MEDIEVAL CHURCH STUDIES 11

C îtea u x : St u d ia et D o c u m e n t a 13

P erspectives for
an A rchitecture
of Solitude
Essays on C is t e r c ia n s , a r t a n d A r c h it e c t u r e
in h o n o u r o f P eter Fe r g u s s o n

e d ite d by terryl n . k in d e r

BREPOLS I CÎTEAUX
I
 Perspectives for an
Architecture of Solitude
Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture
in Honour of Peter Fergusson
What was it that gave medieval art and architecture its form and style? What is it that
attracts people to medieval art and architecture, especially that of the Cistercians?
What shaped medieval buildings and determined their embellishments - and what
now determines the way we look at them?

Some of the most intriguing questions in monastic and ecclesiastical architecture

and archaeology are discussed in this tribute to Peter Fergusson and his lifetime of
scholarship as an historian of medieval art and architecture, especially of the
Cistercians.

These thirty-four essays range from a discussion of the earliest Christian legislation
on art (fourth century) to an account of a garden project of 1811 designed to efface
all previous monastic habitation. Between these chronological signposts are studies on
the design, siting, building, and archaeology of churches, infirmaries, abbots'
lodgings, gatehouses, private chambers, grange chapels, and the life lived within and
around them. Geographically, the papers range from the British Isles through Spain,
France, Flanders, and Germany to the centre of the medieval world: Jerusalem.

They treat of the complexities of building and re-building; of architectural and

artistic adaptations to place, period, and political upheaval; of the interrelationship of
text and structure; and of the form, iconography, and influence of some of the great
churches and cathedrals of the Middle Ages. This is a wide-ranging and authoritative
collection of studies which is essential reading for any historian of medieval art and
architecture.

Medieval Church Studies is a series of monographs and, sometimes,

collections devoted to the history of the Western Church from,
approximately, the Carolingian reform to the Council of Trent.
Ir builds on Brepols’ longstanding interest in editions of texts and
primary sources, and presents studies that are founded on a
liiii traditional close analysis of primary sources but which confront
current research issues and adopt contemporary methodological approaches.
This volume is a co-publication with the series Studia et Documenta of the journal
Qteaux: Commentarii cistercienses.

Cover image: Rievaulx Abbey (N. Yorkshire), south transept

from the infirmary cloister (photo: S. Harrison, 1999)
ISBN 2-503-51692-C
9782503516929
P e r s p e c t iv e s fo r an A r c h it e c t u r e of S o l it u d e

Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture

in Honour of Peter Fergusson
M edieval C h u r c h Studies 11
Studia et D o cu m en ta 13
 P erspectiv es f o r an
A r c h it e c t u r e o f S o l it u d e

Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture

in H onour o f Peter Fergusson

Edited by

Terryl N. Kinder

&
BEEPOLS
Cîteaux
B ritish L ibrary C a ta lo g u in g in P u b lic a tio n D a ta

A catalogue record for this book is avaible from the British Library

© 2004, BREPOLS S3PUBLISHERS , Turnhout, Belgium

D /2004/0095/117
ISBN 2-503-51692-0

© 2004, CUeaux : Commentarii cistercienses

ISBN 90-805439-5-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
 Contents

An Appreciation vii
T erryl N. K in d e r

Peter Fergusson ix
Communal Identity and the Earliest Christian Legislation on Art: 1
Canon 36 o f the Synod o f Elvira
C onrad R u d o lph

Richard of Fountains and the Letter o f Thurstan: History and Historiography 9

o f a Monastic Controversy, St Mary’s Abbey, York, 1132
C h r is t o p h e r N orton

“According to the Form o f the Order” : 35

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context
G lyn C o ppa ck

Rievaulx Abbey: The Early Years 47

Janet B urto n
Aelred of Rievaulx and the Institutional Limits o f Monastic Friendship 55
J ens R u effer

Making and Breaking the Bonds: Yorkshire Cistercians and their Neighbours 63
E m il ia J a m r o z ia k

The Architecture o f the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey: 71

Saint Bernard and the Cistercian Principle o f Conspicuous Poverty
A lexandra G a je w s k i

Culross Abbey 81
R ic h a r d Fa w cett

The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding o f the Cenacle on M ount Sion 101

and the Fortunes of a Style
N ic o l a C o ldstream

Savigny and its Saints 109

L in d y G rant

The Lost Choir: What Was Built at Three Cistercian Abbey Churches in Wales? 115
Law rence B utler

“I lift up mine eyes”: A Re-Evaluation of the Tower in Cistercian Architecture 125

in Britain and Ireland
St u a r t H a r r is o n
 The Crossing o f Fountains Abbey Church 137
M alcolm T hurlby

Tunis basilice innixe: The Western Tower o f the Collegiate Church o f Saint-Quentin 147
E llen M . Shortell
The Two Cistercian Plans o f Villard de Honnecourt 157
N ig e l H is c o c k

Ne aliquis extraneus claustrum intret: 173

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey o f Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons
S h e i l a B o n d e and C l a r k M a i n e s
Chambers, Cells, and Cubicles: 187
The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development of the Private Room
D a v id N . B ell

East o f the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings and other Chambers 199
J a c k ie H all

Cistercian Grange Chapels 213

D a v i d H. W i l l i a m s
Cistercians in the City: The Church of the Collège Saint-Bernard in Paris 223
M i c h a e l T. D a v is
From Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls o f Melrose Abbey in the Fifteenth Century 235
T homas C oom ans

A Bell-founders Pit at the Cistercian Abbey of Grosbot (Charente) 253

M ark H orton

Stained Glass Panels from Mariawald Abbey in The Cleveland Museum o f Art 261
H elen Z a k in

De laudibus Virginis Matris: The Untold Story o f a Standing Infant Jesus, 269
a Venerating M onk and a Movable Madonna from Dargun Abbey
C h r is t in e K ratzke

Fingerprinting Stone from Saint-Remi in Reims 283

D a n i e l l e V. J o h n s o n , w ith the assistance o f Lo re H olm es

Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on the Reverse Façade o f Reims Cathedral 291
D o n n a L. S a d l e r
Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 301
J e n n i f e r S. A l e x a n d e r
The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches o f Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 313
J a m e s D ’E m il io

Cistercian Influence on the Abbey o f the Paraclete? 329

Plotting Data from the Paraclete Book o f Burials, Customary, and Necrology
C hrysogonu s W addell

Cistercian Threads in the Fabric of Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals 341

V ir g in ia J ansen
Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept of Wells Cathedral 351
C arolyn M a r in o M alone

Beating their Swords into Set Squares 369

L is a R e il l y

Furness Abbey: A Case Study in Monastic Secularisation 377

J ason W ood

Planting over the Past: 387

An Unknown Episode in the Post-monastic History o f Pontigny Abbey
T e r r y l N. K i n d e r

VI Contents
 La nature est un temple où de vivants piliers
Laissent parfois sortir de confuses paroles;
L’homme y passe à travers desforêts de symboles
Qui l’observent avec des regardsfamiliers.

Charles Baudelaire
“ C orrespondances”
Les Fleurs du Mal

ew scholars have applied a critical eye with the following pages, it serves as a reference for

F equal scrutiny to trees and piers alike. This

diversity o f interest, coupled with wit,
compassion, and friendship, goes a long way to
continuing research as well as a starting point
for the study o f similar buildings elsewhere.
But Peter is equally interested in garden and
explain the esteem in which Peter Fergusson, landscape history, which he teaches as well as
Professor o f Art History at Wellesley College, practices. He once said that the world was spared
is held by countless colleagues, former students, more reading matter because o f his devotion to
friends, and those who appreciate his research the garden of the house in Wellesley, Massa­
and publications. The enthusiastic — indeed, chusetts where he and Lilian live — a garden
overwhelming — response that followed a high­ that was originally laid out by John McAndrew,
ly secret call for papers for a volume in his hon­ architect and architectural historian, and design­
our is in itself a tribute to the friendship and er o f the first sculpture garden o f the Museum
admiration in which he is held. Many others o f M odern Art in New York. We hope that
would gladly have contributed had there been Peter will enjoy an occasional pause in his gar­
a wider call, more time, and more pages. dens — real and metaphorical — to see how
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the seeds he helped to plant have taken root and
the publication o f Professor Fergusson’s Archi­ are now themselves mature trees, under which
tecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Cen­ future students o f the built and planted envi­
tury England (Princeton, 1984), and these two ronment may also find inspiration.
decades have seen an explosion o f interest in
the study o f Cistercian architecture and arts.
The title o f the present book is intended as a Terryl N. Kinder
bow to that seminal work. Frequently cited in Pontigny, May 2004
Peter Fergusson, at the colloquium "Between Ideal and Reality. Reassessing Cistercian art and
architecture” held in his honour at the Courtauld Institute o f Art, London, 14-15 May 2004.
(Ruth Fergusson)
 Peter Fergusson

Education: Positions Held:

1960 B. A. Michigan State University Co-Chair, Friends of Art Wellesley College,
1961 M.A. Harvard University 1968-71
1967 Ph.D. Harvard University Chair, Department of Art, Wellesley College,
1974-77;1981-82; 1997; 2003-04
A cadem ie Appointm ents: Co-Director, Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
1965 McGill University, Assistant Professor three terms
1966 to present: Wellesley College, Assistant, Asso­ Director, Architecture Program, two terms
ciate, Full Professor Sloane Summer Visiting Fellow, Princeton, 1987,
1987 appointed Theodora and Stanley Feldberg 1988
Professor of Art, Wellesley College Assistant Editor, Speculum, Medieval Academy of
1979, 1981, 1983 Harvard University, Visiting Pro­ America, 1987-2001
fessor of Visual and Environmental Design Save Venice Boston, chair 1980-86; 2000-01; Vice
Chair 1987-99, 2001-
Awards and H onors:
1960-64 Danforth Fellow Publications:
1970 Reginald Taylor Prize and Medal, British Books:
Archaeological Association Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-
1970 Ford Foundation Fellowship Century England (Princeton, NJ, 1984).
1977—78 Howard Foundation Fellowship
1986 Charles Rufus Morey Book Award, College Rievaulx Abbey: community, architecture, memory (with
Art Association of America Stuart Harrison) (New Haven, 1999).
1986 The Society of Antiquaries of London,
elected fellow The Landscape and Architecture of Wellesley College
1988 Cavaliere dell’Ordine di Merito della (with James O ’Gorman, John Rhodes)
Repubblica Italiana (Wellesley, MA, 2000).
1991—93, 1996 National Endowment for the
Humanities fellowship
1997 American Academy in Rome, Resident Articles:
2001 Society of Architectural Historians of Great “Early Cistercian Churches in Yorkshire and the
Britain, Alice Hitchcock Prize (with Stuart Problem of the Cistercian Crossing Tower”,Journal
Harrison) of the Society ofArchitectural Historians, voi. 29 (1970),
2003 Wellesley College, Alumnae Association p. 211-21.
Annual Service Award
2003 Medieval Academy of America, Haskins “Roche Abbey: the date and source of the east
Medal (with Stuart Harrison) remains,”Journal of the British Archaeological Associa­
tion, voi. 34 (1970), p. 30-42.

Peter Fergusson IX
“The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding at Dun- Rievaulx Abbey, National Buildings and Monuments
drennan Abbey,” AntiquariesJournal, voi. 52 (1973), Commission (London, 1994) (with Glyn Coppack).
p. 232-43.
“The Chapter House at Rievaulx Abbey,” Antiquaries
“The South Transept of Byland Abbey,” Journal of Journal, voi. 74 (1994), p. 211—55 (with Stuart
the British Archaeological Association, voi. 38 (1975), Harrison).
p. 155-76.
“Aelred’s Abbatial Residence at Rievaulx Abbey,”
“Notes on Two Cistercian Engraved Designs,” Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, voi. 5, ed.
Speculum, voi. 54.1 (1979), p. 1-17. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo, MI, 1998), p. 41-
56.
“The First Architecture of the Cistercians in
England and the Work of Abbot Adam of Meaux,” “Cistercian Architecture”, Medieval England, an
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, voi. 135 Encyclopedia, ed. Paul Szarmach et al. (New York,
(1983), p. 22-37. 1998), p. 188-91.

“The Builders of Cistercian Monasteries in Twelfth- “Wellesley Before Wellesley: a landscape prehisto­
Century England,” Studies in Cistercian Art and ry”, Wellesley Alumnae Magazine (summer 2000),
Architecture, voi. 2, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalama­ p. 30-34.
zoo, MI, 1984), p. 14-29.
“The Year One Thousand: Harvard’s Millenial
“The Twelfth-Century Refectories at Rievaulx and Exhibition” Journal of the Society of Architectural
Byland Abbeys,” in Cistercian Art and Architecture in Historians, voi. 60 (April 2001), p. 210—11.
the British Isles, ed. Christopher Norton and David
Park (Cambridge, 1986), p. 160-80. “Wellesley s Quest to Be Centered,” Wellesley College
Alumnae Magazine (spring 2003), p. 23-28.
“The Refectory at Easby Abbey: Form and Icono­
graphy”, Art Bulletin, voi. 71 (1989), p. 334-51. Entries on Wellesley College for The Buildings of the
United States:Massachusetts (in press).
Roche Abbey, National Buildings and Monuments
Commission (London, 1990). “The Treasury at Christchurch, Canterbury” Studies
in Romanesque Art and Architecture in the British Isles,
“Medieval Architectural Scholarship in America, ed. Malcolm Thurlby, Oxford Archaeological
1900—1940: Ralph Adams Cram and Kenneth John Reports (in press).
Conant”, in The Architectural Historian in America,
ed. Elizabeth Blair McDougall, Studies in the
History of Art, voi. 35 (National Gallery, Washing­ Recent Reviews:
ton D.C., 1990), p. 127-42. Thomas Coomans, L’abbaye de Villers-en Brabant:
construction, et signification d'une abbaye cistercienne
“Porta Patens Esto: Notes on Early Cistercian gothique (Studia et documenta XI), (Brussels/Brecht,
Gatehouses in the North of England”, Medieval 2000 )
Architecture and its Intellectual Context: Studies in in Cìteaux, voi. 53 (2002), p. 176-78.
Honour of Peter Kidson, ed. Eric Fernie and Paul
Crossley (London, 1990), p.47—60. Eric Fernie, The Architecture of Norman England,
(Oxford, 2000)
“The Greencourt Gate at the Cathedral Monastery in Speculum, voi. 77.2 (2002), p. 521-23.
of Christ Church, Canterbury”, The Urban
Dimension: Essays in Architectural History and Criticism Megan Cassidy-Welch, Monastic Spaces and their
in Honor of Eduard Sheler, ed. W. Boehme (Berlin, Meanings: Thirteenth Century English Cistercian
1994), p. 87-97. Monasteries (Turnhout, 2001)
in Speculum, 78.3 (2003), p. 852-54.
“Programmatic Factors in the East Extension of
Clairvaux”, Arte medievale, II ser. Anno Vili, 1:2
(1994), p. 87-101.

Peter Fergusson
THE ARTICLES
 Communal Identity and the Earliest Christian
Legislation on Art:
Canon 36 of the Synod of Elvira*
C O N R A D RU DO LPH

espite the important religious and social of Elvira, the first official statement on art in the

D role of art in the cultures of Early

Christian and medieval Western Europe,
sources discussing the position of art within these
history o f the Church, is no exception. O f spe­
cial interest even if it represents Church policy
only within the limits o f the synod’sjurisdiction
cultures are notoriously rare. Those we do have o f Spain, it is word for word the most written-
are not often clear and present an attitude toward about source in the history of Western medieval
art that is far from monolithic. Compounding art. The canon states:
this scarcity and lack of clarity is the fact that
36. Let there be no paintings in church
these few sources — which concern one of the
It is agreed that there should be no paintings
major forms o f public communication o f the
in church, lest what is venerated and adored be
time — have often been presented out of con­
depicted on walls. '
text by modern scholars who misunderstood
them as the expression of the Church as an insti­ The Synod of Elvira was held in the Roman city
tution rather than seeing them as the writings of of Illiberis (Visigothic Eliberi; Arab and Spanish
individuals for individual circumstances. The Elvira) in south-eastern Spain, possibly in 306
result has been that these sources, especially those and probably within the site o f present-day
from the Early Christian period, have not always Granada, though some believe that Elvira was a
been fully understood. Canon 36 of the Synod short distance outside of Granada (Figs 1, 2).12*It

* To Peter, whose work on Cistercian architecture is a 2. All the place names have alternate spellings. O pin­
model for present scholarship and an inspiration for future. ions on the date o f the Synod o f Elvira vary; see esp.
The illustrations in this article would not have been possi­ Alfred Dale, The Synod of Elvira and Christian Life in the
ble without the generosity o f Marianne De Klerk and Juan Fourth Century (London, 1882), p. 12-46; Charles Joseph
Enrique Gómez, to whom I am very grateful. I would also like Hefele, Histoire des conciles d’après les documents originaux,
to thank Maria-José Bacarizo Hidalgo. Avital Heyman, and trans, and ed. H enri Leclercq, 11 vols (Paris, 1907-52),
Julio Martinez for their kindness in looking for illustrations. I, p. 215-20; H ugo Koch, “Die Zeit des Konzils von Elvi­
ra” , Zeitschrift fü r die neutestamcntlichc Wissenschaft, 17
1. For the text o f the statutes o f the Synod o f Elvira, see
(1916), p. 61—67; R am os-Lissón in José O rlandis and
the critical edition by Gonzalo M artínez Díez and Félix
D om ingo Ramos-Lissón, Die Synoden auf der Iberischen
Rodríguez, La Colección canónica hispana, 4 vols (Madrid.
Halbinsel bis zum Einbruch des Islam (711) (Paderborn,
19S4), IV, p. 233-68; ail citations here are from this edition.
1981), p. 4-6; R o b ert Grigg, “A niconic Worship and the
Earlier important or accessible texts include those in Jean
Apologetic Tradition: A N ote on C anon 36 o f the C o u n ­
Hardouin, Acta conciliorum et epistolae decretales, ac constitu­
cil o f Elvira” , Church History, 45 (1976), p. 428-33, esp.
tiones summorum pontificum, 12 vols (Paris, 1715), [, cois
p. 428, n. 7, for further bibliography. O pinions on the
247—58; J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum noua et amplissima
location o f the synod also vary; see esp. Angel Custodio
collectio, 31 vols (Florence, 1759-98), It, cols 1—19; and
Vega, España sagrada (M adrid, 1961), p. 11—70 (esp. p.
Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed. Jacques-Paul
65-70); and Orlandis and Ramos-Lissón, Synoden, p. 3—4.
Migne (Paris, 1844-64) [hereafter PL], 84, cols 301-10.

Communal Identity and the Earliest Christian Legislation on Art 1

 Fig. 1. Granada, 2003. (Juan
Enrique Gómez)
Although opinions nary, most
scholars today belieoe that the old
Roman city o f Eloira was located in
the Albaicin district o f the city o f
Granada, currently under excavation
and indicated by the circled area in
the photograph.

was a regional assembly of Spanish bishops and persecution was over, the Church in Spain was
presbyters and seems to have been held very soon left with a reckoning o f its communal behav­
after the great persecution by Diocletian of 303 iour. Meeting at Elvira apparently almost as soon
to 305.This persecution, however, had been pre­ as the persecution had ceased, the attending
ceded by an apparently long period of peaceful bishops and presbyters found this behaviour
coexistence between the Christian and pagan faithless. What may have seemed like harmless
communities. During this time, as the canons of good will to many before the persecution was
the synod show, Christians were not only toler­ now seen by the Church hierarchy as the basis
ated in Spain but were fairly well integrated into o f an alarming culture o f apostasy. Church
all levels of non-Christian society. This was so councils and synods were nothing new. The first
much the case that not only did some members council o f the Church is believed to have taken
of the Church take part in public pagan religious place in Jerusalem around the year 52 under the
practices (Can. 1, 2, 3, 4, 40, 55, 57, 59), others authority of the Apostles (Acts 15. 1-29), and
actually officiated as priests at pagan sacrifices regional synods had commonly been held since
(Can. 2, 3, 4). High secular and religious offices the middle of the second century, sometimes
were attained by Christians (Can. 2, 3, 4, 56), even on an annual basis. W hat distinguishes the
and Christians intermarried with pagans who Synod o f Elvira is its well-known disciplinary
retained their beliefs, sometimes even with rather than doctrinal character,3 a point o f great
“priests of the idols” (Can. 15, 17). importance for the first official Church state­
It seems that, when faced with the persecu­ ment on art.
tion of 303 to 305 — the most violent of all The literature on Canon 36 is too vast to
the persecutions — a significant number of review systematically here.4*Generally speaking
Christians chose to suspend temporarily the the opinions o f scholars have varied wildly on
Christian part of their public lives while con­ the meaning o f this canon, suggesting that
tinuing as before with those parts that were inte­ Church authorities drafted the statute because
grated with pagan society. W hen the they feared that the imagery would premature-

3. O n the Synod o f Elvira in general, see Mansi, Collec­ Abhandlungen und Untersuchungen, 3 vols (Paderborn,
tio, h, cols 1-406; Dale, Synod of Elvira', Hefele, Histoire, I, 1897—1907), i, p. 346-52, esp. p. 346-48; Hugo Koch. Die
p. 212—64; J. Gaudmet. “ Elvire”, in Dictionnaire d’histoire et altchristliche Bilderfrage nach den literarischen Quellen (Göttin­
degéographie ecclésiastiques, ed. A. Baudrillart et al. (Paris. 1912), gen, 1917), p. 31—41; Walter Eiliger, Die Stellung der alten
XV, cols 317-48; Vega, España sagrada, p. 331-67; Samuel Christen zu den Bildern in den ersten vierJahrhunderten (Leipzig,
Laeuchli. Power and Sexuality: The Emergence o f Canon Law 1930), p. 34—38; Vega, España sagrada, p. 273-76 (with spe­
at the Synod of Elvira (Philadelphia. 1972); Manuel Sotomay- cial attention to the Spanish literature); Mary Charles M ur­
or y Muro. “El concilio de Granada (Iliberri)”, in Historia ray, “Art and the Early C hurch”,Journal o f Theological Studies,
de la Iglesia en España, ed. Richardo García Villoslada, 2 vols n.s., 28 (1977), p. 303-45 (esp. p. 317-19); Orlandis and
(Madrid. 1979), i. p. 81—119; and Orlandis and Ramos-Lis- Ramos-Lissón, Synoden, p. 12-13 (with special attention to
són, Synoden, p. 3-30. the Spanish literature); and Josef Engemann, “Z ur Frage der
Innovation in der spätantiken Kunst” , in Innovation in der
4. T he previous scholarship is nowhere fully critiqued.
Spiitantike, ed. Beat Brenk (Wiesbaden, 1996), p. 285-315
For partial reviews, see Dale, Synod of Elvira, p. 293-96; F.
(esp. p. 304-08).
X. Funk. “Der Kanon 36 von Elvira” , in Kirchengeschichtliche

o C O N R A D RUDOLPH
 or use in black magic by certain Christians,6 or
even that a particular artistic style then current
in Spain was improper for church use.7 Other
scholars have explained Canon 36 as an exam­
ple of adherence to the Second Commandment
in particular;8 more generally, as an attempt to
avoid idolatry or the appearance o f idolatry;9
or simply as an expression o f the belief that it
is inappropriate to depict the eternal and imma­
terial (the divine) through the perishable and
material (in this case, the walls o f a church).10
Despite all the disagreement, however, two
issues have arisen again and again in the more
deeply reflective studies. Some scholars have
pointed out that there is no convincing justifi­
cation provided by the canon, one even stating
that it “fails to cite the authority o f the Old
Testament” .11 Others have struggled with the
meaning of the last clause (“lest what is vener­
ated and adored be depicted on walls”), which
comes where one would expect to see a justi­
fication, although, according to one author, it
is “puzzling” as a justification.12*If these two
Fig. 2. Puerta de Elvira, Granada,Albaidu district, 2003. (Mar­
points — identified by previous scholars as still
ianne De Klerk)
needing clarity — are any indication, the expla­
It has been suggested that if Elvira was located in the Albaicin,
nation o f the meaning o f this important source
the synod may have taken place just inside the (eleventh-cen­
lies in itsjustification, a justification that is found
tury) Puerta de Elvira.
in the clause concerning the walls of the church.
Space has permitted only a brief overview of
the historical context, and I can discuss only
ly reveal the mysteries to the uninitiated,5 that equally briefly the broader artistic culture that
such imagery was subject to pagan desecration was the unwritten basis o f the canon. It is no

5. For example, the 16lh-1 7 th-century writer, Fernando Kunstgeschichte, 42 (1923). p.243-47 (esp. p. 243); and M ur­
de Mendoza, as cited by Dale. Synod o f Elvira, p. 295. ray, “Early Church", p. 317-18.
6. The idea that Christian art would be subject to dese­ 9. In different degrees o f meaning; see, e.g., Dale, Synod
cration is expressed in a range o f meanings; see Giovanni o f Elvira, p. 292—93; Funk, “Kanon 36” : and Leclercq in
Battista De Rossi, Roma sotterranea cristiana, 3 vols (Rome, Hefele, Histoire, 1, p. 240, n. 4.
1864—77). in, p. 475: Hefele, Histoire, I, p. 240; Leclercq (in
Hefele, I, p. 204. n. 4); Adolf von Harnack. Die Mission mid 10. See, with varying shades o f meaning, Edwyn Bevan,
Ausbreitung des Christentums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten Holy Images: An Inquiry into Idolatry and Image-Worship in
(Leipzig, 1902), p. 532; and Murray, “Early C hurch” , p. Ancient Paganism and in Christianity (London, 1940), p.
317—19 (also for the belief that Christian art might be used 115-16; Grigg, “Aniconic Worship", p. 430-33: R o b ert
in black magic). Grigg, “ C onstantine the Great and the C ult W ithout
Images”, Viator, 8 (1977), p. 1-32, esp. p. 24—28; Sotomay-
7. Anton Joseph Binterim, “U eber die Synode zu Elvi­ or y Muro, “El Concilio de Granada (Iliberri)”, Historia, p.
ra”, Katholik. 2 (1821), p. 417-44. 112-13; and Engemann, “ Innovation”, p. 307—08.
8. Koch. Bilderfrage, p. 39-40; Eiliger. Bildern, p. 34: Vega, 11. Laeuchli, Power, p. 34; Grigg, “Aniconic Worship”,
España sagrada, p. 279-81 ; Theodor Klauser, “Die Äusserun­ p. 432—33 (the quote is from Grigg); Murray, “Early
gen der alten Kirche zur Kunst”, in A tti del VI congresso inter­ C hurch”, p. 318; and Bevan, Holy Images, p. 115-16.
nazionale di archeologia cristiana (Rome, 1965), p. 223-42,
esp. p. 228-29. Dale (Synod of Elvira, p. 296) suggests that 12. This clause seems to have been a problem for many;
C anon 36 may have been m eant to proscribe the tw o- I cite here only those who have dealt with the issue explic­
dimensional imagery that was not literally denied by the itly: Bevan, Holy Images, p. 115-16; Laeuchli, Power, p. 34
Second Com mandm ent. A num ber o f authors have speci­ (the quote is from Laeuchli); Grigg, “Aniconic Worship”,
fied that the statute prohibited images o f Christ, e.g. Lud­ p. 429—30; Grigg, “Constantine”, p. 24-25; see also von Har-
wig von Sybel, “Z ur Synode von Elvira”, Zeitschrift für nack’s observation. Mission, p. 532.

Communal Identity and the Earliest Christian Legislation on Art 3

 accident that Early Christian and medieval interpretation originally. W ith the Seleucid
sources on art are often poorly understood. The attempt to Hellenize Judea, however, many
Bible — the ultimate authority for most of these within the Maccabean party came to interpret
sources — is itself full of contradictions on the the Second Commandment as a complete pro­
subject. For example, the Second Command­ scription o f imagery, seeing such a practice as
ment states: a means o f distinguishing Judaic communal
identity in the face o f overwhelming foreign
You shall not make for yourself a carved image cultural influences. I call this iconoclastic read­
or any likeness of anything in heaven above, ing o f the Second Commandment the Mac­
on the earth below, or in the waters under the cabean interpretation. Christianity inherited
earth; you shall not adore or serve them. both attitudes toward art, with one or the other
(Exodus 20. 4—5, Vulg.)13 being manifested in the literary sources or artis­
tic remains according to the beliefs o f the indi­
However, both the Tabernacle and the Temple vidual authors or patrons. The question is, is it
employed figurai imagery, either through divine the Mosaic or Maccabean attitude that informs
command or with divine approval, to say noth­ Canon 36, or is it something else again?
ing o f the divinely ordained bronze serpent. The Latin of the canon reads:
This contradiction has been explained in dif­
ferent ways.14*The most convincing is that the XXXVI. Ne picturae in ecclesia fiant
original intent o f the Second Commandment Placuit picturas in ecclesia esse non debere,
was to prohibit images o f the divine only. It was ne quod colitur et adoratur in parietibus depin­
not based on the inappropriateness of depict­ gatur.
ing the immaterial through the material, but on
the belief that the divinity represented was O n the basis o f a comparison with the entire
somehow compelled to be present in the body of the statutes o f Elvira, it seems that ecde­
image.13 Therefore, to create an image o f the sia refers to “church” in the modern English
divine was, according to Judaic thought, an sense o f going to “church”, which is a confla­
affront to divine omnipotence. For the sake of tion o f two o f several senses o f the word
convenience, I call this prohibition against the “church” and means “church services in the
depiction of the divine the Mosaic interpreta­ church building” (cf. Can. 21, 29, 45, 52, 56).
tion o f the Second Commandment. Situated As such, it has the same basic connotation as
between the First and the Third Command­ “church building”, whether house-church or a
ments, both o f which refer to the deity alone, more monumental form of architecture, and
there seems to have been no problem with its carries a significantly lighter weight as a statute

13. “ N on facies cibi sculptile, neque om nem simili­ 7 (1985), p. 35—51 ; Herbert L. Kessler, ‘“Pictures Fertile with
tudinem quae est in caelo desuper, et quae in terra deor­ T ruth’: How Christians Managed to Make Images o f God
sum. nec eorum quae sunt in aquis sub terra; non adorabis W ithout Violating the Second Com m andm ent”, Journal of
ea neque coles.” See also Ex. 34. 17, Lev. 19. 4, and Dt. the Walters Art Gallery, 49-50 (1991-92), p. 53-65: Herbert
4. 15-20, 5. 8-9, and 27. 1 5 .1 translate sculptile as “carved L. Kessler, “‘T hou Shalt Paint the Likeness o f Christ Him­
image” following the sense it took within Christian culture: self’: T he Mosaic Prohibition as Provocation for Christian
see also the Old Latin version o f the Second Com m and­ Images”, in The Real and Ideal Jerusalem in Jewish, Christian
ment, where the word idolum is used in Ex. 20. 4, Pierre and Islamic Art, ed. Bianca Kiihnel (Jerusalem, 1998), p.
Sabatier, Bibliorum Sacrorum Latinae Versiones Antiquae, seu 124-39.
Vetus Italica, 3 vols (Reims, 1743-49), I, p. 174, as well as
Lev. 19. 4 in both the O ld Latin version (i, p. 249) and the 15. O n the presence o f the divinity in the cult image, see
Vulgate. This usage is followed in the Latin translation o f Karl-Heinz Bernhardt, Gott und Bild: Ein Beitrag zur Begrün­
Origen. Honiiliae in Exodum, 8.3-4, Homélies sur l’Exode, dung und Deutung des Bilderuerbotes im Alten Testament (Berlin,
ed. Marcel Borret, Sources chrétiennes, 321 (Paris, 1985), 1956), p. 24-33; Siegfried Morenz, Egyptian Religion (Itha­
ca, NY, 1960), p. 155-58; A. Leo O ppenheim , Ancient
p. 250-60; and the Glossa ordinaria on Ex. 20. 4-5, PL 113,
cols 251-52. Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Ciuilization (Chicago, 1977),
p. 183-84. Origen (Contra Celsum. 8.18, cd. Marcel Borret,
14. For a few studies among the wide and varied litera­ Contre Celse, Sources chrétiennes, 150, 5 vols [Paris,
ture on the issue o f the Second Com m andm ent as it per­ 1967-76], IV, p.212-14) refers to this, though interpreting
tained to artistic practice, see Joseph G utm ann, “T he the deity as a dem on, as does Arnobius (Aduersus nations,
‘Second Com m andm ent’and the Image in Judaism”, in No 6.17-21. ed. Augustus Reifferscheid. Arnobii aduersus nations
Grauen Images: Studies in Art and the Hebrew Bible, ed. Joseph libri VII, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum,
Gutmann (New York. 1971), p.3—18;Irven Resnick, “ Idols 4 [Vienna, 1875], p. 229-33).
and Images: Early Definitions and Controversies”, Sobemos!,

4 CO N RA D RUDOLPH
than if it referred to the Spanish Church as a appropriate biblical reference.17 Furthermore,
community or institution (cf. Can. 16, 34). For this interpretation of Canon 36 makes no sense
reasons that will be discussed further on, the as legislation since other media in which simi­
word picturas is best understood in the broader lar imagery could be employed are not men­
sense o f “representations” rather than the more tioned: vasa sacra, books, vasa non sacra,
restrictive meaning o f “paintings” that the vestments, panel paintings, and curtains — to
statute employs on the literal level. The words say nothing o f “graven images” — all o f which
colitur and adoratur come right out of the Sec­ were being used around this time, as we know
ond Commandment’s injunction “You shall not from written sources or the extant works them­
adore or serve” images (Non adorabis ea neque selves. As to the second fine of reasoning — that
coles).16 They identify the proper object of wor­ paintings would have been subject to seizure,
ship, the divine, but do so — significantly — desecration, and misuse in magical rites — all
by means o f reference to the classic biblical the forms o f art just mentioned would have
example o f an improper form o f worship: the been in risk of this, not just paintings. As before,
very idolatry proscribed by the Second Com ­ this interpretation of Canon 36 makes no sense
mandment. This is a point to which we will as legislation, its logic being essentially negat­
return. ed by the very clause on which it is predicat­
W hat is most striking in the phrasing of the ed, the clause on the walls. Yet the canon could
canon — what stands out most rhetorically — easily have been framed without the seeming­
is the clause ne [... / in parietibus depingatur (“lest ly inexplicably restrictive reference to walls, a
[the holy] be depicted on walls”), clearly the point that leads to the unavoidable conclusion
conceptual culmination o f this piece of legis­ that the clause “lest [the holy] be depicted on
lation for which there was no Christian prece­ walls” was very important to the logic of the
dent. As mentioned, this clause has been the statute, and that this logic has nothing to do
subject of a great deal of discussion, with one with the limiting medium o f wall painting per
line o f reasoning suggesting that it implies the se.
inappropriateness o f depicting the eternal and The logic of this clause lies, I believe, in its
immaterial in perishable material, and another function as the conceptual justification o f the
proposing — since, according to this argument, prohibition. The leading issue o f the time
there seems to be no justification given for the regarding art was not its materiality, seizure, des­
prohibition — that this was a period o f house- ecration, or use in black magic, but rather its
churches and that paintings were forbidden role in what was very loosely termed idolatry.18
because they would be subject to raids by the It is no coincidence that the leading issue with
authorities, desecration by pagans, or use in which the Synod of Elvira was concerned was
black magic by certain Christians. In regard to also idolatry, as can be seen by the precedence
the first position, to the best o f my knowledge, given to idolatry in the initial sequence of
the criticism that the immaterial should not be canons enacted by the synod (Can. 1, 2, 3, 4,
depicted by the material is always stated explic­ 6).19 But, at Elvira, the concern was not with
itly in the literature: it is never left to be under­ idolatry itself — that is, the worship of idols,
stood through such obscure language as is the the worship of the “other gods” o f the First
case here, and it is often accompanied by an Commandment — but with idolatry as a vehi-

16. This has been discussed by a num ber o f scholars, 17. For example. Origen, Contra Celsum. 7.65, p. 164—66,
beginning at least as early as Aubespine in the sixteenth cen­ referring to Rom . 1.25; or Ambrose, Letter bk. 1, 18.8, PL
tury, as cited by Vega, España sagrada, p. 275-76; and, more 16, col. 974, referring to Is. 37.19; or even Acts 19.23-40,
recently. Koch, Bilderfrage, p. 39-40; and Eiliger, Bildern, p. esp. 19.26, also in reference to Is. 37. 19.
34. T he distinction between worship and veneration —
sometimes termed latría (or adoratio) and dulia — is not oper­ 18. O n this point, w hich hardly needs proving, see in
ative here. I translate colere as “serve” when used in the Old relation to art, Conrad Rudolph, "La Resistenza all'arte
Testament liturgical context implied here — servire is even nell’ Occidentale”, in Arti e storia nel Medioevo, ed. Enrico
found in place o f colere in the Old Latin Version, I, p. 174, Castelnuovo. Paolo Fossati, and Giuseppe Sergi, 4 vols
cf. Dt. 4. 19 and 5. 9. i. p. 336 and 338 — while I feel that (Turin, 2002-04), voi. in (2004), p. 52-60.
"venerate” is more suitable to the Early Christian mentali­ 19. Also related to the issue o f idolatry, w hether direct­
ty o f Canon 36. ly or indirectly, are Can. 17, 40, 41, 46, 55. 56. 57, 59.

Communal Identity and the Earliest Christian Legislation on Art

 de for apostasy. It seems that the point o f refer­ among the Christians, a crisis stridently addressed
ring to walls in the statute was to provide a bib­ by the canons of Elvira. In Canon 36, the mem­
lical justification that said something more than bers of the synod hoped to take up the role of
the traditional Second Commandment. This art within the larger dynamic of the deteriora­
was apparently felt to be necessary for this piece tion of communal identity. Unlike so many of
o f legislation that had no Christian precedent tire other statutes, however, Canon 36 never men­
as an actual law and that attempted to address tions idolatry. It never discusses the question of
the question o f art, idolatry, and apostasy in a whether there should be a Christian art on a
relatively moderate way. The framers o f Canon moral level, or whether the use o f art in the cult
36 accomplished this through reference to a was in itself idolatrous. What it does declare is
vision o f Ezekiel, one of the great opponents that imagery should be banned in churches so
o f idolatry and apostasy in Christian sacred his­ that Christians do not conduct themselves like
tory. In this vision, Ezekiel was taken up in the their idolatrous neighbours, a situation that could
spirit to the Temple in Jerusalem, where he saw lead to a lessening o f distinction between the
idolatrous practices performed by Israel itself: Christian community and mainstream pagan soci­
ety; in other words, so that Christian worship not
Universa idola domus Israel depicta erant in become distorted in the same way that the Tem­
pariete in circuitu per totum; et septuaginta viri ple service became distorted in an earlier period,
de senioribus domus Israel [...] stantium ante when God’s people were threatened with cul­
picturas. tural integration with another great empire, the
Babylonian. It is no coincidence that the Baby­
(All the idols of the house of Israel were depict­ lon of the Apocalypse was interpreted at the time
ed on the wall throughout; and seventy men of of the synod as nothing other than the Roman
the elders of the house of Israel [...] were stand­ Empire, the same empire with which the bish­
ing before the paintings.) (Ezekiel 8.10—11) ops at Elvira were now forced to contend.20
Still, Canon 36 was a compromise solution.
The issue here is not imagery (i.e. whether Jews Even if there had never been an official Church
should employ art in religious practice), but idol­ position on art, by 306 Christianity was only just
atry; in particular, idolatry associated with apos­ moving out of the house-church tradition and
tasy that leads to a loss of communal identity in there had been (and still were) many within the
the face of an overwhelmingly dominant pagan Church to whom a rejection of paganisms long-
culture. It is no accident that this is precisely the established exploitation of art and architecture in
cultural dynamic faced by the Spanish Church at the service of the cult was a point of pride.21*Yet
the time o f the Synod o f Elvira, or the Mac- the attitude o f Canon 36 is not Maccabean: it
cabean party during the Seleucid era. As men­ never actually prohibits religious imagery of any
tioned, the period prior to the synod was one in kind. It only forbids its presence in the church,
which many members o f the Spanish Church tacitly leaving the possibility open (in the other­
had become strongly integrated into mainstream wise very legalistic language of the synod) for the
pagan culture and, to a certain degree, integrat­ use o f art in private devotion and for funerary
ed the Christian community along with them­ purposes. N or is it even Mosaic, strictly speak­
selves. At the same time, the Church had ing, for it says not a word about what form pri­
undergone a rather severe persecution just prior vate and funerary art might take (e.g it makes no
to the synod, one whose pressures led to a dis­ attempt to prohibit iconic representations of the
turbingly widespread culture of apostasy within divine Christ). It uses only the mildest biblical
the Christian Church in Spain. Pushed by the references in its wording: the Second Com­
persecution, the strong integration of the Chris­ mandment is invoked, but only to indicate an
tian subculture into the dominant pagan culture improper form of religious practice, not to pro­
brought about a crisis o f communal identity scribe imagery itself; Ezekiel 8. 10-11 is alluded

20. Cf. Victorinus o f Pettau, Commentarii in Apocalypsin, 21. See Rudolph, “Resistenza” , p.53-60.
8, 2 (7, 2). ed.Johannes Haussierter, Vt'aorini Episcopi Petavio-
nensis opera, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latino­
rum, 39 (Vienna, 1916), p.86-87.

