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"Pour into our hearts, O God, the Holy Spirit's gift of love, that we, clasping each the other's hand, may share the joy of friendship, human and divine, and with your servant Aelred draw many to your community of love; through Jesus Christ the Righteous, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever." Prayer attributed to Aelred of Rievaulx
The CisterciansFor background on the Cistercian order, go to Dr. Vess's Virtual Tour of Fountains Abbey. Foundation of Rievaulx Abbey
Walter Espec, Lord of Helmsley and a Royal Justiciar who was subject of Henry I of England and also of King David of Scotland, was largely responsible for bringing the Cistercians to England. He had brought Augustinians to Yorkshire at Kirkham in 1121-1122. He and Archbishop Thurston of York were also interested in the new Cistercian order, which had settled at Waverly in Surrey 1128. Perhaps it was the addition of a small group of monks from Yorkshire who had entered Clairvaux that finally prompted Bernard in 1131 to lay plans for a Cistercian mission to England. Whereas Waverly would colonize the south of England, Bernard saw Rievaulx as a chance to colonize the north of England. He wrote to King Henry I of England and claimed that, "In your land there is an outpost of your Lord and my Lord, and outpost he has preferred to die for than to loose. I have proposed to occupy it and am sending men from my army who will, if it is not displeasing to you, claim it, recover it, and restore it with a strong hand." The emissaries whom Bernard sent with the letter were also to survey the proposed site.
On March 5, 1132, twelve monks from Clairvaulx led by Abbot William, a former master of the schools of York, settled in the valley of the River Rye two miles from Walter Espec's castle. Espec donated over 1,000 acres to the Abbey. Building started in 1132 and was overseen by a monk from Clairvaux named "Geoffroi," who was probably the same monk who supervised the construction of Fountains Abbey on year later in 1133. Rievaulx was intended to serve as a mission center, and began to establish daughter houses as early as 1136. Warden in Bedfordshire was also endowed by Espec, while Espec's lord King David of Scotland endowed Melrose and Dundrennan in 1142 in Scotland. Eight more monasteries emanated from these two Scottish houses before 1273. Two other daughter houses were founded in England: Revesby and Rufford. Walter Espec tried to convert the Augustinian house of Kirkham he had founded to a daughter house of Rievaulx in 1139, but the agreement was never carried out.
Rievaulx was also patronized by several other nobles who collectively donated over 6,000 acres of land to the monastery.
Abbot William died in 1145, having led the house through its first period of expansion. He was succeeded by a scholar and former sub-prior from Durham, Maurice. Maurice became abbot of Fountains only eighteen months later. In turn, he was succeeded in 1147 by Aelred of Rievaulx, who at the time was the thirty-seven-year-old abbot of Revesby. Aelred was one of the most influential religious figures of his age. Under his leadership, Rievaulx became the largest monastic establishment in England. At its height, there were some 400 monks and even more lay brothers living at Rievaulx.
Aelred of RievaulxAelred was born in 1110 at Hexham. He was educated in the Latin classics and the works of the Church Fathers. At fifteen, he entered the household of King David of Scotland, who sent him out when he was twenty-four to negotiate with Archbishop Thurston of York. On his way back, Aelred passed by the new monastery's tiny group of buildings of the River Rye and, moved by the experience, joined the community. Aelred played a prominent role in the affairs of the monastery, and in 1142 went to Rome to inform the pope of the election of a new Archbishop of York. On his way through France, he visited his monastery's mother-house Clairvaux Here he met St. Bernard, who convinced him to undertake his Mirror of Charity. He completed this work upon his return for the novices, of whom he was made master. Aelred spent four years founding the daughter-house at Revesby prior to his election as abbot of Rievaulx in 1147. Aelred's position as abbot forced him to travel far and wide, as did most abbots of Cistercian houses. His reputation was so great that he was selected to preach the sermon at the translation of the relics of Edward the Confessor, one of the most beloved saints in all of England. Aelred corresponded with many monarchs of his time, including Henry II of England and Louis VI of France. Over 300 letters of this correspondence are preserved. These frequent travels must have taken their toll on Aelred. Walter Daniel's Life of Aelred paints a vivid picture of the illness and pain during the last ten years of Aelred's life. Aelred was in so much pain