The Cistercians. Part Four.

Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Monastery of Salem, Germany,

which contained one of the most important Cistercian Libraries.

Photo: 4 August 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: F. Bucher (User:Fb78).

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1153, the first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques (Afonso, I), founded The Cistercian Alcobaça Monastery. The original Church was replaced by the present building from 1178, although construction progressed slowly due to attacks by the Moors. As with many Cistercian Churches, the first part to be completed was the Eastern part, necessary for the Priest-Monks: The High Altar, Side Altars and Choir Stalls. The Abbey's Church was Consecrated in 1223. Two further building phases followed, in order to complete the Nave, leading to the final Consecration of the Mediaeval Church in 1252.

As a consequence of the wars between the Christians and Moors on The Iberian Peninsula, the Cistercians established a Military Branch of The Order, in Castile, Spain, in 1157: The Order of Calatrava. Membership of The Cistercian Order had included a large number of men from Knighted Families, and, when King Alfonso VII began looking for a Military Order to defend Calatrava, which had been recovered from the Moors a decade before, the Cistercian Abbot Raymond of Fitero offered his help.

This apparently came at the suggestion of Diego Valasquez, a Monk and former Knight who was "well acquainted with Military Matters", and proposed that The Lay Brothers of the Abbey were to be employed as "Soldiers of The Cross" to defend Calatrava. The initial successes of the new Order, in the Spanish Reconquista, were brilliant, and the arrangement was approved by The General Chapter at Cîteaux and successive Popes, giving The Knights of Calatrava their Definitive Rule in 1187.

This was modelled upon The Cistercian Rule for Lay Brothers, which included: The three Monastic Vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience; specific rules of silence; abstinence on four days a week; the recitation of a fixed number of Pater Nosters, daily; to sleep in their armour; and to wear, as their Full Dress, The Cistercian White Mantle with The Scarlet Cross Fleur-de-Lys.

English: The emblem of The Cistercian Military Order of Calatrava, Spain.

A Greek Cross, gules, with Fleur-de-Lys at its ends.

Español: Cruz de Calatrava, divisa de la Orden Militar homónima.

Polski: Symbol zakonu Calatrava.

Date: 25 September 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Heralder.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Order of Calatrava (Spanish: Orden de Calatrava. Portuguese: Ordem de Calatrava) was the first Military Order Founded in Castile, Spain, but the second to receive Papal approval. The Papal Bull, which confirmed the Order of Calatrava as a Militia, was given by His Holiness Pope Alexander III on 26 September 1164. Most of the political and military power of The Order dissipated by the end of the 15th-Century, but the last dissolution of The Order's property did not occur until 1838.

The Order was Founded at Calatrava la Vieja, in Castile, Spain, in the 12th-Century, by Saint Raymond of Fitero, as a Military Branch of The Cistercian Order. The etymology of the name of this Military Order, "Calatrava", conveys the meaning: "Fortress of Rabah".

Calatrava was not subject to Cîteaux, but to Fitero, Navarre, Spain's Mother-House, the Cistercian Abbey of Morimond in Burgundy. By the end of the 13th-Century, it had become a major autonomous power within Castile, subject only to Morimond Abbey and the Pope. With abundant resources of men and wealth, lands and Castles scattered along the borders of Castile, and Feudal Lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals.

On more than one occasion, The Order of Calatrava brought to the field a force of 1,200 to 2,000 Knights – considerable in Mediaeval terms. Over time, as The Reconquista neared completion, the Canonical bond between Calatrava and Morimond Abbey relaxed more and more, and the Knights of The Order became virtually Secularised, finally undergoing dissolution in the 18th-19th Centuries.

Fountains Abbey,

Yorkshire, England.

Fountains Abbey was a Cistercian Abbey.

Photo: 28 June 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Diliff.

Attribution: "Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

License: CC-BY-SA 3.0"

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Cistercian Abbey in Bohemia was founded in Sedlec, near Kutná Hora, in 1158. In the Late-13th-Century and Early-14th-Century, The Cistercian Order played an essential role in the politics and diplomacy of the Late-Přemyslid and Early-Luxembourg dynasty, as reflected in the Chronicon Aulae Regiae. This Chronicle was written by Otto and Peter of Zittau, Abbots of Zbraslav Abbey (Latin: Aula Regia, "Royal Hall"), Founded in 1292 by the King of Bohemia and Poland, King Wenceslas II. The Order also played the main role in the Early-Gothic Art of Bohemia; one of the outstanding pieces of Cistercian architecture is the Alt-Neu Shul, Prague. The first Abbey in present-day Romania was Founded in 1179, at Igris (Egres), and the second Abbey was Founded in 1204 (Cârţa Monastery).