6 C O N R A D RUDOLPH
to, but only to equate the use of art in the church the Christian attitude toward art before the Peace
with a potential loss of communal identity, not of the Church in 313. Aside from the primary
to condemn it as actual idolatry. There is not even issue of communal identity, it tells us that art was
a penalty for failure to observe the statute; where used in Christian churches in Spain at this time,
actual idolatry is punished with the extremely an art apparently monumental enough and wide­
harsh sentence of expulsion from the Christian spread enough to engender legislation against it.
community with no hope of readmission even Its prohibition against art in the church alone is
at death (Can. 1, 2), the use of art is considered tacit evidence of the acceptance of art in the pri­
to be less serious than even the lighdng of can­ vate realm. In this compromise position, it sug­
dles in the cemetery during the day (Can. 34).22 gests that the community — at whatever level of
Despite its position against the use o f art in the the Church hierarchy — was split on the issue.
church itself, Canon 36 is evidence o f a distinct The fact that it was not taken up by later coun­
break with Judaic custom and represents an cils implies that even this moderate precedent was
important point in the history of Early Christ­ seen as incompatible with the current socio-polit­
ian and medieval art in its tacit acceptance out­ ical dynamic elsewhere. And it indicates that the
side the church o f the artistic practice of the Church had essentially left behind the venerable
dominant (pagan) culture. Judaic artistic precedent prohibiting the depic­
Even so, despite the clear moderation of the tion of the deity and was in the process of devel­
canon and the fact that a number o f other oping its own distinct identity as a culture, one
canons from this influential synod were incor­ that was becoming progressively more affected
porated into the acts of later councils, includ­ by its increasingly mainstream status.
ing Nicaea,2-’ Canon 36 did not carry beyond In the end, what is unique to Canon 36 is
the provincial context of its origin and was not the concern, specific to the circumstances under
repeated in legislation in the West. This is espe­ which the synod met, that the use of art in the
cially significant since one o f the participants church was contributing to a breakdown o f the
in the synod, Bishop Ossius o f Córdoba, took communal identity that distinguished it from
an active part in a number of later councils and the surrounding mainstream culture. W hat it
synods — including Nicaea — and came to act shares with the entire history o f Christianity
as a leading ecclesiastical advisor to Constan­ are the two constants o f a resistance to art on
tine, whose activity' in the areas o f both Church the part o f a spiritual elite and an acceptance
legislation and art patronage is well known.24 o f art by the mass o f the community, what
As moderate as it was, Canon 36 simply went Bernard o f Clairvaux would later call the car­
too far for popular practice and was probably nal people.23 It embodies the same dichoto­
understood by later fourth-century legislators mous attitude toward art seen in the first
as addressing the issue o f apostasy under the recorded Christian position on art — Paul’s
influence o f the dominant pagan culture, an rejection o f the idolatry, but not specifically the
issue virtually every other community had to art, o f Ephesus around the year 55 (Acts
face but with which they chose to deal with­ 19. 23—41) — an attitude that would continue
out recourse to legislative restrictions on art. to the Reformation and beyond.

Thus, in Canon 36 — the first official Church Department of the History o f Art
statement on art — we have an invaluable source University o f California, Riverside
that, like a prism, reveals the whole spectrum of Riverside, CA 92521-0319

22. Jerom e provides somewhat later testimony on the Acta, i, col. 254; Mansi, Collectio, II, col. 11; and Gaudmet,
ambivalent attitude o f Church leaders toward this practice “Elvire”, cols. 341-48.
o f lighting candles;Jerome, Contra Vigilantium 7. PL 23, col.
345. 24. Dale, Synod of Elvira, p. 58-65: de Clercq, Ossius, p.
82-117, 148-217; Grigg. “Aniconic Worship", p.444; and
23. Dale, Synod of Elvira, p. 44; Gaudmet, “Elvire”, cols Grigg, “Constantine”, with ample bibliography.
339-41: V. C. de Clercq, Ossius of Cordova:A Contribution to
tlic History of the Constantinian Period (Washington, DC, 25. Bernard o f Clairvaux, Apologia 18. in Conrad
1954), p. 115—17; Vega. España sagrada, p. 364—67. For ref­ Rudolph. The "Things o f Greater Importance": Bernard of Clair-
erences to Elvira later in the Middle Ages, see Hardouin, vaux’s “Apologia”and the Medieval Attitude towardArt (Philadel­
phia, 1990), p. 278-80, 318-19.

Communal Identity and the Earliest Christian Legislation on Art 7

 Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan:
History and Historiography of a Monastic
Controversy, St Mary^s Abbey, York, 1132
C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N

“I tell you that in this world the ideal does not into the fledgling community.1But Aelred was
correspond with the real, and he who acts from not the first person to fall under the spell o f the
amiable motives is a fool.” monks of Rievaulx. In this essay I propose to
Pope Clement VII explore another famous episode in Yorkshire’s
monastic history, whose outcome was schism,
“Spiritual friendship among the just is born of violence, and scandal, only subsequently
a similarity in life, morals and pursuits, that is, redeemed by the foundation of another famous
it is a mutual conformity in matters human and monastery whose remains have equally been
divine united with benevolence and charity.” the object o f Peter’s scholarly attention, Foun­
Aelred of Rievaulx tains Abbey.
In 1132 the Benedictine community o f St
Rievaulx has recently acquired a renown Mary’s Abbey, York was riven with dissension
unmatched at any period since the twelfth cen­ following a crise de conscience about the true
tury. The monastery which was his home is for­ nature of the monastic vocation provoked by
ever associated with the name o f Aelred, and it the appearance in the diocese o f Savigniac and
forms the setting for his most famous and most Cistercian monks, who would naturally have
intimate work, the De spirituali amicitia. For those stayed at St Mary’s Abbey when passing through
who have had the privilege o f knowing him, York.2*During the spring o f that year a num­
Peter Fergusson has been a model in our own ber o f monks o f St M ary’s began to discuss
time o f amicitia académica, and his name too is among themselves the adequacy o f the Bene­
now permanently linked to that o f the abbey dictine life as practised at St M ary’s. After a
to which he has devoted a major part o f his aca­ while, they opened their hearts to the prior of
demic career. Few visitors to Rievaulx can have St Mary’s, a monk called Richard, who, after
been unaffected by the beauty and tranquillity some initial surprise, decided to align himself
o f the site, or failed to respond in imagination with the reforming party and thenceforth acted
to the famous story o f Aelred’s dramatic entry as their spokesman and leader. O n 28 June he

1. The Life of Ailred of Rievaulx by Walter Daniel, ed. and M arys priory at St Bees, one o f the rare monastic houses
trans. F. Maurice Powicke (London, 1950), p. 10-18. in the area about thirty miles up the Cumberland coast from
Furness. O n the foundations o f Furness and Rievaulx, see
2. The Savigniac abbey o f Furness in Cumbria was found­
Donald Nicholl, Thurstan, Archbishop of York (1114-1140)
ed in 1127. The foundation was supported by Archbishop
(York, 1964), p. 143-44 and 151—54, and Janet Burton, The
Thurstan, and the monks must have passed through York
Monastic Order in Yorkshire 1069-1215 (Cambridge, 1999),
on occasion. But the St Mary’s Abbey community would
p. 10, 98-103, 108-09.
also have known them through their proximity to the St

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 9

 broached the matter with the abbot o f St He sent messengers to the king (St Mary’s was
Mary’s. Abbot Geoffrey was stunned at the pro­ a royal foundation) and circulated a letter to the
posals for reform, but allowed discussions to English bishops, abbots, and others, protesting
continue, and invited Prior Richard to set down at the outcome o f events. Thurstan, for his part,
his proposals on paper. This he did in the sum­ wrote to the archbishop of Canterbury, William
mer o f 1132. As the weeks went by, the com­ o f Corbeil, who was also papal legate, setting
munity was becoming increasingly polarized, out his version of events. Thus news of the scan­
passions were rising dangerously, and the issue dal quickly spread across the country, and rever­
began to take on a wider significance. Geoffrey, berations were felt further afield. It was not long
though not deaf to their concerns, declared before Bernard o f Clairvaux entered the fray,
himself unable to accede to the demands o f the w riting to Abbot Geoffrey and Archbishop
reformers, whereupon Richard turned to the Thurstan, and in the summer of 1133 he took
archbishop for advice. Thurstan summoned the new foundation o f Fountains under his
both men to speak with him in the hope of wing as a daughter house o f Clairvaux. For
brokering an agreement, but without success. Aelred, the incident must have been o f partic­
By now it had become apparent that the com­ ular interest as he weighed in his mind his reli­
munity would not be able to accommodate the gious vocation. Immediately before his entrance
reformists’ aspirations; but nor could Geoffrey into the community at Rievaulx he had been
afford to let them go to pursue their vocation on a mission on behalf o f King David o f Scot­
elsewhere, since they included most o f the land to Thurstan. He must have known of the
senior officers o f the monastery. It was agreed scandal of St Mary’s Abbey; from Thurstan and
that Thurstan would visit St Mary’s Abbey on others he could have heard a first-hand account.
6 O ctober to discuss the matter in chapter.3 We ourselves are scarcely less privileged, as our
There then ensued the infamous incident in knowledge of the affair derives from the Letter
which Thurstan and his retinue o f senior York­ of Thurstan to William o f Corbeil, from which
shire ecclesiastics were set upon at the entrance the summary o f events given above is taken.4
to the chapter house, were shouted down and The Letter o f Thurstan or EpistolaTurstini was
physically assaulted by the antireformist monks, written very shortly after 6 October 1132. At
and were pursued along the cloister into the least, that is when it purports to have been writ­
church, accompanied by some o f the reformist ten. M odern scholarship, however, has chal­
monks. Barring the door o f the church behind lenged the status and authenticity o f the Letter.
them, they were able to make their escape to Different scholars, coming at the problem from
the main entrance to the monastery, and thence different angles, have drawn different conclu­
back to the archbishop’s palace. Thurstan found sions both about the origins of the Letter and
himself responsible for thirteen unexpected about the significance of the schism within St
guests, headed by Prior Richard. In due course, Mary’s Abbey. The scholarly debate is itself of
as is well known, he settled them in a bleak spot interest, as it has attracted the attention of some
in the valley o f the River Skell near R ipon outstanding figures in twelfth-century ecclesi­
which came to bear the celebrated name of astical history who have seen in the dispute of
Fountains Abbey. Prior Richard was elected first 1132 issues o f principle and personality of
abbot of the fledgling community, thus acquir­ perennial importance. N o consensus has
ing the name by which he is now generally emerged, and the issue is ripe for reappraisal. It
known, Richard of Fountains. will be simplest to review the literature in order
Following the October debacle, Abbot Geof­ o f publication, following a brief survey of the
frey left York, bound for no one knew where. manuscript tradition.

3. There is extraordinary confusion in the modern liter­ Surtees Society, 42 (Durham , 1863), p. 11—29, where it
ature about the date; 17 O ctober is often cited, and I have appears within the edition o f Hugh o f Kirkstall’s Narratio
also seen 9 October, early September (by implication), and de Fundatione Monasterii de Fontibus, on p. 1—129. Informa­
17 O ctober 1133.T he correct date, 2 non. O ct., is given in tion on events immediately after 6 O ctober is derived from
a note added to the earliest manuscript o f the Leiter, dis­ the Narratio, p. 10. The only full English translation o f the
cussed below. Letter is in the little-know n book by Arnold W hitaker
Oxford, The Ruins of Fountains Abbey (London. 1910), p.
4. Standard edition o f the Leiter in Memorials of the Abbey
137-63, which is not always reliable. It was omitted from
of St Mary of Fountains, vol. i, ed. John Richard Walbran,
the second (1926) and later editions.

10 CHRISTOPHER NORTON
 The Letter o f Thurstan has a complex textu­ collection of manuscripts preserved at York
al tradition.5 It exists in a longer and a shorter prior to their destruction during the Civil War;
version, and it survives both as an independent shorter version of the Letter.
item and as part o f the early-thirteenth-centu- • London, British Library, MS Lansdowne 404,
ry history of Fountains Abbey by Hugh of Kirk- another seventeenth-century transcript with
stall, the Narratio de Fundatione Monasterii de the shorter version of the Letter.
Fontibus. Four manuscripts contain the Letter as
a free-standing item, in each case in the longer These three seventeenth-century transcripts are
version. In chronological order, these are: closely related and probably all derive from a
single late medieval exemplar.
• Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 139, Hugh o f Kirkstall’s Narratio seems not to have
second half of the twelfth century, with an been known outside Fountains in the Middle
erased ex libris of the Cistercian abbey of Ages. Thurstan’s Letter, by contrast, was appar­
Sawley in Yorkshire in a late-twelfth- or early- ently known to several medieval authors as an
thirteenth-century hand. independent item.6*The relationship between
• Oxford, Corpus Christi College, MS 209, late the versions o f the Letter and their respective
twelfth/early thirteenth century, with a dates are problems to which we shall return.
Fountains Abbey provenance. The historiography of Thurstan’s Letter begins
• London, British Library, Cotton MS, Otho with the publication o f the Narratio in the first
C XIV, a thirteenth-century fragment which edition o f Dugdale’s Monasticon in 1655./ The
was badly damaged in the fire of the Cottonian text o f the Narratio was taken from the
Library in 1731, unprovenanced. Dodsworth transcript; it therefore includes the
• Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 39, early shorter version of the Letter,8 Thus from its ear­
fourteenth century, written at St Mary’s Abbey, liest appearance in print the Letter was firmly
York. embedded in the historiographical tradition
relating to Fountains Abbey. The Letter was spot­
The Letter also appears in four manuscripts of ted by Mabillon, who extracted it from the text
the Narratio, once in the longer version and o f the Narratio in the Monasticon and printed it
three times in the shorter version: separately in an appendix to his edition o f the
letters of St Bernard.9 The Letter was thus first
• Cambridge, Trinity College, MS Gale 0.1.79 printed as an independent item in the shorter
(James 1104), a fifteenth-century manuscript version, although, as we have seen, the shorter
roll, probably from Fountains Abbey; the version does not exist independently in the
earliest manuscript of the Narratio, containing manuscript tradition.
the longer version of the Letter. The second edition o f the Monasticon reprint­
• London, British Library, MS Arundel 51, a ed the Narratio, including the shorter version
post-medieval transcript of ca. 1600, with the o f the Letter, from the first edition.10 Similarly,
shorter version of the Letter. the Mabillon text o f the shorter version was
• Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Dodsworth 26, reprinted by M igne.11*But the principal nine­
a transcript made for Dodsworth from the teenth-century contribution to the scholarship

5. T he manuscripts are discussed in Memorials, vol. i, ed. 6. Baker, “ Genesis o f Cistercian Chronicles, II”, p,
Walbran, p. xiii-xxi, and 11 n. 1; N icholl, Thurstan, p. 180-87.
251—58; Denis Bethell, “T he Foundation o f Fountains
Abbey and the State o f St Mary's York in 1132 ".Journal of 7. Monasticon Anglican urn, ed. R oger Dodsw orth and
Ecclesiastical History, 17 (1966), p. I 1-27 (p. 24-26); L. G. William Dugdale, vol. I (London, 1655), p.735.
Derek Baker. “T he Genesis o f English Cistercian Chroni­ 8. Memorials, voi. 1, ed. Walbran, p. xvi-xvii; Baker, “Gen­
cles: The Foundation History o f Fountains Abbey I”, Analec­ esis o f Cistercian Chronicles, II”, p. 191—208.
ta Cistercicnsia, 25 (1969), p. 14—41 (p. 16-17); Derek Baker,
“T he Genesis o f Cistercian Chronicles in England: The 9. Sancti Bernardi Opera Omnia, ed.Jean Mabillon, 2 vols
Foundation History' o f Fountains Abbey II”, Analecta Cis­ (Paris, 1690), ep. CDLXXVII, and subsequent editions.
tercicnsia, 31 (1975), p. 179-212. A projected third part o f
10. Monasticon Anglicanum, ed. William Dugdale, new edn,
this study was not published, so far as I have been able to
rev.john Caley, Sir Henry Ellis, and Bulkeley Bandinel, voi.
ascertain.The Oxford manuscript. Corpus Christi College. v (London, 1846), p. 292-306, the Letter on p. 294—99.
MS 209, is also discussed in Narrative and Legislative Texts
front Early Citeaux, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Cîteaux: Stu­ 1 1. Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed.Jacques-
dia et Documenta, 9 (Brecht, 1999), p. 69—70. Paul Migne (Paris, 1844-64), 182. cols 697-704, ep. CDXC.

Richard of Fountains and the Letter o f Thurstan 11

 Fig. 1. St M ary’s Abbey,York, excavation o f the site o f the chapter house in 1827-28, view from the cloister looking eastwards,
(from Charles Wellbeloved, London, Society o f Antiquaries, 1829, pi. LVI)
The wall with attached shafts on the left (beneath the trees) is the north wall o f the slype or parlour. This was separatedfrom the
chapter house by a wall which barely survived above ground. The original chapter house was reconfigured in the late twelfth century
to form the vestibule to a new, free-standing chapter house projecting beyond the east range. This vestibule was itself reconstructed
in the earlyfourteenth century. The two largefree-standing piers in the foreground consist o f twelfth-century bases supportingfour­
teenth-century shafts. The piers behind them arc variously o f fourteenth- and twelfth-century date. The two piers closest to the view­
erßanked the doorway into the vestibule from the cloister, and therefore mark the position o f the entrance into the original chapter
house. It was at this point (where an incised tomb-slab lies on the surface) that Archbishop Thurston ivas set upon by the monks
on 6 October 1132.

on the Letter was the publication by the Surtees Walbran exemplified many o f the qualities of
Society in 1863 of a new edition of Hugh of the Victorian antiquarian.13 A local man, by
Kirkstalls Narrado in the Memorials of the Abbey profession a wine merchant, twice mayor of
of St Mary of Fountains, edited byj. R. Walbran. Ripon, in his spare time he published guide
This remains the standard edition both o f the books to Ripon and the surrounding area which
Narrado and of the Letter,12 are still of value.14 Like many learned men of

12. Memorials, voi. i, ed. Walbran. T he Narratio occupies itage Book o f Fountains Abbey (London, 1993), p. 109-11.
p. 1—129, the Letter p. 11—29. Many o f Walbran's papers are now preserved in the Haile-
stone Collection in York Minster Library.
13. Appreciations o f Walbran and bibliography o f his
works by James Raine, in Memorials of the Abbey of St Mary 14. T he eighth edition o f John Richard Walbran, The
of Fountains, voi. il.l, ed.John Richard Walbran, Surtees Shilling Cuide to Ripon, Studley, Fountains Abbey, Hackfall, Har­
Society, 67 (Durham, 1878), p. v-xv; Dictionary of National rogate (Ripon, 1862), was reprinted by G. H. Smith and Son,
Biography, ed. Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee, voi. xx Easingwold, 1976.
(London, 1917), p.465—66; Glyn Coppack. The English Her­

12 CHRISTOPHER NORTON
his era he applied himself both to the written script was the earliest, he based his text on that
and to the physical remains of the medieval past. and noted variant readings from the Cambridge
He developed a passionate interest in Fountains manuscript, as well as from the different manu­
Abbey and the Cistercians, and his work on scripts of the Narratio. He did not include the
Fountains constitutes his lasting memorial. From fourteenth-century manuscript from St Mary’s
the 1840s onwards Walbran carried out the first Abbey in his apparatus as it had no variants of
systematic excavations and clearances of the site, significance. Thus the longer version o f the Let­
which he recorded in meticulous detail. His ter was published for the first time, with all sig­
work remains the starting point for m odern nificant variations except the manuscript from
archaeological analysis, and Glyn Coppack has St Mary’s Abbey in the Bodleian and the dam­
recently commented that “his observations were aged fragment in the Cottonian collection.
remarkably acute for the mid-nineteenth cen­ Walbran discussed the two versions of the Let­
tury and his approach was strangely modern”. 15 ter in the context o f variations in the text of the
He may have been alerted to the possibilities of Narratio. Recognizing that the three seven­
large-scale monastic excavations by the work teenth-century transcripts are closely related,
carried out in 1827—29 on the site of St Mary’s he pointed to the shorter version o f the Letter
Abbey, York, by the newly founded Yorkshire (which only they contain) and to some other
Philosophical Society, the results o f which were differences from the text o f the Narratio as pre­
published with exemplary speed and in lavish served in the Gale manuscript as evidence that
quality by the Society of Antiquaries o f Lon­ the Narratio itself existed in two versions: a
don in 1829. Among other important discov­ longer, earlier version surviving only in the Gale
eries, the York antiquaries uncovered the site manuscript, and a subsequent version which he
o f the twelfth-century chapter house o f St called the Curtailed Chronicle. The shorter ver­
M ary’s Abbey (Fig. 1), the very spot where sion o f the Letter was thus a product of the edi­
Thurstan had come to grief on 6 O ctober tor o f the Curtailed Chronicle. The longer
1132.16 Walbran, a Yorkshireman and a Fellow version was the original, and this he accepted
o f the Society o f Antiquaries, must have known as the authentic Letter sent by Thurstan to
o f the excavations at Fountains’s “mother William o f Corbeil in 1132.18
house”, and was familiar with the incident from Hugh o f Kirkstall relates that much o f the
his study of the Fountains sources. After con­ early part of the Narratio was based on the rec­
siderable delays caused by the complexity o f the ollections of the centenarian monk Serlo, who
material and ill health, he published his edition had witnessed the exodus of the monks from
o f the Narratio in the Memorials of Fountains in St Mary’s and many o f the early trials o f the
1863. He died six years later, leaving a second Fountains community. Walbran concluded that
volume of the Memorials unfinished.17 H ugh’s role was not that o f a servile amanuen­
Walbran based his edition o f the Narratio on sis, but of an editor, “eliciting by cross exami­
the fifteenth-century Gale manuscript in Cam­ nation and discussion the whole attainable truth,
bridge, with lacunae filled and variants given and arranging and combining the results in a
from the three seventeenth-century transcrip­ lucid and consecutive narrative” . Hugh also
tions. The Gale manuscript contains the longer incorporated into the Narratio such documents
version o f the Letter o f Thurstan. But he was (like the Letter of Thurstan) as were relevant and
also aware o f the three earlier manuscripts o f the would have been known both to him and Serlo.
complete Letter as a separate item, in the longer “Serlo must be allowed the merit o f a sagacious
version, and he used these for his published text and faithful observer, and Hugh [...] that o f an
of the Letter. Believing that the Oxford manu­ intelligent and careful reporter.” 19*In recount-

15. Coppack, Fountains Abbey, p. 109. ment, see Christopher N orton, “The Buildings o f St Mary’s
Abbey. York and their Destruction”. Antiquaries Journal. 74
16. Charles Wellbeloved, “Some Account o f the Ancient (1994), p. 256-88.
and Present State o f the Abbey o f St Mary, York, and o f the
discoveries recently made in excavating the grounds on 17. Subsequently completed by James Raine, see note 13
which the principal buildings o f the Abbey formerly stood”. above.
Vetusta Monumenta. 5 (1835), p. 1-7 and pis LI-LX (first 18. Memorials, voi. i. ed. Walbran, p. xiii-xxi.
issued separately, London, Society o f Antiquaries, 1829),
including views o f the chapter house. For a recent reassess- 19. Ibid., p. vii-xiii.

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 13

 ing the events o f 1132, therefore, Walbran draws in a footnote that Serlos narrative is “ occa­
upon both the Letter and the relevant parts of sionally confused, and in one or two places inac­
the Narratio. He concentrates more on the peo­ curate” .22 Where Walbran had been cautious
ple and events than the substance o f the dis­ about the relative contributions o f Serlo and
pute, commenting that “in the early history of Hugh, Knowles was categoric. He was thereby
Fountains, few things will be found more able to endorse the reformist interpretation of
instructive, than the development o f the pecu­ the exodus from St Mary’s presented (as from
liar characters o f some of its first fathers” . But the mouth of Serlo) in the Narratio:
he does also allow that “in that part [of the Let­
ter] which embraces Prior Richard’s discussions The events which then took place show that
with the conservatively-minded abbot, the by that time the spirit of simplicity which ani­
philosophic student of history will find several mated the Northern revival [of monasticism in
points of a highly suggestive nature” . He is, not the post-conquest years] had given place to lat­
surprisingly, sympathetic to the reformist monks itude [...] The abbey [...] had become wealthy
of St Marys who went on to found Fountains [.. .] it had adopted the traditional modifica­
and respectful o f the part played by Thurstan, tions of the Rule. In this it did not stand apart
from whose Letter “we catch a clearer insight from the other black monk houses, but it seems
into the intellectual and religious character of certain that the discipline of St Mary’s had
the w riter than otherwise could have been become relaxed, and that a majority of the
derived from any other contemporary monks had come to be satisfied with such a
»>90
source . state of things, which was largely due to the
Walbran’s edition was a major achievement, aged and ineffective Abbot Geoffrey.23
and it anchored the discussion o f the Letter of
Thurstan firmly within the context of Cister­ Knowles’s prose carries conviction and author­
cian historiography. In this he was followed by ity, and his strictures on the abandonment of the
David Knowles, author of the most widely read full spiritual force o f the Rule of Saint Benedict
account of the crisis at St Mary’s Abbey in his under the weight of local customs strike a char­
1940 classic, The Monastic Order in England.21 He acteristic note which sounds throughout his
placed his account of the affair, not within the work.24 But he did concede that there is little
very slight section of the book devoted to monas- independent evidence on which to base a judge­
ticism in the time of Henry I, but within the ment on the life o f St Mary’s Abbey before 1132:
succeeding, very full account of the new monas-
ticism in England. Here, in some o f his most Unfortunately, less is known of the place in the
memorable passages, Knowles traced the origins forty years that followed [its foundation] than
of the monastic reform movement, focusing par­ of any other abbey of equal importance in
ticularly on the Cistercians and, within England, England. The account of its first years, pur­
on the foundations at Rievaulx and Fountains. porting to be written by Stephen, the first
In so doing, he was following the precedent set abbot, and the Chronicle giving a list of the ear­
centuries before by Hugh o f Kirkstall. ly abbots with their dates, are alike wholly
Knowles followed Walbran s analysis o f the untrustworthy. Indeed, there may be said to be
different versions o f the Narratio and the Letter. absolutely no reliable information about the
The Letter he accepted as strictly contemporary, house in the twelfth century before the crisis
from the hand o f Thurstan; and he accorded an of 1132.25
equal authority to the Narratio, which, he assert­
ed, incorporated the unfaded impressions of the Knowles’s analysis assumes an altogether more
momentous events o f his youth dictated by pointed significance in the light o f what is now
Serlo to Hugh of Kirkstall — while admitting known about his own situation at the time he

20. Ibid., p. xxi-xxxii and 1. 23. Ibid., p. 231.

21. David Knowles, The Monastic Order in England:A His­ 24. See for instance Knowles’s envoi (ibid., p. 688-93).
tory of its Development from the Times of St Dunstan to the Fourth
25. Ibid., p. 231.
Lateran Council, 943-1216 (Cambridge, 1940), p.231—39.
22. Ibid., p. 232-33.

14 CHRISTOPHER NORTON
was writing the Monastic Order. Walbran’s com­ energies to w riting the Monastic Order, but
ment on the interest of the debate to the philo­ unreconciled at heart. The manuscript was com­
sophic student o f history must have had an mitted to the press in October 1937. In Sep­
immediate, searing relevance to Knowles. A tember 1939, shortly before its publication, he
Benedictine monk himself, in the 1930s he was left the community o f his own will, without
the protagonist in a dispute concerning the the permission of his superiors, thereby incur­
monastic vocation o f his own community at ring automatic excommunication. He was not
Downside.26 The modern English Benedictine to return.
houses had traditionally been much involved in O f course, the crises o f the 1130s and the
the Catholic mission in the parishes as well as 1930s were not identical, but they had many
in education. In the 1920s the conviction was points o f similarity. Both revolved around the
growing in certain quarters at Downside that issues o f authority, obedience, and conscience:
these external involvements were distracting the the authority o f the Rule and o f the abbot, the
community from its true commitment to the obedience that was owed to them by the com­
Rule; and this mood coincided with a growing munity, and the conscience o f the individual
attraction on Knowles’s part for a more monk who came to believe that the authority
detached, contemplative, and ascetic way of life. of the Rule and o f the abbot were ultimately
In course of time he found himself the leader in conflict. Faced with such a conflict, the clas­
o f what might be called the reform party. As sical Benedictine formulation, in the words of
always in such situations, there was no una­ one o f Knowles’s Benedictine contemporaries,
nimity o f outlook even among the reformists: is that “it is the m onk’s duty to explain his mis­
Knowles was one of the most insistent among givings to the abbot, and the abbot’s duty to lis­
them. Events at Downside, as seen from the out­ ten, but if the abbot maintains his decision, the
side, unfolded with an uncanny similarity to the monk must obey, and what his conscience com­
dispute at St Mary’s Abbey eight hundred years mits him to, will in fact bring him closer to
earlier. Originally, the reformist monks had God” .27 Obedience is one of the most deeply
hoped that their aspirations could be accom­ rooted Benedictine virtues, and one o f the fun­
modated within the Downside community; but damental differences in the outcome of the two
the majority were o f a different mind, and the crises was this: Prior Richard and his compan­
abbot reacted strongly, seeing the dissension as ions were physically ejected from their
a symptom o f a lack of humility and obedience. monastery by their community, but they had
Knowles became persuaded that the only pos­ not broken their obedience to their abbot, and
sible resolution lay in a new foundation where they went on to found a vital community o f
the reforming monks could live out the life to their own. Knowles left his community o f his
which they aspired, which they conceived of own volition, breaking his obedience to his
as the monastic and spiritual inheritance o f superior, and never lived in community again.
Downside “with all the accretions laid aside”. The words which he had w ritten about the
A written memorandum was drawn up and pre­ monks o f Fountains in the first months o f their
sented to the abbot, by then a sick and ailing existence must have returned to haunt him:
man. He rejected it out o f hand, and a few
months later he sent Knowles away to the pri­ The little group soon felt that their position
ory at Ealing. An appeal headed by Knowles was anomalous. The only motive for the depar­
was sent to Rome. This too was rejected, and ture from York had been dissatisfaction with
the majority of the reformist group accepted black monk observance, and they feared lest by
that that was the end o f the matter. For the next remaining wholly independent, they might fail
five years Knowles lived at Ealing, devoting his to escape the perils of private judgement and

26. For w hat follows, see D oni Adrian Morey, David in the twelfth century, see Giles Constable, “T he A uthor­
Knowles — A Memoir (London, 1979), and Christopher ity o f Superiors in Religious Com munities”, in La Notion
Brooke el al., David Knowles Remembered (Cambridge, 1991). d’autorité au Moyen Age: Islam, Byzance, Occident. Colloques
internationaux de la Napoule 1978, ed. George Makdisi,
27. Dom Aelred Sillem, “Father David and the Monas­ Dom inique Sourdel, and Janine Sourdel-Thom ine (Paris,
tic and Spiritual Life”, in Brooke ei al., David Knowles 1982). p. 189-210, reprinted in id.. Monks, Hermits and Cru­
Remembered, p. 27—46 (p. 42). O n the concept o f obedience saders in Medieval Europe (London. 1988).

Richard of Fountains and the Letter o/Thurstan

 error. They therefore decided to apply to the early English Cistercians are characterized as
abbot of Clairvaux for permission to join the misfits, with a tendency “to turn temperamen­
Cistercian order.28 tal differences into issues o f principle” . “Truly,
these early Cistercians were not easy men to
The second edition o f the Monastic Order live with.”31 He reminds us o f the imbalance in
appeared in 1963. In it, Knowles acknowledged the sources, which allow plenty o f space to an
the revolution in the study o f continental Cis­ exposition o f the aspirations of the reformers,
tercian origins which was taking place follow­ and hardly any to the traditionalists. Abbot
ing the discoveries of Turk and Lefèvre on the Geoffrey is presented as a far more sympathet­
Carta Caritatis and the Exordium. After fifty years, ic figure, and Nicholl admonishes “those who
that particular debate continues to run. Knowles see the split as one that separated the sheep from
also added a short note about work in progress the goats”, remarking that “the spiritual life at
by “three young scholars in England” on the the abbey cannot have been entirely dead when
Letter of Thurstan and Hugh of Kirkstall’s Nar­ it could raise up so many monks [...] who were
ratio, alluding to the possibility o f an evolution to be outstanding figures among the first gen­
in the English texts comparable to the conti­ eration o f English Cistercians” .32 And it is
nental Cistercian sources.29*To these three schol­ Thurstan who emerges with the greatest cred­
ars we now must turn. it from the imbroglio, in spite of the immedi­
First into print was Donald Nicholl with his ate rebuff suffered at his visitation to the
magisterial monograph on Archbishop monastery. In the final paragraph o f the book,
Thurstan. He devoted a lengthy chapter to the Nicholl sums up Thurstan’s lifetime achieve­
episode, supplemented by an appendix dis­ ment in words which can be applied to his
cussing the status o f the Letter.20 He brought a efforts to reconcile the reformists and the tra­
new perspective to the discussion, locating the ditionalists in the crisis of 1132:
crisis at St M ary’s w ithin the context of
Thurstan s tireless efforts to strengthen the insti­ So long as Thurstan was alive then the clash
tutional church in the diocese and encourage between these two concepts of ecclesiastical
the spread of monastic houses o f every kind; life was prevented from developing into open
and he explored the international context o f warfare, since he, in his own person, had man­
debates about the respective roles o f monks and aged to reconcile the strains between them
the secular clergy. The attentive reader will rec­ [...]. He had been able to achieve this seem­
ognize that Nicholl was implicitly criticizing ingly impossible ideal through his genius for
not only Knowles’s narrowly monastic per­ friendship [... He is best] thought of as a bridge
spective, but also his detailed interpretation of over dividing gulfs, as one who could truly say
events. He explicitly acknowledged the Letter with Bran the Blessed: “He who is chief, let
as a more reliable source than the Narratio-, he him be a bridge.”33
stressed the importance of making “ajust esti­
mate of the condition of the abbey at the time”, Knowles and Nicholl make a fascinating pair.
and went some way to filling the lacuna in the Both had a profound knowledge of church life
evidence emphasized by Knowles; and to any­ in the twelfth century, both were endowed with
one brought up on the Monastic Order, some of the gift o f expressing their scholarship and
N icholls comments on the early Cistercians understanding in fine English prose, and both
come as an unexpected shower o f cold water. were devout Catholics who felt a deep need for
St Bernard is castigated for spiritual bullying; friendship and shared a common love for the
his letters go far “to explain why certain men figure o f Aelred o f Rievaulx. Their careers, fur­
found St Bernard hard to bear”; many o f the thermore, had many points o f similarity,

28. Knowles, Monastic Order, p. 236—37. 30. Nicholl. Thurstan. p. 151—91, 251-58.
29. D om David Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, 31. Ibid., p. 152-54. 161-62.
940-1216 (Cambridge, 1963-), p.752-53 and 756. See also
32. Ibid., p. 157-61.
his essay “The Primitive Cistercian Documents”, in his Great
Historical Enterprises: Problems in Monastic History (London, 33. Ibid., p. 247.
1963), p. 197-222.

