Tell An Untold Story Pt 1 - The Visual Journalist - Secondary Church Research

Researching corruption within the church during the dark ages has proved it's self a mammoth challenge for interesting reasons. I have learnt that monks of the dark ages were almost the only people capable of reading and writing. As a result of this records of monks behaving inappropriately are very rare, after all why would anyone choose to make official records of their own offences. I am rather enthusiastic about this fact alone considering that I literally have come across an untold story.

Regardless of the rarity, I spent hours scouring the internet for further research material relating to the misbehaving monks at Kirkstall. I came across the following information of interest;

When King Henry VIII on England set about the dissolution of monasteries in the years 1536 to 1541, one of the main reasons given the English government for the suppression of hundreds of religious communities was accusation of wide spread illicit sex by monks.

Looking at old illustrations from the time was a good way of sourcing information. Image left shows a forbidden relationship between a monk and a nun. The nun gives birth and disposes of her newborn son/daughter by dropping him/her into the sewers. This image will be one of very few not made by monks.




This image was also of strong interest to me with regards to the project. The left flaming cauldron depicted in this hellish landscape depicts a group of clergymen literally burning in hell, this suggests to me that the artist had dim views of the church and it's ulterior motives.

Again seen left is a piece of medieval propaganda. The image shows the devil using a monks head as a musical instrument. In suggesting that monks are instruments of the devil the artist conveys a highly controversial message being of great relevance to my project.

Studying all of these pictures I have noted certain similarities. The most outstanding to me is the savagely insensitive manor in which they are drawn. The artists did not hold back or use subtle devices to get their message across. I find it to be rather striking and will consider working in a similar way when it comes to making the artwork for my book.