Following The Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland in the 1170s, the English improved the standing of The Cistercian Order in Ireland with nine Foundations: Dunbrody Abbey; Inch Abbey; Grey Abbey; Comber Abbey; Duiske Abbey; Abington Abbey; Abbeylara Abbey; and Tracton Abbey. This last Abbey was Founded in 1225 from Whitland Abbey, in Wales, and, at least in its earliest years, its Monks were Welsh-speaking.

By this time, another ten Abbeys had been Founded by Irishmen since the Invasion, bringing the total number of Cistercian Houses in Ireland to thirty-one. This was almost half the number of those in England, but it was about thrice the number in each of Scotland and Wales. Most of these Monasteries enjoyed either Noble, Episcopal or Royal Patronage. In 1269, the Archbishop of Cashel joined the Order and established a Cistercian House at the foot of The Rock of Cashel in 1272. Similarly, the Irish-establishment of Abbeyknockmoy in County Galway was Founded in 1189 by King of Connacht, Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair, who died a Cistercian Monk and was buried there in 1224.

Ruins of the Cistercian 12th-Century

Abbeyknockmoy Abbey,

Galway, Ireland.

Photo: 9 September 2008.

Source: From geograph.co.uk.

Author: liam murphy.

Attribution: liam murphy.

(Wikimedia Commons)

By the end of the 13th-Century, the Cistercian Houses numbered 500. At The Order's height, in the 15th-Century, it would have nearly 750 Houses.

It often happened that the number of Lay Brothers became excessive and out of proportion to the resources of the Monasteries, there being sometimes as many as 200, or even 300, in a single Abbey. On the other hand, at any rate in some Countries, the system of Lay Brothers in course of time worked itself out; thus, in England by the close of the 14th-Century, it had shrunk to relatively small proportions, and, in the 15th-Century, the English Cistercian Houses tended to have roughly the same numbers as that of The Black Monks.

For a hundred years, until the first quarter of the 13th-Century, The Cistercians supplanted Cluny as the most powerful Order and the chief religious influence in Western Europe. But then, in turn, their influence began to wane, as the initiative passed to The Mendicant Orders, in Ireland, Wales, and elsewhere.

However, some of the reasons of Cistercian decline were internal. Firstly, there was the permanent difficulty of maintaining the initial fervour of a Body embracing hundreds of Monasteries and thousands of Monks, spread all over Europe. As the very raison d'être of The Cistercian Order consisted in its being a Reform – a return to primitive Monachism, with its field-work and severe simplicity – any failure to live up to the ideal was more detrimental among Cistercians than among mere Benedictines, who were intended to live a life of self-denial, but not of great austerity.

Relaxations were gradually introduced, in regard to diet and simplicity of life, and also in regard to the sources of income, rents and tolls being admitted and benefices incorporated, as was done among the Benedictines; the farming operations tended to produce a commercial spirit; wealth and splendour invaded many of the Monasteries and the Choir Monks abandoned field-work. The later history of The Cistercians is largely one of attempted Revivals and Reforms. For a long time, The General Chapter continued to battle bravely against the invasion of relaxations and abuses.

PART FIVE FOLLOWS.

The Cistercians. Part Three.

Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Royal Alcobaça Monastery,

Founded in Portugal in 1153.

Created by: Portuguese_eyes.

Upload by: User:Rei-artur.

Foto: Flickr

This File: 25 February 2008.

User: Waugsberg.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In Yorkshire, Rievaulx Abbey was Founded from Clairvaux in 1131, on a small property "in a place of horror and dreary solitude". This land was donated by Walter Espec, with the support of Thurstan, Archbishop of York. By 1143, three hundred Monks had entered Rievaulx, including the famous Saint Ælred, who became known as the "Saint Bernard of England". From Rievaulx was Founded Melrose Abbey, the earliest Cistercian Monastery in Scotland. Located in Roxburghshire, it was built in 1136 by King David I of Scotland, and completed in less than ten years. Another important offshoot of Rievaulx was Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire.

Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 by Benedictine Monks from Saint Mary's Abbey, York, who desired a return to the austere Rule of Saint Benedict. After many struggles and great hardships, Saint Bernard agreed to send a Monk from Clairvaux to instruct them, and, in the end, they prospered exceedingly. Before 1152, Fountains had many offshoots, of which Newminster Abbey (1137) and Meaux Abbey (1151) are the most famous.