16 CHRISTOPHER NORTON
expressed however in a chiastic symmetry. monks expressed within it do not accord well
Knowles the priest, a monk by vocation, who with Thurstans habitual moderation and regard
left his community in his middle years and for the Benedictine tradition.They were explic­
became a professional academic; Nicholl the able, he believed, by the fraught circumstances
layman, an academic by profession who turned in which the Letter had been written in late 1132,
in his middle years from the deeply researched and he suggested that Thurstan was bound to
study o f the medieval world to a life more have been influenced, in the heat of the moment,
actively involved in the affairs o f the spirit, and by the views o f Prior Richard as expressed to
who ended his career as R ector of the Ecu­ him personally and in the memorandum which
menical Institute for Theological Research at Richard had composed at the abbots request ear­
Tantur, near Jerusalem, where a central part of lier in the year. “This memorandum is obvious­
his job was the quasi-abbatial role of building ly the basis o f Thurstans letter, a fact which
up community in a diverse body of people in accounts for some of the abruptness of the let­
one o f the most divided societies on earth. His ter and the difficulty o f knowing sometimes
penetrating diary o f those years (1981—85) whether Thurstan is speaking in propria persona
includes a comment on members o f religious or quoting Prior Richard.”31
orders which helps elucidate his earlier judge­ Nicholls book was followed in 1966 by an
ment on the Cistercians. An incident at Tantur article by Denis Bethell.38*A crucial question
“has again set me racking my brain trying to for him was the state o f St Mary’s Abbey prior
sort out my attitude towards professed religious to the exodus: “Was it a corrupt house, and if
[...] . W hen members of religious orders are so in what way?” At greater length than Nicholl,
good, they are marvellous; but when they are he assessed the scraps o f evidence for the state
anything less, they are a pain in the neck” .34 o f affairs at the abbey prior to 1132, and found
W hen reading the Tantur diary, it is hard not it not wanting. “St Mary’s flourished consider­
to imagine that Nicholls mind did not often ably in the first years o f its existence [...] . It
return to dwell on the example of Archbishop received a large number o f remarkable novices
Thurstan (though he nowhere explicitly men­ [...]. It was not the corrupt state o f St Mary’s
tions him). And it is striking that Adrian Hast­ York, but rather the impact o f the new ideals
ings, in his memoir o f Nicholl, applied to him which caused the Fountains exodus [.. .(.Black
the very words o f Bran the Blessed which monks and white monks represented different
Nicholl himself had taken from the Mabino- excellences.” This interpretation was buttressed
gion to sum up Thurstans achievement: “He by a new hypothesis concerning the Letter.
who is chief, let him be a bridge.”35 Nicholl argued that the shorter version, though
Nicholl accepted the priority of the longer less well attested in the manuscript tradition,
version of the Letter, but he was the first to address was the original. It contains fewer o f the severe
the issue o f its authenticity. He discussed the pos­ criticisms of the traditional way o f life o f the
sibility that it might be a late-twelfth-century black monks and is “more like what we should
forgery reflecting later Cistercian polemic and expect from archbishop Thurstan w riting to
apologetics.36*He rejected this hypothesis on the archbishop W illiam” . The longer version,
grounds, inter alia, that the reference in Prior which contains the most vehement passages of
Richard’s speech to the Savigniacs would have reformist opinion, was not in his view a forgery,
made little sense after the merger of the Savig­ but an interpolated or amplified version creat­
niacs with the Cistercians in 1147; but he did ed in the interests o f later Cistercian polemic.
acknowledge that the Letter is unnecessarily long, A few years later, Derek Baker entered the
and that the sweeping criticisms of the black discussion with a series o f articles on aspects of

34. Donald Nicholl, The Testing o f Hearts —A Pilgrim’sJour­ between 1180 and 1200, and between 1190 and 1210. O n
ney, ed. Adrian Hastings, rev. edn (London, 1998), p. 77. the date, see below.
35. Ibid., p. xiv. 37. Ibid., p. 258. O n p. 254 he says that “the most violent
criticism o f the black monks [...] occurs in the passages o f
36. Nicholl, Thurstan, p. 251-58, where he is uncharac­
which prior Richard, and not Thurstan, is the author” .
teristically fluid in his dating o f the earliest manuscript (Cam­
bridge, Corpus MS 139). which he places variously in the 38. Bethel], “Foundation o f Fountains Abbey”.
last quarter o f the twelfth century, between 1170 and 1200,

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 17

 twelfth-century monasticism in northern Eng­ show that it was notoriously corrupt [...]. Cer­
land, with a particular emphasis on the Cister­ tainly, any house which could attract so able a
cians and early Cistercian historical writing.39 body of men as constituted the reforming party
He analysed the Narratio in depth, arguing that could not have been without prestige.”41
the contribution of the centenarian monk Serlo In the last thirty years additional work has
was much less than had often been supposed, been done on the early decades o f St Mary’s
and that Hugh o f Kirkstall had relied heavily Abbey. The foundation history o f Abbot
on existing documents. O f these, the Letter was Stephen of Whitby has been validated as gen­
the most significant. Baker reprised at greater uine, and the circumstances surrounding the
length the arguments put forward a century ear­ move o f the community to York have been fur­
lier by Walbran, namely that the shorter ver­ ther explored. Janet Burton has elucidated the
sion came into being as part o f a revision of the patterns o f patronage and endowment enjoyed
text of the Narratio as a whole; and this he attrib­ by St Mary’s and amply confirmed the abbey’s
uted to the fifteenth century. The longer ver­ status as the premier Benedictine house in York­
sion he took to be the original, but not from shire. The Romanesque church, which Thur­
the pen o f Thurstan. stan fled through following his ejection from
the chapter house, has been studied, as far as its
Its prolixity, its repetitions, the sentiments it exiguous remains allow.42 St Mary’s Abbey has
expresses and the elements it includes all make emerged from its early obscurity and can now
it incredible that Thurstan should have written be seen as the best documented o f the early
such a letter. I would suggest that it was prob­ post-conquest monasteries o f Yorkshire. Mean­
ably written in the period 1143-7; that it made while, controversy and debate about the ori­
use of a genuine letter of Thurstan now no gins o f the Cistercian O rder and the
longer extant, but of which traces may perhaps development of its foundation documents has
be seen in the spurious letter, and of St continued unabated into the new century; but
Bernards Apologia, De Praecepto and some of the Letter o f Thurstan has been left hanging
his letters. It was influenced by the Carta Cari­ uneasily in limbo. Clearly, no simple synthesis
tatis and Exordium, to which it directly refers, o f the differing views as to its date and authen­
and in it Fountains is plainly regarded as an ticity is possible. It is time to ask what common
English Citeaux.40 ground has emerged, and whether any progress
can be made.
Baker therefore understood the Letter very Firstly, we can accept the Walbran/Baker
much in traditional terms in the context o f the argument for the priority of the longer version
early history of Fountains: more than that, as o f the Letter. It accounts for the existence of
actually a product of early Cistercian writing. longer and shorter versions of both the Letter
But he did not thereby accept Knowles’s assess­ and the Narratio, and is strongly supported by
ment o f the state of St Mary’s Abbey prior to the manuscript evidence. Bethell’s counter­
the exodus. His judgement is much closer to hypothesis of the priority o f the shorter ver­
Bethell’s: “while there is little to show that St sion flies in the face o f the manuscript tradition
M ary’s, York, exceeded the average level o f o f the Letter and fails to explain the two ver­
black m onk observance, there is nothing to sions o f the Narratio.

39. Baker, “ Genesis o f English Cistercian Chronicles, 1" 42. Christopher Wilson and Janet Burton, St Mary’s Abbey,
and “Genesis o f Cistercian Chronicles, II” give his detailed York (York, 1988); N orton. “T he Buildings o f St M ary’s
analysis o f the Narratio and the Letter. T he wider context Abbey"; Christopher N orton, “T he Design and Construc­
was explored in L. G. Derek Baker, “T he Foundation of tion o f the Romanesque Church o f St Mary’s Abbey, York”.
Fountains Abbey", Northern History, 4 (1969), p. 29—13, and Yorkshire ArchaeologicalJournal, 71 (1999), p. 73—88; Burton.
id., “T he Desert in the N orth” , Northern History, 5 (1970), Monastic Order in Yorkshire, p. 32-44. 184-85, 234-35. 242,
p. 1-11. 245, 248-52, also p. 98-106 and 177 for her account o f the
crisis o f 1132, concluding that the Letter “is either a gen­
40. Baker. “ Foundation o f Fountains”, p. 35, summariz­ uine letter o f the archbishop or [. . .] an early fabrication,
ing his own views. In a footnote he suggests the beginning dating from nearer the 1140s than the 1180s” ; Christopher
o f the Letter and the account o f the visitation on 6 O cto­ N orton, Archbishop Thomas of Bayeux and the Norman Cathe­
ber 1132 are most likely to reflect Thurstan s original. dral at York, Borthw ick Paper, 100 (York, 2001), p. 6-9.
41. Ibid., p. 41-42.

18 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
 Secondly, the longer version of the Letter must dation narrative of St Mary’s Abbey. Corpus MS
be considered the primary source for the events 139 has been the subject o f a minor scholarly
at St Mary’s Abbey in 1132. It is attested in the industry of its own in recent decades, which
manuscripts some decades before it was incor­ there is not space even to begin to summarize
porated into the Narratio by Hugh of Kirkstall, here. For present purposes, suffice it to say that
who himself considered it a document o f great there is increasingly strong evidence that it was
authority. Baker’s analysis o f the Narratio has written at Durham in the mid- to late 1160s.
shown that comparatively little of its contents The ex libris o f Sawley Abbey shows that it had
can be attributed directly to the reminiscences been transferred there by the late twelfth or early
of the aged monk Serlo unsupported by other thirteenth century: it does not mean that it was
evidence. As regards the crisis o f 1132, there is written there.44 Thus the Letter existed within
practically no factual information in the Narra­ about thirty-five years of the events that it
tio which is not in the Letter.42 Although Serlo describes. More importantly, the provenance
claimed to have witnessed events at St Mary’s means that its early manuscript tradition is not
Abbey, we do not know what his position was uniquely Cistercian, as has often been supposed.
at that time. It is significant that he nowhere Certainly, there was considerable interest among
claims to have been a monk o f St Mary’s, as the Cistercians around the end o f the twelfth
only a member of the community could have century and the start o f the thirteenth. This is
witnessed the unfolding o f the drama within when Corpus MS 139 reached Sawley, to judge
the monastery. And even if his recollections of from its ex libris. Around the same time Hugh
what happened seventy years earlier were of Kirkstall incorporated the Letter into his Nar­
undimmed, his interpretation o f them cannot ratio, giving it the title (according to the fif­
but have been coloured by subsequent events. teenth-century manuscript) Epistola dompni
The Narratio provides crucial evidence for the Turstini ad domnum Willelmum Cantuariensem
origins o f Fountains Abbey as understood by archiepiscopum.42 The Oxford manuscript from
the Cistercians in the early thirteenth century: Fountains was written at this period. There, the
as a witness to the dispute within St Mary’s Letter appears alongside a copy of the Exordium
Abbey, it must be treated with caution. Parvum and the Exordium Cistercii, and an explic­
Thirdly, the earliest manuscript of the Letter it connection between them as foundation doc­
is now agreed to be the Cambridge manuscript, uments is made in the title: Egressio monachi
Corpus MS 139. On this, there is more to say. Cistercienses [sic] de Molismo et Epistola Turstini epis­
It contains an exceptionally important collec­ copi de egressione Fontanensibus [sic] de coenobio
tion of historical texts, including unique exem­ Sancte Marie Eboracensis.4546 In Corpus MS 139,
plars of the Historia Regum attributed to Symeon by contrast, the Letter is associated with the foun­
of Durham and of Aelred of RievauLx’s tract on dation history o f St Mary’s Abbey written by
the nun o f Watton. It also incorporates the ear­ the first abbot, Stephen o f Whitby, which it
liest extant copy of Stephen o f Whitby’s foun- immediately follows.47 Indeed, the two texts

43. Baker, “Genesis o f English Cistercian Chronicles, I”, nensium de coenobio sanctae Mariae Eboracensis (The Chronicle
P- 21. o f St Mary's Abbey,York from Bodicy M S 39. ed. H erbert H.
E. Craster and M. E. T h o rn to n , Surtees Society, 158
44. The most recent discussions are to be found in Symeon [Durham. 1934j. p. ix).
o f Durham —Historian o f Durham and the North, ed. David W.
Rollason (Stamford. 199S), especially Christopher N orton, 46. Bethell, “ Foundation o f Fountains Abbey” , p. 13, n.
"History, Wisdom and Illumination", p. 61-105 (p. 61—62, 5. Memorials, voi. l, ed. Walbran, p. 11, gives the heading in
87-89. 101-02). and Joanna E. Story, “Symeon as Annal­ the Oxford manuscript as Incipit Epistola de egressu monacho­
ist", p. 202—13. T he manuscript may have been w ritten as rum Fontanensium de Coenobio Sanctae Mariae Eboracensis.
a number o f separate units or “booklets”, not all o f which Derek Baker, “Scissors and Paste: Corpus Christi, Cam ­
can be demonstrably linked to Durham, but I see no rea­ bridge, MS 139 Again", in The Material Sources and Meth­
son to doubt that they were all written there within a few ods of Ecclesiastical Histor)’. ed. Derek Baker, Studies in Church
years o f each other. History, 11 (Oxford. 1975), p. 83—123, suggested (p. 101)
that the Oxford manuscript o f the Letter was copied direct­
45. Memorials, voi. I, ed. Walbran, p. 11, who shows that ly from the text in Corpus MS 139.
the seventeenth-century transcripts with the shorter ver­
sion o f the Letter bear titles combining elements o f this title 47. Montagu R.James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manu­
with that given in the Oxford manuscript, which in its turn scripts in the Library of Corpus Christi College Cambridge, voi.
is close to that in the fourteenth-century manuscript from I (Cambridge. 1912). p. 320; Baker, “Scissors and Paste", p.
St Mary’s Abbey: epistola Turstini de egressu monachorum Fonta- 107.

Richard of Fountains and the Letter ofThurstan 19

 are in a single hand (Corpus MS 139 being a teenth-century manuscript from St M ary’s
manuscript of many hands) and were conceived Abbey and in the fragmentary copy in the C ot­
as a unit, starting at the beginning of a separate tonian collection. It is also to be found in the
gathering.48 In Corpus MS 139, in other words, earlier Oxford manuscript from Fountains, but
the Letter is placed not in a Cistercian context, placed at the end o f the Letter rather than the
but in a York context. However, there is also a beginning, and with the substitution o f prece­
hint of a Cistercian interest. In a small gap at the dem [■ . .] demonstravit for sequens [. . .] demon­
end of Stephen of Whitby’s history on fol. 154v, strabit in the final sentence. It does not appear
prior to the start o f the Letter at the top of the as such in the Narratio, but the wording o f the
next page, there is a short paragraph which con­ dating formula would have been quite out of
tains an elaborate formula for dating the exodus place in Hugh of Kirkstall’s narrative prose. He
of the monks of St Mary’s to 6 October 1132. does however give the date o f the exodus in
This in turn is followed by one sentence stating the paragraph in the Narratio immediately pre­
Eodem anno, facta est abbatia Sanctae Mariae de ceding the Letter, and it seems likely that he was
Fontibus, VI kal.Januarii, sicut sequens epistola man­ working from a copy of the Letter which did
ifeste demonstrabit. This is a much simpler dating include the dating formula.30
formula, and the Letter of Thurstan in fact man­ Another important addition to the Letter is
ifestly does not give the date of the foundation the famous list o f names o f the thirteen monks
of Fountains. This dating paragraph appears to who were ejected from St Mary’s Abbey, which
be an addition to the Stephen of Whitby text records which o f them subsequently became
and the Letter of Thurstan which precede and abbots.31*This is incorporated in the text o f the
follow it, o f similar or slightly later date. It also Letter in the Oxford manuscript from Foun­
has a short title of its own, written in the bot­ tains, which Walbran used as the basis o f his
tom margin, reading Quomodo Funtanense ceno- edition, and in the text of the later manuscript
bium sumpsit exordium.49 What we seem to have from St Mary’s Abbey,32 but it was relegated by
here is a complex dating formula for the exo­ him to the apparatus as it was obviously a later
dus from St M ary’s originally designed to insertion. This is demonstrable not only from
accompany the Letter, which has been subse­ the content o f the list, but also from Corpus
quently enlarged to include the date of the foun­ MS 139 where it is absent from the text. How­
dation of Fountains; and the combined dating ever, it does appear as an addition in a different
formula has then been added to Corpus MS 139 twelfth-century hand at the foot o f the page,
between the two texts relating to St Mary’s as Walbran correctly noted (Fig. 2). A number
Abbey. In consequence, the heading of the para­ o f the texts in Corpus MS 139 were annotat­
graph in Corpus MS 139 refers explicitly to ed or corrected, sometimes heavily, not many
Fountains, whereas its position within the man­ years after it was written. The manuscript has
uscript in fact locates it firmly in a York con­ very much the appearance of a working copy,
text. We are witnessing part o f the process, and in some cases the marginalia were subse­
which was complete by the early thirteenth cen­ quently incorporated into the main text o f
tury, whereby the Letter came to be seen as one copies taken directly from Corpus MS 139,
o f the foundation documents o f Fountains most notably a copy o f the Historia Brittonum
Abbey. written at Durham in 1188.53 It looks as if the
Corpus MS 139 demonstrates not merely same has happened with the names o f the
shifts in context, but also changes in text. The monks added to the text o f the Letter. The list
dating paragraph just mentioned is obviously o f names does not, however, appear in the
not an intrinsic part o f the Letter; but it became copies o f the Letter incorporated into the Nar­
part of its textual tradition. It recurs in the four- ratio, whether in the longer or shorter versions.

48. Ibid., p. 99. 51. Memorials, voi. I, ed. Walbran, p. 26.

49. James, Catalogue, I, p. 320; Memorials, voi. 1, ed. Wal- 5 2 .1 am indebted to Jens Riiffer for confirming this.
bran, p. 10. See also Baker, “Scissors and Paste”, p.99-103.
53. Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff. 1.27, p. 1-40,
50. Textual evidence for the above is set out in Memori­ a manuscript w hich I have discussed fully elsewhere (“His­
als, voi. l, ed. Walbran. p. 10, and Baker, “Scissors and Paste”, tory. Wisdom and Illumination”).
p. 99-103.

20 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
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/•/(>. 2. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College M S 139,fol. I59r, ca. 1 165. (By permission o f the Master and Fellows
oj Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)
A page o f text from the Letter ofThurstan showing the addition at the foot o f the page o f the list o f names o f the
monks who were thrown out o f St M ary’s Abbey on 6 October 1132. The red underlinings in the text arc attributed
to the pen o f Matthew Parker, archbishop o f Canterbury (1559-75).

Richard of Fountains and the Letter ofThurstan 21

 But this does not necessarily mean that Hugh tile detailed discussion o f the evidence which
o f Kirkstall was working from a copy of the he intended,58 it is difficult to give his hypoth­
Letter which lacked the list of names. He gives esis due weight, but some general comments
the names o f the monks in his summary o f the may be offered. Verbal parallels to the writings
story which precedes the Letter in the Narratio, of St Bernard, or the citation of identical scrip­
and may have decided to omit the list when he tural passages, are not necessarily evidence of
came to copy out the text of the Letter, since it dependence. The general issues were common­
is so obviously not part of the original text. place in monastic controversies at the time, and
It therefore seems likely that Corpus MS 139 would have been as familiar to Thurstan and
(or another manuscript at Durham from which Prior Richard as to St Bernard. Highly educat­
it was copied) was the origin of both the list of ed and passionate advocates o f the reformist
names and the dating formula: that it was, in position could easily have used similar forms of
fact, not merely earlier than the other extant words without necessarily copying each other.
manuscripts o f the Letter, but their lineal pre­ O n the other hand, Thurstan and Richard
decessor.34 As to the date when these additions could have known Bernard’s Apologia and other
were made, the list o f monks cannot date to Cistercian texts in existence by 1132, which
before 1151, the year o f election o f Adam o f could have been brought to Yorkshire by the
Meaux, the last o f the eight to be made abbot. first monks of Rievaulx. The first abbot of
Walter of Kirkstead ruled as abbot till 1174, and Rievaulx, the saintly William, had been
Alexander of Kirkstall survived till 1182, a pos­ Bernard’s secretary. He would have known
sible terminus post quern for the list if it be Bernard’s turn o f mind as well as his writings,
thought to be entirely posthumous.53 Corpus which he could have communicated both to
MS 139 was still at Durham in 1188, when its the archbishop and to the monks of St Mary’s.
text of the Historia Brittonum was copied into a Conversely, Bernard was in close contact with
new manuscript.5556 events in Yorkshire in the 1130s, and he could
Corpus MS 139 therefore reveals an impor­ have seen a copy o f Thurstan’s Letter or Prior
tant phase in the transmission of the text o f the Richard’s tract setting out the case for reform
Letter in the later twelfth century at Durham. at St Mary’s Abbey. So if there were verbal bor­
Can we now peer back into the period before rowings, they could have gone in either direc­
the mid-1160s? We still face the conundrum that tion. The issue requires further investigation (I
parts o f the Letter, notably the account o f the shall return to it briefly in the Appendix), but
visitation o f 6 October 1132, bear the imprint it provides no conclusive proof against the
of immediacy and incidental detail which it is authenticity o f the Letter.
hard to imagine do not come from the pen of The years 1143—47 saw the Fountains com­
Thurstan himself. Yet other parts are prolix and munity much preoccupied with the dispute
repetitive and express such trenchant criticisms over the election to the archbishopric o f York
o f the established monastic order that it is hard o f William fitzHerbert (who had been one of
to believe that they do derive from Thurstan, the party which accompanied Thurstan on his
who, for all his support of the reformed orders, visitation of St Mary’s Abbey in 1132). In 1143,
had vowed to finish his days in a Cluniae Abbot Richard II (the former sacristan o f St
monastery — a vow he was to keep.57 Mary’s Abbey) resigned his abbacy, unable to
Derek Baker, as we have seen, suggested that bear any longer the entanglements of ecclesi­
the Letter was a product o f Cistercian histori­ astical politics which the York election dispute
ography o f the mid-1140s and constituted a had thrust him into. He was succeeded by
kind of English Exordium. As he never published Henry Murdac, Bernard’s nominee, who took

54. Baker. “Scissors and Paste” , p. 101, likewise argues tains to die, date unknow n (Memorials. voi. i. ed. Walbran.
that Corpus MS 139 is the origin o f these notes in the later p. 89-90).
textual tradition.
56. See note 53 above.
55. Dates in The Heads of Religious Houses, England and
57. He died and was buried at Pontefract Priory (Nicholl,
Wales, vol. I, 943-1216. ed. David Knowles, C. N. L. Brooke,
Thurstan, p. 236-38).
and Vera C. M. London (Cambridge, 20012). Ralph o f N or­
way was Ralph, the first abbot o f Lysa in Norway, who 58. See note 5.
resigned after many years as abbot and returned to Forni­

22 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
 Table 1
T h e S tru ctu re o f the L etter o f T h u rsta n (longer version)
The analysis excludes the passage inserted at line 495 listing the monks who left St Mary’s.
Numbers in brackets give the line numbers for sections 4-8 when section 3 is omitted.
(1) Lines 1-9 Reverentissimo . . .
Introductory address to William of Corbeil
(2) 10-71 Siquidem notum . . .
The state of St Mary’s Abbey; stirrings o f disquiet; a group o f broth­
ers approach Prior Richard, who in turn approaches Abbot Geof­
frey.
(3) 72-331 Nil rude, inquit. ..
Prior Richard’s speech.
(4) 332-412 In hunc itaque modum . . .
[72-152] Prior Richard submits his memorandum; summary o f arguments;
opposition mounts; Prior Richard consults Thurstan.
(5) 413-47 Igitur ego Turstinus . . .
[153-87] Thurstan summons Abbot Geoffrey and Prior Richard to discuss the
issue. N o conclusion is reached, so a date is fixed for Thurstan to visit
St Mary’s
(6) 448-99 Ego igitur, die statuta . . .
[188-239] Account of the visit to St Mary’s Abbey, 6 October 1132.
(7) 500-81 Prolixo igitur . . .
[240-321] Concluding address and request to William o f Corbeil.
(8) 582 Valeat in Christo . . .
[322] Valediction.

a much more robust line both within the abbey apologia pro fundatione sua attributed to their
(which he purged o f certain non-Cistercian founder himself, the revered Archbishop
customs) and externally. The election dispute Thurstan. But the fundamental objection to the
finally came to a head with the burning of hypothesis that the Letter was composed as a
Fountains Abbey by William fitzHerbert’s sup­ Fountains foundation narrative is simply stated:
porters, his deposition, and the election in his Fountains is nowhere so much as mentioned in
place o f none other than Henry Murdac him­ the Letter, which takes its narrative no further
self.39 1147 was also the year when the Savig- than October 1132. It would be a very pecu­
niac houses joined the Cistercian Order, after liar kind o f foundation history which stopped
which the reference in Prior Richard’s speech before the site or the name o f the monastery
to the Savigniacs would have become increas­ are even known, and which omitted any o f the
ingly irrelevant. These turbulent years were not memorable events of the early years of the com­
the most likely period for the monks o f Foun­ munity — the first winter under the elm tree,
tains to turn their minds in tranquillity to a the intervention o f St Bernard, the affiliation
foundation history; and in so doing they would to Clairvaux, the abortive attempt to move the
have been many decades ahead of the other Cis­ community to France, the arrival of Dean Hugh
tercian houses in Yorkshire. O n the other hand, o f York which saved the community from
the dispute with a despised archbishop might financial ruin, the achievements o f Abbot
have prompted the Fountains community to Richard and his death in Rome. And it would
justify their existence by composing a kind of be an odd defence against a hostile archbishop

59. David Knowles, ‘'T he Case o f St William o f York”. (Cambridge, 1963). p. 76-97; C hristopher N orton, St
Cambridge HistoricalJournal. 5 (1936), p. 162—77 and 212-14. William ofYork (forthcoming).
reprinted in id. The Historian and Character and other Essays

Richard o f Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 23

 which failed to cite Thurstan’s important char­ o f biblical quotations and exempla, which bal­
ters in favour o f Fountains Abbey, some of ance those deployed (in smaller numbers) at the
which had been witnessed by William fitzHer- opening of section (2), where Thurstan initial­
bert himself.60 Besides, William would have ly set the scene for the dispute over the true
known if the Letter were a forgery, having been nature o f the monastic life. Rem oving Prior
at Thurstan’s side in 1132. No, the Letter could Richard’s speech in its entirety also eliminates
easily be fitted into a Fountains history, as hap­ the most obvious o f the repetitions in the Let­
pened subsequently; it cannot have been pro­ ter which have worried scholars: the repeated
duced as one. citation in different parts of the Letter o f two of
Analysis o f the structure o f the Letter (Table the biblical quotations, and the repetition of the
1) both highlights the problem and suggests a arguments put forward by the reforming party.61
solution. In Walbran’s edition, the Letter occu­ It is not necessary to rehearse at length the
pies 582 lines o f text. Nearly half (260 lines) are hypothesis that Thurstan’s original text con­
devoted to Prior Richard’s speech. This is dis­ sisted in essence o f the longer version o f the
proportionately long. It is the only place in the Letter minus Prior Richard’s speech. The text is
Letter where the arguments of the opposing par­ available in print for those who wish to weigh
ties are presented in oratio recta rather than in an the evidence for themselves. It would have
authorial summary — the heated dialogue at required minimal editorial adjustment to insert
the entrance to the chapter house being quite Prior Richard’s speech at the point where he
different in character. It is Prior Richards speech and Abbot Geoffrey first discussed the issues. I
which causes the gross imbalance in the space therefore suggest that the text o f the Letter
accorded to the views o f the two parties, and underwent the following developments:
it is there that the reformist position is expound­
• October 1132, the original version of the Letter,
ed with a conviction and strength o f feeling
written by Thurstan.
which has surprised many commentators when
0 1132 —ca. 1165, the longer version of the Letter,
coming from the pen of Thurstan. These prob­
i.e. the original version with the addition of
lems evaporate on the hypothesis that Prior
Prior Richard’s speech, as in Walbran’s edition.
Richard’s speech is an interpolation. Remove
• ca. 1165 +, the addition to the longer version of
it, and the Letter regains its structural balance.
the names of the monks who left St Mary’s.
After a brief opening address to William o f
The addition of the dating formula at the start
Corbeil, the account of the state of affairs at
of the text could be attributed to either phase
the abbey and their development over the spring
2 or phase 3, depending on whether the
and summer — sections (2) and (4) — occupy
formula in Corpus MS 139 is considered to
nearly half the letter, including summaries of
have been inserted at the time of writing, or
the arguments on both sides. The opening of
subsequently.
section (5) then marks the emphatic interven­
• early thirteenth century, incorporation of the
tion o f Thurstan himself with the words Igitur <7>
longer version into Hugh of Kirkstall’s Narratio,
ego Turstinus, Dei gratia Eboracensis dictus archiepis-
but without either the list of names or the
copus. This is then echoed at the start o f section
dating formula.
(6), the story o f the visitation of 6 October,
• fifteenth century, creation from the phase 4 text
where the words Ego igitur, die statuta, followed
of the shorter version of the Letter in the context
by the named viris sapientibus atque religiosis who
of the abbreviated text of the Narratio.
accompanied him, re-emphasize Thurstan’s
authority. Section (7) then moves to the pre­ Since the most significant omissions in the
sent with Thurstan’s request to William of Cor­ shorter version o f the Letter consisted of sub­
beil to pacify Abbot Geoffrey and gives his stantial chunks of Prior Richard’s speech, we
support to the monks who have left the abbey. are left with the curious irony that the shorter
This final appeal is emphasized with a fusillade version, although the latest and least authorita-

60 .English Episcopal Acta. ed. David M. Smith, voi. v, York

1070-1154, ed. Janet Burton (London, 1988), nos 44-45, 61. Memorials, voi. 1, ed. Walbran, p. 11—29, identifies
both witnessed by William fitzHerbert. No formal founda­ numerous biblical citations or allusions. T he only repeated
tion charter is extant. texts are Psalm 46. 1 and M atthew 5.20.

24 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
tive, is in fact the closest in the extant manu­ be possible. The conclusion of Richard’s speech
script tradition to Thurstan’s original Letter. fits precisely the moment when his Tract was
Bethell s claim that the shorter version best rep­ written, and no later.
resented Thurstans authentic text was there­ Thurstans summary of the Tract confines itself
fore right for the wrong reason. to the practical matters proposed by the reform­
It is a standard literary device to place with­ ers, and they recur in Prior Richard’s speech,
in the m outh of a protagonist in a debate a in the same order: lax and unnecessary conver­
speech setting out the main lines o f an argu­ sation in the monastery, lavish food and fine
ment. Prior Richard’s speech, however, is not, clothing, all in excess o f the Rule; then a dis­
I suggest, a literary fiction. Rather, it was a pre­ cussion o f the location o f monasteries and the
existing text which was inserted into the Letter difficulties o f living out the Rule when con­
by an editor. And for its source we need look stantly distracted; then the distractions which
no further than the tract which Prior Richard result from having to manage estates and world­
wrote during the summer o f 1132 at Abbot ly goods. Only the final items in Thurstan’s sum­
Geoffrey’s request. In his Letter Thurstan sum­ mary do not recur in Prior Richard’s speech:
marized the arguments in Prior Richard’s Tract, revenues from churches and tithes should be
and it is instructive to compare his summary held only with episcopal approval and should
with Prior Richard’s speech.62 The summary be spent only for the relief o f the poor, for pil­
passes over the opening page and a half o f the grims, and for guests, whereas monks should
speech, where Richard sets out the inspired gain their livelihood from the cultivation of land
nature o f the Rule of Saint Benedict, with its bal­ and from keeping livestock.
anced insistence on times for prayer, for lectio The discrepancies between Thurstan’s sum­
divina, and for work, supported on a moderate mary o f Prior Richard’s Tract and the text o f
diet, and asserts that the Rule is nothing other Richard’s speech do not disprove the hypoth­
than the whole of the Gospel. These are points esis that the latter was copied from the former
which Thurstan had already adumbrated in the by an editor. Had the speech been a literary
opening section o f his own Letter, so they did invention based on the summary given by
not require repeating. Likewise, his summary Thurstan, we should expect a perfect match. As
omits the passionate peroration to Prior it is, the introduction and peroration to the
Richard’s speech, where he lauds the Savigni- speech were ignored by Thurstan for reasons I
acs and Cistercians as living examples o f the have suggested; whereas the vexed issues o f
Gospel life led by monks. This, again, is a theme ownership o f churches, tithes, and manual
that Thurstan will return to in the concluding labour could have been deliberately omitted by
section of his Letter. The very last sentence of the editor who inserted the Tract as a speech
Richard’s speech bears the authentic ring of into the Letter. These omissions could provide
1132. After his deeply felt encomium o f the clues as to the origins and concerns o f the edi­
Savigniac and Cistercian models o f the monas­ tor.
tic life, he comes down to earth by concluding W here and when was the longer version of
that, since the monks of St Mary’s cannot fully the Letter created? Presumably not during the
emulate their example propter viciniam urbis et lifetime o f Prior Richard and Archbishop
strepitum populorum, they should at least change Thurstan, unless it was actually done at their
their manner o f life and their possessions to behest. Richard died in 1139, Thurstan in 1140.
accord as fully as was practicable with the Rule The years 1140—54 were extremely disturbed
of Saint Benedict. If the speech were a literary ones for the diocese and province of York. Apart
fiction, this would be a distinctly bathetic con­ from the political anarchy o f the times, the
clusion. As it is, it makes sense in the context archiépiscopal election dispute caused profound
o f the summer o f 1132, when the reformists divisions within the church. In general, the
were still hoping that it would be possible to decade between the accession o f Henry II and
reform the abbey from within. Already by the the election o f Archbishop R oger o f Pont
autumn it had become clear that this would not l’Evêque in 1154 and the production o f Cor-

62. Ibid., p. 21, for the summary.

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 25

 pus MS 139 ca. 1165 is perhaps the most like­ witnessed events at first hand. His rival and suc­
ly period. cessor, Henry Murdac, would have known all
There were many institutions and individu­ about it from his time as abbot of Fountains, if
als who could still have been interested in the not before as a friend o f St Bernard. But Roger
events o f 1132, and not merely the Cistercians. o f Pont l’Evêque (1154-81) was a southerner
In the long run, the monks o f St Mary’s Abbey who lacked an intimate grasp of local ecclesi­
were able to look back on the crisis with equa­ astical politics. H e is on record as having
nimity, and take pride in the fact that so many declared that the foundation o f Fountains
form er members o f the community had Abbey was Thurstan’s worst mistake, and that
become abbots.63 Thurstan’s visitation would ecclesiastical benefices should always be con­
also have been o f some interest to the com­ ferred on secular priests rather than monks.67
munity in the thirteenth century when they In such a context it can readily be understood
were disputing with successive archbishops their that the section o f Prior Richard’s Tract dis­
rights o f visitation. One issue concerned the cussing monastic ownership o f churches and
number o f secular clergy who could accompa­ tithes, and the necessity of subjecting them to
ny the archbishop on a visitation, precisely the episcopal approval, could well have seemed
point which the monks used as a pretext for explosive. It could explain the omission o f these
barring Thurstan’s entry in 1132.64 But in the passages from Prior Richard’s speech in the edit­
immediately succeeding decades memories ed longer version o f Thurstan’s Letter.
would have been too raw for it to be likely that However, if we had to point to any partic­
St Mary’s was involved in producing the longer ular location for the creation of the longer ver­
version o f the Letter. sion o f the Letter, it would be Durham. The
Another Benedictine house with an interest D urham monks cannot have been unaware
in the story was the Cluniae Priory at Ponte­ either o f the contem porary debates on the
fract. Monks from there had been present at St nature o f the monastic life or o f the particu­
Mary’s during the fateful visitation in 1132, and lar manifestation o f the problem at York in
they subsequently fostered the memory of 1132. There were regular contacts between
Archbishop Thurstan, whose mortal remains Durham and York, and the Durham commu­
rested at Pontefract and who seems to have been nity was also in contact with the new Cister­
the focus o f a short-lived cult.65 A collection cian communities. Individual links are
of miscellaneous materials deriving from Ponte­ exemplified by the highly educated subprior
fract and relating to Thurstan includes a para­ o f D urham, M aurice (the “second Bede”),
graph recording the foundation o f Fountains who entered Rievaulx and was abbot there for
which seems to derive from the Letter. The para­ two years between the death o f the founding
graph dates from quite some time after the abbot, St William, and the election o f
events, and there is no way o f knowing how Aelred.68 Aelred himself never lost contact
soon they acquired a copy of the Letter.66 with the churches in the lands o f his birth
Thurstan’s successors would naturally have north o f the Tees. Durham also had institu­
been interested in an episode which linked the tional links with the Cistercians and others. It
great Benedictine house in York to the possessed far and away the largest library in the
renowned Cistercian house near the archiépis­ region, and was at the centre o f what might
copal church at Ripon. William fkzHerbert had be termed a kind o f monastic interlibrary loan

63. Chronicle of St Mary’s Abbey, ed. Craster and T h o rn ­ p. 267; Baker, “Genesis o f Cistercian Chronicles, II”, p.
I!,
ton, p. 1. 186.

64. Christopher R . Cheney, Episcopal Visitation o f Monas­ 67. William o f Newburgh, Historia Rerum Anglicarum, in
teries in the Thirteenth Century (Manchester, 19832). p. 2, 33, Chronicles o f the Reigns o f Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed.
68, 107, 122. Richard Howlett, vol. I, Rolls Series, 82 (London. 1884),
p. 226; Giles Constable, Monastic Tithes from their Origins to
65. Memorials, vol. I. ed. Walbran, p. 24; Nicholl. Thurstan, the Twelfth Century (Cambridge, 1964), explores the issues
p. 237-38. in depth.
66. The Historians of the Church ofYork and its Archbishops, 68. O n Maurice, see Life ofAilred of Rievaulx, ed. and trans.
ed.James Raine. 3 vols. Rolls Series, 71 (London, 1879—94), Powicke, p . XXX.

26 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
system in the twelfth century.69 From the time forged Durham charters. The earliest o f these
o f Symeon o f Durham onwards, Durham nur­ have been dated to the first decade or so of
tured historical and theological scholarship. H ugh’s episcopacy.71 Here would be a power­
The Durham com m unity had a particular ful motive for editing out the potentially
interest in the history o f monasticism in north­ embarrassing passages from Prior R ichard’s
ern Britain and collected texts relevant both Tract. The earliest phase o f the textual trans­
to the ancient past and to their own times. A mission o f the Letter o f Thurstan and the
striking example is to be found in Corpus MS incorporation into it o f the greater part o f the
139 itself. A few pages before the text o f the Tract o f Prior Richard was the product not, I
Letter can be found the only extant exemplar suggest, o f Cistercian apologetics, but o f the
o f Aelred’s tract on the nun of Watton, com­ Durham historiographical tradition.
posed probably in the early 1160s and copied To sum up so far: the longer version o f the
at Durham very shortly afterwards.70 That the Letter was the product of an editorial conflation
Durham monks had access to the longer ver­ of mid-twelfth-century date of Thurstan’s orig­
sion o f the Letter is not in doubt: that they inal Letter o f October 1132 and Prior Richard’s
actually edited it from the original Letter and Tract written a few months earlier. Separating
Prior Richard’s Tract cannot be proved, but it out these two sources enables us to recover not
would be entirely consistent with the kinds o f only the authentic text of the Letter (with min­
editorial activity which we know went on at imal editorial alterations) but also the greater
Durham at precisely this period, as exempli­ part o f the lost Tract o f Prior Richard, whose
fied not least by the collection o f texts in Cor­ name can therefore be added to the list of Latin
pus MS 139 itself. The suggestion that monks authors o f the English Middle Ages.72 We can
should earn a living through agricultural now disentangle the authentic voices o f two
labour is unlikely to have been popular at key figures o f the twelfth-century English
Durham, and the editing out o f the passage church, voices which give us an exceptionally
on monastic tithes and possessions would also vivid impression of the crisis at St Mary’s Abbey
make very good sense at Durham in the 1150s in 1132. How then should we assess what hap­
and 1160s. Hugh du Puiset, who was elected pened?
Bishop o f D urham in 1153, engaged in an Although the language o f the reformers in
interminable struggle with the monastic com­ the twelfth century (and the twentieth) tends
munity over the ownership o f the historic to present the issues in terms o f a polarity
endowments o f the church o f Durham. This between the authentic spiritual fulfilment of the
famous dispute, which rum bled on for Rule of Saint Benedict on the one hand and dis­
decades, incited the Durham monks to a pro­ ciplinary laxity resulting from the accretion of
paganda offensive against their bishop which local customs on the other, it is more helpful
led to the production, inter alia, o f the famous to talk in terms o f different interpretations of

69. Anne Lawrence, “English Cistercian Manuscripts o f “the significance o f the association o f the w riting o f the
the Twelfth C entury” , in Cistercian A n and Architecture in the additional material in Cosin with the years o f the produc­
British Isles, ed. Christopher N orton and David Park (Cam­ tion o f the Durham forgeries, whose essential purpose was
bridge, 1986), p. 284-98; Anne Lawrence, “T he Artistic to bolster and support the rights and privileges o f the com ­
Influence o f Durham M anuscripts”, in Anglo-Norman munity, and the closeness in time o f the additions in Cosin
Durham 10 9 3 -1193. ed. David Rollason, Margaret Harvey, to the production o f the great corpus o f historical works in
and Michael Prestwich (Woodbridge, 1994), p. 451-69. [Corpus MS 139] may prove not to be entirely coinciden­
tal” .
70. Giles Constable, “Aelred o f Rievaulx and the Nun
o f Watton: An Episode in the Early History o f the Gilber-
tine O rder”, in Medieval Women, ed. Derek Baker, Studies 72. Richard Sharpe, A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great
in Church History, Subsidia 1 (Oxford, 1978), p.205-26. Britain and Ireland before 1540 (Turnhout, 1997), no. 1869
forThurstan. and no. 1414 for R ichard [ofYork], but com­
71. David Bates, “T he Forged Charters o f William the m enting that “Leland offers no reasons for his inclusion
Conqueror and Bishop William o f St Calais", in Anglo-Nor­ among the writers” . Some verses w ritten into the m ortu­
man Durham, ed. Rollason, Harvey, and Prestwich, p. ary roll o f Matilda, abbess o f Caen (d. 1113), at St M ary’s
111—24; M. Gullick. “The Two Earliest Manuscripts o f the Abbey could have been by Prior Richard or by Richard the
Libellus de Exordio", in Symeon of Durham, ed. Rollason. p. Sacristan (Sharpe, nos 1283 and 1325), or by another monk
106-19, w ho comments (p. 117—18) with regard to addi­ o f the same name (see also Bethell, “ Foundation o f Foun­
tions to the Libellus de Exordio in the Cosin manuscript that tains Abbey”, p. 20—21).

