the Norman government and the church.

Local people seeing the extraordinary scale and beauty of the priory, together with its rigorous dedication to religious living, which surely have been persuaded that God was on the side of the Normans and had chosen them as lords over the English as punishment for English sins.

And if you have a look now at the map on the left hand side of the screen, you'll be able to see the close proximity of the priory to the castle at Castle Acre.

And on the map now you can see that a wall was built to actually separate the priory from the growing settlement of Castle Acre.

Here's a quick question again.

True or false, Castle Acre Priory only had a religious function? Press pause now to think of your answer and then press play.

Well done if you said the correct answer is false.

I'd like you to press pause again to justify why the answer is false.

You could have said that it also had an important political function as it reinforced the authority and legitimacy of the de Warenne family.

Additionally, the close proximity of the priory and the castle was a way of linking Norman rule to the power of the church, thereby symbolising God's support for Norman rule over England.

Castle Acre Priory was also an important economic and administrative centre in the region.

It had been given extensive lands worked by villains which produce significant amounts of food and farming products.

For example, wool for the priory.

In addition, rents paid in money made Castle Acre Priory one of the wealthiest religious institutions in Norfolk.

The administrative functions of the priory involved overseeing these economic enterprises, maintaining records, and monks were famously the worst landlords for peasants to have because they wrote down what everyone owed them and insisted on debts being paid.

The monks also ensured the efficient management of resources.

Time for another question now.

Why was Castle Acre one of the wealthiest religious institutions in Norfolk? A, it was supported by Cluny Abbey and regularly sent money back to Cluny.

B, it generated a lot of money from its farmland and rents, and the monks were good managers.

Or C, it received money from the king in return for providing knights for the king's army.

Press pause now and then press play for the correct answer.

That's right, you should have said the correct answer is B.

It generated a lot of money from its farmland and rents, and the monks were good managers.

This economic power also meant the priory and the prior in particular, had political influence.

The priory's wealth and power and that of Cluny Abbey, which controlled all its priory's centrally meant that the prior would've held negotiations with local lords.

He would have provided hospitality to important visitors and contributed to Norman control of the region and local government.

Here's another question now.

I'd like you to list the ways in which Castle Acre Priory had political influence.

Press pause to complete the task and then press play for the answers.

You could have said the prior held negotiations with local lords.

The prior also hosted important visitors and the prior contributed to Norman control of the region and local government.

Finally, in today's lesson, I'd like you to answer this question.

Read Sam's statement and provide two reasons to support her point of view.

Sam says, institutions such as Castle Acre Priory played a role in helping the Normans to establish control after the Norman Conquest.

Press pause now and then press play to see the answers.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

Your answer could have included that by founding Castle Acre Priory, Norman Lords like de Warenne were able to reinforce their status as the legitimate lords of English lands.

Religious houses built next to Norman castles helped symbolise God's support of Norman rule.

And finally, the wealth priory generated gave the Norman's further political power in the region.

We reached the end of today's lesson, so here's a quick summary of everything that you should have learned today.

As a monastery Castle Acre Priory was first and foremost a place of prayer and religious devotion.

It was designed carefully to provide for the needs of an order of Cluniac monks who lived together communally, but were separated from ordinary life.

The monks prayed for the forgiveness of sin, particularly for their founders the de Warenne family, but also for everyone.

The priory also played a role in establishing Norman control over Norfolk and had important economic and administrative functions as well.

Many thanks for your work in our lesson today.

I hope you feel confident that you've understood the material, and I hope that you'll join me for a future Oak Academy history lesson.