English: Rein Abbey, Austria.

The oldest surviving Cistercian Community in the World.

Great West Door of the Abbey Church.

Deutsch: Die Außenfassade der Stiftskirche von Rein.

Photo: 7 September 2012.

Source: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/korom/8097230781.

Author: Janos Korom Dr.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the Spring of 1140, Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, visited Clairvaux, becoming a personal friend of Saint Bernard and an admirer of The Cistercian Rule. He left four of his companions to be trained as Cistercians, and returned to Ireland to introduce Cistercianism there. Saint Bernard viewed the Irish at this time as being in the "depth of barbarism":

. . . never had he found men so shameful in their morals, so wild in their rites, so impious in their Faith, so barbarous in their laws, so stubborn in discipline, so unclean in their life. They were Christians in name, in fact they were pagans.

Mellifont Abbey was founded in County Louth in 1142. Thence were founded the affiliated Monasteries of Bective Abbey in County Meath (1147), Inislounaght Abbey in County Tipperary (1147–1148), Baltinglass in County Wicklow (1148), Monasteranenagh in County Limerick (1148), Kilbeggan in County Westmeath(1150) and Boyle Abbey in County Roscommon (1161). Saint Malachy's intensive pastoral activity was highly successful:

Barbarous laws disappeared, Roman laws were introduced: Everywhere Ecclesiastical customs were received and the contrary rejected . . . In short, all things were so changed that The Word of The Lord may be applied to this people: Which, before, was not My people, now is My people.

As in Wales, there was no significant Tradition of Benedictine Monasticism in Ireland on which to draw; although, in the Irish case, this represented an insecure foundation for Cistercian expansion. Irish Cistercianism would eventually become isolated from the disciplinary structures of The Order, leading to decline in the 13th-Century.

English: The "pure", unadorned style of Cistercian architecture at the 12th-Century

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Veruela, Spain.

Español: Veruela - Iglesia abacial de Santa María de Veruela - Vista desde el pie.

Photo: 6 October 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: ecelan.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Meanwhile, the Cistercian influence in The Church more than kept pace with this material expansion. Saint Bernard had established the unique position as mentor of Popes and Kings, and, in 1145, King Louis VII's brother, Henry of France, entered Clairvaux. That same year, Saint Bernard saw one of his Monks ascend The Papal Chair as Pope Eugene III. Eugene was an Italian of humble background, who had first been drawn to Monasticism at Clairvaux by the magnetism of Bernard. At the time of his Election, he was Abbot of Saints Vincenzo and Anastasio, outside Rome. When news of the Fall of Edessa reached him in Viterbo, he addressed The Papal Bull Quantum praedecessores to King Louis VII, with the result that a European Monarch took up a Crusade for the first time.

A great reinforcement to The Order was the merger of The Savigniac Houses with The Cistercians, at the insistence of Pope Eugene III. Thirteen English Abbeys, of which the most famous were Furness Abbey and Jervaulx Abbey, thus adopted The Cistercian Rule. In Dublin, the two Savigniac Houses of Erenagh and Saint Mary's became Cistercian. It was in the latter case that Mediaeval Dublin acquired a Cistercian Monastery in the very unusual suburban location of Oxmantown, with its own private harbour, called The Pill.

By 1152, there were fifty-four Cistercian Monasteries in England, some few of which had been Founded directly from The Continent. Overall, there were 333 Cistercian Abbeys in Europe – so many that a halt was put to this expansion. Nearly half of these Houses had been Founded, directly or indirectly, from Clairvaux, so great was Saint Bernard's influence and prestige. He has come almost to be regarded as the Founder of The Cistercians, who have often been called Bernardines. Saint Bernard died in 1153, one month after his pupil Pope Eugene III.

English: Cistercian architecture was applied, 

based on rational principles.

Deutsch: Aufriss des Langhauses der Zirsterzienser-Klosterkirche von Kloster Arnsburg.

Date: 1888.

Source: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, aus: Dehio/v.Bezold: Die kirchliche

Baukunst des Abendlandes, Stuttgart, Atlas II, 1888, Tafel 199,4

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

From its solid base, The Cistercian Order spread all over Western Europe: Into Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Croatia, Italy, Sicily, Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Portugal. One of the most important Libraries of The Cistercians was in Salem, Germany.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

The Cistercians. Part Two.

Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The early French Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny.

Photo: 24 August 2004.

Source: Own work.