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 27

 the Rule, differing expressions of the monas­ province o f Reims in 1131, and the following
tic vocation.7j St Mary’s Abbey exemplified the year the same issues featured among the reforms
standard form o f monasticism traditional in introduced into the Cluniae houses by Peter the
England in the decades following the Norman Venerable.7:1 Most o f the points discussed in
Conquest, closely associated with the secular Prior R ichard’s Tract recur in the treatise of
and ecclesiastical establishments and working Theobald o f Etampes w ritten at Thurstan’s
wherever possible in association with them. The request perhaps in this very year, and in Aelred’s
community’s own perception o f its role and sta­ Speculum Caritatis a decade later.76 The novel­
tus is indicated by the comparison that was ty of the reformists’ aspirations, which, Thurstan
explicitly drawn by the traditionalist party with tells us, initially astonished Prior Richard and
the great establishments at Cluny and Mar- continued to frighten Abbot Geoffrey, cannot
moutier, Canterbury, W inchester and St have been the principles as such, which were
Albans.7374*These were the premier league o f tra­ by then the common currency of debate; rather,
ditional Benedictine monasticism, and it is it was the notion that St Mary’s Abbey itself
unlikely that any other Yorkshire monastic should undergo a fundamental reform along
house would have claimed equality with them. those lines.
In its own way, St Mary’s Abbey could be seen W hat does emerge with greater clarity from
as an exemplary institution. The reformed a re-examination o f the Letter o f Thurstan is
monasticism, by contrast, stressed physical iso­ the respective roles of the three protagonists.
lation, disengagement from secular affairs and Prior Richard was not an impractical dreamer,
ecclesiastical business, and poverty and ascetic nor a member of the awkward squad. He was
discipline as essential aids in turning the mind a highly educated and very able man, respon­
and the heart o f the monk towards God. Either sible for most of the business o f the monastery.
form o f monasticism could be in need o f cor­ Having once joined the reformist party, he
rection and improvement. The history o f advocated their position with a converts fer­
twelfth-century monasticism shows that the vour. His Tract is written in fluent and eloquent
Cistercians could fall short o f the ideal no less Latin, peppered with allusions to and quota­
than the traditionalist Benedictines. To say that tions from the Bible and the Rule of Saint Bene­
a zealous monk could find fault with the way dict. It is not hard to imagine that Abbot
o f life followed at St Mary’s Abbey need mean Geoffrey might have appeared uneducated by
no more than that it was a human institution comparison. If Thurstan is correct in saying that
like any other. There is in fact nothing to sug­ Geoffrey asked Richard to set down in writing
gest that there was anything fundamentally awry how they could implement the reformist pro­
at St M ary’s Abbey. The reformist party, for gramme at St Mary’s Abbey — he describes
instance, made no complaints about the litur­ events from earlier in the summer before he
gical life of the community, its commitment to himself had been sucked into the discussions
the daily round o f offices and observances, or — then the abbot may well have felt that Prior
to lectio divina. And there was nothing that was Richard’s Tract lacked in practicality what it
dramatically original in the reformists’ pro­ undoubtedly possessed in conviction and fer­
gramme. A tightening of the rules on diet and vour. Matters of dress, diet, and conversation
conversation, for instance, was agreed by an could be changed without too much difficul­
informal chapter of Benedictine abbots in the ty; but quite how St Mary’s Abbey could fulfil

73. In an important footnote in the second edition o f the end, but, in part at least, an assertion o f evangelical perfec­
Monastic Order, p. 226 n. 4. Knowles recognized that in recent tion against a deformation o f the monastic ideal” . T he lan­
years there had been “a tendency to regard the issue [of rela­ guage o f the final phrase is still closely reminiscent o f Prior
tions between Cluniacs and Cistercians] as one between two Richard’s.
programmes and ideals rather than between a lax and zeal­
74. Memorials, voi. I, ed. Walbran. p. 22.
ous attitude towards a com m on monastic profession”.
Acknowledging that “ I would not now subscribe to all that 75. Knowles, Monastic Order, p. 225.
I wrote on the matter some thirty years ago”, he nonethe­
less concluded that “my present opinion is not wholly in 76. Aelred, Speculum Caritatis, III, ch. xxv, in Aelredi Rieval-
agreement with the ‘concordist’ tendency, and I would still lensis Opera Omnia, ed. Anseime Hoste and Charles H. Tal­
feel that it is not only a question o f two ‘ways’ to the same bot, voi. I (Turnhout. 1971), p. 145-51. O n tithes, see
Constable, Monastic Tithes.

28 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
the aspirations o f the reformers as regards the the rest of the community became aware of the
best location for a monastery, freedom from the proposals that positions hardened and the mood
cares o f business and litigation inherent in the darkened.The majority, who were content with
ownership o f estates, the principle of posses­ things as they were, feared being coerced into
sion o f churches and tithes, and the desirabili­ a stricter way of life than they desired, and pres­
ty of living off the fruits of their own cultivation sure was put on the reformists, some o f whom
of the land is nowhere made clear. The bathet­ wavered and abandoned the cause. Around this
ic ending to the Tract, indeed, admits the diffi­ time the matter came to the attention o f the
culty. Disposal o f estates and disengagement archbishop. Characteristically, he took advice
from outside affairs would not merely have been from “religious persons”, and summoned abbot
difficult o f accomplishment; it would have and prior to a meeting, hoping on the one hand
required a complete redefinition of the role of to encourage the aspirations o f the reformists
the abbey in society at large, from the king and and on the other to find a peaceful outcome (in
the archbishop downwards, both o f whom bona pace consumarem). By now the basis o f the
sometimes turned to the abbot for help in expe­ discussion had moved from reforming the abbey
diting business. The abbey, after all, was a royal to allowing the reformists to observe in full the
foundation, and in a region where the institu­ peace o f the Gospel and the Rule of Saint Bene­
tions of the church were still very weak, the dict — which must have meant following their
archbishop would inevitably look to the abbey own way o f life somewhere else, perhaps at one
for support from time to time./7 Such matters o f the abbey’s dependent priories. Since the
would have been more evident to the abbot, reformists included the prior, the sub-prior, the
perhaps, than the Prior. Richard himself was to sacristan, and the almoner — that is, the major­
find out as abbot o f Fountains that a summons ity o f the senior officers o f the monastery —
of this kind could not easily be refused, when Geoffrey was entitled to point out that the com­
he was called upon by Cardinal Alberic for assis­ munity needed them, that the majority of the
tance in carrying out his legatine duties in the community were against the reforms, and that
disturbed times at the very end o f Thurstan s he could not agree to help the reformists with­
archiepiscopate, and Thurstan sent him as an out the knowledge of the chapter. In saying this,
envoy to Rom e.7778 There was also an implicit Abbot Geoffrey could himself appeal to the
social contract between the abbey and the Rule (which the reformists claimed as the final
numerous patrons who had endowed it, and this arbiter), where it is clearly stated that whenever
was something which could not be unilateral­ there are matters of major importance for the
ly revoked by the abbey. So when Thurstan monastery to be discussed, the abbot should
remarked that the abbot was far from enthusi­ summon the whole community, tell them what
astic about the proposals, because it is difficult was at issue, and listen to their views.79*It is
to change long-established customs, he was important to remember that Abbot Geoffrey is
referring not simply to the psychological habits the only one o f the three protagonists who has
of ingrained routine, but the fact that the whole not bequeathed to us a statement o f his posi­
life o f the monastery was bound up with tion; but his conduct in the affair seems to have
numerous factors which interrelated in com­ been reasonable throughout. Thurstan, it is true,
plex ways. The abbot was entirely justified in appears to have felt that he could have shown
taking his time in responding to the reformers: some willingness to countenance changes with­
demanding just a few weeks’reflection can hard­ in the monastery, since even Cluny had admit­
ly be described as prevarication. ted the need for reform; but Abbot Geoffrev
Until the early autumn, according to the Let­ had perhaps realized that moderate reform
ter, the discussions between the abbot and the would satisfy no one, and that the ideals o f the
prior were carried out on an amicable basis {post traditionalists and the reformers were ultimate­
multas et arnicas altercationes). It was only when ly irreconcilable.

77. Nicholl, Thurstan. p. 158, gives examples o f Abbot 78. Knowles, Monastic Order, p. 237-38.
Geoffrey’s involvement in wider affairs. Stephen o f W hit­
by. the first abbot, liad also been active in public and car­ 79. Rule of Saint Benedict, ch. Ill: Quotiens aliqua praecipua
ried out missions on behalf o f archbishop and king. sunt in monasterio, convocet abbas omnem congregationem . . .

Richard o f Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 29

 Thurstan stresses that the meeting again ended visiting Selby accompanied by some senior
peaceably and with an agreed date for his visi­ ecclesiastics including Abbot Geoffrey ofYork,
tation. W hat did he hope to achieve? He does Abbot Hugh of Selby had resigned his abbacy,
not say, except to emphasize even in the heat much to the dismay o f his community; and it
o f the moment that his sole purpose had been was alleged that Thurstan had arranged the
to promote peace and Christian brotherhood. whole affair beforehand.82 Thurstan o f course
The issue o f monks wishing to pursue a more does not mention this, nor is it likely that he
ascetic life than was possible in their own com­ had such a plan in mind. The fact that Geoffrey
munities had become a widespread problem attempted to bar his entry to the chapter house
since the emergence o f the reformed orders, so unless he reduced the number of secular cler­
Thurstan could reflect on precedent.80 O ne gy in his retinue does not suggest that the two
famous example was that o f the monks of were working in concert.83 But to the febrile
Molesme who left their monastery to establish minds o f the traditionalist monks at St Mary’s,
the New Monastery at Cîteaux. Thurstan would any fear may have seemed rational.
have been well aware of this long before the Whatever Thurstan s intentions that m orn­
disastrous dénouement. He had actually been ing, by the evening o f 6 October it must have
staying at the papal curia, held in high honour been clear that there could be no way back for
by all, when Calixtus II confirmed the Cister­ Prior Richard and his companions. Only at the
cian Carta Caritatis on 23 December 1119, and end o f the Letter does Thurstan make clear to
he would have found a particular interest in the William o f Corbeil what he is asking him to
new community whose abbot was an English­ do: to pacify Abbot Geoffrey, if he sees him,
man. He would very probably have met some and urge him not to stand in the way o f the
of the founding; fathers of Cîteaux, as would reformist monks, but to let them go. After cit­
have William fitzHerbert, who probably ing some biblical and monastic exempla (which
accompanied Thurstan at the papal court and he had very likely prepared in advance of his
was again with him on 6 October 1132.81 And visit to the abbey), he concludes with the
if Abbot William of Rievaulx had been among famous case o f the monks who left Molesme
the “religious persons” whom Thurstan con­ for Cîteaux. This example was particularly well
sulted, Molesme is again likely to have featured chosen. It was a precedent, sanctioned by the
in the conversation. Was he intending to cite highest ecclesiastical authorities, not merely for
the example o f Molesme as a precedent for a group o f monks leaving their monastery in
allowing the reformist monks to leave St Mary’s search of a stricter way o f life, but also for the
Abbey? abbot returning to his own monastery. By men­
The traditionalists certainly did not trust tioning the Archbishop o f Lyons, who had
Thurstan. They had summoned support from been at that time a papal legate, Thurstan was
Pontefract and Holy Trinity Priory and hinting at William o f Corbeils duty both to
attempted to have the prior and his colleagues support the expelled monks of St Mary’s and
removed from office. They may have feared that to return the abbot to his monastery, just as
Thurstan would depose Geoffrey or accomplish Abbot R obert had been ordered back to
his resignation, or that some deal had been fixed Molesme. Thus the purpose o f Thurstan’s let­
up in advance between the two of them, there­ ter finally becomes clear at the very end. At the
by leaving Prior Richard in control. Less than beginning, addressing William o f Corbeil as
ten years previously, while Thurstan had been legate, he had stated vaguely that ecclesiastical

80. See Giles Constable, “Liberty and Free Choice in 82. The Coucher Book of Selby, vol. I. ed. Joseph T. Fowler,
Monastic T hought and Life, especially in the Eleventh and Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Society Record
Twelfth Centuries” , in La Notion tie liberté au Moyen Aoe: Series, 10 (printed for the Society, 1891), p. 24.
Islam, Byzance, Occident, Penn-Paris-Dumbarton Oaks Col­
loquia IV, 1982, ed. George Makdisi, Dominique Sourdel. 83. Cheney. Episcopal Visitation, p. 68, knows o f nothing
and Janine Sourdel-Thom ine (Paris, 1985), p. 99—118 (p. at this early date to suggest that Thurstan was in the wrong.
Nonetheless, it is interesting that in 1262 the pope forbad
106—09), reprinted in his Monks, Hermits and Crusaders.
any archbishop to visit the abbey accompanied by more than
81. Nicholl, Thurstan. p. vi and 66—74; N orton, St William two or three secular clergy. There could have been a point
ofYork. o f custom here, or at least the monks must have thought it
a legitimate pretext to refuse entry to Thurstan in 1132.

30 C H R IS T O P H E R N O R T O N
dignitaries had the honour of communicating would result from the loss o f the senior officers
their counsels to others. But his purpose was of the community, how much worse was the
not simply to inform William of what had hap­ plight o f the monks when their abbot, too, had
pened at York, lest he had heard other versions vanished! In spite o f the way he had been treat­
o f events from other sources, but also subtly to ed, Thurstan had not forgotten his pastoral duty
urge him to use his legatine authority to sup­ to the monks o f St Mary’s. A lesser man might
port the reformists and to send Abbot Geoffrey have hurled anathemas at the retreating abbot.
back to his community, if the occasion arose. In this incident, and in the Letter, as Walbran
Thurstan’s responsibility to the ejected monks remarked long ago, we see the true character
staying with him at the Minster has often been of one of the outstanding archbishops o f York.
stressed, but he also had a responsibility towards
the community remaining at St Mary’s, who Centre for Medieval Studies
were now completely leaderless. If Geoffrey had University of York
been right to emphasize the problems which UK

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 31

 APPENDIX

The Letter ofThurstan and the Exordium Cistercii

I have deliberately steered clear of the issue, adumbrated by Derek Baker forty years ago, of the
relationship of the Letter o f Thurstan to the early Cistercian narrative and legislative texts.84 These
are murky waters which, as the years go by, get deeper and deeper.
Since there is still no consensus on the dates of the early Cistercian texts, they do not seem a
sound basis for an analysis o f the Letter o f Thurstan. Conversely, however, the Letter may be worth
studying for the light that it can shed on the Cistercian documents. It is hard not to be struck by
the extraordinary similarity between the opening paragraph of the Exordium Cistercii and the start
of the Letter of Thurstan (following the greeting to William of Corbeil).

Exordium Cistercii Letter ofThurstan

In episcopatu Lingonensi situm noscitur esse Siquidem notum satis ac certum est multis,
coenobium nomine Molismus, fama celeberri­ quanta bonitate ac fama virtutis enituit in
mum, religione conspicuum. Hoc a sui exor­ auribus multorum insigne coenobium sanctæ
dio magnis sub brevi tempore divina clementia Mariæ Eboracensis. Infra paucos namque annos
suæ gratiæ muneribus illustravit, viris illustribus et rebus plurimum excrevit, et numero ac reli­
nobilitavit, nec minus amplum possessionibus gione fratrum laudabiliter habundavit. Verum
quam clarum virtutibus reddidit. Cæterum quia quia cum opibus virtutes minus vigere, rar-
possessionibus virtutibusque diuturna non solet iusque consistere, haud dubium est, aliqui de
esse societas, hoc quidam ex illa sancta congre- fratribus ejusdem coenobii, ante, dimidium
tatione viri, nimirum sapientes, altius intelli­ ferme annum, Divino, ni fallor, instinctu per­
gentes, elegerunt potius studiis coelestibus moti, ceperunt de statu ac modo conversatio­
occupari quam terrenis implicari negotiis. Unde nis suæ vehementer agitari. Intuentes sane quod
et mox virtutum amatores de paupertate foecun- in primordio conversionis suæ de stabilitate sua
da virorum cogitare coeperunt. Simulque adver­ et conversione morum suorum et obedientia
tentes ibidem, etsi sancte honesteque viveretur, secundum regulam sancti Benedicti abbatis
minus tamen pro sui desiderio atque proposi­ coram Deo et sanctis ejus professi sunt, propria
to, ipsam quam professi fuerant Regulam obser­ remordente conscientia, ceperunt, sicut ipsi tes­
vari, loquuntur alterutrum quod singulos tantur, multis angoribus aestuare. Nempe falli se
movet, pariterque inter se tractant qualiter illum pene metuebant, si tantum votum executio
versiculum adimpleant: Reddam tibi vota mea quae digna minime sequeretur. De implendis quippe
distinxerunt labia mea. regularibus votis, non eos latebat terror Divinæ
auctoritatis. Spiritus namque Dei per Psalmis­
tam dicit Vovete et reddite. Itemque, Redde altissi­
mo vota tua. Et item, Reddam tibi Deus vota mea,
quæ distinxerunt labia mea.

84. See note 40 above. Baker refers specifically to the final Molesme; but that, as I have shown, he would have known
page o f the Letter, where Thurstan refers to the exodus from about independently.

32 C H R IS T O P H E R . N O R T O N
The wording is different, but the same senti­ the Letter o f Thurstan could be independent
ments are expressed in the same order, with ref­ evidence that it was in circulation by 1132. It
erence to the same text from the Psalms. It is as would therefore confirm an early dating for the
if one is a paraphrase o f the other. The similar­ Exordium Cistercii. A date in the 1120s has some­
ities could be explained in many ways. Here, I times been suggested. Others have proposed a
merely suggest the hypothesis that Thurstan date in the mid-1130s, since the phrase refer­
adapted the opening o f the Exordium Cistercii ring to Stephen Harding has often been thought
for his own purposes when he sat down to write to belong to the years after his death in 1134.
in a hurry to William o f Corbeil. I have already But this could result from a minor revision to
suggested that Thurstan (and Prior Richard) a pre-existing text. On the other hand, it would
could have seen copies o f early Cistercian texts not be so easy to account for the similarities
brought over by the monks of Rievaulx. Apart between the Letter and the Exordium Cistercii if
from anything else, the Rievaulx monks must the latter dates to ca. 1165, as has been sug­
have brought a Cistercian customary with them. gested. The question may be of interest to spe­
So if it is correct to see the Exordium Cistercii cialists in the early Cistercian sources.83
as a preface to an early Cistercian customary,

85. I cite here merely the unduly neglected article by 40-55; the recent edition o f the Narrative and Legislative Texts
Christopher Holdsworth. “T he Chronology and Charac­ by Waddell; and the controversial study by Constance Hoff­
ter o f Early Cistercian Legislation on Art and Architecture”, man Berman, The Cistercian Evolution :Thc Invention o f a Reli­
in Cistercian A n and Architecture, ed. N orton and Park, p. gious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe (Philadelphia, 2000).

Richard of Fountains and the Letter of Thurstan 33

 “According to the Form of the Order”:
The Earliest Cistercian Buildings
in England and their Context
GLYN CO PPA C K

y first contact with Peter Fergusson rized version” o f events that many communi­

M came in 1981—82 while writing up

my excavation in the church at
Fountains Abbey; he was busy finishing The
ties tried to emulate as the O rder grew.1*W ith
the obvious exception o f St Bernard, true
Cistercians appear to have had little concept
Arciiitecture of Solitude and researching his impor­ o f time or o f non-monastic events happening
tant paper on the work o f Abbot Adam of around them; they were interested in the nat­
Meaux. A simple enquiry requesting informa­ ural world but not the buildings they inhabit­
tion on an incomplete piece o f research, put so ed beyond describing their frugality, as is
tactfully and impossible to refuse, began a clearly apparent from the sources considered
friendship that continues today. I think it was below. Obviously, they were not indifferent to
the warning from more experienced colleagues architecture; it was after all a necessary frame­
that he had some rather dangerous ideas that work for religious life. It was simply a given
attracted me to him; certainly he seemed to that was not worthy o f incorporation into offi­
offer a clarity o f thought rarely found in monas­ cial histories. The Cistercians were seen by
tic studies at the time. But for Peters encour­ many o f their contemporaries as dangerous
agement and generosity my own research could men; by their own admission setting out to
easily have developed very differently. This essay redefine monastic life and return to the sim­
— which would never have been written with­ plicity and poverty of St Benedict’s rule o f the
out his gentle persuasion — is offered in all sin­ early sixth century. This is not exactly the
cerity to an exceptional man, truly a scholar impression given by their earliest surviving
and a gentleman, a friend, and a mentor who buildings in England or on the continent that
has quietly and safely propelled me through the imply a certain degree o f maturity and eco­
minefield that is Cistercian studies. nomic stability. Indeed, it is unlikely that any
churches surviving are earlier than the late
The origins o f any monastic order tend to be 1140s, a full half-century after the settlement
obscured by myth, hagiography, and a lack of o f Cîteaux in 1098, and they represent the
basic research. The Cistercians are particular­ aspirations not of their founding communities
ly difficult because they, no less than their con­ but those o f the second or third generation of
temporaries, thought in biblical parallels and monks drawn to an established and rapidly
created almost from the beginning an “autho­ growing Order.

1. L. G. D. Baker, “T he Foundation o f Fountains Abbey’’, Fountains Abbey I & II”, Analecta Cisterciensia, 25 (1969),
Northern History, 4 (1969), p. 29-43. and “The Genesis o f p. 14-41; and 31 (1975), p. 179-212.
English Cistercian Chronicles: The Foundation History o f

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context

 Monastic buildings are only a framework ing the life o f St Bernard. It is likely that the
for religious life, and the early development timber buildings and early stone monasteries
o f an architectural philosophy by the now well established in England are typical of
Cistercians has long been debated on the basis the O rder generally in the first half o f the
o f little positive evidence. In the past schol­ twelfth century and mark the first two stages
ars have attributed the O rder’s earliest ideas in the development o f perm anent houses; the
on building to St Bernard, first abbot o f first the initial settlement, the second the
Clairvaux, who joined the Order in 1113 and achievement o f stabilitas. '’ In Britain a third
w ho fulminated against the excesses o f stage o f development can be observed in those
Cluniae architecture in his Apologia ad houses which were the heads o f developing
Guillielmum w ritten in the early 1120s. The families, notably Rievaulx, Fountains, and
building o f a new church and cloister at Melrose, where the monumental expansion of
Clairvaux between 1135 and 1145, something the m other house follows the establishment of
which Bernard himself regretted, was seen as the final daughter.
the origin o f true Cistercian architecture and The past twenty years have seen research con­
the start o f a “Bernardine” tradition that could centrated on the earliest phases o f Cistercian
be traced in many churches o f the Order. building in England and Wales, in an attempt
W hile this is no longer as clear cut as many to examine how the Order’s return to the first
scholars would have wished, the cellular struc­ principles o f the Benedictine rule was reflect­
ture o f the Cistercian O rder and its pattern ed in the very framework of monastic life. This
o f visitation would suggest that there was a work, both historical and archaeological, has
degree o f commonality in planning w ithin concentrated on three northern houses,
families. This is supported by surviving Fountains and Sawley, where excavation for
twelfth-century churches and cloister build­ conservation purposes in the late 1970s and ear­
ings. Though we do not have the buildings ly 1980s revealed the first timber buildings exca­
that preceded these “developed” monasteries, vated in a Cistercian context, and Rievaulx,
with one im portant exception, it would be where a geophysical survey has revealed the
realistic to believe that there was a com m on­ presence o f an early church within the existing
ality in the design and layout o f the earliest cloister garth.
buildings of the Order.
There is evidence for Cistercian building Early Timber Buildings from Documents
before the rebuilding o f Clairvaux in 1135. It
is fragmentary and sometimes contradictory. T he family o f Fountains has produced the
Peter Fergusson’s 1983 paper on the earliest best docum entary evidence for the earliest
architecture o f the Order in England was the years o f the Cistercian reform: in the early
first attempt to define the evidence that did th irteen th century, Narratio de fundatione
exist.2 More recent work in England, howev­ Fontanis monasterii34 o f H ugh o f Kirkstall,
er, has shown that considerable evidence, both which uses the memories o f the centenari­
documentary and archaeological, exists for the an brother Serlo w ho was a m onk o f
form of both the first timber buildings devel­ Fountains betw een ca. 1137 and 1147; the
oped by the O rder and for the first stone Chronicon Abbatie de Parco Lude;5 the Fundado
monasteries that replaced them , prim arily abbatliie de Kyrkestallf and Thomas B urton’s
within the family o f Clairvaux and built dur­ late-fourteenth-century Chronica monasterii

2. Peter Fergusson, “Tire First Architecture o f the Cis­ 4. John Richard Walbran, "Memorials o f the Abbey of
tercians in England and the Work o f Abbot Adam o f St Mary o f Fountains I”, Surtees Society, 42 (1862). p. 1-129.
M eaux”, Transactions of the British Archaeological Association, Subsequently quoted as Memorials I.
136 (1983), p. 74-86.
5. Chronicon Abbatie de Parco Lude, ed. Edmund Venables,
3. For the achievement o f stabilitas, see Glyn Coppack, Lincolnshire R ecord Society, 1 (Horncastle. 1891). Subse­
The White Monies: The Cistercians in Britain 1128-1540 quently quoted as Chronicon de Parco Lude.
(Stroud, 1998), p. 33-39, and “Sawley Abbey, an English
Cistercian Abbey on the Edge o f stabilitas'’, in Citcaux, 6. Fundado abbathie de Kyrkestall, ed. E. J. Clark, Thores-
52.3-4 (2001), p. 319-36. by Society, 4 (Leeds, 1895). Subsequently quoted as Funda­
do de Kyrkestall.

36 GLYN CO PPA CK
de Melsa,7 which uses earlier sources that have in aedificiis construendis,’3 a process that took two
not survived. The inform ation supplied by years to complete.14
these documents, however, is tantalizing in
the extreme and is often difficult to inter­ Meaux Abbey
pret. T he Fountains narratio, for instance, Meaux Abbey, established in 1150, was
implies buildings but w ith one exception Fountains’s final daughter house. Its first abbot,
does not describe their appearance; the Louth Adam, was one o f the two members o f the
Park chronicle tells o f tim ber buildings at Fountains community known to have been
Kirkstead; at Kirkstall the only clue is the trained by Geoffrey of Ainai, and we know that
existence o f “ hum ble buildings” and a he personally selected the site and arranged for
church; only at M eaux are the buildings the founder to provide temporary buildings.13
described in any detail. That they conformed to the approved Cistercian
model is certain from the fact that they were
Fountains Abbey replaced with identically planned but larger build­
From the Fountains narratio it was apparent that ings when they proved to be inadequate, though
the abbey went through a sequence o f devel­ the chronicle does not record that they were built
opment from its foundation on 27 December de more.16 Meaux followed almost exactly the
1132: an initial settlement that began by shel­ same sequence o f development as its mother
tering among the rocks of the valley, then under house. We know from the Fountains narratio that
a great elm tree, and then in a crude hut;8 the there was a tradition brought from Clairvaux of
provision o f temporary buildings under the building “after our custom”. It was Adam who
direction o f the Clairvaux monk Geoffrey o f was most active in this field, responsible for set­
Ainai from 1133;9 the construction o f a stone ting out Kirkstead in 1137-39, Woburn in 1145,
monastery between 1136 and its destruction by Vaudey in 1147, and Meaux in 1150. Robert, the
fire in 1146;10 and the great monastery that rose second monk trained by Geoffrey, was the found­
from its ruins in the 1150s and 60s, described ing abbot of Newminster, the mother house of
simply by Hugh of Kirkstall as longefestevior.11 Sawley, and is credited with “setting out the
From the second phase, Fountains was clearly buildings therein after our manner”.1' At
under the tutelage o f Clairvaux, to the extent Barnoldswick, where the community that even­
that Abbot Bernard imposed Henry Murdac as tually settled at Kirkstall was first established in
abbot in 1144 to ensure continental Cistercian 1147, lay brothers from Fountains provided build­
orthodoxy.12 ings “according to the form of the Order” before
the site was colonized, though the person respon­
Kirkstead Abbey sible for the design is not recorded.18 When reset­
In 1137, Hugh Brito, lord o f Tattershall in tled at Kirkstall in 1152, it was Abbot Alexander
Lincolnshire, visited Fountains and gave a site (sometime prior of Fountains) who “elevated a
for a daughter house on the edge o f the basilica [. . .] and arranged humble buildings
Lincolnshire fen. Brother Adam was dispatched according to the Order”.19 It is only at Meaux,

7. Thomas de Burton. Chronica monasterii de Melsa, ed. E. ing those customs which they had brought from their first
A. Bond, 3 vols. Rolls Series, 43 (London. 1866-68). Sub­ m other house, Saint Mary o f York (Ibid., p. 86-87).
sequently quoted as Chronica de Melsa.
13. Chronica de Melsa, I. p. 76. Adam was also to set out
8. The hut is described “nulla ibi ligna dolata, nulla saxa com­ the monasteries o f Vaudey in Lincolnshire and W oburn in
planata, sed pauper tugurium et pastorum quasi tabernaculum Bedfordshire.
humili desuper cespite conectum”: Memorials I, p. 34.
14. Chronical de Parco Lude, p. xxii.
9. "ad ejus consilium casas erigunt, ordinant officinas”:
ibid., p. 47. 15. Chronica de Melsa, I, p. 63.

10.Ibid., p. 101. 16. Ibid., p. 64.

11. "Adjuvabant eos de vicinia viri fideles et consurgit 17. Memorials I, p. 58—59;at the foundation o f N ew niin-
fabrica longe festevior quam ante fuit”: ibid., p. 102. ster. Abbot R obert edificiis inibi de more dispositis.

12. Ibid., p. 80-84. Serio remembered that he turned the 18. Fundado de Kyrkestall. p. 178.
house upside down, searching out hidden things and remov- 19. Ibid.

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context

 Fig. I. Fountains Abbey, the first timber church and the gable wall o f the domestic range, post-holes found below the south
aisle o f the crossing and south transept o f the later church, (author)

a near contemporary of Kirkstall and Sawley and Early Timber Buildings front Excavation
a member of the same family, that a description
of the first temporary buildings survives in the Fountains Abbey
chronicle o f the house. Count William of Temporary Cistercian buildings are known from
Aumale, the founder, provided “a certain great excavation at only three sites in England:
house built with common mud and wattle [...] Fountains,21 Bordesley,22 and Sawley.23 In the
in which the arriving lay brothers would dwell first case, only two fragmentary buildings —
until better arrangements were made for them. presumed to be the church and a domestic
He also built a certain chapel next to the afore­ building — were recovered. In the second case
mentioned house [...] where all the monks used only fragments o f the timber buildings them­
the lower storey as a dormitory and the upper to selves were found, reused as grave covers for
perform the divine service devoutly.”20 members of the early community. In both cas­
es, the implication was that the buildings were
properly carpentered structures that belie the

20. Chronica de Melsa. I. p. 82. 23. For Sawley, see Glyn Coppack, Colin Hayfield, and
R ich Williams, “Sawley Abbey: T he A rchitecture and
21. For Fountains, see Roy Gilyard-Beer and Glvn Cop-
Archaeology o f a Smaller Cistercian Monastery”, Transac­
pack. “Excavations at Fountains Abbey. N orth Yorkshire,
tions of the British Archaeological Association. 155 (2002), p.
1979—80: T he Early D evelopm ent o f the M onastery”,
22—114, particularly p. 30—45.
Archaeologia, 108 (1986), p. 147—88.
22.1 am indebted to D r Sue Hirst and D r Susan W right
for information on the first monastery at Bordesley. Frag­
ments o f timber buildings were used as grave covers in the
monastic cemetery.

38 GLYN CO PPA CK
 porary monastery at Clairvaux, parts o f which
still survive in the western part o f the precinct
there, which were described in some detail in
1517,23 1642,26 and 1667,2/ and which are also
known from Dorn Milley’s monumental plan
and perspective. There is a serious problem of
interpretation, for the original church is
described as being some 6.1 m long and 4.3 m
wide2728 though Milley shows an aisled church
(Fig. 2). The descriptions o f two separate com­
plexes have unwittingly been conflated: the first
church built by the monks themselves on their
arrival described by Manrique, and the subse­
quent semi-permanent buildings that replaced
it, illustrated by Milley and seen by the Queen
o f Sicily in 1517.Terryl Kinder’s analysis o f the
vetus monasterium, superimposing a plan of the
surviving buildings on Doni Milley’s plan and
cadastral drawings and using geophysical sur­
vey, identifies the scale o f the buildings. The
church measures externally 17 m2 and the dor­
mitory 19.8m long.29 It is these later buildings,
o f stone and not timber though still o f a tem­
Fia. 2. Clairvaux Abbey,first monastery; plan o f 1708. (author, porary scale and design, which should provide
adaptedfrom Milley) the model for the first buildings o f the daugh­
ter houses o f Clairvaux in England: an orato­
ry; a domestic building attached to it, the first
simple post-hole evidence recovered at Foun­ floor o f which was the dormitory and the
tains (Fig. 1). The Fountains buildings can be ground floor the refectory; a latrine; a kitchen;
dated with some confidence to the late sum­ and a small guest chamber à l’entrée de la porte
mer of 1133, for when the harvest failed in that completed the layout.
year Serlo recalled the presence on site of car­ The surviving portion o f the timber oratory
pentarii et operari.24 They represent the earliest at Fountains measured 4.88 m wide by 7.32 m
Cistercian timber buildings to be recovered. The long internally (its east and west ends were not
oratory was a rectangular building o f at least recovered); the domestic building is o f
four bays, with opposed doors and shallow unknown length and though not physically
porches in its westernmost surviving bay, and attached to the oratory lay within 0.3 o f it.
only apparently of a single storey. To its south, Their planning is thus unlike that seen at
and also apparently lying east—west, the domes­ Clairvaux but the inter-relation of the build­
tic building had much deeper post-pits and is ings is similar.
presumed to have been o f two storeys. The disparity between the recovered 1133
The model for the Fountains buildings laid buildings at Fountains and the 1150 buildings
out by Geoffrey o f Ainai must be the contem­ documented at Meaux, both undoubtedly built

24. Memorials 1. p. 50. 28. Jean Owens Schaefer, “The Earliest Churches o f the
Cistercian O rder". Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture,
25. H. Michelant, “U n grand monastère au xvic siècle”,
vol. I, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo, 1982), p. 1-12,
AnnalesArchéologiques, 3, ed. Edouard Dideron (1845), p. 236-37.
quoting Angel Manrique.
26. Angel Manrique, Cisterciensium seti Uerius Ecclesiasti­
29. Terryl N. Kinder, “Les Eglises medievales de Clair-
corum Annalium a Condito Cistercio, vol.i (Lyon, 1642), p. 80.
vaux: probabilités et fiction”, in Histoire de Clairvaux: Actes
27. Joseph Meglinger, "Epistola Familiaris de Itinere ad du Colloque de Bar-sur-Aube / Clairvaux, 22 et 23 juin 1990
Com ita Generalis S Ordinis Cisterciensis”, in Patrologiae (Bar-sur-Aube. 1991), p. 204-29 (p. 207-08).
Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed.Jacques-Paul Migne (Paris,
1844-64), 185, cois 1608-09.

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context

 BUILDING A

Fig. 3. Sawley Abbey, Building A , one o f two aisled buildings with mud walls and reversed construction dating from the founda­
tion period, (author)

de more, indicates the development of Cistercian temporary buildings so far excavated and cov­
architectural practice over a period of only sev­ er the period ca. 1150 to ca. 1180, remaining in
enteen years, just as the difference between the use until they were replaced with permanent
unaisled Fountains oratory and the aisled chapel stone ranges. At Sawley this was a lengthy
at Clairvaux demonstrates the first seventeen process resulting from an initially inadequate
years o f development within the familia of endowment, and it is therefore hardly surpris­
Clairvaux itself. Because the Order was estab­ ing that there are as many as three phases of
lishing its architectural philosophy throughout development apparent in the excavated struc­
this period, a development in the modelling of tures. It is possible to define three techniques of
its temporary buildings should be apparent. building which relate to the stratification
observed which conveniently fall into the stan­
Sawley Abbey dard typology o f early medieval structures:
The foundation o f Sawley in January 1147/8 earth-fast timber buildings; timber buildings set
followed the preparation of the site in the pre­ on pad-stones and slight cill walls; and timber
vious year by William de Percy, and the timber buildings raised on substantial cill walls.
buildings recovered must at least in part have Stratigraphically, the fragmentary Building B
been provided then. Abbot R obert o f below the later kitchen was the earliest, but its
Newminster was personally involved in the form o f construction was almost identical to
foundation and may even be responsible for that o f the detached Building A (Fig. 3) below
their design. The planning o f the first buildings, the later monks’ latrine, and it is tempting to
if they followed the pattern o f the m other see them as contemporary and perhaps belong­
house at Newminster and the Orders legisla­ ing to the period of settlement. Both were aisled
tion, would have been the responsibility o f the buildings with clay walls strengthened with tim­
founding abbot, their erection being commis­ ber, similar to those described at Meaux.
sioned by the founder. They mark, therefore, Building A had an internal porch and heavy
an intermediate stage between the planning of stone flooring. The use o f neither can easily be
Fountains and Meaux within the extended determined, but both were substantial. Their
Fountains family. technique o f building — with clay walls and
The early timber buildings at Sawley Abbey reversed assembly — has a long tradition which,
represent the largest concentration of Cistercian although the carpentry used was undoubtedly

40 GLYN CO PPA CK
 BUILDING E

Fig. 4. Sawley Abbey, Buildings C, D. and E, constructed in the 1160s and 70s to replace aisled building B. These buildings all
pre-dated the construction o f permanent cloister ranges, (author)

rudimentary, can be seen at such contemporary reflected contemporary Cistercian philosophy

high-status sites as Goltho in Lincolnshire30 and and planning. W hat is particularly interesting
implies that they were of equal status to the halls about the Sawley buildings, and what makes
o f the knightly and baronial classes. The them exceptional, is the provision o f a water
Fountains buildings o f 1133-35, though prop­ supply in lead pipes. The earliest dated piped
erly carpentered, were conceived in the same water supply in England is that o f Henry of
earth-fast tradition. It is fair to assume that in Blois’s episcopal palace o f Wolvesey in
both cases the design of the structures and their Winchester o f the early 1130s.31 To find a sup­
method of construction reflect the local build­ ply o f as early as 1150 to the temporary build­
ing tradition o f the time, that they were pro­ ings o f a second tier Cistercian foundation is
fessionally built, and that their layout and use quite remarkable. Piped water has yet to be con-

30. Guy Beresford, Goltho: The Development of an Early 3 1 .1 am indebted to Professor Martín Biddle for infor­
Medieval Manor c. 850-1150. English Heritage Archaeolog­ mation regarding the piped water supply at Wolvesey Palace
ical R eport, 4 (London, 1987), esp. p. 106-10 and Figs in Winchester in advance o f his own publication o f the site.
114-17.