that he often could not bear to be touched. Aelred died on January 12, 1167, and he was buried in the chapter house next to the Abbot William. Aelred's kind and tender nature and his devotion to spiritual friendship encouraged the tremendous growth in vocations during his abbacy. He remains one of the most beloved saints in Cistercian history. Shortly after his death, the monks of Rievaulx began the canonization process; in the thirteenth century, his body was placed in a shrine behind the high altar of the presbytery, which was probably built to house his relics. Rievaulx after AelredAfter Aelred's death, the abbey declined. One of the main staples of Cistercian livelihood in England was the wool industry, and it was fairly common to speculate years in advance on proceeds. In the late thirteenth century, an epidemic of sheep scab seriously depleted the wool production, and the abbey became deeply in debt. In 1288 the abbey was taken under royal protection and was placed under the supervision of the Bishop of Durham. Rievaulx also suffered from the political turmoil of the fourteenth century. After the Scots defeated the English at Bannockburn, the north was overrun by the Scots. King Edward II stayed at Rievaulx in 1322 when he was defeated at Shaws Moor. His army retreated to York, and the Scots sacked the abbey. The conflict between the English and the Scots devastated the abbeys estates and, consequently, the numbers of lay brothers and of choir monks was greatly reduced. Combined with the devastation of the Black Death in 1348-1349, the numbers of monks had shrunk from 400 in the days of Aelred to only 14 monks, their abbot, and three lay brothers by 1381. The DissolutionIn 1530 Edward Kirky became abbot of Rievaulx, and attracted the ire of Henry VIII when he questioned the king's authority to interfere in matters of the Church. Henry soon had him deposed, and had a new abbot elected. In 1538, however, the dissolution of the greater monasteries had begun, and on December 3, the new abbot Blyton and his twenty-one remaining monks were forced to surrender their monastery. The abbey and its estates in Ryedale and Bilsdale were granted to Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, who destroyed many of the abbey's buildings. The abbey fell into a state of complete ruin, and excavations were not begun until 1920. During the excavation, over 50,000 tons of debris were removed from the site. Pictorial Tour of the Ruins of RievaulxThe records of the suppression list over seventy-two buildings on the abbey's grounds; fewer than half of those buildings remain today. Ninety-two acres were originally enclosed within the abbey's precinct walls; today, only fifteen acres remain. The ChurchMost monastic churches have an east-west alignment. Rievaulx is unusual in that its church has a southeast to northwest alignment. The remains of the church date from the 1150s and 1220s. The Abbey Grounds
The Chapter House and Shrine of Abbot William The
Cloister and lay brothers' range
References for further study:Aelred of Rievaulx. The Works of Aelred of Rievaulx. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Pubs., (1971-)
Walter Daniel. The Life of Aelred. ed. F.M. Powicke. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1950. reprinted 1978. Jane P. Freeland and Marsha Dutton, editors. Aelred of Rievaulx. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1994. F.A. Gasquet, D.D. Henry VIII and The Dissolution of the Monasteries . vol. I and II. London: John Hodges, 1893. Dom David Knowles. The Monastic Order in England: a History of Its Development from the Time of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council 943-1216 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1941. Bede Lackner. The Eleventh-Century Background to Cīteaux. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1972. Louis Lekai. The White Monks: A History of the Cistercian Order. Okaucheee, Wis: Cistercian Fathers Series, 1953. Brian P. McGuire. Brother and Lover: Aelred of Rievaulx. New York: Crossroad, 1994.
For further exploration, consult the following links:Aelred of Rievaulx from Biographical Sketches of Memorable Christians of the past. Lectio Divina: Aelred of Rievaulx by Basil Pennington Sermons by St. Aelred Prepared by M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O. :
Building an Abbey: Rievaulx from the Roland collection; streaming video The Experience of Homosexuality in the Middle Ages by Paul Halsall. Some scholars, such as Brain Patrick McGuire, who have read Aelred's works have concluded that he was a homosexual. Quite a bit of scholarly controversy surrounds this thesis. Halsall's article explores various aspects of homosexuality in the Middle Ages. To return to the medieval monasticim home page, click here. To return to the virtual tours page, click here. |
The Cistercians : ![[photo of Dr. Vess]](1vesssmall1a.jpg)