Author: Welleschik.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Cistercians initially regarded themselves as Regular Benedictines, albeit the "perfect", "Reformed" ones, but they soon came to distinguish themselves from the Monks of "Unreformed" Benedictine Communities" by wearing White Tunics, instead of Black. The White Tunic had been previously reserved for Hermits, who followed the "Angelic" life. Cistercian Abbeys also refused to admit children, allowing adults to choose their Religious Vocation for themselves – a practice later emulated by many of the older Benedictine Houses.

Stephen Harding also acquired farms for the Abbey, to ensure its survival and ethic, the first of which was Clos Vougeot. In terms of receiving grants of land, the Order would accept only undeveloped land (or, in some cases, they accepted developed land and relocated the Serfs elsewhere). They developed this land by their own labour, or by that of illiterate peasant Lay Brothers, known as conversi.

Stephen Harding handed over the West Wing of Cîteaux to a large group of Lay Brethren to cultivate the farms. These Lay Brothers were bound by Vows of Chastity and Obedience to their Abbot, but were otherwise permitted to follow a less demanding form of Cistercian life. Their incorporation into The Order represents a compassionate outreach to the illiterate peasantry, as well as a source of labour on "un-manorialised" Cistercian lands.

The ruins of Melrose Abbey,

Mother House of The Cistercians in Scotland.

Photo: 9 June 2004.

Source: Own work.

Author: User:JeremyA.

© Jeremy Atherton, 2004.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The outlines of The Cistercian Reform were adumbrated by Alberic, but it received its final form in the Carta caritatis, which was the defining guide on how The Reform was to be lived. This document arranged the relations between the various Houses of The Cistercian Order, and exercised a great influence also upon the future course of Western Monasticism. From one point of view, it may be regarded as a compromise between the primitive Benedictine system, in which each Abbey was autonomous and isolated, and the complete centralisation of Cluny, where the Abbot of Cluny was the only true Superior in the entire Congregation.

On the one hand, Citeaux maintained the independent organic life of the Houses; each Abbey had its own Abbot elected by its own Monks, its own Community belonging to itself and not to The Order in general, and its own property and finances administered without interference from outside.

On the other hand, all the Abbeys were subjected to The General Chapter, the Constitutional body which exercised vigilance over The Order. The Abbots met annually at The General Chapter in mid-September at Cîteaux. The Cistercian Constitutions attached particular importance to attendance at this meeting, which was compulsory, and absence without leave was severely punished. The Abbot of Cîteaux was the President of The Chapter. He had a predominant influence and the power of enforcing everywhere exact conformity to Cîteaux in all details of the exterior life observance, Chant, and customs. The principle was that Cîteaux should always be the model to which all the other Houses had to conform. In case of any divergence of view at The Chapter, the side taken by the Abbot of Cîteaux was always to prevail.

Cistercian Abbey,

Bélapátfalva, Hungary.

Date: 8 June 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Horvabe.

(Wikimedia Commons)

By 1111, the ranks had grown sufficiently at Cîteaux, and Stephen Harding sent a group of twelve Monks to start a "Daughter House", a new Community dedicated to the same ideals of The Strict Observance of Saint Benedict. It was built in Chalon-sur-Saône, La Ferté, France, on 13 May 1113.

That same year, a charismatic young Burgundian nobleman, named Bernard, arrived at Cîteaux with thirty-five of his relatives and friends to join the Monastery. A supremely eloquent, strong-willed mystic, Bernard was to become the most admired Churchman of his age. In 1115, Count Hugh of Champagne gave a tract of wild, afforested land, known as a refuge for robbers, forty miles East of Troyes, France, to The Order. Bernard led twelve other Monks to Found the Abbey of Clairvaux, and began clearing the ground and building a Church and dwelling. The Abbey soon attracted a strong flow of zealous young men. At this point, Cîteaux had four Daughter Houses (Pontigny, Morimond, La Ferté and Clairvaux). Other French Daughter Houses of Cîteaux would include Preuilly, La Cour-Dieu, Bouras, Cadouin and Fontenay.

With Saint Bernard's membership, The Cistercian Order began a notable epoch of international expansion; and, as his fame grew, The Cistercian Movement grew with it. In November 1128, with the aid of William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, Waverley Abbey was founded in Surrey, England. Five Houses were Founded from Waverley Abbey before 1152, and some of these had themselves produced offshoots.

The now-ruined Mellifont Abbey,

the centre of Mediaeval Irish Cistercianism

and the "Mellifont Rebellion".