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context 41

 firmed at Fountains before 1150.32 These build­ The only partial recovery of the plan of the
ings were contemporary with a stone church early monastery inevitably leaves more questions
of developed Cistercian plan which combines unanswered than resolved, but Sawley Abbey has
the plan of the mother house o f Newminster demonstrated the complexity that even tempo­
with the elevations of the church building at rary buildings can display as the community
Fountains in the early 1150s. achieved stabilitas and the Cistercians continued
The construction of a second phase of post­ to develop their philosophy o f building. At
pad buildings at Sawley, Buildings C, D, and E, Meaux, for example, we know that buildings
and the replacement of Building B relates to a were replaced as need required, but we only have
replanning of the house that was contemporary the barest description of their form. At Kirkstall
with the construction of the first stone cloister a permanent church (basilica) was built alongside
range on the site, a permanent east range and “humble” temporary buildings; and at Fountains
latrine for the monks, in the 1170s (Fig. 4). If only the first phase of the temporary monastery
Cistercian tradition was being followed, and survives, although it must have been modified
there is no reason to suspect that it was not, it substantially as the first stone church was con­
should be reasonably easy to identify these build­ structed, for the east end of the domestic build­
ings. Building D was apparently the kitchen, its ing lay within the south transept o f the new
planning with a central hearth below a tall roof church. W hat is common to Clairvaux,
and louver and preparation areas in the aisles, is Fountains, and Sawley in their foundation phase
typical o f later medieval kitchens and its scale is was that there was no cloister and no specific
unexceptional. It was clearly associated with both chapter house, structures supposedly central to
Building C to the west and Building E to the monastic life in the twelfth century. The only
north, an association strengthened by the con­ buildings that appear to have been provided are
struction o f an enclosed passage between the those required by the Instituta for the foundation
buildings as a secondary feature. The only major of an abbey: oratory, refectory, dormitory, guest­
buildings not accounted for are a refectory and house, and a room for the porter.33 This plan was
a guest-house, both of which would necessari­ not peculiarly Cistercian, for a similar layout can
ly be associated with a kitchen. As Building E be seen in the first buildings erected at
was the more substantial it is likely to have been Benedictine Fínchale, a cell of Durham cathe­
the refectory. Its siting, within the cloister area dral priory, in the later twelfth century.34 There,
o f the later stone monastery, would ensure its a hall and chamber of decidedly manorial type
survival until permanent buildings could be were provided, to which other rooms and a
completed. Although it post-dates the construc­ latrine were added after 1196 to house a grow­
tion o f Building C, this need only reflect the ing community.
order of the rebuilding, perhaps reflecting the
move from an earlier building which had to be Early Stone Buildings from Excavation and Survey
demolished to lay out the east cloister range.
Building C could easily be a guest-hall, closing Timber buildings were meant to serve until the
the east side of a nascent inner court. house achieved stabilitas, when permanent

32. T he piped water supply at Fountains Abbey was a N o rth Yorkshire” , Medieval Archaeology, 30 (1986). p.
tw in supply, with separate systems supplying the monks 46-87 (p. 55).
and lay brothers. T he w ell-house o f St Jo h n s Well on the
m onks’ supply system is no earlier than the middle years 33. Narrative and Early Legislative Texts from Early Citeanx.
ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Citeanx: Studia et Documenta,
o f the twelfth century; the supply pipe for the lay broth­
ers’ system was contem porary w ith the use o f the first 9 (Brecht, 1999), p.460—61.
phase o f the abbey’s wool house in the 1160s. For this, 34. Charles Peers, Fínchale Priory, Durham (London, 1987),
see Glyn Coppack, “T he Excavation o f an O u ter C ourt p. 10.
Building. Perhaps the Wool House, at Fountains Abbey,

42 GLYN COPPACK
 Fig. 5. Rievaulx Abbey, the first
stone church, revealed by resistivity
survey below the later cloister garth.
(John Syzmansky, University of
York; English Heritage)

ANO VESTRY

CHAPTE
HOUSE

PARLOUR

TREASURY

Lavatory Lavatory

OF EARLY FRATER WARMING

HOUSEPi

buildings were begun. Substantial remains o f ranges in the 1150s, the lay brothers’ range
four Cistercian primary stone layouts have been stands out as curiously old fashioned and out
identified; at Waverley,33 Tintern,36 Fountains,37 of scale. It almost certainly pre-dates Aelred’s
and Rievaulx,38 each with a small, aisleless rebuilding and is contemporary with early
church and simple cloister ranges around a sub­ masonry which lies below his chapter house,
stantial cloister. Brakspear s early excavations at the remains o f the first stone ranges raised by
Waverley and Tintern identified the early stone Abbot William before his death in 1145. None
plan-form but did little to resolve their chronol­ o f this has been tested by excavation, though
ogy. At both Rievaulx and Fountains, it is appar­ the sequence o f building can be read in the sur­
ent that the church pre-dates the cloister layout, viving masonry.
and at Rievaulx (Fig. 5) it was intentionally
placed within the cloister area o f the later Fountains Abbey
monastery so that it could remain in use At Fountains, the sequence o f events is plain.
throughout the building of larger permanent A small cruciform church was built after 1135
buildings. It has been traced by resistivity but as a free-standing building. The east range of
remains to be evaluated by excavation. Amid the cloister was then butted against it, and both
Aelred’s rebuilding of the church and cloister buildings were damaged by a documented fire

35. Harold Brakspear, Waverley Abbey (Guildford, 1905). 37. Gilyard-Beer and Coppack, “ Excavations at Foun­
For a reconsideration, see Coppack, The White Monks, p. tains Abbey"; see also Glyn Coppack. Fountains Abbey: The
33—35 and Fig. 10. Cistercians in Northern England (Stroud, 2003), p. 33—37 and
Figs 14—15.
36. David Robinson, “T he Twelfth-Century Church at
T intern Abbey"’, Monmouthshire Antiquary, 12 (1996), p. 38. Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison. Rievaulx Abbey:
35-39. For the early cloister buildings, see David R obin­ Community, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999), p.
son, Tintern Abbey (Cardiff, 1995), p.27—29. 45-54.

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context 43

 Fig. 7. Fountains Abbey, reconstruction o f the first stone church
and cloister ranges. The broken lines indicate extensions post­
dating the 1146 fire, (author)

wall re-used

H post fire extension dressed stone, plastered and painted inside and
out. Excavation has shown that both east and
Fig. 6. Fountains Abbey, the first church and added cloister
west ranges were completed before they were
ranges, (author)
damaged by fire in 1146,40 and building must
have been rapid. The ranges were 8.23 m wide,
a measurement that occurs also at Rievaulx,
in 1146. ^ The most likely, indeed the only like­ Waverley, and Tintern at the same date, and
ly, builder o f the cloister ranges was Abbot remarkably later at Sawley, Rufford, and Roche
Henry Murdac, appointed in 1144 on the death in the second half o f the twelfth century, and
of the unworldly and retiring second abbot, 6.1 m high to the wall-top. Excavation has
Richard, who was frankly unlikely to have built revealed a stone cloister alley 3 m wide, and
anything. An aisled nave was also added to the geophysical survey suggests a square lavabo in
church at this period (Fig. 6). Large parts of the the south-west angle o f the cloister garth.41
cloister ranges survive to full height, were incor­ The burning o f Fountains in 1146 was fol­
porated in later rebuildings, and provide a lowed by immediate repair and expansion
remarkably clear impression of the domestic rather than rebuilding. Both the west and east
ranges which are at most only five years later ranges were lengthened to expand dormitory
than Achard’s building o f the perm anent space. The reason for this was that Fountains
monastery at Clairvaux. If Murdac was the was still in its mission-centre stage and was
builder, they must represent the latest in con­ sending out colonies: in 1146 to Lysa in
tinental design, for he was a close confidant of Norway, in March 1147 to Barnoldswick in
St Bernard and the builder o f Vauclair. The plan Craven, and later in that year to Bytham in
is the standard Benedictine plan, simplified dra­ Lincolnshire. The final colony was established
matically but with a long west range provided at Meaux in 1150, and only then was the com­
for the lay brothers. The ranges are unvaulted, munity allowed to grow. The result was that
the chapter house is within the east range and both the church and cloister ranges were too
built against the church, and the refectory is small and rebuilding began. From surviving ear­
aligned on the south alley o f the cloister. ly masonry, it is possible to reconstruct the
Architectural detailing is restricted to plain appearance o f the first stone monastery at the
chamfers, and the buildings are all o f roughly height o f its development (Fig. 7).

39. Gilyard-Beer and Coppack, “Excavations at Foun- 4 1 .1 am indebted to D r Keith Emerick and D rjo h n Syz-
tains Abbey”, p. 156. mansky for bringing this to my attention.
40. Coppack, Fountains Abbey A lie Cistercians in Northern
England, p. 33—37, 39, and 40-41.

44 GLYN COPPACK
Here, we have the first perm anent buildings particular shows the trust that can be placed in
raised in England by the Cistercians and the contemporary sources despite their economy
timber buildings that preceded them. Neither o f information, and the potential for future
accords with the traditional interpretation of research on even well-researched sites. If Peter
early Cistercian architecture, and both have pro­ Fergusson had done nothing else, his encour­
found implications for the study o f the Order’s agement for my continued research has pro­
earliest years. N one o f this would have been vided yet another avenue for the study o f the
obvious but for the recovery o f early buildings early Cistercians.
by excavation at Fountains and Sawley on sites
where it had long been assumed that the earli­ English Heritage
est buildings had been identified. Fountains in Northampton, UK

The Earliest Cistercian Buildings in England and their Context

 Rievaulx Abbey: The Early Years

JA N E T B U R T O N

s the premier Cistercian abbey in the Abbots of Rievaulx and Fountains joined forces

A north o f England, the history of

Rievaulx has always held a particular fas­
cination.1Historians have rightly contrasted the
with members of the cathedral church of York
and o f the religious orders o f the diocese to
challenge the elected Archbishop o f York,
seemingly quiet, almost anonymous, arrival of William fitzHerbert, in 1141, a mere ten years
the White Monks from L’Aumône (dépt. Loir- after the Cistercian settlement in Yorkshire.
et-Cher) to found the first two British Cister­ None o f this is to be denied. However, it is pos­
cian houses at Waverley in 1128 and Tintern sible that our interpretation of the early years
three years later, with the rather more high pro­ o f Rievaulx has been too much coloured by
file appearance of the monks from St Bernard’s that inspiring work, used to such great effect
own monastery o f Clairvaux at the court o f by David Knowles — that is, Walter Daniel’s
Henry I in the Autumn o f 1131.2 From there Life o f Ailred — and that Rievaulx’s rise to
the monks were to journey north to found the prominence was, in some ways, less rapid.3 This
first northern Cistercian house, on a site pro­ essay looks at the development o f the abbey in
vided by Walter Espec, with the approval and its first crucial fifteen years, between the foun­
consent of Henry I himself and o f Archbishop dation in 1132 and the election o f Ailred as
Thurstan of York. They have also pointed to third abbot in 1147. It draws on the evidence
the rapid rise of Rievaulx s fame, suggested both o f Walter Daniel’s Life, but also on other
by the entry o f a man o f the status of Ailred sources, notably the twelfth-century cartulary
only two years after the foundation of the abbey, o f the house, London, British Library, Cotton
as well as by the confidence with which the MS, Julius D I,4 both the cartulary copies of

1. It is a privilege to contribute to Peter Fergusson’s dement in Yorkshire generally, see Janet Burton, 'flic Monas­
Festschrift, and to be able to offer him these thoughts on tic Order in Yorkshire 1069-1215, Cam bridge Studies in
the early history o f Rievaulx Abbey. In the early 1990s Peter Medieval Life and T hought, 4th series, 40 (Cambridge,
kindly invited me to work with him and Stuart Harrison 1999). p. 98-124.
on the research for their Rievaulx Abbey: Community, Archi­
3. The Life o f Ailred o f Rievaulx by Walter Daniel, ed. and
tecture. Memory (New Haven, 1999), and I was grateful for
trans. F. Maurice Powicke (London, 1950; repr. 1963; repr.
the opportunity to work with him. T he full results o f my
O xford, 1978); for com m ent, see David Knowles, The
research were published as “The Estates and Economy of
Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from
Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire”, Citeaux, 49 (1998), p.29—94.
theTimes of St Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 943-1216
A version o f the present essay was delivered at the Interna­
(Cambridge, 1963-). p.239-45, 257-66.
tional Medieval Congress at Leeds in 1998, in the 900th
anniversary year o f the foundation o f Citeaux. Since then 4. Printed as Cartularium Abbatiiiae de Rievalle, ed.J. C. Atkin­
I have benefited from discussions with a number o f people, son, Surtees Society, 83 (Durham and London, 1889), after­
including Emilia Jamroziak, w ho is currently preparing a wards cited as Cart. Riev. As with many nineteenth-century
monograph on Rievaulx Abbey for Brepols. editions this contains errors and omissions, and the editor has
interfered with the order o f some o f the contents.
2. For the foundation o f Rievaulx and the Cistercian set-

Rievaulx Abbey: The Early Years

 the early charters of Rievaulx, and what I shall o f Kirkham, founded some ten years earlier,
call the “ M emorial o f Benefactions” , a list whose endowment had included the church
headed Isti sunt possessiones Rieuallenses perennes and tithes o f Helmsley, remitted to the monks
quae sic collatae sunt nobis. Although printed by the tithes due on these two portions o f land.8
the nineteenth-century editor o f the cartulary The second stage in Espec’s endowment of
after the charters, it does in fact precede them, Rievaulx was the grant of Bilsdale, which the
beginning on fol. 19r [15r] o f the cartulary.5 The “Memorial” dates to 1145. Detailed boundaries
essay considers the evidence for the acquisition are given in the foundation charter, which iden­
o f the estates of Rievaulx in these fifteen years tify Bilsdale as an extensive area to the north of
and the identity o f its benefactors, what we the abbey.9
know o f Rievaulx’s first two abbots, and the Compared with his more lavish grants to
wider connections built up by the abbey, in an Kirkham,10 Espec’s endowment of Rievaulx was
attempt to identify some o f the characteristics modest indeed, most of those acres comprising
o f the formative settlement period o f this moorland, but — whatever the debate about the
famous monastery. chronology of Cistercian thinking on the econ­
omy and prohibited revenues — the endowment
was certainly what would come to be regarded
The Estates and their Donors as classically Cistercian.11 To Espec’s grants there
was a slow and modest supplement in the form
The chronology of the foundation grants poses of donations, of waste land, meadow, and shares
a particular problem because the surviving copy in common pasture, from a circle of benefactors
o f Walter Espec’s charter is undoubtedly a com­ mostly limited to Espec’s — and now Rievaulx’s
posite one, dating not from the foundation but — close neighbours. Before 1145 Odo of Bolt-
later, certainly after 1145, and possibly as late by granted Hesketh along with part of his waste
as the mid-1150s when Espec is said to have land adjoining Boltby, and charter evidence
retired to Rievaulx.6 However, it seems rea­ reveals that he added common pasture of three
sonably certain that Espec’s grants were made vills, Boltby, Ravensthorpe, and Thirlby.12
in two stages. In 1131, according to the Between 1145 and 1147 Stephen de Meinill of
“Memorial”, he conveyed to “Bernard, abbot Whorlton granted moorland in Stainton adjoin­
o f Clairvaux [...] for the building o f an abbey ing the moorland in Bilsdale that had been trans­
there” nine carucates o f land, four in Griff and ferred to the monks by Espec in 1145 — indeed
five in “Tilleston” , now represented by Stiltons the two grants may have been made at the same
Farm, both of these in the parish of Helmsley.7 time.13*Also at a date between 1145 and 1147
The canons of Espec’s Augustinian foundation the monks received land in R ook Barugh and

5. London, British Library [hereafter BL], Cotton MS, dation to Dissolution, B orthw ick Paper, 86 (York. 1995),
Julius D I, fols 19r—20r (15r—161); Carl. Rica. p. 260—62. p. 3 -6.
6. BL. Cotton MS. Julius D I, fols 28r-2 9 r (24r-2 5 r); Cart. 11. For debates about the evolution o f Cistercian econom­
Rieu, p. 16—21, no. 42. ic practice, see, for instance, Constance Hoffinan Berman.
“Cistercian Development and the O rder’s Acquisition o f
7. BL, Cotton MS. Julius D I, fol. 19r: Cart. Riev., p. 260. Churches and Tithes in Southwestern France”, Revue bénédic­
G riff became the hom e grange o f the abbey. For an aerial
tine. 91 (1981), p. 193-203, and “The Development o f Cis­
photograph, see Historical Atlas of North Yorkshire, ed. R obin
tercian Economic Practice during the Lifetime of Bernard of
A. Butler (Otley, 2003), p. 94.
Clairvaux: T he Historical Perspective on Innocent IPs 1132
8. BL, Cotton MS, Julius D I. fols 160'—161v (143v—144'); Privilege”, in Bernardas Magister, ed.John R . Sommerfeldt.
Cart. Riev., p. 171-72, nos 234-35. special issue of Citeaux, 42 (1991), and Cistercian Studies Series.
135 (Spencer, MA, 1992), p. 303—13; Constance Brittain
9. For a map showing Espec’s two grants to Rievaulx, see Bouchard, Holy Entrepreneurs: Cistercians, Knights and Economic
A History of Helmsley, Rievaulx ami District, ed. ]. McDonnell Exchange in Twelfth-Century Burgundy (Ithaca, NY, 1991).
(York. 1963), p. 111.
12. BL, Cotton MS, Julius D I, fols 49v—50v (45v—46v);
10. Espec’s charter for K irkham is printed from BL. Cart. Riev., p. 45-46, no. 76. T he “M emorial” dates the grant
Cotton MS. Julius D I, fols 151v—152v (144v-1 4 5 v) in Carr. o f Hesketh aliquot annos after the foundation, but in the life­
RieK, p. 159—61, and from O xford. Bodleian Library, MS time o f Abbot William (1132-45): ibid., p. 260.
Dodsw orth 9, fol. 157r, in Cart. Riev., p.24 3 -4 5 , no. 347.
For com m ent, see Janet Burton. Kirkltani Priory from Fouii- 13. BL, Cotton MS, Julius D I. fol. 48r (44r); Cart. Riev.,
p. 42, no. 72.

48 JA N E T B U R T O N
Great Edstone from Gervase del Sneit and Bene­ erners who had entered the monastic life in the
dict his son, who, like Stephen de Meinill, had cradle of Cistercian monasticism, Burgundy. For­
witnessed Espec’s foundation charter,14 and land mer secretary to Bernard he was probably an obvi­
in Waterholmes from Odo of Ness.15 Gervase ous choice to lead the men from Bernard’s army
and Benedict also granted land and pasture in who were to seize the booty of the lord, and, in
Wombleton, and by c. 1152, when Roger de the saints words “claim it, recover it, and restore
Mowbray confirmed the grant, the monks had it with a strong hand”;20 indeed, he is likely to
houses there which they had enclosed with a have taken a prominent part in the negotiations
ditch.16 Only two early benefactors were of baro­ — with Henry I, Archbishop Thurstan, and Wal­
nial rank; these were Gundreda de Gournay, ter Espec — which must have preceded the jour­
donor o f demesne land in Welburn and ney of the colony to England.21 William played
Skiplam,17 and her son, Roger de Mowbray, who a leading role in the disputed election at York
confirmed the grants of his men and became a from 1141 onwards, was present in person at the
benefactor himself.18 Most were men of more Roman curia in 1143 to appeal against fitzHer-
modest means whose interest in the abbey was bert, and was warned by Bernard not to allow his
probably stimulated by its proximity. The com­ zeal to overstep the mark.22 William ruled
bined evidence o f charters and the “Memorial” Rievaulx until his death in 1145 and was suc­
suggests that the territorial expansion of the ceeded by Maurice. Maurice was one of the
abbey estates in its first fifteen years was very lim­ Benedictine converts to the Cistercian way of life.
ited, its benefactors were mostly local people, Educated at Durham from his childhood, he had
and one effect of this was that geographically the been subprior of the cathedral priory and, accord­
early estates of Rievaulx lay within a radius of ing to Walter Daniel, was a man renowned for
about twelve miles (twenty kilometres) of the his learning.25 Maurice is an enigmatic figure. He
abbey.19 was Abbot of Rievaulx for barely two years, and
it was his resignation, not later than November
1147, that led to the election of Ailred and his
Rievaulx’s Abbots move from his post as Abbot of Revesby. One
could put Maurice’s brief tenure as abbot down
During this fifteen-year period two abbots ruled to a lack of aptitude for high office, what monas­
Rievaulx. The first, the man who led the colony tic writers would have called the Mary rather than
from Clairvaux, was William, a Yorkshireman by the Martha — certainly John of Hexham hints
birth and one of a number of prominent north- that he resigned his office fervore perfectionis.24

14. The grants o f Benedict and Gervase are noted in the 19. For a discussion o f the development o f the Rievaulx
“M emorial o f Benefaction” (Cart. Rieu. p. 260); for their estates, see B urton, “ Estates and Econom y o f Rievaulx
attestation o f Especs charter, see ibid., p. 21. Abbey” .
15. Ibid., p. 260. 20. The Letters of St Bernard of Clairvaux, ed. and trans. Bruno
Scott Janies (London, 1953, repr. Stroud, 1998), no. 95.
16. BL, Cotton MS. Julius D I. fol. 43r (39*); Cart. Rieu,
p. 36, no. 63; EarlyYorkshire Charters, vols i-ui, ed. W. Farrer 21. For discussion, see Burton, Monastic Order ¡¡¡Yorkshire,
(Edinburgh, 1914-16), vols IV—XII. ed. C.T. Clay. Yorkshire p. 98-102.
Archaeological Society Record Series, extra series, nos 1—3.
5-10 (Wakefield, 1935-65) [hereafter EYC], IX, no. 146; 22. Letters of St Bernard, ed. and trans. James, no. 199 (to
(calendar) Charters of the Honour of Mowbray 1107-119 L ed . William) and no. 201 (a letter addressed jointly to William
D. E. Greenway, British Academy Records o f Social and and Abbot Richard o f Fountains). To William Bernard
Economic History, n.s., 1 (London. 1972) [hereafter Mow­ w rote, “your zeal is well know n to m e and it would ill
bray Charters], no. 234. become our Order and not help your house were it to flare
up beyond the bounds o f prudence and discretion”.
17. BL, Cotton MS, Julius D I, fol. 38™ (34r“v); Cart.
Rico., p.30—31, nos 55—56;E YC , lx, nos 149—50; (calendar) 23. Life o f Ailred of Rievaulx by Walter Daniel, ed. Powicke,
Mowbray Charters, nos 232, 235. p. 33: "a man o f great sanctity and o f outstanding judge­
ment, befitting one who from boyhood had drunk the wine
18. BL. Cotton MS, Julius D I, fols 38v-4 0 r (34'-36 r), o f spiritual gladness in the cloister o f Durham, and. refreshed
41r-4 2 r (37r-3 8 r). 43r (39r), 47v-4 8 r (43v-4 4 r); Cart. Rieu, by the bread o f Cuthbert, that man o f God, had climbed
p. 3 1,34-36, 40, nos 57, 60, 63.71,229; E YC , ill, no. 1843; so high as to be called by his companions a second Bede” .
IX. nos 146, 151, 153; (calendar) Mowbray Charters, nos
233-34, 236-37. 24. John o f Hexham, Historia Regunt, in Symeonis monachi
opera omnia. ed.T. Arnold. 2 vols. Rolls Series, 75 (London,
1882-85), li, p. 317.

Rievaulx Abbey: The Early Years 49

 However, in 1147 or early 1148 he was appoint­ just discussed, as well as those that belong to
ed by Henry Murdac as suffragan Abbot of Foun­ the second phase o f Rievaulx’s history, the
tains, in the wake of Murdac’s own election as twenty-year long abbacy o f Ailred (1147-67),
Archbishop of York, which had taken place in suggest that it is from 1147 onwards that the
July 1147. The Narratio de Fundatione of Foun­ firm economic basis o f the abbey became estab­
tains records: lished. According to the “Memorial o f Bene­
factions” in 1147 Ailred, as Abbot o f Rievaulx,
Meanwhile, coming to Fountains, he made a received from Gilbert de Gant the grange of
monk of Rievaulx named Maurice abbot. This Hunmanby; apart from R oger de Mowbray,
Maurice did not remain a full three months at whose interest in Rievaulx may be explained
Fountains but resigned his office into the hands by the proximity o f his own estates to the abbey
of the archbishop and returned home whence and by the benefactions of his tenants, Gant was
he had come.23 the first baronial benefactor whom Rievaulx
acquired. This is an indication that after 1147
One could ask whether M aurice’s resignation the monastery was gaining a wider profile in
at Rievaulx was connected to his appointment baronial circles. Most significant was the inter­
to Fountains; that is, did Maurice resign in order est shown by the Bishops of Durham. In 1152
to take up Murdac’s offer of a post at Fountains? Bishop William o f St Barbe made the grant of
Possibly — though the dating is simply not pre­ the important grange of Crosby, and William’s
cise enough to say. W hat is clear is that Mau­ successor, Hugh du Puiset, granted the grange
rice was no more a success at Fountains than o f Cow ton shortly after his appointment in
he was at Rievaulx and returned to his home 1153.28 It was also after 1153 that Rievaulx
abbey after the brief tenure noted by the Nar­ began to attract more in the way of royal patron­
ratio de Fundatione. His successor at Fountains age. The monks had received routine charters
was another m onk o f Rievaulx, Thorald, o f confirmation from Henry I, no doubt sought
described as a man well versed in the liberal arts by his justiciar, Walter Espec, who also took
and only slightly less so in Holy Scriptures.2526 advantage of King Stephen’s presence in York
Like Maurice, Thorald resigned the abbacy of in February-March 1136 to secure the confir­
Fountains, although he managed rather longer, mation o f the new monarch both for his foun­
being in post for two years. There is a clear indi­ dation charter of Rievaulx and for his second
cation that his departure was connected with a Cistercian foundation and Rievaulx’s first
disagreement with Henry Murdac, and this may daughter house at Warden (Bedfordshire).29*
too have been the reason for Maurice’s depar­ Quite how far the involvement o f the north­
ture.27 ern White Monks in the disputed election at
York might have alienated King Stephen is not
W hat do these two brief discussions tell us clear. Christopher Holdsworth has suggested
about the first fifteen years o f Rievaulx? The that Cistercian opposition to the Archbishop
first suggestion I would make is that the abbey who enjoyed Stephen’s support, and who had
had not yet, by 1147, secured a large territor­ received the temporalities of the see from the
ial basis, so that its “success” — if success be King, led Stephen to withhold royal favour, and
equated with wealth — was not immediate. The that it was for this reason that Rievaulx received
grants it had accumulated were useful to be sure, no charter from Stephen after 1136 (well before
but hardly remarkable. Analysis o f the charters the disputed election) and that the monks of

25. Memorials of the Abbey o f Si Mary of Fountains, ed.J. R . 28. BL, Cotton MS, Julius D I. fol. 19r (151): Postea [1152]
Walbran el al., 3 vols, Surtees Society, 42, 67,130 (Durham, dedil nobis Hugo Episcopus Duneltn ' Colmi cum perlinenliis suis;
1863-1918), I, p. 104 (my translation). ibid., fols 35v—37v (31v—33v); Cart. Rkv., p. 27—29, nos 49-53.
26. Ibid., I, p. 105. 29. H enry I confirmed the foundation o f Rievaulx and
further granted immunity from the payment o f danegeld
27. Ibid. “H e presumed to do certain things against the on the initial endowments: BL, Cotton MS, Julius D 1, fols
advice and authority o f the venerable archbishop, and so a
133r—134v ( 126r—127v) (Can. Pieu, p. 140-42, nos 194,196);
dispute arose between them and, resigning his office on the
Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 10 6 6 - i !54, voi. li,
order o f St Bernard, he returned home to Rievaulx.” The
Regesta Henrici Primi 11 0 0 -1135, ed. C.Johnson and H. A.
intervention o f Bernard is worthy o f note.
Cronne (Oxford, 1956), nos 1740—41.

50 JANET BURTON
Fountains did not receive their charter until Walter’s portrait is one o f a man astute enough
after the King and Henry Murdac were recon­ to turn the tenurial insecurity of Stephen’s reign
ciled in 1151.30 Like Holdsworth, I would be to the advantage of his monks, and also astute
cautious in drawing conclusions from this evi­ enough, perhaps, to hail the new king, Henry
dence, more so because Stephen issued at least II, as the cornerstone o f the English and N or­
four charters for Rievaulx, only one of which man races.33 If not to territorial wealth based
has survived.31 Moreover, that the king was not on benefactions to Rievaulx itself, were there
overly hostile is suggested by his confirmation wider networks into which Rievaulx tapped
o f the foundation o f a daughter house o f that might suggest the importance o f other fac­
Rievaulx at Rufford by Gilbert de Gant (Christ­ tors in its rise?
mas 1146).32 However, Rievaulx attracted no A significant feature that seems to emerge in
English royal patronage until 1158 when Henry these early years is the close connection between
II granted the important property o f Picker­ Rievaulx and Fountains. It was perhaps to be
ing, a grange created almost entirely from expected that the Abbot o f Rievaulx would
waste.03 keep an eye on the struggling community just
The conclusion must be, then, that the appar­ over twenty miles away, founded under such
ent success, or high profile, o f Rievaulx by the unusual and inauspicious circumstances, the
early 1140s was not due to an increase in the result o f a crisis which the Rievaulx monks
territorial basis o f the abbey, nor to prominent themselves had sparked as they passed through
benefactors. The latter are associated with the York.36 And it is likely that the abbots o f the
abbacy of Ailred who, if Walter Daniel’s de­ two sister houses would have travelled togeth­
scription o f his Revesby years is accurate, was er to the General Chapter. However, the con­
proactive in seeking new endowments: certed opposition that William o f Rievaulx and
Richard of Fountains brought against William
The bishop orders him [...] to accept grants of fitzHerbert — St Bernard was able to write to
land from knights in generous free alms, and them jointly about the affair3' — and Henry
he obeys, since he had realized that in this Murdac’s appointment of two suffragan abbots
unsettled time such gifts profited knights and from Rievaulx is suggestive o f sustained con­
monks alike, for in those days it was hard for tact beyond the foundation years.
any to lead the good life, unless they were One could rightly as well point to the sig­
monks or members of some religious order, so nificance o f the Durham connection. Much is
disturbed and chaotic was the land, reduced made o f the entry o f Ailred into Rievaulx, but
almost to a desert by the malice, slaughters and what is equally telling is the conversion of Mau­
harryings of evil men.34 rice, subprior o f the cathedral monastery, sub-

30. For remarks concerning Stephen’s grant o f charters 33. For Henry IPs confirmation charters, see BL, C ot­
o f confirmation to the W hite M onks, see Christopher ton MS. Julius D I, fols 134r—147r (127r—140r) (Cart. Rien,
Holdsworth, “T he Church”, in Tlw Anarchy of King Stephen’s p. 142—54, nos 197-213). The grant o f Pickering is at no.
Reiçn, ed. Edmund King (Oxford. 1994). p. 207-29 (p. 210 .
226-27).
34. Life o f Ailred of Rievaulx by Walter Daniel, ed. Powicke,
31. The chronology o f Stephen s charters to Rievaulx is p. 28.
impossible to establish. According to Dodsworth s transcript
o f a further cartulary o f Rievaulx. which in 1640 was at 35. O n Ailred's life and career, see Aelred Squire, Aelred
ofRicvauIxtA Study (London. 1969;repr. Kalamazoo, 1981);
Belvoir Castle but which is now lost, there were four char­
D. Roby, “Chimaera o f the N orth:T he Active Life o f Aelred
ters o f King Stephen, one confirming liberties, the second
confirming freedom from toll, and the third and fourth con­ o f Rievaulx", in Cistercian Ideals and Reality, ed.J. R . Som-
firming grants o f Walter Espec (Can. Rieu. p.268). The third merfeldt, Cistercian Studies, 60 (Kalamazoo, 1978), p.
or fourth o f these survives as an original, although dam­ 152-69; and Marsha L. Dutton, “The Conversion and Voca­
aged. and is printed in Regesta Regnin Anglo-Norinannorwn tion o f Aelred o f Rievaulx: A Historical Hypothesis”, in
1066-1154. vol. Ill, Regesta Regis Stephani et Mathildis Imper­ England in the Twelfth Century: Proceedings of the 1988 Har-
atricis, ed. H. A. Cromie and R. H. C. Davies (Oxford, 1968), laxton Symposium, ed.Daniel Williams (Woodbridge, 1990),
p. 31-49.
no. 716. It was probably on the same occasion that Stephen
issued a confirmation charter for Fountains Abbey (ibid., 36. The story o f the foundation o f Fountains has been
no. 335) and for Warden (ibid., no. 919). told many times; see. for instance. Burton, Monastic Order in
32. Ibid., ill, no. 736. Yorkshire, p. 103-07.
37. See above, note 22.

Rievaulx Abbey: The Early Years

 sequently Abbot of both Rievaulx and Foun­ us. 1 do not think that your Highness can be
tains. When we add to this the patronage o f the ignorant of how these brothers, inspired from
Bishops o f Durham — which, although the on high, came forth into a desert place from
formal grants date from after 1152, seem to have the church of the blessed Mary at York where
gone back to before that date — we can sug­ the observance was perfunctory. [. . .] To you,
gest that the Durham connection may have therefore, most merciful king, I commend these
been a significant factor in Rievaulx s rise. aforesaid servants of Christ that you may com­
And so further north than Durham, to Scot­ fort them in their poverty, looking to Christ
land, and to the court o f its king, David I. The the King of Kings for the meed which he will
most famous point o f contact between David distribute to the just in his eternal kingdom.38
and Rievaulx is Ailred himself, steward of the
Scottish king, who became a monk at Rievaulx Here we see Bernard seeking support, or funds
in 1134. Walter Daniel paints a vivid descrip­ perhaps, from King David for the monks of
tion of how Ailred rode out with Walter Espec Fountains after the secession from St Mary’s,
from Helmsley castle to view the progress of York. The letter cannot be dated accurately;
the abbey and was overcome by the sight o f the however, the reference to the brothers “who
industrious holy men among their half con­ have lately joined us” suggests a date shortly
structed buildings, and of how the following after the formal acceptance o f Fountains as a
day he turned aside on his journey homewards daughter house of Clairvaux, which took place
in order to enter the community. This is an in late 1133 or early 1134. It seems that David’s
attractive and compelling picture, but one patronage o f Rievaulx — which, whatever
which masks the preparations which must sure­ form it took, was substantial enough for
ly have been made in advance o f Ailred’s visit. Bernard to have high hopes of him for Foun­
Historians such as Marsha Dutton have rightly tains — actually predated the decision of Ailred
questioned Walter Daniel’s representation of to become a monk at Rievaulx. The very least
Ailred’s sudden conversion to Cistercian monas- that it suggests is that David’s early relations with
ticism and have drawn attention to the network Rievaulx were not confined to his passive con­
o f patronage that brought him to the new foun­ sent for Ailred’s entry, but took a more practi­
dation in the valley o f the river Rye. Ailred cal form. That David was so attuned to the
apart, however, is there any other indication of ecclesiastical affairs of the north o f England is
David’s interest in, or connections with, not surprising. N ot only was Ailred on a diplo­
Rievaulx? A trawl through the cartulary does matic mission to Archbishop Thurstan just prior
not reveal his name at the beginning o f any to his entry into Rievaulx, but David’s own
charter. However, there are other suggestions stepson, Waldef, had entered the religious life
o f very real influence. David was the recipient as an Augustinian canon o f Nostell in the 1120s
o f a letter from Bernard o f Clairvaux, and I and had then moved to Kirkham, Espec’s own
think it is worth quoting a part of it: foundation, where he was prior by the time o f
the disputed York election. It would seem that
I have long since learned to love you, most illus­ from shortly after the establishment of Espec’s
trious king, your fair renown has for long stirred second monastery at Rievaulx King David I had
in me the desire to meet you in person [...]. begun to create and strengthen ecclesiastical ties
Our brothers at Rievaulx were the first to expe­ with the north o f England, perhaps indeed
rience the effects of your mercy. You opened anticipating the power struggle which was to
to them the treasury of your good will, and break out on the death o f King Henry I. His
anointed them with the oil of your compas­ patronage of Rievaulx is to be seen in the con­
sion and kindness, so that the house of the king text o f his benefactions to the northern Bene­
of Heaven was filled with the odour of your dictines o f Tynemouth, Lindisfarne, St Bees,
ointments. I am not ungrateful for this. I am as and Wetheral, and other northern houses.
grateful as if you had shown your favours to Indeed it was the year after Henry Is death and
me personally. And now there are others in the the succession o f Stephen that David invaded
same neighbourhood who have lately joined the north and strengthened links still further

38. Letters of St Bernard, ed. and trans. Janies, no. 172.

52 JANET BU RTO N
by the foundation o f a daughter house o f ed at Durham, and by Maurice and manifest in
Rievaulx, at Melrose, to be followed by a sec­ the patronage of the Bishops o f Durham and
ond, Dundrennan, at precisely the time (1142) in manuscript production, a field explored and
when the profile o f the northern Cistercians in illuminated so sensitively by Anne Lawrence.39
the disputed election was gaining momentum. And finally there was the connection created
The Cistercians arrived at Rievaulx in what by the territorial ambitions of the Scottish king,
might be described as the last years o f calm which determined to a large extent the shape
before the storm, and that storm — the fail­ o f the filiation o f the family o f Rievaulx. In
ure o f royal authority in the north, the rise of other words, the first fifteen years o f Rievaulx
a baronial faction, and the territorial and polit­ present rather a paradox. O n one level we are
ical ambitions o f the Scottish king — had a looking at a very local establishment, one reliant
profound effect on Cistercian development. on local men and women for material support
The impact o f the settlement at Rievaulx has and with limited estates. Despite the high pro­
to be considered on different levels. In terms file o f its founder (Walter Espec was a promi­
o f the appeal o f its spirituality it was decisive nent royal justiciar in the north under Henry I)
— witness the turmoil it brought to St Mary’s, there was little intermediate patronage by the
the conversion from the traditional orders o f baronage until after 1147, although mention
M aurice of Durham and later W aldef o f should be made of the significant foundation,
Kirkham, as well as the buoyant recruitment by William de Roumare, earl o f Lincoln, o f
which allowed the regular foundation o f Rievaulx’s daughter house at Revesby. The
daughter houses, Warden as well as Melrose in foundation dates from 1143, which means that
1136, Revesby the year after Dundrennan, in the negotiations and planning that accompa­
1143, and Rufford in 1146. Initially the impact nied Cistercian foundations coincided with
o f the coming o f the Cistercians to Rievaulx Roumare’s defection to the Angevin camp in
on potential benefactors from the baronial class 1141. Despite this instance of baronial patron­
was muted, and those who provided material age, manifest in the foundation o f a daughter
support for the community were, by and large, house, I would argue that in its early years
drawn from very local men. This clearly affect­ Rievaulx leapfrogged from intensely local
ed the territorial distribution o f estates and patronage to high level connections with
the economic basis o f the abbey. However by Durham and Scodand, and that these were deci­
1147 there had emerged two connections that sive factors in its development.
were to prove critical in the development o f
Rievaulx. One was with Durham, perhaps cre­ University o f Wales
ated initially by Ailred, who had been educat­ Lampeter

39. Arme Lawrence. “T he Artistic Influence o f Durham David Rollason, Margaret Harvey, and Michael Prestwich
Manuscripts”, in Anglo-Norman Durham 1093-1193, ed. (Woodbridge, 1994), p .451-69 (esp. p. 459-62).

