[MR] Wikipedia: Poisoning of Abbot Greenwell

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Somehow I overlooked this interesting piece from yesterday's "Featured
Story" section on Wikipedia. It is a juicy story indeed.

To summarize, in June 1447 the powerful abbot of Fountains Abbey in
Yorkshire, John Greenwell, barely escaped being poisoned by one of his
monks. The monk in question was William Downon, who brought the abbot a
bowl of soup laced with an unknown substance. Greenwell became suspicious
when Downon refused to taste the soup himself.

The story gets more interesting, as Downon may have been embezzling abbey
funds. Greenwell himself was a divisive and unpopular figure among his
monks, the local populace, and eventually several powerful lords.
Apparently there was a lot of dirty laundry in Fountains Abbey.

The whole story is explored at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Abbot_Greenwell .

Fountains Abbey was the largest and most important Cistercian house in
England. It was trashed by Henry VIII's agents in 1539. Today the buildings
are an impressive ruin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains_Abbey .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.