Photo: 3 May 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Brholden.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1129, Margrave Leopold the Strong of Styria called upon The Cistercians to develop his recently-acquired March, which bordered Austria on the South. He called upon the Monks from Ebrach Abbey, Bavaria, land just North of what is today the Provincial Capital of Graz. Here they Founded Rein Abbey. At the time, it was the thirty-eighth Cistercian Monastery Founded, but, due to the Dissolution of the previous thirty-seven Abbeys throughout the Centuries, today it is the oldest surviving Cistercian Community in the World.

The Norman Invasion of Wales opened The Church in Wales to fresh, invigorating streams of Continental Reform, as well as the new Monastic Orders. The Benedictine Houses were established in the Norman fringes and in the shadow of Norman Castles, and, because they were seen as instruments of conquest, they failed to make any real impression on the local Welsh population.

The Cistercians, in contrast, sought out solitude in the mountains and moorlands, and were highly successful. Thirteen Cistercian Monasteries, all in remote sites, were founded in Wales between 1131 and 1226. The first of these was Tintern Abbey, which was sited in a remote river valley, and depended largely on its agricultural and pastoral activities for survival. Other Abbeys, such as at Neath,Strata Florida, Conwy, and Valle Crucis, became among the most hallowed names in the history of Religion in Mediaeval Wales. Their austere discipline seemed to echo the ideals of the Celtic Saints, and the emphasis on pastoral farming fitted well with the Welsh stock-rearing economy.

PART THREE FOLLOWS.

The Cistercians. Part One.

Text is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Cistercian Coat-of-Arms.

Français: De France ancien, à un écu en abîme, bandé d'or et d'azur de six pièces,

à la bordure de gueules, qui est Bourgogne ancien.

Date: 24 October 2010.

Source: This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from: Ordre cistercien.svg; France Ancient.svg; Coat of arms of Cardinal Baselios Cleemis.svg; External Ornaments of a Bishop (Church of England).svg. + work by Heralder and Katepanomegas.

Author: Lemmens, Tom.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A Cistercian is a Member of The Cistercian Order, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist (Latin: (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis), a Catholic, and also Anglican, Religious Order of Monks and Nuns. They are variously called The Bernardines, after the highly-influential Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (though the term is also used of The Franciscan Order in Poland and Lithuania), or The White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "Cuccula" or White Choir Robe worn by The Cistercians over their Habits, as opposed to the Black Cucculas worn by The Benedictine Monks.

The original emphasis of Cistercian life was on manual labour and self-sufficiency, and many Abbeys have traditionally supported themselves through activities such as agriculture and brewing ales. Over the Centuries, however, education and academic pursuits came to dominate the life of their Monasteries. A Reform Movement, seeking a simpler lifestyle, started in 17th-Century France at La Trappe Abbey, which led to development of The Order of Cistercians of The Strict Observance (OCSO), commonly called The Trappists. After that, the followers of the older pattern of life became known as The Cistercians of The Original Observance.

The term "Cistercian" (French: Cistercien), derives from Cistercium, the Latin name for the village of Cîteaux, near Dijon in Eastern France. It was in this village that a group of Benedictine Monks, from the Monastery of Molesme, Founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely The Rule of Saint Benedict. The best known of them were Robert of Molesme, Alberic of Cîteaux, and the English Monk Stephen Harding, who were the first three Abbots. Bernard of Clairvaux entered the Monastery circa 1110, with thirty companions, and helped the rapid proliferation of The Order. By the end of the 12th-Century, the Order had spread throughout France and into England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Eastern Europe.

The Ruins of Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, Wales.

Photo: Taken by en:User:MartinBiely 5 August 2004.

Date: 29 November 2004 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.

Author: MartinBiely at English Wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Tintern Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn) was Founded by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow,
on 9 May 1131. It is situated in the village of Tintern, in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which forms the border between Monmouthshire, in Wales, and Gloucestershire, in England.

It was only the second Cistercian Foundation in Britain, and the first in Wales. Its ruins inspired William Wordsworth's poem "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey", and Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Tears, Idle Tears", and Allen Ginsberg's "Wales Visitation", and more than one painting by J. M. W. Turner. 

The keynote of Cistercian life was a return to literal observance of The Rule of Saint Benedict. Rejecting the developments that The Benedictines had undergone, the Monks tried to replicate Monastic life exactly as it had been in Saint Benedict's time; indeed, in various points, they went beyond it in austerity. The most striking feature in the reform was the return to manual labour, especially field-work, a special characteristic of Cistercian life.