Rievaulx Abbey: The Early Years

 Aelred of Rievaulx and the Institutional Limits
of Monastic Friendship
JEN S R Ü F F E R

ne of the most famous monks among According to his biographer, Walter Daniel, who

O the Cistercians of medieval England was

Aelred, the third abbot of Rievaulx.1
Aelred, the son of a married priest, was born at
became a monk there around 1150, Aelred was
so touched by the austere life of the White Monks
that he finally decided to leave the world, taking
Hexham (Northumbria) in 1110. He was first the Cistercian habit.3 A man of character, with
educated at Hexham and then at Durham, where his social background and talents, was predestined
his great-grandfather, Alured Westou, served the for a monastic career. Within a few years Aelred
church as priest, sacristan, and treasurer of St became novice-master, in 1143 he was elected
Cuthbert’s shrine. After 1124 young Aelred was Abbot of Revesby,4 and four years later he
accepted into the household of the Scottish King returned to Inis motherhouse where the monks
David I (d. 1153) where he received the position elected him as their third abbot.3 After twenty-
of a steward (echononnts)r In 1134 Aelred was sent four successful years as a spiritual father of the
by the king to Thurstan (d. 1140), archbishop of community, Aelred died in January 1167 and was
York. During this time he stayed at Helmsley cas­ buried in the chapter-house.6 Under his abbacy
tle enjoying the hospitality of Walter Espec (d.m. Rievaulx reached its apex in attracting vocations
1154), the founder of RievauLx Abbey and itin­ (Walter Daniel mentions some 500 lay brothers
erant royal justiciar in the north. Helmsley castle and 140 choir-monks7) as well as in economic
is only a few miles from Rievaulx, which Aelred affairs,8 so that a huge building program could be
visited during his sojourn at Espec’s residence. initiated.9

!. General bibliographical information on Aelred is given decision made within a few days, as Walter Daniel wished
in Bibliotheca Adrediana: A Survey of the Manuscripts, Old Cata­ to demonstrate, but a rather carefully prepared step (“The
logues, Editions and Studies Concerning St Aelred of Rievaulx. ed. Conversion and Vocation o f Aelred o f Rievaulx: A Histor­
A. Hoste (Steenbrugis, 1962): Bibliotheca Aclrediana Secunda: ical Hypothesis”, in England in the Twelfth-Century: Proceed­
Une bibliographie cumulative (1962—1996), ed. Pierre-André Bur­ ings of the 1988 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. Daniel Williams
ton (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1997). For Aelred’s life, see The Life [Woodbridge. 1990], p. 31-49).
ofAilred of Rievaulx by Walter Daniel, ed. and trans. F Maurice
4. Vita Ailredi, p. 23. 27.
Powicke (Oxford. 1978;trans.repr.Kalamazoo, 1994). hence­
forth quoted as Vita Ailredi: Brian Patrick McGuire, Brother 5. Ibid., p. 33.
and LovertAelred of Rievaulx (New York, 1994); Douglass Roby.
“Chimaera o f the N orth: T he Active Life o f Aelred o f 6. Ibid., p. 62. 64.
Rievaulx", in Cistercian Ideals and Reality, ed. John R. Som- 7. Ibid., p. 38-39. Although these figures are doubtful,
merfeldt (Kalamazoo. 1978). p. 152-69; Aelred Squire. Aelred they may rightly demonstrate a period o f growth.
of Rievaulx: A Study (London. 1969; repr. Kalamazoo, 1981);
Alberic Stacpoole, "The Public Face o f Aelred 1167—1967”, 8. Janet Burton, “T he Estates and Economy o f Rievaulx
Downside Review, 85 (1967), p. 183-99 and 219-33. Abbey in Yorkshire”, Citeaux, 49 (1998). p.29-94 (p.33-37):
Emilia Jamroziak, “Rievaulx Abbey and its Patrons: Between
2. Vita Ailredi, p. 3. Cooperation and Conflict”, Citeaux, 53 (2002), p. 51-71.
3. Ibid., p. 10—16. Marsha L. Dutton has convincingly sug­ 9. Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison. Rievaulx Abbey:
gested that the conversion o f Aelred was not based on a Community,Architecture, Memory (New Haven. 1999). p. 59-68.

Aelred of Rievaulx and the Institutional Limits o f Monastic Friendship 55

 Rievaulx’s fame as a powerful religious house tia spiritalis accompanied the Abbot in various
in the twelfth century was not only based on ways throughout his lifetime. In this short essay
its strong economy or on its impressive monas­ I wish to concentrate on a particular aspect of
tic buildings but also on Aelred’s spiritual gifts the monastic experience: friendship within its
and his writings. The most influential treatises institutional limits — that is to say, limits which
were his De speculum caritatis10 and his De spiri­ are found in the context o f community. The
tali amicitia.11 The latter was probably complet­ emphasis is laid on the human and practical
ed shortly before his death in 1167, although it aspects rather than on the spiritual or doctri­
was begun many years before.12 Aelred used the nal. 17 It will be demonstrated that Aelred’s bold
literary form of a dialogue between himself and vision of human bonds could, for an ordinary
three monks. Ivo is mentioned in the first book; monk, turn rapidly into a via dolorosa, while at
in the second and third the names o f Walter the same time putting the abbot in a very pecu­
and Gratian are given. As indicated by Aelred liar situation, since — according to the precepts
himself, this suggests a break between the first o f St Benedict — he was supposed to treat all
and second books.13 Book one explains what members o f the convent with equal love.18
friendship is and what is its source (fons) and
origin (origo), the second wishes to demonstrate Equality vs. Hierarchical Community
its fruits (fructus) and its excellence (excellentia),
while the last book is concerned with the ques­ Equality, mutual trust, and openness are the
tion of how people should behave so that their important features Aelred ascribed to friends.19
friendships will remain intact until the end of These features had only a tiny chance in a big
their lives.14 Starting with Cicero’s definition monastic community, however, because the
— friendship is the consensus in human and community always mirrored the society outside
divine things with benevolence and charity the walls, with political intrigues, envy, and
(quomodo et inter quos possit usque infinem indirup- resentments among its members. As we shall see
ta seruarif3 - Aelred reaches a theological cli­ later, the cloister is never free o f politics, and it
max with the Ivo’s question, Deus amicitia est? has never therefore been a place where power
No other work by Aelred was so deeply influ­ was excluded. W ith regard to his personal rela­
enced by his own personal experience with tionships, the ordinary monk discovered and
human relationships. He mentioned expressis ver­ experienced the institutional limits of monas­
bis the deep affection he felt for Simon in his tic life very quickly. O n the other hand, the
youth and another young monk whose name abbot was always in a position to threaten the
is unknow n.16 The theme o f amicitia or amici­ peace o f the community by preferring one

10. Aelred o f Rievaulx, De speculo caritatis, ed. C. H. Tal­ 17. For the theological and doctrinal aspects o f Aelred’s
bot, in Aelredi RievaUensis Opera omnia: Opera ascetica, ed. A. thought, see Gottfried Wolfgang Buchmüller. Die Askese der
Hoste and C. H. Talbot, Corpus Christianorum, C ontinu­ Liebe: Aelred von Rievaulx und die Grundlinien seiner Spiritua­
atio Mediaevalia, 1 (Turnhout, 1971), p. 3—161; English lität (Langwaden, 2001); Charles D um ont, “Aelred o f
trans. Elizabeth Connor: Aelred o f Rievaulx, M inoro/ Char­ Rievaulx's Spiritual Friendship”, in Cistercian Ideals and Real­
ity (Kalamazoo, 1990). ity, ed. Sommerfeldt, p. 187—98; Adele Fiske, "Aelred o f
Rievaulx’s Idea o f Friendship o f Love". Cîtcaux, 13 (1962),
11. Aelred o f Rievaulx, De spiritali amicitia, ed. A. Hoste,
p. 5—17, 97—132; Amédée Halber, The Monastic Theology of
Corpus Christianorum , C ontinuatio Mediaevalia, 1, p.
Aelred of Rievaulx: An Experimental Theology (Shannon, 1969);
287-350; English trans. M ary Euginia Laker: Aelred of
R uth M. Karras, “ Friendship and Love in the Lives o f Two
Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship (Kalamazoo, 1977).
Twelfth-Century English Saints”, Journal of Medieval Histo­
12. Douglass R oby suggests a date around 1140. See ry, 14 (1988), p. 305—20;John McEvoy, "Notes on the Pro­
“ Introduction”, in Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, p. logue o f St Aelred o f Rievaulx’s 'D e spirituali amicitia’,
3-41 (p. 21). with a Translation” , Traditio, 37 (1981), p. 396-411: Brian
Patrick McGuire. Friendship and Community: The Monastic
13. De spiritali amicitia, II, 5. Experience 350-1250 (Kalamazoo, 1988), p. 296-338;Roby.
14. Ibid., Prol. 6. "Introduction” ; Gerd Vosges, Das Menschenbild bei Aelred
von Rievaulx (Altenberg, 1994).
15. Ibid. 1,11. Aelred refers more or less literally to Cicero,
Laelius - De amiciria, 6, 20: “Est enim amicitia nihil aliud 18. R B 1980:The Rule of St Benedict in Latin and English
nisi om nium divinarum humanarumque rerum cum bene­ with Noies, ed.T. Frv (Collegeville. M N, 1981). II. 22; here­
volentia et caritate consensio.” after RB.

16. De spiritali amicitia. III, 119—27. 19. De spiritali amiciria. 1, 32, and III, 91.

56 JENS R U F F E R
monk to another. As the superior, he had the ic relationship.23 He “pushed the requirements
ultimate responsibility to maintain the stability of friendship beyond what most monastic com­
o f the convent as well as his authority over its munities would allow because he made personal
members. Nevertheless, it was up to the abbot bonds so explicit and necessary as part o f daily
to determine the limits of friendship. In inter­ life”.24*Thus, Aelred seems to have stood apart
preting the Rule he had to distinguish careful­ from the more common attitudes o f abbots like
ly between his private opinion as a human being the cool, reserved, and emotionally rather dis­
and his statements as an office-holder, even tant Anselm o f Canterbury — especially after
though one cannot be separated from the other. the death o f his friend Osbern — or Abbot
The classical English examples o f friendship Samson of Bury St Edmunds, the crafty politi­
— St Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109) and his cian, who above all was busv with maintaining
circle of friends; Aelred of Rievaulx and Simon; his power and authority.
or the later, rather disappointed, Jocelin o f In summary then, for Aelred, true friendship
Brakelond (d. after 1203) and his abbot Sam­ — which could only be experienced among
son (1182—1212) of Bury St Edmunds — are Christians — was an essential element o f
famous, but in some respects misleading because monastic life, that is, community life. Amicitia
of their distinguished positions. As leading fig­ spiritalis has to be based on equality, and as we
ures in such bonds, they enjoyed greater shall see shortly, it does not follow the rules of
freedom in organizing their interpersonal rela­ the social — particular the monastic — hierar­
tionships. But all three nevertheless show the chy. Friendship, on the other hand, is an exclu­
importance o f the abbot in guiding human sive bond between a few and is founded on
friendships. The abbot, as the spiritual father, mutual trust and openness, or as Aelred put it,
was the unifying figure of the community and a friend is “someone you can let into the secret
had to act as a mediator between the individ­ chamber of your mind by the bonds o f chari­
ual needs o f the monks and the institutional ty” .23 Finally, he regarded friendship as a
limits set by the Rule and the particularly dynamic process; it has to be developed and test­
observed consuetudines. He could govern a con­ ed and will lead eventually to a spiritual union.
vent between two extremes: fear and good Two become one in the One, as Aelred him­
example.20 But interpersonal relationships also self expressed it: “Here we are, you and I, and
have a strong emotional side that can cause I hope a third, Christ, is in our midst.”26
problems. A perfect friendship included human The idea o f vita communis has its roots in the
affections and allowed the monks to express Acts o f the Apostles. The most important fea­
their feelings openly as long as they remained tures of monasticism, as Hans Jürgen Derda has
chaste. Aelred was well aware o f this delicate shown, are the ideas o f fraternitas and caritas based
point, and probably for that very reason he ded­ on common property, common meals, and a
icated a long passage in his Speculum caritatis to community o f believers who had become “one
the affectus.21 Amicitia spiritalis meant a consensio soul and one heart (cor unum et anima una)”.27*
[. . .] in rebus humanis atque diuinis, that is, in This ideal o f equality probably never existed
human and divine things.22 Such a perfect rela­ even in early Christian communities. It would
tionship could easily culminate in what Brian only have been possible for a very small com­
Patrick McGuire has described as a homoerot­ munity which lived in eschatological expecta-

20. Charles D um ont, "Seeking God in C om m unity Friendship and Community, p. xlix.The same question is dealt
according to St Aelred", in Contemplative Community, ed. with in id., “Love, Friendship and Sex in the Eleventh-Cen­
Basil Pennington (Washington. DC, 1972), p. 115-49 (p. tury: T he Experience o f Anselm” , Studia Theologica, 28
126). (1974), p. 111-52 (p. 146-50).

21. De speculo caritatis, III. 10, 30 —III, 15, 38. 24. McGuire, Friendship and Community, p. 337.

22. De spiritali amicitia. I, 46. 25. “quern uinculis caritatis in illud secretarium tuae men­
tis inducas”: De speculo caritatis. III, 39, 109.
23. In a polemic against John Boswell (J. Boswell. Chris­
26. “Ecce ego et tu, et spero quod tertius inter nos Chris­
tianity. Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Cay People in West­
tus sit”: De spiritali amicitia. I, 1.
ern Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the
Fourteenth Century [Chicago, 1981]), McGuire considers 27. Hans Jürgen Derda, Vita Communis: Studien sur
“the subjects o f sexuality and o f friendship to be separate Geschichte einer Lebensform in Mittelalter und Neuzeit (Cologne,
ones, however many points o f contact there might be” : 1992), p. 5-19: Acts 2. 42-44 and 4. 32-34.

Aelred of Rievaulx and the Institutional Limits of Monastic Friendship 57

 tion, without making any provisions for a long had different duties and responsibilities. The
future on earth. However the idea of equality Cistercians extended this system by developing
became one o f the most important features of a community structure consisting o f monks and
community life — the foundation, as it were, lay brothers.-52 Second, there was a distinction
on which monastic life had to be built. according to dignity o f age, which measured
The Cistercians and other monastic commu­ seniority from the time of profession, and final­
nities (e.g. Cluniacs) observed the Rule of St ly, a distinction according to the social rank,
Benedict as their lex fundamentalis. Equality in a although, in some cases, the early Cistercians
Benedictine community means above all the seemed to have neglected this fact. Neverthe­
equality o f its members before God. The exam­ less, equality is not completely absent; it is found
ples St Benedict used to characterize commu­ on a horizontal line. In the duties o f the abbot
nity life in the cloister makes it quite plain that it is explicitly stated that he “is to show equal
equality and hierarchy are not necessarily a con­ love to everyone and apply the same discipline
tradiction of terms.28 There are three different to all according to their merits” .3233 The reason
metaphors. To begin with, the monastery is is simple. The abbot should prevent trouble
regarded as a school (schola) where the abbot as caused by preferring one monk to another. The
teacher (magister) gives his instruction (doctrina) monks, as subordinates, are equal in the face of
to the monks (discipuli).29 A second metaphor their abbot as superior. Although Benedict gave
is that o f monks as milites Dei, who fight for the clear instructions on “community rank”,34 he
Lord “armed with strong and noble weapons also demanded that the “brothers should serve
o f obedience” .-,(l Finally, the monastery is one another” .35 This is a commandment o f
described as a workshop (officina) where the humility rather than a sign of human equality
monk is a worker (operarius) doing his duty (offi­ and finds its best expression in the weekly man-
cium) by using the tools o f good works (instru­ datum, or foot-washing.36
menta bonorum operum).31 All three metaphors For Aelred, as repeatedly mentioned, equal­
— that of school, military service, and work­ ity among friends was an essential feature o f
shop — are hierarchically organized models. In true friendship. He wrote;
all three, emphasis is laid on the (monastic)
Therefore in friendship, which is the perfect
virtue of obedience. Obedience and discipline
gift of nature and grace alike, let the lofty
are important features o f Benedict’s Rule. The
descend, the lowly ascend; the rich be in want,
monks are armed with the noble weapons of
the poor become rich; and thus let each com­
obedience, but not with those o f charity. With
municate his condition to the other, so that
respect to order and hierarchy in the commu­
equality may be the result.37*
nity, it is possible to distinguish three aspects on
a vertical line. First, there was a kind o f Funk­ The reason why I have emphasized the role of
tionshierarchie. According to the office held or the abbot is that the idea o f revoking a gener­
the duty to be performed, the abbot and other ally accepted hierarchy within the cloister might
monastic officers, as well as ordinary monks, have worked in a small community, or under

28. See Derda, Vita Communis, p. 135-39. guli ameni alter alterius membra (Km 12.5)”: Sermo Vili, 11, ed.
Gaetano Raciti, in Aelredi RievaUcnsis Opera omnia: Sermones
29. For schola see RB, Prol. 45; and for the abbot as ma­ l-XLVI: Collection claracvallensis prima et secunda, Corpus Chris­
gister see R B , II, 11—13. tianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalia, 2A (Turnhout, 1971);see
30. “oboedientiae fortissima atque praeclara arma sumis”: also Dumont, “Seeking God”, p. 125.
RB. Prol. 3.
33. “Ergo aequalis sit ab eo omnibus caritas, una prae­
31. RB. IV. 78; VII. 49 and 70; IV. Headline; Prol. 39 or beatur in omnibus secundum merita disciplina”: RB. II, 22.
XVI, 2.
34. RB, LXIII: De ordine congregationis.
32. In his sermon In natali Sancti Benedicti Aelred himself
emphasized that the community consisting o f lay brothers and 35. “Fratres sibi invicem serviant”: RB. XXXV, 1.
monks is one unit. "N on ergo querantur fratres nostri laici 36. RB. XXXV, 9.
quod non tantum psallunt et uigilant quantum monachi. Non
querantur monachi quod non tantum laborant quantum fratres 37. “ Itaque in amicitia quae naturae simul et gratiae opti­
laici. Verissime enim dico quod quidquid unus facit, hoc est mum donum est, sublimis descendat, humilis ascendat: dives
omnium, et quidquid omnes faciunt, hoc est singulorum. Sicut egeat, pauper ditescat; et ita unusquisque alteri suam con­
enim unius corporis membra non omnia eundem actum ditionem communicet ut fiat aequalitas” ; De spiritali amici­
habent, ita, dicente Apostolo, inulti unum corpus in Christo, sin- tia, III, 91.

58 JENS R U F F E R
the guidance o f an outstanding abbot, but in a is to establish unity through an identification
larger community — such as Rievaulx at the o f the individual with the community. In larg­
end of Aelred’s abbacy3* — a neglect of monas­ er communities the members are more
tic hierarchy in favour o f human friendship inclined to individualization, and the more
caused a decline in discipline. This is indirect­ they tend to be individuals the less they tend
ly confirmed by an allusion made by Walter to identify themselves with the community.43
Daniel to Aelred’s critics, who were concerned Deeper friendships would only worsen such
about relaxed discipline.39 There is an interest­ inherent difficulties. Furthermore, a friendship
ing parallel that can be made here between the between a monk and a monastic officer — in
abbeys o f Fountains and Rievaulx. particular the abbot — leads to another con­
Abbot Richard II (d. 1143), former sacristan flict, that o f underm ining authority by pre­
of St Mary’s Abbey, York and second abbot of ferring one monk in favour o f another, and of
Fountains, is described by Serlo in the “Founda­ causing envy and resentm ent amongst the
tion history' of Fountains Abbey” as gifted in guid­ brothers. Aelred was well aware of this. He dis­
ing the community.40 But his successor, Henry' cussed the matter from a slightly different angle
Murdach (d. 1153), was disappointed about the when Walter asked him:
discipline he found at Fountains when he began
his abbacy.41 Serlo said about Abbot Henry: But I should like to know whether a friend who
has more power and is able to promote whom­
But the holy man turned the house upside soever he wishes to honors and distinctions,
down, searched out hidden things, and joined ought to prefer to others in such promotions
together into one whole all that the hand of those whom he cherishes and by whom he is
avarice, contrary to the rule of the order, had cherished; and, if so, whether he ought among
divided into separate portions. He was the first his friends to give precedence to those whom
to bring our Fountains to the perfect purity of he loves with greater predilection?44*
the order, and, scouring off the rust of the for­
mer life, to establish there the rule of discipline Aelred gave a very diplomatic answer. Every­
of a healthy monastery according to the rites one should above all “be guided by reason not
of Clairvaux.42 by affection”. And he continues: “Where, how­
ever, equality of virtue is found, I do not great­
This leads to a sociological observation. The ly disapprove if to some degree affection gives
bigger a convent grows, the more difficult it play to its feelings.”43 Unfortunately, Aelred did

38. Vita Aclredi, p. 38; As already mentioned, the num­ tually. the convent elected Henry himself. In 1147 he became
bers given by Walter Daniel are questionable. Archbishop o f York.
42. “Sed vir sanctus evertit domum , investigavit abscon­
39. See Vita Aelrcdi, p. 40 and n. 3: McGuire, Friendship
dita, et conflavit in unum quicquid manus avaritiae contra
and Community, p. 330—37.
formam ordinis in partes distraxit. Hic primus Fontes nos­
tros ad perfectam ordinis puritatem redegit, et erasa rubi­
40. Narratio de fundatione Fontanis monasterii in comitatu gine vitae prioris, secundum Clarevallis ritus monasterii
Eboracensi, ed. John Richard Walbran, in Memorials o f the salutaris inibi disciplinae formam instituit": Narratio defu n ­
Abbey of S. Mary of Fountains, vol. i, Publications o f the Sur­ datione. p. 85. T he English translation is taken from: Arnold
tees Society. 42 (Durham, 1863). p. 1-129 (p.74-78), here­ W hitaker Oxford, The Ruins of Fountains Abbey (London,
after Narratio de fundatione. For the tradition, quality, and 1910). Appendix I. p. 127-230 (p. 201).
interpretation o f the manuscripts, see L. G. Derek Baker,
“T he Genesis o f English Cistercian Chronicles: T he Foun­ 43. See Derda, Vita communis, p. 87, where he refers to
dation History o f Fountains Abbey I & II”, Analecta Cister- an essay by Georg Simmel, “Bemerkungen zu socialethi­
ciensia, 25 (1969), p. 14-41:31 (1975), p. 179-209. schen Problemen”, Gesamtausgabe, Bd. 2 (F./Main, 1989),
p. 20-37.
41. H enry Murdach. from a well-off Yorkshire family,
44. “Sed scire uelim si amicus potentior fùerit, possitque
was a close friend o f St Bernard w ho persuaded him to take
ad honores uel quaslibet dignitates, quos uoluerit promouere,
the Cistercian habit (Epistola 106, Sancti Bernardi Opera, ed.
utrum debeat eos quos diligit et a quibus diligitur, caeteris
Jean Leclercq, Henri M. Rocháis and Charles H. Talbot
in tali prom otione praeferre, et inter ipsos quem amplius
(Rome, 1974], vol 7, p. 265-67). Henry started his career
diligit eis quos minus diligit anteferre?” : De spiritali amicitia,
as teacher at the cathedral school in York. In 1131 he entered
III. 1 14.
Clairvaux and three years later became the founding Abbot
o f Vauclair. After the death o f Abbot Richard II at Clair­ 45. “ratio sequenda est, non affectus. [...] Vbi tamen uir-
vaux in 1143, Henry Murdach was sent by St Bernard to tutis inuenitur aequalitas, non multum improbo, si aliquan­
Fountains supervising the election o f the new abbot. Even- tisper affectus suas inserit partes”: Ibid., Ill, 116.

Aelred of Rievaulx and the Institutional Limits of Monastic Friendship 59

 not deal directly with the problem o f under­ they were also right for the job. This caused
mining authority. This was, however, a deep some of those who had favoured his election as
concern o f St Benedict, who wrote on the abbot to say that he showed less affection
duties of an abbot: towards them than was appropriate, and that he
was fonder of those who had slandered him,
The abbot should avoid all favoritism in the both publicly and privately, and in the hearing
monastery. He is not to love one more than of many people had even branded him as an
another unless he finds someone better in good irascible, unsociable, arrogant Norfolk trickster.
actions and obedience, f...] Therefore, the abbot But as he indulged in no injudicious displays of
is to show equal love to everyone and apply the affection or favour towards his old friends after
same discipline to all according to their merits.46 his election, so by the same token he did not
repay the many others with any sign of resent­
The same attitude can be noticed for St Anselm ment or enmity: he rendered good for evil, and
after the death o f his friend Osbern, and he did good to those who persecuted him [cf.
tried to keep the same emotional distance Rom. 12.17, 21 ; Matt 5.44], He also had a char­
toward all of his friends. Anselm appreciated acteristic (unique in my experience) of never,
people with whom he could share his heart and or very seldom, showing in his face any sign of
his mind, but he feared exclusiveness.47 the affection he felt for a good many people.49
In his chronicle, Jocelin o f Brakelond gives
us a more vivid and in some respect a more real­ Jocelin himself was disappointed by Samson,
istic impression o f what could happen in a because he had been rejected after Samsons elec­
monastery.48 The example, however, allows no tion as abbot. The office o f abbot brought other
general conclusions to be drawn. The occasion demands. Samson was now responsible for the
for the following observation was the election whole community and was beginning to iden­
o f Samson as abbot o f his monastery Bury St tify himself with the institution he was leading;
Edmunds. The question is simply: Does the he was well aware that his sovereignty could very
election o f Samson as abbot affect the quality quickly be undermined by an excessively close
o f his old relationships? Jocelin described the friendship to Jocelin or any other monk of the
Abbot’s diplomatic attitude: community.50 What, however, Jocelin wrote on
the occasion o f the election o f a new prior
Those monks who had been the abbot s most applies equally well to Abbot Samson and his
cherished friends and companions before his office: “Spare your praises o f the new man,
election were rarely appointed as obedientiaries because high office changes a man’s character,
on the strength of their old association, unless or rather demonstrates its true nature.”31

46. “N on ab eo persona in monasterio discernatur. Non ad eligendum eum abbatem, dixerunt eum minus quam
unus plus ametur quam alius, nisi quem in bonis actibus aut deceret diligere eos, qui eum antequam fuerat abbas dilex-
oboedientia invenerit meliorem. [.. .j Ergo aequalis sit ab erant, et eos plus ab eo amari, qui eum et aperte et occulte
eo omnibus caritas, una praebeatur in omnibus secundum deprauauerunt, et eum hominem iracundum, non socialem,
merita disciplina” : RB, II, 16 and II, 22. paltenerium et baratorem de Norfolchia, etiam in audien­
tia multorum, publice nominauerunt. Uerum, sicut ille pris­
47. See McGuire, “Love, Friendship, and Sex”, p. 143.
tinis amicis suis nichil amoris uel honoris indiscrete exibuit
48. Brian Patrick M cGuire sees in Jocelin's disappoint­ post suscepcionem abbatie, sic et pluribus aliis pro meritis
ing experience with Abbot Samson a symptom “o f a decline suis nichil rancoris uel odii exibuit, bonum aliquando red­
in individual expression in Western Europe after about dens pro malo, et benefaciens persequentibus eum. Habuit
1200” (“T he Collapse o f Monastic Friendship: The Case of etiam in consuetudine quiddam quod nunquam vidi /
Jocelin and Samson o f Bury”, Journal of Medieval History, 4 hominem habere, scilicet quod multos affectuose dilexit,
[ 1978], p. 369-97, esp. p. 369). I would not go so far. It seems quibus nunquam uel raro uultum amoris exibuit” : The
rather that the relationship between Jocelin and Samson pro­ Chronicle o f Jocelin of Brakelond concerning the acts o f Samson
vides an idea o f what may be called an average level o f inter­ Abbot of the Monastery of St Edmund, ed. H. E. Butler (Lon­
personal relationship. Aelred s vision o f friendship — which don, 1962) p. 42-43; English translation from Jocelin o f
doubtless represents the climax in the twelfth century — Brakelond, Chronicle o f the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, trans.
would seem to be a rare exception concerning the idea as Diana Greenway and Jane Sayers (Oxford, 1989), p. 39.
well as the chance to live it.
50. See McGuire, “The Collapse", p. 382.
49. “Monachos uero, quos socios abbas habuit ante abba-
ciatn susceptam magis dilectos et magis familiares, raro pro- 51. “parcius lauda nouum hominem, quia honores mutant
mouit ad obedientias occassione pristine familiaritaris, nisi mores, uel pocius monstrant”; The Chronicle o f Jocelin, p. 129
essent idonei; unde quidam ex nostris, qui ei erant propicii (trans. Greenway and Sayers, p. 114).

60 J E NS R U F F E R
Mutual Trust and Openness drew attention to these characteristics as he
described the experience he had by expressing
A second important feature of Aelred’s doctrine his own opinion too freely:
on friendship is mutual trust and openness
among friends, which will be discussed only Once, unable to restrain my high spirits, I
briefly here. Aelred was very cautious and well rushed in to express my own opinion, believ­
aware of the trouble that could arise if secrets ing that I spoke in confidence. [...] It remains
were to be made public or if a monk denounced for me to be careful in future, and if 1live long
a fellow monk because of envy or jealousy. He enough to see the abbacy vacant again, I shall
therefore stated very clearly: “a friend ought to watch what I say on the subject, and to whom
be chosen with utmost care and tested with and when I speak, so as to avoid offences either
extreme caution.”32 to God by telling lies or to man by speaking
The monastic community, in particular a larg­ out of turn.34
er convent, is to some extent a mirror of the
society outside the walls, as has already been Later Abbot Samson had a similar experience.
mentioned. Aelred referred to the problems Asked by Jocelin why he had kept silent in a
which the community faced on the arrival of discussion, he replied:
new brothers from the world. In one o f his
“Sermons on the Burden of Isaiah” (De Oner­ “My son, a child who has recently been burned
ibus) he wrote: is afraid of fire: that is how it is with me and many
others. [...] 1 was imprisoned and then sent to
Behold, my brothers: arriving fresh from the Acre [...], because we spoke out for the good
world, some are poorly educated or ignorant, of our church against the abbot’s wishes.”5 25354*
others subtle and learned: some are slaves of
their passions, others have no problems; some Interestingly enough, Abbot Samson — who
have led an easy life, others a hard life; some was well versed in keeping his authority and
are lazy, others hard-working; some are violent, position of power — later used similar meth­
others naturally gentle.33 ods to govern his own brothers. Jocelin men­
tioned a quarrel between the convent and Ralph
The more numerous the monks, the more var­ the gatekeeper. W ithout discussing the case in
ied the social backgrounds, educational levels, detail, it will suffice to point to the Abbot’s reac­
and individual behaviours. It also produced tion in settling this affair. Jocelin tells us:
more anonymous interpersonal relationships. A
large community falls rapidly into groups and Then the abbot, who was not present but act­
it is difficult for an abbot to unify these groups. ing through intermediaries, frightened some
Resentm ent, envy, and jealousy are part of by threats, won over others by flattery, and iso­
human behaviour, and monks are above all lated from the rest of the community the more
human beings. Although destructive human important men of the convent [...], so that the
attitudes should be banned from the cloister, words of the gospel were fulfilled, ‘Ever)' king­
they had nevertheless always been present. dom divided against itself shall be brought to
Concerning mutual trust and openness, Jocelin desolation’ [Matt. 12. 25].56

52. “cum summo studio eligendus est. et cum maxima et, si camdiu / uixero ut uideam abbatiam uacare, uidebo
cautela probandus”: De spiritali amicitia. III. 7. quid, cui, et quando loquar de tali materia, ne uel Deum
offendam mentiendo uel hominem im portune loquendo”:
53. “Eia, fratres mei, vementes noviter de saeculo alii idio­
The Chronicle o f Jocelin, p. 14—15 (trans. Greenway and Say­
tae sunt et simplices, alii docti et subtiles, alii vitiorum pes­
ers, p. 14-15).
sima consuetudine obligati, alii tali naturae, ut vix ad
libidinem moveantur: alii tales ut modica occasione tenten- 55. “‘Filii mi, puer nouiter conbustus timet ignem: ita est
tur: alii naturali conspersione iracundi, alii naturaliter man­ de me et pluribus aliis. [ ...] Ego similiter incarcérants fui,
sueti” : Sermones de oneribus, X X IX , in Patrologiae Cursus et postea apud Aeram missus, quia locuti sumus pro com ­
Completus, Series Latina, ed. Jacques-Paul M igne (Paris, muni bono ecclesie nostre contra / uoluntatem abbatis'”:
1844-64), 195, coi. 485 (trans. D um ont. “Seeking God", The Chronicle of Jocelin. p. 4 (trans. Greenway and Sayers, p.
p. 132-33). 5). Acre refers to Castle Acre in Norfolk.
54. “ Q uodam tem pore non potui cohibere spiritum 56. "Abbas uero absens per internuntios quosdam minis
meum quin precipitarem sententiam meam, putans me loqui terruit, quosdam blandiciis attraxit, et maiores de conuen-
fidis auribus, [...). U num restat, quod caueam mihi de cetero. tu, [ ...] , a consilio uniuersitatis separauit. ut adimpleretur

Aelred of Rievaulx and the Institutional Limits o f Monastic Friendship 61

 As the brothers submitted, the Abbot modified ies. As we could see on Jocelin s statements, the
his attitude to acknowledge the new situation. monastery was not the Heavenly Jerusalem; it
Again as Jocelin put it: was a microcosm reflecting the world outside.
The Benedictine monastic community was hier­
In fact he replied quite humbly, yet always archically organized; equality among monks
maintaining his position and turning the blame existed only before God. Under such circum­
on us; when he saw that we accepted defeat, stances it was difficult to establish a deep friend­
he too was overcome. With tears streaming ship based on equality and mutual trust,
down, he swore that he had never lamented so transgressing social ranks or institutional limits.
much as this over anything, both for himself Establishing true friendship in a monastic con­
and for us, and most especially because of the text might be easier between equals — that is,
stain of an evil report that had already made among monks with the same or similar rank
our dissension publicly known, to the effect within the community — but more difficult for
that the monks of St Edmund’s wanted to mur­ obedientiaries who have chosen a friend from
der their abbot. [. . .] The brothers who had among the lower ranks. A friendship among ordi­
been excommunicated were absolved on the nary monks, however, was most likely to be con­
spot, and so ‘the storm ceased and there was a sidered suspicious in the eyes o f a monastic
great calm’ [Mark. 4.39].57* officer, as it lessened his control. He could not
hear what the friends were talking about pri­
vately. He had no idea what they were doing
Conclusion when they were alone. Could he trust them? On
the other hand, a friendship between a monk of
Aelred’s doctrine on friendship is realistic inso­ higher rank — especially an abbot — with a
far as he drew upon his own experience. It is monk o f a lower rank could more easily reach
utopian with respect to the limits set by the its fulfilment, as the abbot was the ultimate
monastery as an institution. By his personality authority, the man responsible for setting the lim­
as a charismatic leader and by his authority as its. The abbot of course risked the peace of the
Abbot, Aelred was able to transgress these lim­ community by preferring one monk to anoth­
its. As Brian McGuire has written: er. Aelred was well aware of the gap between the
needs o f the monks and the spiritual requests.
In condemning genital sexuality as sinful and O ne of the most remarkable features o f the
vicious, Aelred still believed in tenderness, Benedictine monastic life at this time was the
affection and touching, and in being open and fact that a monk led his life almost completely
talking intimately about one’s personal life. At in public, that is, under the eyes o f his fellow
the same time he did not feel pain or guilt for monks. But a monk with neither outer nor inner
appreciating physical beauty in other human private life has to be perfect. A perfect monk is
beings. Beauty was worth seeking so long as an angel, and they are rare in earthly monaster­
the pursuit did not lead to sin, for an attractive ies. “The ambiguity”, as Charles Dumont put it,
human being can also be virtuous and thus “is the very ambiguity of our human condition.
increase one’s own virtue.38 The solution is eschatological.”59

But Aelred’s idea of true friendship as an insep­ Universität Trier

arable unity o f “human and divine things” FB III. Kunstgeschichte
remained a vision even in Cistercian monaster­ D-54286 Trier

illud ewangelium, ‘om ne regnum in se diuisum de­ notam infamie, que iam publicauerat dissencionem nostram,
solabitur’” : The Chronicle o f Jocelin, p. 118-19 (trans. Green-
dicendo monachos sancti Æ dmundi uelle interficere suum
way and Sayers, p. 104—05). abbatem. [...] Absoluti sunt illico fratres qui excomunicati
fuerant, et sic ‘cessauit tempestas, et facta est tranquillitas
57. “Ipse uero satis humiliter respondens, semper tamen magna’” : The Chronicle of Jocelin, p. 119-20 (trans. Green-
iustitiam suam allegans, et in nos culpam retorquens, cum way and Sayers, p. 105).
uidit nos uelle uinci, ipse uictus est. Et perfusus lacrimis
58. McGuire, Friendship and Community, p. 303.
iurauit se nunquam doluisse aliqua de causa, sicut in hoc
casu, tum propter se, tum propter nos, et maxime propter 59. D um ont. “Seeking G od”, p. 146.

62 JENS R U F F E R
 Making and Breaking the Bonds:
Yorkshire Cistercians and their Neighbours
EM ILIA JA M R O Z IA K

t scarcely needs to be said that Cistercian with benefactors and neighbours often involved

I abbeys did not exist in isolation from their

social environment, their neighbours, their
places of trade and seats o f power. The geo­
these physical spaces and symbolic acts.

Gifts and Counter-gifts

graphical spread of the Order meant that the
White Monks established houses from Portugal Gifts, an exchange of goods or services between
in the west, Livonia in the north-east, and individuals or groups, were an important char­
Greece in the south-east. In these diverse local­ acteristic of social interactions in the pre-mod­
ities the Cistercian communities established ern economy. This phenom enon did not
many successful monasteries, and their ability disappear with the impact o f capitalism; gifts
to adopt to the local conditions played a cru­ remain an important gesture for establishing and
cial role in this process. Their contacts with their sustaining bonds.1 Although the term itself is
neighbours were a key element to their success. usually defined as an object or service given
O ur understanding of this diversity of practice willingly without pay, its usage often implies
can be developed further only if we pursue that reciprocity was — and is — a fundamen­
more case studies o f the different localities and tal part o f gift-giving. As gifts often had an
monasteries. This essay draws on the examples important symbolic meaning which superseded
from selected Cistercian houses in Yorkshire — their actual material significance, their prime
Rievaulx, Fountains, Byland, and Sallay — to reason might be located outside the realm of
explore the methods and means o f building pure economic gain; that is, giving and receiv­
bonds with lay neighbours and benefactors, ing often served purposes o f creating and pre­
concentrating on the issues of gift and counter­ serving social bonds.
gift as well as memory in the twelfth and thir­ The Cistercians, like any other monastic
teenth centuries. The work o f Peter Fergusson order, relied on gifts from the laity to build up
on the physical settings o f the Cistercian com­ and expand their estates, but the extent o f their
munities — in particular those located in links with benefactors is generally acknowl-
Yorkshire — shows how the architecture was edged to be much more limited than that prac­
connected to the social role o f the monastic ticed by Benedictine monks. There has been a
communities and their internal and external significant amount of research in this area which
life. The social practice of maintaining bonds has uncovered the complexity o f Cistercian

1. For the extensive bibliography o f gift-giving in the History. 3 (Oxford. 1996); Mana Silber. Virtuosity, Charis­
historical and contem porary context, see Avner Offer. ma, and Social Order:A Comparatine Sociological Study o/Monas-
Between the Gift and the MarkettThe Economy o f Regard, U ni­ ticism in Theravada Buddhism and Medieval Catholicism
versity o f Oxford Discussion Papers in Economic and Social (Cambridge, 1995).

