Until the twelfth century all monasteries were what are now known as Benedictine monasteries, following the rule of life written in the sixth century by St. Benedict. Around the year 1100 a wave of religious enthusiasm swept through much of Europe. Many people decided they wanted to live an ‘apostolic life’ – the kind of life they imagined the followers of Jesus lived during New Testament times. They left their homes to begin lives of prayer and solitude, often in depths of the forests of northern Europe. Eventually many of them formed groups, living and praying together – groups which gradually turned into monasteries and religious houses living according to a rule. However, many did not follow the traditional Rule of St. Benedict. They became what were known as Augustinian Canons, following a short rule supposed to have been written by St. Augustine of Hippo. Other new religious orders* were founded, including one in England begun by St. Gilbert of Sempringham, the son of a Norman knight from Lincolnshire, which became known as the Gilbertines.
The most important of the new monastic orders began in Burgundy, France, at the beginning of the twelfth century. A group of men started a new community at Molesmes, where they were determined to lead a strict religious life. Some of them found the life too hard, and gradually the rules were relaxed. A hard core of idealists decided to start again, and founded a new monastery at Citeaux. One of these men was an Englishman from Sherborne in Dorset, Stephen Harding. Stephen became the third abbot of Citeaux, and the driving force of what became the Cistercian Order (called after the Latin name for Citeaux, Cistercium). In the early days the monks struggled, going hungry to the point of starvation. Stephen’s prayers for help were answered, when a group of thirty men arrived asking to join the monastery, including a dynamic young man named Bernard, who later became abbot of a new Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux, and one of the greatest saints of his age.
Once Citeaux had passed through its early difficulties it grew rapidly, and began sending out groups of monks to found new monasteries, known as daughter houses. Those daughters began new foundations of their own, until a network of Cistercian abbeys had spread throughout Europe. The first Cistercian house in England was founded at Waverley, Surrey, in 1128. The numbers of both monks and monasteries grew rapidly, until a network of Cistercian abbeys spread across the country. The Cistercians followed the Rule of St. Benedict, but were different in several ways from other Benedictine monasteries. One obvious difference was in their habits (the clothes worn by the monks). The Benedictines wore black, but the Cistercians wore habits made of undyed wool; because of this they became known as the “white monks”. Whereas the Benedictines devoted their days mainly to prayer and study, the Cistercians wanted to work and earn their own living by farming their own land. In practice, the hours spent in prayer meant that the monks did not have enough time to do this, so they developed a new system. Until this time monks usually came from relatively well-to-do families. The Cistercians allowed even illiterate peasants to become monks. These men became ‘lay brothers’, whose task was to work the land and to say a shorter version of the daily office (the daily prayer of the monastery), leaving the educated ‘choir’ monks free to follow a more intensive schedule of prayer. This system was so successful that it had an unexpected effect – many Cistercian abbeys became very wealthy.
In 1134 a young man left the court of King David I of Scotland, where he had been a member of the household and a great friend of Henry, the king’s son, to visit York. On his way home, he stopped at the castle of Helmsley and paid a visit to the nearby Cistercian Abbey of Rievaulx. He was so impressed by what he found there, that the next day he returned to Rievaulx and asked to join the community. This young man, Aelred, rose through the ranks to become master of the novices and, in 1147, abbot. Aelred had a gift for friendship and was beloved by his monks, as he had been beloved by his friends at the Scottish court. He wrote a treatise called Spritual Friendship, in which he pointed out that the close relationship Jesus had with friends, such as Martha, Mary and Lazarus, shows us the importance of friendship. Jocelin of Furness, who knew Aelred tells us:
He was wholly inspired by a spirit of wisdom and understanding. Moreover, he was a man of the highest integrity, of great practical wisdom, witty and eloquent, a pleasant companion, generous and discreet. And, with all these qualities he exceeded all his fellow prelates of the Church in his patience and tenderness. He was full of sympathy for the infirmities, both physical and moral, of others.
In his later years Aelred was confined to his cell by ill health, but was still surrounded by many monks and visitors who came to spend time with him. He died in 1167, by which time Rievaulx had grown into a flourishing community with some 650 monks. Like the other great English abbeys, Rievaulx was destroyed by King Henry VIII. Today only ruins are left to remind us of the great days of the Cistercian order in England.
* An “order” is a group of monasteries or religious houses which all follow the same rule of life.
PRAYER: 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.
FEAST DAYS:
Stephen Harding – April 17th
Aelred of Rievaulx – January 12th
Gilbert of Sempringham – February 16th
TIMELINE:
Stephen Harding c.1060 – 1134
Aelred of Rievaulx 1109 – 1167
Gilbert of Sempringham 1083 – c.1189
FURTHER READING:
Monks and Monasteries, Cynthia Harnett (out of print)
© Kathryn Faulkner 2005. All rights reserved.
