When in 1191 John of Ford became abbot of the Cistercian monaster y of Ford in southwest England, he was already a man of experience in the Order—having attended General Chapters and been abbot of Bindon—and he was renowned for his considerable literary accomplishment. His Life of the neighboring recluse Wulfric of Haselbury enjoyed a long popularity in the Late Middle Ages. As abbot John had to deal with the Interdict imposed against King John and the crippling taxation he levied on the Cistercian houses to support his campaign in Ireland. Turning adversity into opportunity, John prayed, ‘May a new day dawn upon us, a day of your holy poverty and your holy love’.