Making and Breaking the Bonds -.Yorkshire Cistercians and their Neighbours 63
 relations with their social environment, includ­ ed these acts of reciprocity given in return for
ing neighbours and benefactors. In those stud­ donations from lay people. Texts from the char­
ies, the issue o f gifts and counter-gifts does ters emphasize this element of reciprocity very
emerge, but is often unfortunately dismissed as strongly and present them as directly connect­
an example o f a “cover-up sale” .2 Some recent ed to the original acts o f donation. In addition,
explorations o f counter-gifts in the Cistercian the positive feelings between a donor and a
context tended to emphasize the rational and recipient are often highlighted. For example,
pragmatic thinking behind those acts, although between 1160 and 1165 Hugh Malabisse gave
symbolic value was not disregarded.3 Cister­ a meadow in Scawton to Rievaulx Abbey.6 The
cians operated in a much more complex eco­ counter-gift which he received from the monks
nomic world of growing commercial and was given to him — according to the phrase
monetary exchange than existed in the early used in the charter — “for love” {pro caritate).
medieval period. Gifts to monasteries o f White Consideration for patrons’ needs is also often
Monks were not a part of an exchange system stressed by the formula “for my necessity” (pro
as it existed between Cluny and its benefac­ necessitate mea) or “my pressing necessity” {in
tors.4 Between 1050 and 1200, there were urgenti mea necessitate).7 Sometimes these needs
im portant changes in the economic, social, are specified, as in the charter o f R obert le Bret
political, and legal circumstances which side­ o f Markingfield for Fountains abbey.
lined the gift-exchange system in favour of
And let it be know that necessity induced me
growing commercialization, and this therefore
to receive from the monks for the donation
changed the way in which gifts were used to
such twenty silver marks and twenty shillings
play a role in creating and sustaining lay-cleri­
and one plough-team of oxen and one horse,
cal relationships.5 Although the consequences
so by this money I could retain in our heredi­
o f these economic changes from the mid­
tary holding for me and my heirs, so we would
eleventh century onwards made the “gift econ­
not surrender the whole of it.8
omy” redundant, the gift did not disappear from
the realm o f lay-religious interactions, although These phrases were no empty formulae but a
it was practised in a new way. The study o f Cis­ reflection — in a standardized form — of the
tercian cases in Yorkshire reveals the mechanism concerns o f laypeople and monks alike. For
o f gifts and counter-gifts in their relationships many Yorkshire families in financial troubles,
with benefactors. the religious houses could be called upon for
The existence o f counter-gifts is known pri­ help. Although Cistercians also wanted to ben­
marily from donation charters, which record­ efit from these transactions, it was not a straight-

2. B ennett Hill, English Cistercian Monasteries and their den, 2001), p. 144—48: Constance H .B erm an, “T he Debate
Patrons in the Twelfth Century (Urbana, IL, 1968), p. 57; Vic­ on Cistercian Contracts: Regarding a R ecent Book”,
toria Chandler. ‘‘Politics and Piety: Influences on Charita­ Citeaux. 43 (1992), p. 432-40.T he shift from gift economy
ble Donations during the Anglo-Norm an Period”, Reúne to monetary economy after 1050 was first described by Marc
bénédictine, 90 (1980), p. 63—71 (p. 65): Christopher Harp­ Bloch (Feudal Society, trans. L. M. Manyon [Chicago, 1961])
er-Bill, “T he Piety o f the A nglo-Norman Knightly Class”, and developed further by Lester K. Little (Religious Poverty
in Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Stud­ and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe [London. 1978]).
ies II 1979, ed. Allen R . Brown (Woodbridge, 1980), p.
62-77 (p. 67): Joan Wardrop, Fountains Abbey and its Bene­ 6. Cartularium Abbatltiae de Riamile, ed.John C. Atkinson,
factors 1132-1300 (Kalamazoo. 1987). p.85-86, 233. Surtees Society. 83 [henceforth Cartulary] (Durham. 1889),
no. 74.
3. Constance Brittain Bouchard. Holy Entrepreneurs: Cis­
tercians. Knights and Economic Exchange in Twelfth-Century Bur­ 7. Early Yorkshire Charters, vols I-Ill, ed. W. Farrer (Edin­
gundy (Ithaca. NY, 1991), p. 68—96; Janet B urton, The burgh. 1914-16), vols IV —X II, ed. C. T. Clay, Yorkshire
Monastic Order in Yorkshire 1069-1215 (Cambridge. 1999), Archaeological Society Record Series, extra series, nos 1-3,
p. 182-94. 5-10 (Wakefield, 1935-65) [henceforth EYC \, xi, no. 159,
161 (Fountains): vu, no. 119 (Furness).
4. Barbara H. Rosenwein, To Be the Neighbor of Saint Peter:
The Social Meaning of Cluny's Property, 909-1049 (Ithaca, 8. “Et sciendum quod necessitas coegit me recipere a
NY. 1989), p. 124-43. monachis pro donacione ista xx. Marcas argenti et xx. soli­
dos et unam carrucatam boum et unum equum, ut per ipsa
5. Arnoud-Jan A. Bijsterveld, "The Medieval Gift as Agent pecuniam retinerem me et unum equum, ut per ipsam pecu­
o f Social Bonding and Political Power: A Comparative niam retinerem me et heredes meos in residuum hereditatis
Approach”, in Medieval Transformations -.Text, Power, and Gifts nostre ne plus aut edam totum amitteremus”: EYC , X I. no.
in Context, ed. Esther C ohen and Mayke B. de Jong (Lei- 158 (trans. EJ).

64 EMILIA J A MR O ZI AK
forward sale, but a more complex transaction towards those individuals, feelings which were
that was seen as beneficial for both parties. expressed by means o f the counter-gift. By giv­
Some charters are even more pragmatic in ing something back to their benefactors, they
stating that the counter-gift was received as a were affirming this bond and also telling the
“witness and reminder” of the original act of audience of neighbours and relatives about it.
donation, as exemplified by the charter o f con­ The counter-gift was therefore an important
firmation (ca. 1180-95) issued by William de element in creating a lasting and durable rela­
Arches to Fountains Abbey o f the exchange of tionship; the obligation created by a counter­
lands conducted between his men and the gift was not connected to any particular
abbey.9 A variation o f this phrase could also moment in time, but to a continuum of social
appear, as “in recognition and as a compensa­ relationship.14
tion” (in recognidone et in recompensatione).101Alter­ The use of monastic space was highly signifi­
natively, the counter-gift could be given as cant in the rituals of giving. In the cases when a
“chiefly o f this donation” (in principo hujus ele­ charter specifies the location o f the ceremony, it
mosine). 11 This phraseology implies almost an was usually situated at the high altar in the monas­
emotional blackmail of the donors by the abbey tic church or another important church. The use
evoking emotions and obligations, but above o f such spaces, usually out of bounds for a lay­
all a hope that the counter-gift will influence man, elevated these individuals and put them
donors’ behaviour in the future.12 under pressure to honour the grant. A good
The acts of giving and receiving were done example of such use of space is the ceremony in
in public, with witnesses who were usually which Hugh de Malabisse received a counter­
members o f the religious community receiv­ gift from the monks of Rievaulx for his grant.
ing the grant and lay people associated with the
donor: family, neighbours, tenants, and associ­ So, however, that I should make this grant more
ates of various kinds. The public character o f willingly, the monks gave me twenty shillings
those ceremonies was very important — not for love; and I presented it [charter] by my own
only from the legal point o f view, but also hand on the high altar of the [church] of St
because in that way, donor and recipient were Mary’s Rievaulx where, in the presence of
giving a particular message about their status many monks as well as laypeople, I agreed, in
and their mutual relationship. This was one of truth, to the attestation of this charter in good
the ways in which their public identity was cre­ faith, to be kept by me in perpetuity and the
ated. The layperson was showing his/her piety said land to be guaranteed to the house of
and generosity by donating land to a religious Rievaulx against all men.15
house, but also indicating that he/she was in
possession o f the wealth which allowed them The ceremony took place in the most sacred
to make such gestures.13 Apart from reciproci­ part o f the church, and Hugh placed his char­
ty, the counter-gift expressed a special link ter on the altar, by his own hand, to cement the
between the benefactor and the donor. The grant. By this act, he became elevated above his
monks, at least according to the formulae in the peers, watching him from the nave, and the
charters, had particularly positive feelings solemnity of this occasion put pressure on Hugh

9. “Et sciendum quod ecclesia de Fontibus dedit michi 13. The prestige-enhancing qualities o f the donation cer­
de sua caritate in testimonium et rememoracionem vigiliti emonies and counter-gifts are emphasized by Stephen White,
et quinque solidos” : EYC, XI, no. 143. Similar formula in Custom, Kinship, and Gifts to SaintstThe “Laudatio Parentum”in
EYC , il, no. 314 (Fountains); v i i , no. 147 (Fountains). Western France, 1050-1150 (Chapel Hill, 1988). p. 47.
10. EYC. XI. no. 242 (Fountains). 14. Bijsterveld. "T he Medieval Gift", p. 124.
11. EYC . v.2. no. 306 (Fountains). 15. “U t autem hanc elemosinam libentius facerem
dederunt michi monachi xx solidos pro caritate; et ego eam
12. This interpretation o f the vocabulary o f counter-gifts
propria manu mea supra altare Sancte Marie Rievallis obtulit,
follows the argument o f Henk B.Teunis, “The Countergift
ubi etiam coram multis, tam monachis quam secularibus,
in Caritate According to the Cartulary o f Noyers”, Haskins
conventionavi in veritate huius carte attestationem sine malo
Society Journal. 7 (1995). p. 83-88.
ingenio me in perpetuum servaturum, et terram prefatam
Domui Rievallis contra omnes homines warantizaturum” :
Cartulary, no. 75 (trans. EJ).

Making and Breaking the Bonds -.Yorkshire Cistercians and their Neighbours 65
 to honour his word in the future. The fact that quitclaims to the abbey. They served as a com­
the monks gave him twenty shillings to induce pensation for the material loss incurred by the
his generosity was not hidden, but emphasized, donor and were a reflection o f the situation of
in the charter. The public ceremony o f giving such an individual. For example, in 1245 Alice,
and receiving was not a new practice, nor a Cis­ widow o f William, son of Richard de Aton,
tercian invention, but rather a continuation of quitclaimed to Rievaulx Abbey six bovates of
the already existing custom. According to Emily land belonging to her dower. In return the monks
Tabuteau, the public giving o f a counter-gift gave her five silver marks. 19 The value o f the
in eleventh-century Normandy was meant as a monetary counter-gift was usually lower than
legal safeguard to monastic property.16 Because the real value of the property and was intended
the memory o f this event was still largely as compensation to prevent future attempts to
entrusted to the community — which includ­ reclaim such donations. The counter-gift would
ed both laypeople and monks — Yorkshire Cis­ therefore be given to the people who, due to the
tercians used the tool of public ceremony large scale of the donation, might dispute the
alongside the authority of a written charter. abbey’s rights in the future. For example, between
Specified amounts of money were the most 1160 and 1170 Walter Ingram, with the consent
common form of the counter-gifts.17 Some­ of his wife Holdeard, gave extensive meadows
times money was given in combination with and pastures in Arncliffe to Rievaulx Abbey. In
objects or animals. In the second half o f the return, he received fifteen silver marks, his wife
twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, the accepted a golden ring, and his sons, the heirs,
amounts would vary between four and fifteen were given two shillings.20 There were also cases
marks, as in the case o f Fountains Abbey; this where the size and character of the gift required
depended on the size o f the original grant, the more than a symbolic counter-gift. In the early
circumstances of the people involved in it, and 1190s, Henry, son of Swane de Denby, gave to
the determination o f the monastery to acquire Byland Abbey almost all of his land in Denby;
certain property.18 In contrast to Rievaulx in return, the monks gave him one hundred
Abbey, Fountains offered its benefactors many shillings.21 Although this looks very much like a
monetary counter-gifts. Although this imbal­ “cover-up sale”, I would be hesitant to use this
ance may have been a result of the much lower term; rather, cases like this indicate that the dif­
survival rate o f documents from Rievaulx in ference between sale and grant was much less
comparison with those from Fountains, small­ clear-cut in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
er houses such as Byland and Sallay were also than it is for us. The sizeable counter-gift which
more reluctant to offer counter-gifts. The dif­ Henry received from Byland suggests that the
ference in the level and frequency o f the monks were very keen to obtain this property
counter-gifts indicates not only the difference and that Henry could not — for material or other
between the financial resources of those monas­ reasons — give this land free. The reciprocity of
teries, but also the level of initiative shown by the monks allowed him to display his piety and
those communities in attracting and retaining generosity publicly, gain financially, and hope
their benefactors. The value relationship that the grant will aid his salvation; in return the
between gift and counter-gift suggests that it abbey secured a property which was particular­
was highly dependant on the circumstances sur­ ly desirable. Alternatively, Henry was for some
rounding each case, not just on the material reason forced to sell his land to raise money, but
value o f the original grant. decided to sell it to a religious institution which
Some instances o f counter-gifts are clearly offered spiritual gain in addition to monetary
specified in the charters as given in exchange for profit.

16-Emily Z.Tabuteau, Transfer of Property in Eleventh-Cen­ 19. “Et pro ista remissione et quieta clamantia praefati
tury Norman Law (Chapel Hill, 1988), p. 115—19. monachi dederunt michi quinque marcas argenti": Oxford,
Bodleian Libran-, MS Dodsworth 7, fol. 141v.
17. Ninety percent o f Cistercian charters in Burgundy
recording counter-gifts indicate that they were given in cash. 20. "Et monachi inde dant nobis xv marcas argenti et
Bouchard, Holy Entrepreneurs, p. 87. michi Holdeard unum an[n]ulum auri et duobus heredibus
nostris duos solidos” : Cartulary, no. 90.
!8. E YC . X!. nos 38, 71. 107. 137, 141, 143, 158, 159,
161, 163, 242, 271. 21 .E Y C . in, no. 1807.

66 EMILIA J A M RO Z I A K
 In the category of monetary counter-gifts, I that the monks gave the said Peter and his heirs
am also inclined to include debt acquittals, twenty silver marks and one horse and his wife
including those to third parties. In the late two cows and ten sheep with ten lambs.2"1
1170s, one o f the minor benefactors o f Foun­
tains Abbey, William, son o f Eudo de Kirby The counter-gift which Peter received from the
Wiske, granted parts o f his demesne to this monks had a substantial value. The fact that his
monastic house. In return, on two occasions the wife also received part o f it, clearly differenti­
abbey paid his debt o f thirty-three and sixty ated from that o f her husband, indicates that
marks to Jocey the Jew.22 Again this could be the monks were concerned about her consent
classified as a “cover-up sale”, but in reality, this to the quitclaim. The different composition of
transaction indicates that the ways to become a the counter-gift which both of them received
benefactor o f an abbey were diverse and could also represents a broader trend. Horses were
involve complex negotiations which probably given primarily — although not exclusively —
preceded William’s gift to Fountains. The act to men, but cattle, cows, and sheep were
of making pious grants to religious houses did received by either men or women.23 Often a
not mean that the laypeople making them had number of different animals would be offered
to be either naïve or other-worldly. Material as components of one counter-gift. Fulcher, son
and spiritual considerations were not mutually o f Ilbert de Carleton, and his wife Agnes
exclusive. received from Fountains Abbey not only ten
The symbolic and material went hand-in- marks, but also forty sheep, an ox, and a cow;
hand. Counter-gifts in the form o f animals had in addition the monks offered them confrater­
real material value. W hen Sunnive, wife of nity admission.24*26 Since their original grant to
Lambert de Hoveton, and her two daughters the abbey was not very substantial, this counter­
quitclaimed particular plots o f land in Hoveton gift must have been a result o f rather complex
to Rievaulx Abbey, the monks gave them six relations between the benefactors and the
silver marks and one cow. This was as much monks.
symbolic as a real gift. In that way the abbey It appears that the variation in the form of
secured her quitclaim and compensated for her the counter-gift was also dependant on the gen­
loss at the same time. It was not some under­ der o f the recipient. The wife would also be
cover dealing; the charter contained an attesta­ compensated by a separate counter-gift if the
tion, issued by Engelram, dean o f Ryedale, donation included property belonging to her
specifying that the counter-gift was the direct dower. In such cases the wife would also be
result of their quitclaim.23 Sunnive’s neighbour, named in the charter. Adam, son o f Elsi de
Peter de Howeton, also quitclaimed five bovates Kneeton, and his wife Mabel gave ten acres of
o f land in Hoveton to Rievaulx. The charter moorland to Fountains Abbey between 1175
recording this act was issued by Dean Robert and 1204. This property had been part of
o f York and the ceremony itself was conduct­ Mabel’s dower, so her husband received sixty
ed in York: sheep as a counter-gift and his wife, half a
mark.27 There was a rather clear differentiation,
And this [the quitclaim] he declared in front of
not only in the type o f counter-gift given to
Saint Peter’s altar, before us all, by his own hand
men and to women, but also in the value o f the
to hold lawfully and steadily. On account of
wife’s gift, which would usually be lower than

22. EYC. II, nos 284. 285. 25. Henry, son o f Apolitus, received 6 marks o f silver and
a horse from Sallay Abbey (EYC, XI, no. 107): Alan de Arn-
23. “ M onachi vero propter hoc dederunt eisdem
ford was given 8 marks and a horse by Fountains abbey,
mulieribus sex marchas arcenti et unam vaccam”: Cartulary.
while his wife received a cow (EYC, XI. no. 137); R oger le
no. 239.
Bret received from Fountains a monetary counter-gift as
24. "et hoc legitime et firmiter tenendum super altare well as a plough-team o f oxen and a horse (EYC, XI, no.
beati Petri optulit et propria manu coram omnibus nobis 158); Ulf. son o f Rochil de Malha, and his nephew Uctred
affidavit. Monachi vero propter hec dederunt eidem Petro received 5 marks and a horse valued at 8 shillings from Foun­
et herdibus suis xx. Marcas argenti et unam equum ut uxoris tains (EYC, XI, no. 242).
sue duas vaccas et x. oves et decem agnos”: Cartulary, no.
26. EYC , XI, no. 138.
231 (trans. EJ).
27. EYC , IV. 1, n o . 115.

Making and Breaking the Bonds-.Yorkshire Cistercians and their Neighbours 67

 the one given to her husband. Ralph, son of twelfth century.jl The formulae used in such
Gichel, received a saddle-horse (palfrey) worth cases contain vocabulary and expressions simi­
twenty shillings from Fountains Abbey in return lar to those used for the monetary counter-gifts.
for his grant o f four acres of land; his wife Lece- When Alan de Arnford granted some land in
line received half a mark.28 There are also cases Arnford to Sallay Abbey (between ca. 1190 and
when the joint gift from a couple was com­ 1207), he and his wife were granted burial rights
pensated by a counter-gift to the wife only, in the abbey: “Let it be known, that the above
which most likely indicates that the property in said monks assented from love, to me and my
question was part of her dower. W hen Robert wife and my heir, a right to burial in Sallay.”32
Warin and his wife Sigge gave a meadow to Burials in religious houses were highly sought
Fountains Abbey, it was only Sigge and their after, as they helped to assert the prestige and
son Gilbert (the heir) who received gifts; she position o f the family in this world and pro­
was given a small saddle-horse and Gilbert vided aid in achieving salvation in the next; as
received two marks.29 such, they can be classified as a valuable counter­
Apart from the most obvious forms o f gift.
counter-gifts such as money and animals, there Similarly, there were cases o f counter-gifts in
were other types o f objects offered by Cister­ the form of fraternity admissions or even admis­
cian houses to their benefactors. These were sion to the monastery as a monk. Again, as in
often given to the minor partners involved in the case o f burials, the language of those char­
the donations, usually the heirs who were still ters indicates a strong sense o f reciprocity.
children. The aim was above all to assert their Thomas, son o f Peter de Leeds, received admis­
cooperation and participation in the act sym­ sion into the fraternity of Fountains Abbey as
bolically and to secure their consent for the con­ the counter-gift:
tinuation of the grant in the future. An example
As a testimony to this donation, the monks gave
o f such a counter-gift is a piece of cloth (fust­
me, Thomas, from their love, four and half
ian) which a son of Ralph Brisou received from
marks and bestowed on me and my wife
Fountains Abbey between 1162 and 1175,
Catherine and children, so we could share, for­
while his father was given four marks in return
ever, in all prayers and benefices which in the
for his grant.3031
church of Fountains could make.33
Counter-gifts could also include fraternity
admissions and promises of burials in the A further argument that fraternity admissions
monastery, sometimes also a guarantee of were understood as a part o f the reciprocity sys­
admission to the monastery as a monk or lay tem are those charters which list material and
brother. The essence o f such counter-gifts con­ non-material counter-gifts together. For exam­
tained a strong element o f reciprocity, but ple, Jocelin Arecy and his wife Helewise de
instead of a material offering, the monks would Clere quitclaimed a substantial property to
give a service or a promise o f such. Burials in RievauLx Abbey in the early 1170s. In return
the monasteries were a well-established prac­ for their quitclaim, the monks gave them two
tice; although the internal regulations o f the calves, twenty shillings, and one cow and
Cistercian Order attempted to limit this prac­ promised to pray for Jocelin as they would for
tice, many houses were already doing so in the a lay brother.34 There is no goodwill vocabu-

28. EYC. II, no. 294. 32. “Et notandum quod predicti monachi inichi et uxori
mee et heredi meo sepulturam apud Salleiam ex caritate
29. “Et sciendum est quod monachi predicti dederunt
concesserunt”: EYC . XI. no. 135 (trans. EJ).
quemdam palefridum preciatum pro quadam marca argen­
ti domine Sigge predicte in inicio hujus donacionis et here­ 33. “ In testimonium hujus donationis monachi dederunt
di suo Gilberto duos solidos argenti quia concessit et sigillo michi T hom e de sua caritate iiii. marcas et demi et con­
suo confirmavit”: EYC , li, no. 305. cesserunt michi et Constande uxori m ee et liberis ut simus
participes omnium orationum et beneficiorum que in eccle­
30. EYC . xi, no. 271.
sia de Fontibus fient in perpetuum ” : E YC , IH, no. 1692
31. For the most recent discussion on the lay burials in (trans. EJ).
the Cistercian houses, see Megan Cassidy-Welch, Monastic
34. EYC , l, no. 611.
Spaces and their Meanings: Thirteenth-Century English Cister­
cian Monasteries (Turnhout. 2001), p. 217-41.

68 EMILIA J A MR O ZI AK
lary in this charter, no assertion o f monks’ love point when their relationship with the bene­
o f the benefactor; the counter-gift to Jocelin factors was broken.
was meant to secure his cooperation and The most obvious role o f memory during
decrease the chance for further disputes.Jocelin disputes with benefactors is in recalling the
was a troublesome neighbour of the abbey, and original arrangements. It often involved deter­
fraternity admission was a part o f the reconcil­ mining the precise location o f the border
iation process, not an expression o f his partic­ between the abbey lands and these belonging
ular attachment to Rievaulx. to its benefactors, or the extent o f usage o f the
Variation in the value and type o f counter­ common pasture or forest. The first stage in
gift (or parts of it given to different individu­ resolving these disputes was to establish the
als) was a result of several factors which were “truth”, that is, what was the original border
located in the social rather than the purely eco­ or arrangement concerning the pasture. This
nomic sphere. In the first place, the situation of was usually done by recalling the authoritative
the benefactors, and their willingness or abili­ memory o f the community. The abbey obvi­
ty to donate property, played a crucial role in ously had a vested interest in preserving a desir­
the size of the counter-gift. Secondly, the exist­ able version o f events and in being a repository
ing relationship between the abbey and the of the definitive “truth” . One way of doing this
benefactors was also a significant factor. The was to preserve this information not only in
counter-gifts offered in return for a quitclaim oral, but also written form. These two modes
were intended as a means of turning a negative often coexisted. Among the Mowbray charters
relationship into a positive one and securing it copied in the Rievaulx cartulary is a document
for the future. Thirdly, the variation in size of o f confirmation of Nigel de Mowbray, issued
each portion o f the counter-gift, which were between 1163 and 1169, listing the boundaries
marked for different individuals, indicates their of the vili and narrating how they were estab­
relative importance in the context of the par­ lished:
ticular occasion and the perception o f their
My father’s men perambulated these bound­
importance by the abbey. Because most acts o f
aries in his presence and they took an oath that
grants were preceded by some form o f negoti­
they recognised them to be the right bound­
ations, the final forms and sizes o f the counter­
aries between Welburn and the vills which are
gifts also reflected the compromise reached by
around it.33
both parties.
The second common tactic was to present writ­
Memory ten documents issued by the predecessors of the
person who was in dispute with the abbey. This
At times when the bond between an abbey and is often juxtaposed with the approach of the lay
its neighbours and benefactors was questioned, defendant who could not present a written doc­
strained, or broken, memory was often the key ument to prove that he or she had a right to a
to solving it, redefining it, or simply winning a particular property. This is especially true in the
court case. Curia Regis Rolls and Assize Rolls — cases of a long dispute between Rievaulx Abbey
in contrast to the charters discussed in the ear­ and its patron William de Ros in the first half
lier section — were created externally by a third of the thirteenth century. This conflict, stretch­
party. They recorded a final stage of the dispute ing over three decades, left a sequence of records
taking place in court, but sometimes earlier in the Curia Regis Rolls; these documents show
developments were recorded as well. The infor­ that the abbey was suing its patron for a breach
mation in these documents is highly standard­ of its rights to certain properties. The abbot’s
ized, and, as with other legal documents, any (or his attorney’s) tactic was explicitly based on
attempt to access the authentic voice is difficult the importance o f remembering and preserv­
and controversial. Bearing this in mind, I would ing information about donations in previous
nevertheless like to explore the use and role of generations. This is compounded by the asser­
memory by the Yorkshire Cistercians at the 35 tion that W illiam’s actions were unlawful

35. “ Has divisas homines patris mei ipso presente, per­ divisas inter Wellebrunam et villas que circa earn sunt": Car­
ambulaverunt, et juram ento recognoverunt eas esse rectas tulary, no. 65 (trans. EJ).

Making and Breaking the Bonds'.Yorkshire Cistercians and their Neighbours

 because they went against the memory of his memory in resolving disputes between its mem­
father and grandfather. In one of the hearings, bers, but also the slow progress in using the writ­
the abbot said that ten word as legal proof. In the mid-thirteenth
century these two modes still coexisted for the
William acted against the charter of his father,
Yorkshire Cistercians and their neighbours.
which witnesses that the said Robert, father of
the said William, granted and confirmed to
The use o f counter-gifts and memory — both
God and the church of Holy Mary of Rievaulx
oral and written documents — by the Yorkshire
[then follows the description of the proper­
Cistercians in the twelfth and thirteenth cen­
ty].36
turies shows many transitional features. These
The value of the written document was often practices were not any more a part o f the gift
recalled by the abbey during this dispute. The exchange system and continues transfer of gifts
abbot, for example, was able to show that the between laypeople and religious houses char­
defendant’s father wanted a particular property acteristic o f the earlier Middle Ages, but it was
to remain in the monks’ hands.37 The charters not yet the late medieval world in which
were used on many occasions by the abbey as chantries, gifts of candles, and pittances replaced
proof of rights, but many o f the court records the grants o f land and the bonds which they
show that memory continued to be relied upon created between the grantor and recipient. The
as an ultimate repository of reliable informa­ analysed material shows that counter-gifts were
tion. In January 1251/52 Roger, son o f William used to establish and maintain positive rela­
of Hundemaneby, claimed twenty-eight acres tionships with donors, to persuade them to part
o f land in Folkton against the Abbot o f with their properties, and to prevent possible
Rievaulx; the Abbot maintained that it was disputes in the future. The efforts o f many
given by Roger’s father William to the monks Cistercian houses, exemplified here by the case
for a term. of Rievaulx Abbey, to become the repositories
of memory — in particular to maintain archives
The abbot, by his attorney, comes and denies
of relevant documents — became a crucial ele­
the right and such entry; and says that he had
ment for resolving conflicts with neighbours
entry through one Leo his predecessor; and Leo,
and benefactors. M emory was critical in
through one Roger his predecessor; and Roger,
rebuilding and redefining local bonds. The
through one William formerly Abbot; and he
Cistercian spaces about which Peter Fergusson
through William father of Roger who enfe­
has written many illuminating works were often
offed the said William formerly Abbot by his
a backdrop for the social practices o f building
charter produced, which bears witness to this.
and sustaining bonds between monks and
Roger says that the charter should not harm
laypeople. The power o f the sacred around the
him; for William his father never enfeoffed
high altar o f the monastic church gave the
William, the late Abbot, by the said charter;
donors’ promises particular strength, whilst
and he puts himself on the country and the
burials within the monastic precinct allowed
witnesses named in the charter; the Abbot does
the deceased benefactors and their families to
the like.38
enjoy spiritual and social privilege.
This case provides interesting insight into the
continuing importance of local community and University o f Edinburgh

36. “Willelmus contra cartai» patris sui, que testatur quod 37. Cartulary, no. 8.
idem Robertus pater predirti Willelmi concedit et confir­
mat D eo et ecclesie Beate Marie Ryavall” : Curia Regis Rolls, 38. Assize Roll 1046. m .45, in Feet of Fines 1246 to 1272,
ed. C. T. Flower (London, 1922—), X!U, p. 556—57 (trans. ed.John Parker, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record
EJ). Series, 82 (1932), p. 53 (translation as published).

70 EMILIA J A M R O Z I A K
The Architecture of the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey:
Saint Bernard and the Cistercian Principle
of Conspicuous Poverty
A LE X A N D R A GAJEWSKI

and mutable, or that excessive wealth — though

t first appearance, Arnald of Bormeval’s

A celebrated passage in the second book of

the Vita Prima presents an anecdotal
episode from the domestic life of Clairvaux abbey.
we have no such thing — has turned us insane.1

The monks respond, also in direct speech, that if

Upon Bernard’s return from Italy in 1135, Prior God is sending new recruits to Clairvaux every
Geoffrey and some o f the monks inform the day, then it is clearly his will that they should not
abbot that the site on which the monastery is be repelled and that appropriate housing should
located has become too restricted for the com­ be supplied.2 Bernard is thus persuaded by the
munity and that they can not find space for the faith of his monks to endorse the project. In the
large number o f newcomers who are arriving following, Arnald describes the preparations for
daily. They suggest to Bernard that the monastery construction, he recalls the donations made espe­
could be more conveniently established in the cially by the Count of Champagne, and he prais­
plain, lower down the hill from the existing build­ es the rapid progress in building.
ings. At this point, Arnald lets Bernard exclaim: The dialogue takes on an added dimension
in the light o f the fact that Arnald must have
See how buildings have already been con­
been writing the Vita at a time when the third
structed in stone with great sweat and at great
church o f Clairvaux was under construction.
expense, and how water conduits have been
Arnald probably began composing the Vita after
led to the various rooms at great cost. If we
Bernard’s death on 20 August 1153 and with a
throw away all this people in the world will
view to the abbot’s canonization.3 At Clairvaux,
think badly of us, that we are either frivolous

1. Arnald o f Bonneval, Vila Prima, Liber II, in Patrologiae 3. T he first book o f the Vita was w ritten by William
Cursus Completus, Scries Latina, ed.Jacques-Paul Migne (Paris. o f Saint-T hierry before his death in 1148. Arnald refers
1844-64) [hereafter PL], 185.1, col. 285A: "Videtis, inquit, to C o u n t Theobald o f Champagne as o f “blessed m em ­
quia multis expensis et sudoribus iam domus lapidae con­ o ry ” , suggesting that he was w ritin g after the C o u n t’s
summatae sunt, aquaeductus cum maximis sumptibus per death in 1152 and, therefore, perhaps only after Bernard’s
singulas officinas traducti. Si haec omnia confregerimus, death in 1153. Arnald o f Bonneval, Vita Prima, col.285C :
poterunt homines saeculi male de nobis sentire, quod aut “sanctae m em oriae nobilissimus princeps Theobaldus” .
leves sumus et mutabiles; aut nimiae, quas tamen non habe­ For an analysis, see Aadrian H. Bredero, “Etudes sur la
mus, divitiae nos faciunt insanire.” Vita Prima de Saint Bernard” , Analecta Cisterciensia, 17
(1961), p. 253-60; and id., “La Vie et la Vita Prima”, in
2. Ibid., col. 285B: “Si consummatis iis quae ad monas­
Bernard de Clairvaux, Histoire, Mentalités, Spritualitc, C o l­
terium pertinent, habitatores cessasset mittere Deus, stare
loque de L yon-C îteaux-D ijon, Sources Chrétiennes, 380
posset sententia, et cessandum ab operibus rationabilis esset
(Paris, 1992), p. 53—82 (p. 69—72). Bredero argues, how ­
censura. N unc vero cum quotidie gregem suum Deus mul­
ever, that Arnald began com posing the second book o f
tiplicet, aut repellendi sunt quos mittit, aut providenda man­
the Vita as early as 1148.
sio in qua suscipiantur.”

The Architecture of the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey 71

 as I will show, the reconstruction of the church nothing to attract the curiosity and nothing to
started perhaps already before the death of be desired.56 The relocation scene continues the
Bernard. theme o f Clairvaux’s poverty and depicts a
Moreover, several details suggest that the story moment which was emblematic for the transi­
has a special significance in the Vita. This tion from real poverty to a more symbolic
episode was given a central position within the monastic poverty.7
narrative, set between two long descriptions of By concentrating on a problem which had
Bernard s travels in Italy. In fact, the importance already found an accepted solution, Arnald
o f the narrative sequence seems to have out­ could convey several messages. Bernard’s reluc­
weighed the chronological sequence o f the tance to rebuild emphasized his strong princi­
events. Vacandard noticed that the setting of the ples and his saintliness. At the same time,
scene after Bernard’s return in 1135 is incon­ Bernard’s objections allowed the author to jus­
sistent with book four of the Vita Prima, where tify the relocation. He could underline the fact
it is implied that the relocation was discussed at that Clairvaux was upholding its original ideals
the time o f Bernards visit to Rom e, which and values despite the material changes to the
would be either 1133 or 1137/38.4 We should monastery. That message was no doubt equal­
probably not look for journalistic accuracy in ly relevant to the contemporary enlargement of
this scene. the church. The urgency to sanctify Bernard
The dialogue between Bernard and Prior and the necessity to justify construction at Clair­
Geoffrey is staged in realistic detail. Two oppos­ vaux seem to converge in this scene. They sug­
ing positions are presented: the monks give prac­ gest an anxiety that new, larger buildings might
tical arguments for the relocation and conclude belie the vision o f monastic life in poverty,
with a devout justification; Bernard’s objections which is here attributed to Bernard.
centre on the expense and on the risk of bring­
ing discredit on their image. Arnald’s use of dia­ The relationship between Cistercian ideals and
logue was perhaps inspired by classical writings, architecture has been an important point of dis­
such as Cicero’s De Republica and Dialogus de cussion in twentieth-century Cistercian schol­
oratoribus where dialogue is used to discuss a spe­ arship.8* Abbot Bernard’s influence and the
cific theme. In the Vita, Arnald focused on the architecture o f Clairvaux have been a focus of
relocation.3 Arnald had referred to building at attention in this debate. Many perceived a con­
Clairvaux once before in the Vita where he tradiction between Bernard’s austerity and the
related how, after the Council o f Reims in size and complexity of the east end o f the third
1131, Pope Innocent II came to visit Clairvaux. church. That church appears to have had a
The poverty and simplicity of the church made polygonal eastern apse surrounded by an ambu­
him and the bishops present weep. There was latory and a string o f nine trapezium-shaped,

4. E lphège Vacandard, Vie de Saint Bernard, Abbé de Pierre Aube, Saint Bernard de Clairvaux (Paris, 2003), p.
Clairvaux, 2 vols (Paris, 1895), l, p. 492. T he relevant com ­ 252-54.
parative passage can be found in Geoffrey, Vita Prima,
6. Arnald o f Bonneval, Vita Prima, col. 272A—B:
Liber IV. PL, 185.1, cols 323D -324B . T he problem it “nusquam vagabunda curiositate circumferrentur | . ..] Nihil
presents for dating the relocation is discussed in Matthias
in ecclesia illa vidit Romanus quod cuperet, nulla ibi supellex
U n term an n , Kirchenbauten der Pratnonstratenser: Unter­
eorum sollicitavit aspectum; nulla in oratorio nisi nudos
suchungen zum Bau einer Ordensbaukunst (Cologne, 1984),
viderunt parietes.”
p. 62 T
7. See also Guy Lobrichon, "Representations de Clair­
5. Arnald used direct speech to great effect at another vaux dans la ‘Vita Prima Sancti B ernardi’” , in Histoire de
point in the Vita when he described an encounter between
Clairvaux: Actes du Colloque de Bar-sur-Aube / Clairvaux,
Peter o f Pisa and Bernard at Salerno in 1137 (Arnald o f 22 et 23 juin 1990 (Bar-sur-Aube, 1991), p. 245-55. Lobri­
Bonneval, Vita Prima, cols 294—95). T he only other evi­
chon also argues that the writers o f the Vita Prima empha­
dence that such a m eeting took place is to be found in sized the virtue o f Clairvaux as an institution. However,
the hagiographical notes o f Bernard’s life w hich Arnald
it seems unlikely that in this scene A rnald w anted to
used as a source for the Vita. These notes were w ritten by "dévoile les dessous du transfert” (p. 251) or to “im puter
Geoffrey o f Auxerre, w ho continued the Vita Prima after la responsabilité de ces choix grandioses à saint Bernard"
Arnald. Geoffrey o f Auxerre, De Vita et Miraculis S. Bernar­
(p. 252).
di, ed. by R obert Léchât, “ Les ‘Fragmenta de Vita et Mira­
culis S. Bernard" par Geoffrey d ’A uxerre” , Analecta 8. Louis J. Lekai, The Cistercians: Ideals and Reality (Kent,
BoUandiana, 50 (1932), p. 81-122 (p. 111-12). See also O H , 1977).

72 A LE X AN DR A GAJEWSKI
Figure l. N. Milley (engraved by C. Lucas), plan o f Clairvaux, 1708 (detail). (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France)

radiating chapels (Fig. I).9 As far as we can o f monastic art and architecture.11 Neverthe­
determine, Clairvaux was the first of the Cis­ less, many authors have credited Bernard with
tercian mother houses to enlarge the east end an austere aesthetic. His influence has been felt
with a chevet. In order to explain the apparent in the design o f the second church at Clair­
elaboration it has been suggested that the chevet vaux, built after the relocation. It has been sug­
was built only after Bernard’s death and gested that the church set a standard o f
belonged to a Cistercian world in which the simplicity, especially its ground plan with a
Orders early ideals had begun to weaken.10 square eastern apse flanked by flat-ended, east­
The expectation that Bernard would have ern transept chapels.12*The new chevet that
objected to the new chevet was based on tex­ replaced the original east end on the second
tual evidence, especially the Apologia, and on church was therefore considered symptomatic
architectural evidence, the so-called Bernardine o f an ideological change and the disintegration
plan. In the Apologia, w ritten in the 1120s, o f the principle o f austerity.
Bernard commented on over-sized churches, However, others have argued that the Apolo­
paintings, silver, and gold in monasteries. Those gia should not be read as a treatise on art, but
comments have been interpreted as a critique as a defence o f the then-existing Cistercian way

9. Two surviving plans show the east end o f the church. gested that Bernard’s critique was mainly aimed at the lat­
A plan o f the entire monastery was drawn by N. Milley and ter.
engraved by C. Lucas in 1708 (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale
de France. Estampes. Va 10 —Fig. 1). Another plan shows 12. T he idea o f a “Bernardine plan’’ goes back to Esser
the church after the reconstructions under Abbot Gassot du and Hahn. See Karl-Heinz Esser, "D er Kirchenbau des heili­
Deffens (1718-1740) (Archives départmentales de l’Aube. gen Bernard von Clairvaux”, Archiv fü r mittelrheinische
3 H 338). Kirchengeschichte, 5 (1953), p. 195-222; and Hanno Hahn,
Diefrühe Kirchenbaukunst der Zisterzienser (Berlin, 1957). For
10. For example, Marcel A ubert and the Marquise de a recent summary o f positions and an affirmation o f the
Maillé. L’Architecture cistercienne en France. 2 vols (Paris, 1943), concept, see Benoit Chauvin, “Le Plan bernardin: Réalités
I, p. 212-13; more recently Aubé, Saint Bernard, p. 325. et problèmes”, in Bernard de Clairvaux, p. 307—48. Thomas
Coomans argued that Clairvaux II had an influence on the
11. Most recently Conrad Rudolph, The “Things of Greater abbey church o f Villers in Brabant and a group o f related
Importance": Bernard of Clairvaux’s “Apologia”and the Medieval Cistercian churches (L’abbaye de Villers: Construction, configu­
Attitude toward Art (Philadelphia. 1990). R udolph distin­ ration et signification d’une abbaye cistercienne gothique [Brus-
guished between luxurious art and excessive art, and he sug- sels/Brecht. 2000], p. 101-03).

