CLAIRVAUX (ST. BERNARD)

The abbey of Rievaulx was founded as the first Cistercian outpost in the North, and was to be a centre for White Monks to reform and colonise the North of England and Scotland. The Cistercian mother-house in Burgundy, founded in 1098. The abbot of Cîteaux was acknowledged among Cistercian abbots as the ‘first among equals’.

The foundation of RIEVAULX was instigated by Bernard of Clairvaux and planned with military precision. Bernard was born in Fontaine, Burgundy, of noble parentage. The abbey attracted-profile benefactors such as Henry I and David of Scotland, and a number of recruits from the locality and further afield. The most prominent recruit was Aelred of Rievaulx, who was abbot from 1147 until 1167. Aelred, a contemporary of Jocelin of Furness was born at Hexham, Northumberland, and grew up at the court of King David of Scotland, where he later served as an administrator. Aelred soon rose to prominence; he became novice-master of Rievaulx and was then sent to lead a new foundation at Revesby, Lincolnshire.

Rufford Abbey, dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin, was founded some time between 1146 and 1148 by Gilbert de Gant, earl of Lincoln (d. 1156). It was the fifth and final daughter house of Rievaulx abbey. It was the fifth and final daughter house of Rievaulx abbey.(1) The abbey, located within the area of Sherwood Forest, took a considerable amount of time to construct and the permanent buildings may not have been finished until a century after the initial foundation. Following the Dissolution the abbey site and its granges were granted to Sir John Markham and then to the Talbots, earls of Shrewsbury, in exchange for lands in Ireland. They converted the west range into a house which was extended in the seventeenth century.

 

By the thirteenth century RIEVAULX had founded a family of no less than nineteen abbeys. By the time of the Dissolution in 1538 the community numbered twenty-three. Under Bernard’s energetic leadership Clairvaux rose to prominence and soon dominated the Cistercian family tree: during his abbacy sixty-five daughter-houses were founded or absorbed, and eventually there were over 350 houses affiliated to Clairvaux. Bernard was instrumental in bringing the Cistercians to Yorkshire, and the Clairvaux line was by far the strongest in the British Isles.

Indeed, some time after the foundation, the abbots of Citeaux and Clairvaux acted upon the advice of Abbot Denis of Robertsbridge, and conferred the benefits of the Order upon the souls of Henry and his mother. The abbey of Robertsbridge, dedicated to St. Mary, was founded in 1176 by Alured de St. Martin, sheriff of the rape of Hastings and dapifer (steward) to Richard I. Some time during the thirteenth century, possibly c. 1250, the abbey moved to its present site on the south side of the River Rother. Alured’s wife, Countess Alice (widow of John Count of Eu), associated herself with her husband in this foundation and her son, Henry, also took a keen interest.

Alured’s wife, Countess Alice (widow of John Count of Eu), associated herself with her husband in this foundation and her son, Henry, also took a keen interest. It seems that the relationship between the community at Robertsbridge and Alured’s family was a cordial one. Indeed, some time after the foundation, the abbots of Citeaux and Clairvaux acted upon the advice of Abbot Denis of Robertsbridge, and conferred the benefits of the Order upon the souls of Henry and his mother. In its early days, the abbey played a significant part in the political history of England. In 1192, the abbot of ROBERTSBRIDGE, along with the abbot of Boxley, was sent to search for King Richard, whom they found in Bavaria. In 1212, 1222, and 1225 the abbot was dispatched abroad to act as the king's messenger. In 1264, Henry III stayed at Robertsbridge on his way to the battle of Lewes and Edward II also visited the abbey in 1394. The abbey was well regarded and had a reputation for a high standard of internal discipline and order. However, the house seems to have dwindled from fame towards the end of the fourteenth century.

SAWLEY was founded on the banks of the R. Ribble, Craven, in 1147. Like Roche, it was a daughter-house of Newminster, Northumberland, and thus affiliated to Fountains and joined to the Clairvaux line. Clairvaux was the third Cistercian foundation, the third of Cîteaux’s ‘elder daughters’. It was established in when Bernard, a monk of Cîteaux, was sent to lead this new community at Clairvaux (Valley of Light), in the diocese of Langres. SAWLEY had a rather unconventional beginning, for William de Percy, a leading figure in the North, built a church at Craven before he had negotiated with Newminster to send a colony of monks there. The founding family intervened and thwarted their efforts, but were at least moved to increase the endowment of the house to help the monks better survive. The community faced particular problems in 1296 with the relocation of the monks of Stanlaw, Cheshire, to Whalley some five or ten kilometres away.

WARDEN ABBEY, one of the earliest Cistercian settlements in England, was founded in 1136 by Walter Espec (d. 1154). Four years earlier Walter had founded the abbey of Rievaulx, one of the most famous houses of the Cistercian Order, and now he invited the monks to settle a daughter-house on his lands at Old Warden in Bedfordshire. Warden was able to establish three daughter-houses of its own: Sawtry (1147), SIBTON in East Anglia [Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire] (1150) and TILTY (1153); it had also created twelve granges by 1190. TILTY abbey was established in 1153 by Maurice fitz Geoffrey and his overlord Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby.

MEREVALE abbey in Warwickshire was founded in 1148 by Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby (d. 1159) and was the second house to be colonised by Bordesley. Merevale was never a large monastery, housing little more than ten monks. One of Robert’s descendants, Earl William de Ferrers, was buried in the chapter-house in 1253.

WARDEN ABBEY was colonised by monks from Warden and was situated on a tributary of the river Chelmer. Ralph of Coggeshall’s chronicle credits the second abbot, Simon (c. 1188-1214), with building the entire monastery. It is thought that in the early thirteenth century there may have been over fifty monks at the house. In 1224 approximately thirty monks were imprisoned in Bedford Castle after Falkes de Breaute led an attack on the abbey. Another abbey, SAWTRY abbey was founded in 1147 by Simon de Senlis (d. 1153), earl of Huntingdon and Northampton (created 1136/8), whose family descended from William the Conqueror. The abbey was the first house colonised by monks from the abbey of Warden.