Cistercian architecture is considered one of the most beautiful styles of Mediaeval Architecture. Additionally, in relation to disciplines such as agriculture, hydraulic engineering and metallurgy, The Cistercians became the main force of technological diffusion in Mediaeval Europe. The Cistercians were adversely affected in England by The Protestant Reformation, The Dissolution of The Monasteries under King Henry VIII, The French Revolution in Continental Europe, and the revolutions of the 18th-Century, but some survived and the Order recovered in the 19th-Century. In 1891, certain Abbeys formed a new Order, called Trappists (Ordo Cisterciensium Strictioris Observantiae – OCSO), which today exists as an Order distinct from The Common Observance.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux,

one of the most influential early Cistercians.

The Initial B is from a 13th-Century illuminated Manuscript.

This File: 4 July 2005.

User: GDK.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1098, a Benedictine Abbot, Robert of Molesme, left his Monastery in Burgundy, France, with around twenty supporters, who felt that The Cluniac Communities had abandoned the rigours and simplicity of The Rule of Saint Benedict. The Monastery Church of Cluny Abbey, France, the largest in Europe, had become wealthy from rents, tithes, feudal rights and Pilgrims, who passed through Cluniac Houses on the Way of Saint James. The massive endowments, powers and responsibilities of the Cluniac Abbots had drawn them into the affairs of the Secular world, and their Monks had abandoned manual labour to Serfs, to serve as Scholars and, exclusively, "Choir Monks". On 21 March 1098, Robert of Molesme's small group acquired a plot of marshland, just South of Dijon, France, called Cîteaux (Latin: Cistercium. Cisteaux means reeds in Old French), given to them expressly for the purpose of Founding their Novum Monasterium.

Robert's followers included Alberic, a former Hermit from the nearby forest of Colan, and Stephen Harding, a member of an Anglo-Saxon noble family which had been ruined as a result of the Norman conquest of England. During the first year, the Monks set about constructing lodging areas and farming the lands of Cîteaux, making use of a nearby Chapel for Mass. In Robert's absence from Molesme Abbey, however, the Abbey had gone into decline, and Pope Urban II, a former Cluniac Monk, ordered him to return.

The remaining Monks of Cîteaux elected Alberic as their Abbot, under whose leadership the Abbey would find its grounding. Robert had been the idealist of The Order, and Alberic was their builder. Upon assuming the role of Abbot, Alberic moved the site of the fledgling Community near a brook, a short distance away from the original site. Alberic discontinued the use of Benedictine Black Garments in the Abbey and clothed the Monks in White Habits of non-dyed wool.

English: An illumination of Stephen Harding (right) presenting a model of his Church to The Blessed Virgin Mary (Municipal Library, Dijon). Cîteaux, circa 1125. At this period Cistercian illumination was the most advanced in France, but within 25 years it was abandoned altogether under the influence of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

Español: La Vierge, l'abbé de Saint-Vaast et Etienne Harding, prophétie de Jérémie, vers 1125.

Deutsch: Buchmalerei: Stephen Harding (rechts) und der Abt von St-Vaast in Arras (links)

zeigen Maria Modelle ihrer Kirchen, unten deutet der Schreiber Osbert

auf ein Manuskript. Bibliotheque Municipale in Dijon.

Polski: Św. Stefan Harding (z prawej) i opat ze St-Vaast w Arras (po lewej) pokazuje modele swoich kościołów NMP; poniżej przedstawiono pisarza Osberta (Municipale Bibliotheque w Dijon).

Source: Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon.

(Wikimedia Commons)

He returned the Community to the original Benedictine ideal of manual work and Prayer, dedicated to the ideal of Charity and self sustenance. Alberic also forged an alliance with The Dukes of Burgundy, working out a deal with Duke Odo of Burgundy concerning the donation of a vineyard (Meursault) as well as stone, with which they built their Church. The Church was Consecrated and Dedicated to The Virgin Mary, on 16 November 1106, by the Bishop of Chalon-sur-Saône.

On 26 January 1108, Alberic died and was soon succeeded by Stephen Harding, the man responsible for carrying The Order into its crucial phase.

The Order was fortunate that Stephen Harding was an Abbot of extraordinary gifts, and he framed the original version of The Cistercian "Constitution" or Regulations: The Carta caritatis (Charter of Charity). Although this was revised on several occasions to meet contemporary needs, from the outset it emphasised a simple life of work, love, Prayer and self-denial.

PART TWO FOLLOWS.