The Architecture of the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey 73

 of life, concerned with monastic practices rather tercian ideal, the variety o f architectural forms
than with art.13 Moreover, many think it unlike­ no longer represents a contradiction, and
ly that Bernard or the Order had a single archi­ Bernards role as the foremost arbiter o f Cis­
tectural ideal. Terryl Kinder, for example, has tercian austerity can be questioned. Few would
highlighted the variety o f ground plans among perhaps go as far as Constance Berman, who
the early churches, and even among the daugh­ concluded that Cistercian ideals were not at all
ter houses of Clairvaux.14 defined until the later twelfth century.18 An
The consideration that Bernards attitude to explanation o f how Cistercian architecture, in
art and architecture might not have been clear­ all its variety, might still have reflected the Cis­
ly defined has allowed some authors to con­ tercian monastic ideal was recently suggested
template Bernard as the patron o f the chevet. by Terryl Kinder. For Kinder, Cistercian archi­
The argument hinges on the interpretation of tecture was not bound to a specific architec­
a textual source. Previously, the dating of the tural type or design; nevertheless, as Dimier had
chevet to after Bernard s death in 1153 has relied also argued, Cistercian architecture was an
on the evidence o f a donation in 1154, which, expression o f Cistercian spirituality.19 Accord­
it was argued, provided the starting date for the ing to Kinder, the Cistercian way o f life required
campaign.15 O ther authors have pointed out an architecture o f simplicity which would
that the donation does not indicate the start of encourage the process of interiorization nec­
the campaign, and since the dates are very close, essary for the contemplative monastic life.20
construction might have began before Bernard s Therefore, from the point of view o f spiri­
death in 1153.16 Finally, a new and more sub­ tuality, a variety of architectural forms could be
tle meaning o f the chevet has been revealed by reconciled with the Cistercian ideal, as long as
Peter Fergusson who suggested that the size and the standard o f simplicity answered the needs
plan o f the chevet reflected not decline, but the o f community. However, in the passage from
function of the new choir as a mausoleum for the Vita, Arnald attributes to Bernard the con­
Bernard.17 I will return to the question o f the cern that “ If we throw away all this people in
motivations for the construction towards the the world will think badly o f us” . According to
end o f this essay. Arnald, the relocation did not have to be jus­
In the meantime, it is clear that the arguments tified only before the monks and God but also
concerning Bernard, the architecture o f Clair­ before men. Here, the argument is not strictly
vaux, and the Cistercian ideal o f austerity are about spirituality, but first o f all about repre­
all affected in the same problem. Weighed sentation and, therefore, about identity.21*
against a less narrow interpretation of the Cis- Bernard’s speech implies that the identity that

13. Christopher N orton and David Park, “Introduction”, 17. Peter Fergusson, “Programmatic Factors in the East
in Cistercian Art and Architecture in the British Isles, ed. N or­ Extension o f C lairvaux” , Arte Medievale. 2nd ser., 8
ton and Park (Cambridge, 1986), p. 1—10 (p. 4—5); Anne (1994), p. 87—101; id., Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian
Lawrence, “Cistercian Decoration: Twelfth-Century Leg­ Abbeys in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton, 1984), p.
islation on Illumination and its Interpretation in England”, 52-53.
Reading Medierai Studies, 1995, p. 31-52; David N. Bell,
review o f Rudolph, The “Tilings of Greater Importance”, in 18. Constance Berman, The Cistercian Evolution .The Inven­
Citeaux, 44 (1993), p. 468-69. For a summary o f views on tion of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe (Philadel­
Bernard, see Jens Riiffer, Orbis Cistercicnsis, Zur Geschichte phia, 2000), p. 55-56.
der monastischen and ästhetischen Kultur im 12. Jahrhundert
19. Anselm D im ier, “A rchitecture et spiritualité cis­
(Berlin. 1999). p. 113-20.
terciennes” , Revue du Moyen H ge Latin, 3 (1947), p.
14. Terryl N. Kinder, Cistercian Europe:Architecture of Con­ 355-74.
templation (Grand Rapids, MI, 2002). p. 141—241.
20. Kinder, Cistercian Europe, p. 13-26, 374—88.
15. Aubert and de Maillé, L ’Architecture cistercienne, I, p.
212, 213. 2 !. Social identity is a subject o f modem sociology. How­
ever, the need to express human identity visually in order
16. See Terryl N. Kinder, “Les Eglises medievales de Clair- to affirm the affiliation to a group and the separation from
vaux: probabilités et fiction", in Histoire de Clairvaux, p. 204—29 the others is probably transversal. See Giles Constable, Three
(p. 215): “ Dès avant la mort de Bernard, l’agrandissement de Studies in Medieval Religious and Social Thought (New York.
la partie est d'église était apparemment envisagé”;Jacques Hen- 1995), esp. p. 263. Constable quotes Gobert o f Laon in his
riet, “L’abbatiale cistercienne de Cherlieu”, in La Création archi­ treatise On the tonsure and clothes and life of clerics, who said
tecturale en Franche-Comté au x i f siècle, ed. Éliane Vergnole that the tonsure, status, and clothing express (loquuntur) the
(Besançon, 2001), p. 244-79 (p. 275-78). distinction o f the cleric.

74 A L EX A N D R A GAJEWSKI
is to be preserved is based on poverty and aus­ Harding (1108-33) the community spurned the
terity and derives from the same source as Cis­ world’s riches to live poor with the poor
tercian spirituality. But while only the Christ.25 The monks imposed restrictions on
community itself is responsible for upholding items relating to their daily activities, especial­
its spiritual principles, Arnald’s dialogue hints ly on food and clothing, as well as on objects
that the subjective and uncontrollable image relating to their liturgy. For example, they
others have o f the community might compro­ excluded from the church anything that could
mise its integrity. This suggests that it is with be considered superfluous, including gold and
respect to Cistercian identity that ideal and figurative sculpture.26 As Kinder points out,
material reality might be difficult to reconcile. these restrictions were intended to prevent dis­
Therefore, a closer look at Cistercian identity traction and aid prayer and meditation.27 At the
and at the question o f how the Cistercians rep­ same time, the restrictions gave visual and sym­
resented their monastic ideal to the world could bolic expression to Cistercian poverty and,
throw a light on the apparent contradiction of therefore, to their striving towards monastic per­
the third church at Clairvaux. fection. Soon the simplicity o f Cistercian food,
clothing, and liturgy were considered as dis­
The historiographical accounts of the origins tinctive features of the new Order by contem­
o f Citeaux — the earliest being perhaps chap­ poraries such as William o f Malmesbury.28 The
ters I to XIV of the Exordium Parvum, dated to way o f life o f the earliest monks was to be pre­
before 1119 — demonstrate a clear sense o f served as the Order was on its way to becom­
identity and purpose among the community.22 ing an institution. Another historiographical
The distinctive quality o f the Cistercian way of text from the first half o f the twelfth century,
life was the strict interpretation o f the Bene­ the Exordium Cistercii, claims that already
dictine Rule, demanding a spiritual and a phys­ Stephen Harding wrote the Carta Caritatis to
ical effort from the monks.23 In Chapters XV maintain uniformity in all matters among the
to XVIII o f the Exordium Parvum, which could daughter houses.29 Poverty, as a visible and out­
date to 1119 but were possibly w ritten only ward sign, was part o f the Order’s institutional
towards the late 1140s, poverty became a cen­ and spiritual identity, and as Chrysogonus Wad­
tral issue.24 The author recounts that under dell suggested, it was “a sacramental reality of
Abbots Alberic (1099-1108) and Stephen christological order”.30

2 2. Demonstrated, for example, in the expression: "N os ten and edited at C luny u n d er A bbot H ugh o f Sem ur
cistercienses, prim i huius ecclesie fundatores’’, in Exordi­ (1049-1109).
um Parvum, Prologue, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Narrative
and Legislative Texts from Early Clairvaux, Citeaux: Studia et 24. Both the Exordium Parvum and the Exordium Cistercii
D ocum enta, 9 (Brecht, 1999), p. 233 (p. 207, 212-13 for contain numerous references to poverty; see for example
Waddell’s interpretation o f the prologue and its purpose). Exordium Cistercii, ed. Waddell, Narrative and LegislativeTcxts,
Waddell (p. 205-21) dates chapters I to XIV to around p. 179: “paupertate fecunda virorum ”, or Exordium Parvum,
1112/13 based on a reference in the Exordium Parvum to ibid., p. 257: "paupertatem, custodem virtutum ”.
Pope Paschal’s im prisonm ent, and on the thought that 25. Exordium parvum, XV, p. 254: “Ecce huius saeculi div­
Bernard’s entry with 30 companions at that time might itiis spretis |. . .] cum paupere Christo pauperes”. Narrative
have given occasion to its writing. These chapters were and LegislativeTcxts, ed. Waddell, p. 212-31, dates chapters
previously dated to pre-1119 because o f the use there o f XV to XVIII to 1147.
the designation Novum Monasterium w hich changed to
Citeaux around 1119, and because o f the lack o f any ref­ 26. Exordium parvum. XV, XVIII, p. 253—54, 257, esp.
erence to the confirmation by Pope Calixtus II in 1119. lines 14—16: “confirmaverunt ne retinerent cruces aureas seu
In his review o f Waddell, C hristopher Holdsw orth has argenteas, nisi tantumm odo ligneas coloribus depictas”.
reaffirmed that the entire Exordium Parvum was w ritten by
27. Kinder, Cistercian Europe, p. 25-26.
1119 (Citeaux, 51 [2000], p. 157-66).
28. William o f Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum: The
23. Exordium parvum. Prologue, p. 233: “in arta et angus­ History of the English Kings, voi. I, ed. and trans. Roger Aubrey
ta via quam regula demonstrat usque ad exhalationem spir­ Baskerville Mynors, Rodney Malcolm Thom pson, and
itus desudent” . A possible explanation for the early interest Michael W interbottom (Oxford, 1998), p. 585.
in their history and the rapid institutionalization is the
29. Exordium Cistercii, p. 181. Waddell dates the text to
fact that the Cistercians developed out o f a long-estab­
1147 and suggests the author is Raynard de Bar. abbot o f
lished B enedictine tradition. D om inique Iogna-Prat
Citeaux (Narrative and LegislativeTcxts, p. 147—61).
(Etudes clunisiennes. Les M édiévistes français. 2 [Paris,
2002], p. 172-93) has shown that a historiography o f the 30. Chrysogonus Waddell, “T he Exordium Cistercii, Luc-
origins and early history o f the Cluniae O rder was w rit- can and M other Poverty” , Citeaux, 33 (1982), p. 379-88.

The Architecture of the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey 75

 The same sense o f social awareness can be concern about representation in the Vita reflect
found in Bernard’s Apologia written in the the tenor o f Bernard’s own writing.
1120s.-’1 It is evident in his passionate assertion In the mid-twelfth century, poverty and uni­
that the humility, modesty, and poverty the Cis­ formity continued to form a vital part o f the
tercians claimed were genuinely lived among O rder’s vision o f monastic life. Perhaps they
the monks. Bernard was evidently defending became more important as the Order became
the integrity of the community. For Bernard, prosperous. Cistercian writers from the second
Cistercian poverty represented a distinct — and quarter of the twelfth century were clearly alert
morally superior — social reality. From this posi­ to the danger that increased wealth and posses­
tion, Bernard could criticize Cluniae monasti- sions posed to the integrity of their principles.33
cism and, in particular, the visual and material A liturgical reform took place before 1147.
aspects which defined the otherness o f their Bernard’s role in the reform is debated.34*Wad­
monasteries as much as the exclusion o f all that dell argues that the initiative must have come
is superfluous defined Cistercian monasticism.32 from Citeaux, the m other house, and that
For example, Bernard implied that gold was dis­ Abbot Raynald (1133/34-50), a former monk
played in monastic churches to elicit donations. of Clairvaux, was one o f the leading figures in
He condemned visual imagery as a mental dis­ it.33 Bernard certainly supervised the reform of
traction for monks. Bernard also touched upon music, which was aimed at preserving the most
church architecture. He accepted with ironic authentic liturgical chant.36 A statute, probably
resignation that churches should be o f immense adopted around that time, prohibited colour in
height (immensas altitudines), immoderate length manuscript illustrations and in stained glass.37
(immoderatas longitudines), and needless width The reforms aimed at reinforcing the strict
{supervacuas latitudines), demonstrating plainly interpretation of the Rule and at maintaining
how inappropriate and superfluous these aspects monastic poverty in ritual, liturgy, and outward
are. Bernard’s arguments further developed the aspect.
theme o f the historiographical texts. He In the texts from the first half o f the twelfth
employed his powerful rhetoric to demonstrate century, architecture is seldom mentioned
that Cistercian monastic poverty, manifest in directly. O ne o f the few examples is Bernard’s
food, clothing, and liturgy, was the outward and Apologia, which includes the purportedly inci­
visual aspect o f a superior monastic way o f life. dental remark concerning the size o f church-
Therefore, the arguments that Arnald attrib­ es. It is furthermore possible to imagine that the
uted to Bernard in the Vita were not new. In intention to reject all that is superfluous, which
fact, it is possible that Arnald had read the Apolo­ was stated in the Exordium Parvum, also applied
gia when he was writing Bernard’s speech in to architecture. A statute from 1158 which pro­
the Vita. The objections to expense and the hibited the construction of stone towers was

31. For example, Bernard talks about “totius denique with Related Texts, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell. Citeaux: Stu­
vitae nostrae singularis quaedam atque austerior conserva­ dia et Documenta, 10 (Brecht. 2000), p. 31-33. Lawrence.
tio”: Apologia, ed. Rudolph, The “Things of Greater Impor­ “ Cistercian D ecoration”, esp. p. 36-38, argues against
tance”, p. 234. Bernard being solely responsible for this move towards fur­
ther austerity.
32. Lawrence, “Cistercian D ecoration”, p. 39. As Riiffer
has pointed out (Orbis Cisterciensis, p. 17), the work o f the 35. Narrative and Legislative Texts, ed. Waddell, p. 156-61.
French sociologist Bourdieu is helpful in understanding
questions o f social identity. See e.g. Pierre Bourdieu, La Dis­ 36. Claire Maître, Un antiphonaire cistercien pour le tempo­
tinction, critique sociale du jugement (Paris, 1979), p. 561—64 ral xiT siècle. Manuscrits notés, 1 (Poitiers. 1998), p. x; Nar­
and p. 558, n. 19: ’’L’identité sociale résidant dans la dif­ rative and Legislative Texts, ed. Waddell, p. 227-31; Riiflfer,
férence, c’est par rapport au plus proche, qui représente la Orbis Cisterciensis, p. 78-83.
plus grande menace, que l’on affirme la difference.”
33. Exordium Cistercii, p. 399: “Ceterum quia possession­ 37. This statute appears in a number o f manuscripts. See
ibus virtutibusque diuturna non solet esse societas.” T he Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cistercian General Chapter.
author o f the Exordium Parvum emphasized that increased ed. Chrysogonus Waddell. Citeaux: Studia et Documenta,
wealth had not corrupted monastic observance (XVII, p. 12 (Brecht, 2002), section II.B: T he Instituta, p. 559: “De
438, lines 25, 26). litteris et vitreis. Littere unius coloris fiant, et non depicte.
Vitree albe fiant, et sine crucibus et picturis.” Waddell (p.
34. For the evidence from the Vita o f Saint Stephen o f 517-19) argues for a date o f 1147 rather than 1 ! 52, as pre­
Obazine, see Cistercian Lay Brothers: Twelfth-Century Usages viously suggested.

76 A L EX AN DR A GAJEWSKI
the only statute that regulated the use o f a spe­ rect the architectural ostentation o f its daugh­
cific architectural feature.38 It seems surprising ter house, Vaucelles, when the church there was
that, unlike other aspects o f Cistercian life, judged excessively sumptuous and superfluous
architecture remained to a large extent unreg­ {sumptuosum nimis et supeifluum) and against the
ulated. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily simplicity of the Order. The statute does not
suggest that architecture was less important as indicate the grounds on which the architecture
a visual medium for Cistercian identity. The was judged excessive, but the reason might have
problem might have been one o f definition. been the size o f the church under construction,
Contemporary textual sources described archi­ which was to be 137 m long.4-5The corrective
tecture in similar, unspecific terms. As Edgar action of the General Chapter at Vaucelles was
De Bruyne has pointed out, the vocabulary a rare case, and it is not known what it effect­
most often used in constitutions o f religious ed. Nevertheless, the use o f the terms ‘exces­
orders are “superfluitas” and “curiositas” as sively sumptuous’ and ‘superfluous’ implies the
opposed to “necessitas” and “simplicitas”, while existence o f some norms, even though they
the tower is one of the few features singled out were loose and unspecified.
as an example of pride.39 It was perhaps more If simplicity and poverty were as much part
evident and tangible to restrict figurative art, of Cistercian identity as they were of their spir­
colour, and precious materials than to define ituality, than it was perhaps not felt necessary
and to put a limit to the superfluous in archi­ for the General Chapter to have strong regu­
tecture. lating powers. In fact, the evidence suggests that,
At the same time, Cistercian principles might among some communities, the need for uni­
have been more vaguely defined than was some­ formity was keenly felt. Around 1200, Conrad
times thought. Chrysogonus Waddell has point­ o f Eberbach wrote the Exordium Magnum, an
ed out that the official formulation o f statutes account of the origins o f the Order. He insist­
was often modified in transmission.40 Indeed, ed on the importance o f maintaining Cister­
Kathleen Doyle has suggested that we should cian simplicity.44 For Cistercian poverty to stay
interpret Cistercian statutes in the sense o f res­ a living reality and remain part o f Cistercian
olutions. She argued that the formulation o f identity, the communities o f the Order need­
statutes was often generalized and might rely ed to demonstrate the ideal o f poverty in a rec­
on what is implicit.41 In that light, the paucity ognizable, though not necessarily identical
o f provisions for architecture is less surprising. way.45
Perhaps standards could be broad and inclusive,
leaving room for local building practices and O ne could speculate that, at Clairvaux, the
technological changes, because they relied on community found itself under diverse pres­
an implicit expectation that the communities sures. As a mother house the abbey commanded
would follow Cistercian principles.42 The Gen­ status and prestige; as a centre o f Cistercian
eral Chapter only interfered when those prin­ reform it advocated the monastic ideal o f the
ciples were visibly exceeded. In 1192, the abbot Order. The renown o f Abbot Bernard would
o f Clairvaux was penalized for failure to cor­ have intensified those pressures. The construc-

38. The date 1158 is given in the stanila in a manuscript 42. See also Riiffer’s discussion o f the importance o f the
from Clairvaux now in M ontpellier (Bibliothèque inter­ Instituta and Capitula for Cistercian architecture (Orbis Cis-
universitaire, section de Medicine, MS H 322, fols 84—85v). terciensis, p. 111-13).
See Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Waddell, p. 70. no. 13: “Tur­
43. Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Waddell, p. 247, no. 29.
res lapidee ad campanas non fiant”, and p. 579, no. 16,
Clairvaux was estimated to be a little over 100 m long (Kinder,
“Lapidee turres non fiant in ordine nostro”.
“Les Eglises medievales de Clairvaux”, p. 288, n. 43).
39. Edgar De Bruyne, Études d ’esthétique médiévale. Bib­
44. Conrad o f Eberbach, Le Grand Exorde de Cîteaux ou
liothèque de l’Evolution de l’Humanité (1st edn, 1946; Paris,
Récit de débuts de l'ordre cistercien, vol. vi, ed. by Jacques Berlioz,
1998), p. 501-15. De Bruyne quotes, for example, Alexan­
Cîteaux: Studia et Documenta, 7 (Turnhout, 1998), p. 403.
der Neckam and Hugh de Fouilloi (p. 135—37).
For example. Conrad implores his reader “de conserver la
40. Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Waddell,p. 18-19. simplicité et l’innocence” o f the fathers o f the Cistercian
Order.
41. Kathleen Doyle, paper given at Lille University 16
January 2003 and forthcoming doctoral thesis (Courtauld 45. See also Matthias Unterm ann, Forma Ordinis: Die mit­
Institute o f Art. University o f London). telalterliche Baukunst der Zisterzienser (Berlin, 2001), p. 1-45.

The Architecture of the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey 77

 tion o f the chevet in the early 1150s was the for the building o f the church (ad aedificationem
third time the abbey church was rebuilt since novae basilicae) by King William o f Sicily.50 That
its foundation. Replacing the earliest wooden donation can be dated to shortly after Febru­
structures, the first stone monastery had been ary 1154, when the death o f William’s father,
built to the west o f the later monastery.46 A Roger, is mentioned. However, the source gives
new abbey church was erected following the no information whether the project had already
relocation.47 The evidence for the dating comes started or which part o f the church was to be
from the hagiographical texts o f Bernard’s life. built with the money. The eighteenth-century
The move took place after 1117, and probably archivist André Le Boullenger recorded the
in the 1130s, if we can trust Arnald’s reloca­ dedication of two altars in 1157 and 1158, one
tion story. A dedication took place sometime of them located in the south-western ambula­
before 1145.48 It is possible, but unconfirmed, tory chapel. He asserted that the new church
that the second church o f Clairvaux had a was started before Bernard’s death, perhaps in
ground plan with a square or rectangular east­ 1152.51
ern apse and transepts opening onto flat-ended The motivations for a possible third recon­
chapels.49 struction of the church within the abbot’s life­
Whatever Clairvaux’s second church looked time are to be found at Clairvaux. Bernard’s
like, a new chevet was built less than a decade political influence, his well-known holiness, and
after the community had celebrated the dedi­ his ability to work public miracles invested his
cation of the previous church. As Henriet has foundation with a distinguished position.52 By
recently shown, the documentary evidence sug­ the late 1140s, the monastery had been lauded
gests that the east end was started during Abbot by popes,33 it provided for a rising number of
Bernards lifetime. The main medieval source monks,34 and, with the burial o f Archbishop
for the dating is a story in H erbert’s Liber Mira- Malachy o f Armagh in the church on 2
colorum from 1178 which features a donation November 1148,33 it housed the cult o f a

46. O n the plan o f Dorn Milky, nos 12, 13. For the early 50. Herberti de Miraculis. LihrisTres, Liber II, PL, 185, cols
monastery, see Kinder, "Les Eglises medievales de Clair­ 1340B-1342B (col. 1341C): “Et non solum de negotio pro
vaux”. p. 204—08, and Jean Owens Schaefer, “T he Earliest quo fuerat ad Patrem destinatus, prosperum eventum obti­
Churches o f the Cistercian O rder”, in Studies in Cistercian nuit, verum etiam rex pro ejusdem patris sui anima apertis
Art and Architecture, vol. I, ed. by Meredith P. Lillich (Kala­ thesauris suis, ad aedeficationem novae basilicae Claravel-
mazoo, 1982). p. 1-12. lensis non modicam auri summam per eum dem fratrem
magna devotione transmisit.” See Henriet's discussion o f the
47. For an in-depth discussion o f the building history, the source (“Cherlieu”, p. 275-76).
literary and pictorial evidence, and the design sources of Clair­
vaux II and Clairvaux III, see Alexandra (Kennedy) Gajew- 51. Boullanger in Troyes, Bibliothèque municipale, MS
ski, “Gothic Architecture in N orthern Burgundy in the 12th 2764, liasse 2, 96/4, 105; O ne o f Boullangers documents
and Early 13th Centuries” (unpublished doctoral thesis, Cour- was copied by Philippe Guignard, "Lettre à M. le Comte
tauld Institute o f Art, University o f London, 1996). de M ontalem bert sur les reliques de S. Bernard et de S.
Malachie”, PL. 185.2, cols 1765-1767A; see also Schlink,
48. The so-called Fragmenta Gaudifri, written by Geoffrey Cluny und Clairvaux, p. I l l and n. 324; Henriet, “C her­
o f Auxerre before ca. 1145, contain several passages which lieu”, p. 276.
have been used to date the second church. Geoffrey describes
that both Bernard and a monk called Bartholomew had visions 52. Berman, The Cistercian Evolution, p. 96.
of the iocarion o f the new church. Bernard s vision took place
53. Bernard received two popes at Clairvaux: Innocent
in the year that his cell was built, perhaps 1117. Geoffrey also
II in 1131 and Eugenius in 1147.
mentions that a dedication o f the church had taken place. See
Léchât, “Les ‘Fragmenta’”, p. 101-02, 107-09. 54. The hagiographical texts stress the large number o f
conversions arriving at Clairvaux. Geoffrey, for example,
49. It is unclear whether the second church survived the
suggests that there were 700 monks and novices at Clair­
Middle Ages. Like many authors, Aubert believed that the
vaux at the time o f Bernard’s death. (Vita Prima, Liber V,
transept and nave o f the church known from plans were
col. 363B). See also Laurent Veyssière, “Le Personnel de l’ab­
started during the campaign o f the second church, but not
baye de Clairvaux aux XIIe siècle” , Clteaux, 51 (2000), p.
completed. (Aubert and de Maillé. L ’Architecture cistercienne, 17-89.
I, p. 124, 182-83. 212-13). O thers have suggested that the
second church was completely rebuilt, following the con­ 55. Bernard, Vita S. Malachiac, XXX. 67, PL, 182, cols
struction o f the new choir in the 1150s. Wilhelm Schlink, 1112C—1113B; and XXXI, 75; “Jam omnibus rite peractis,
Zwischen Cluny und Clairvaux (Berlin, 1970), p. 138-41; in ipso oratorio sanctae Dei Genitricis Mariae, in quo sibi
U nterm ann, Kirchenbauten, p. 618-24, n. 2043; and H enri­ bene complacuit, Malachias traditur sepulturae”, PL. 183,
et, “ Cherlieu”, p. 278, n. 124. col. 1118A.

78 A L EX AN DR A GAJEWSKI
potential bishop-saint.56 The new chevet offered tion. Furthermore, we know nothing o f inte­
an appropriate space for cult and burial, it pro­ rior decoration, colour, painting, stained glass,
vided altars for the monks, and it was a repre­ and liturgical furnishings which might have
sentation o f Clairvaux’s prominence in the reflected the recommendations o f the General
Christian world. Bernard and the community Chapter. But while the programme was coher­
might have contemplated reconstruction some­ ent and the decoration might have been sim­
time after 1147, when Pope Eugenius’s visit did ple, the architecture had a language of its own.
not include a dedication. Perhaps Malachy’s bur­ Clairvaux was visited by bishops, popes, and
ial provided the incentive. Unsurprisingly, after dignitaries. A splendid and large construction,
Bernard’s death the new chevet was conceived probably the first of its kind within the Order,
immediately as the mausoleum for Bernard. It could give the impression that the community
is even possible that this had already been envis­ had become indistinguishable from non-Cis­
aged before the abbots death. tercian monasteries. But even more was at stake.
The architecture o f Clairvaux’s east end was The Order had constructed its identity on being
unusual, even among contemporary, non-Cis- distinctively different and visibly poor. This is
tercian architecture (Fig. 1). The ambulatory very clearly expressed by Arnald in the concern
opened onto nine radiating chapels when most attributed to Bernard’s that they may be judged
o f the chevets at this time had five or seven frivolous, mutable, or madly wealthy. Indeed,
chapels. Furthermore, the chapels were trapez­ twentieth-century scholarship, sensing a con­
ium-shaped, creating a polygonal outer wall. tradiction, has sometimes assessed the builders
Views o f the exterior show that the east end o f the chevet o f Clairvaux in a related way and
had a three-tiered elevation. Peter Fergusson has attributed the cause to the loss o f Bernard.
persuasively argued that the singularity o f the However, the problem was not created by a
design reflects the specific situation at Clair­ decline o f values following Bernard’s death. It
vaux, and especially the need to provide a fit­ was inherent to the Order which sought spiri­
ting setting for Bernard’s burial. He has shown tual perfection in a reformed monasticism that
that the chapels which form a polygonal outer emphasized the eremitical origins o f the Bene­
wall were modelled on Roman burial church­ dictine Rule, especially in aspects like physical
es.'’7 If Bernard himself initiated the building, labour and material poverty. By the mid-twelfth
he might have found the inspiration for the century, the more immediate poverty that was
design on his two visits to Rome. It would have experienced by the earliest communities was
been suitable for a church which already housed celebrated by writers like Arnald in his account
Malachy and was to be the burial place for of Innocent II’s visit to Clairvaux cited above.
Bernard himself. Furthermore, W ilhelm Poverty remained a dictinctive condition of Cis­
Schlink has pointed out that the three-tiered tercian life, defining the spirit not only o f the
elevation of the chevet must have been closely individual monk but also o f the institution. It
related to the east end of the third abbey church was visibly expressed by the restrictions which
o f Cluny.38 The relationship would have were adopted by the Cistercians with respect to
emphasized Clairvaux’s claim to be the new art and architecture. They were signs that dis­
centre of reformed monasdcism. played the Cistercian idea o f monasticism both
Clearly, the architectural programme of the to the world and to the communities them­
chevet was coherent with the history o f the selves. The visibility o f architecture must have
institution and even with Bernard’s own con­ made it an important consideration in this
duct. There is also no indication that the Gen­ respect. Large and splendid buildings, in par­
eral Chapter criticized the construction, as it ticular, could potentially subvert the O rder’s
did at Vaucelles. Indeed, it could be argued that image and discredit their identity. Ultimately, a
Clairvaux’s new chevet was not superfluous lack o f credibility could have compromised the
because it answered the needs o f the institu­ Order’s understanding of itself and of its monas-

56. O n Malachy’s death, Bernard composed two sermons, 57. Fergusson, “ Programmatic Factors” , p. 87—100; id.,
a hymn, and a Vita. Lives like this were required for the for­ Architecture o f Solitude, p. 52-53.
mal process o f canonization, and it is clear that Bernard con­
sidered Malachy to be a saint. Malachy was canonized in 1190. 58. Schlink, Cluny und Clairvaux, p. 138-41.

The Architecture o f the Choir at Clairvaux Abbey 79

 ticism as a way to spiritual perfection. At Clair­ generation o f Cistercians, and to each abbey,
vaux, that did not happen. The circumstances to find a balance between the pressures to build
which had allowed the construction o f the new large and splendid churches which could pro­
chevet, especially the celebrity conveyed by vide places for burial and represent the status
Bernard, also assured the preservation of Clair­ o f their house, and to demonstrate their pover­
vaux’s image as a centre o f reform. ty in order to assert their spiritual identity.
By the end o f the twelfth century, three
other m other houses, Citeaux, M orim ond, Courtauld Institute o f Art
and Pontigny, had also replaced their east ends University o f London
with large ambulatory choirs. It was left to each

80 A L EX AN DR A GAJEWSKI
 CULROSS ABBEY*
R IC H A R D FA W C ETT

ulross Abbey is located in the south­ on the proposed endowments.2 The new abbey

C western corner o f the county o f Fife,

about ten kilometres west of Dunferm­
line, high above the steeply sloping north shore
was colonized by 23 February 1217/18 when
monks arrived from Kinloss under the leader­
ship of Hugh, the erstwhile prior of that house.3
of the Firth o f Forth (Figs 1, 2). It was a rela­ A number of other Cistercian houses o f com­
tively late foundation o f modest scale, being paratively modest scale were also being found­
established in 1217 by Malcolm, earl of Fife, ed in Scotland around the turn o f the twelfth
and it has received little attention in the litera­ and thirteenth centuries, including Glenluce
ture on the Cistercian order. It seems fitting to (Wigtownshire) in about 1191/2, Deer
offer to a scholar whose work has contributed (Aberdeenshire) around 1219, and Balmerino
so much to our understanding of the great (Fife) in 1227 or 1229 (see Fig. 8).4 Balmerino
northern English abbeys a contribution from was a foundation o f Ermengarde, the queen
north o f the Forth. dowager. Glenluce was a foundation of Roland,
lord o f Galloway, whose grandfather had been
The Foundation o f the Abbey patron of the Cistercians at Dundrennan and
the Premonstratensians at Soulseat and
The Earls o f Fife had already been patrons of W hithorn, and whose son and granddaughter
the Cistercian order: M alcolm’s grandfather, were to be the founders o f houses for the Pre-
Earl Duncan, founded the nunnery of North monstratensians at Tongland and for the Cis­
Berwick (East Lothian) at an uncertain date tercians at Sweetheart.3
before his death in 1154.1The first steps in the Probably the closest analogy for Earl Mal­
foundation o f Culross are recorded in 1214, colm’s foundation at Culross was Deer Abbey,
when the Abbots o f Kinloss, Coupar Angus, which was established by William Comyn, earl
and Newbattle were required by the General of Buchan. In each case we may suspect that a
Chapter to inspect the intended site and report monastery was being founded as one o f the

* I owe a particular debt to the late Monsignor David 1. David I confirmed a grant to N orth Berwick by Earl
M cR oberts, w ith whom I enjoyed discussions at a time Duncan in 1147x1153: Regesta Regain Scottorum, the Acts of
when we were considering w riting a joint guidebook on Malcolm IV, ed. G. W. S. Barrow, (Edinburgh, 1960), p. 160.
the abbey. I am additionally indebted to Professor Geoffrey
Barrow, D r Allan Rutherford, Mrs Doreen Grove, and to 2. Statata Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis ab
my wife. Sue, all o f whom read through the draft o f this Anno 1116 ad Annum 1786, ed.Joseph-Marie Canivez, voi.
paper and offered valued com ments, though I remain 1 (Leuven, 1933), p. 427.
responsible for all faults. I am also pleased to offer thanks to 3. Chronica de Mailros, ed. Joseph Stevenson (Edinburgh,
the Rev. Thomas Moffat, who gave me access to all parts 1835), p. 129.
o f the church, and to Michael Hutson, who reduced my
drawings o f the moulding profiles. 4. For summary accounts o f the foundation o f these hous­
es, see Ian B. Cowan and David E. Easson, Medieval Reli­
gious Houses, Scotland (London. 1976), p. 66-75.
5. Ibid., p. 74, 102-03. and 78.

Culross Abbey
 essential trappings for the proper expression of the sites o f earlier religious communities, Deer
territorial lordship, even if there was no inten­ being traditionally associated with Sts Colum­
tion of endowing it on anything approaching ba and Drostan.6 There were also similarities in
the magnificent scale of earlier royal founda­ the sloping configuration of the sites, as well as
tions. Both Culross and Deer were daughter in the ways the buildings were planned and set
houses o f Kinloss, and both were founded at out across those slopes. Nevertheless, the par-

6. Richard Fawcett, “T he Cistercian Abbey o f Deer", in

'lite Book of Deer, ed. Katherine Forsyth (forthcoming).

82 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
 gin. Beyond providing a mausoleum and a house
of prayer for his family, a leading aim o f Earl
Malcolm in establishing this abbey was pre­
sumably to commemorate one of the sites asso­
ciated with the mission o f that saint. In Fife
there was already an ancient priory on the island
in Loch Leven where Serf was believed to have
lived for seven years, as well as a cave at Dysart
where he reportedly transformed water into
wine; in neighbouring Perthshire he is said to
have slain a dragon near the site o f a fine parish
church at Dunning.9 But Culross was the most
important of the sites linked with St Serf, since
that was where he was believed to have taught
the young St Kentigern, and where his body
was eventually brought back for burial. A num­
ber of carved stones found during the restora­
tion o f the abbey church from 190510 —
including part o f a cross shaft with panels of
key pattern and interlace decoration — suggests
that a religious community was living on the
site at least by the ninth century, raising the pos­
Fig. 2. Culross Abbey from the south, with the church in the sibility that religious life had continued for some
background and foundations o f the east claustral range in the time after St Serf’s death. N o records have sur­
foreground, 1981. (Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy o f His­ vived of any such community, though by the
toric Scotland) early thirteenth century there seems to have
been a lay settlement here, since its church was
granted to the abbey in 1217 along with those
allels between the foundations should not be o f Crombie and Tullibole.11
over-emphasized, particularly in view o f the In planning his foundation, Earl Malcolm
periodic tensions between the two founding appears to have been guided, at least in part,
families.7 The Cornyns, who were making star­ by the Life o f St Kentigern written, perhaps
tlingly rapid acquisitions o f lands and power at before 1185, by Jocelin o f Furness; chapter
this time, were regarded by many as arriviste, four o f the Life deals with his education by
having acquired the earldom of Buchan only Serf at Culross.12 Indeed, one wonders if the
through marriage as recently as about 1214. By fact that the author o f the Life was himself a
contrast, the earldom o f Fife — which had Cistercian could have been one consideration
come to be regarded as the premier earldom in behind the slightly unusual choice o f the Cis­
Scotland — had been granted to Malcolms tercian Order to sponsor the new foundation.
grandfather by royal charter in the 1130s, in the By the early thirteenth century, at a site with
earlier stages o f the introduction o f feudal an earlier religious history, it might have been
tenure to Scotland.8 more usual for a great landholder to have pre­
The dedication of the abbey at Culross was ferred the generally cheaper and more adapt­
to St Serf (or Servanus) as well as to the Vir­ able Augustinians for his family monastery.

7. Alan Young, Robert Bruce’s Rirais, the Comyns, 10. John L. Anderson, “T he Restoration o f the Abbey
1212-1314 (East Linton, 1998). p. 56. Church o f Culross”. Transactions of the Stirling Natural His­
tory and Archaeological Society. 1906-07. p. 17-35 (p. 34-35).
8. G. W. S. Barrow, The Kingdom of the Scots (London.
1973), p. 283. 11. Ian B. Cowan, The Parishes o f Medieval Scotland (Edin­
burgh, 1967), p. 39-40, 41, 201, and 215.
9. For a recent discussion o f the life and cult o f St Serf,
see Alan M acquarrie. The Saints of Scotland (Edinburgh. 12. Alexander Penrose Forbes, Lives of S. Ninian and S.
1997), p. 145-59. Kentigern (Edinburgh, 1874), p.40-41.

Culross Abbey
 Whatever the case, the linked legends o f Serf So far as life in the abbey was concerned, hints
and Kentigern were to remain im portant at o f occasional irregularities are found as early as
Culross throughout the Middle Ages. Arch­ 1246, when Matthew, the fourth known abbot,
bishop Blackadder o f Glasgow may have was deposed for unstated reasons, and an
founded the small apsidal chapel at Culross unnamed abbot was murdered around 1330.1819
dedicated to Kentigern close to the place Specific complaints are recorded about Abbot
where his pregnant m other, Thenew, was John de Peebles (ca. 1399—1435), who was found
thought to have been washed ashore; he cer­ guilty o f concubinage in 1419.20 Following his
tainly made a bequest to that chapel in his will death there was the first o f a number of con­
of 1508.1'’ In fact some modern scholars now tested abbatial elections which must have dis­
suspect that Kentigern — whose one relative­ turbed the peace o f the cloister between 1435
ly secure date is a reference in the Annales and 1444, with further difficulties between 1492
Cambriae suggesting he died in about 612 — and 1510. In the interval between these two
may have lived a century earlier than Serf, ren­ contested elections we hear o f another abbot,
dering their traditional relationship apoc­ Richard Marshall (1449—ca. 1469), who was
ryphal.14 But what is im portant for our forced to resign “ob vitae turpitudinem”.21 Fol­
purposes is that Jocelin’s hagiography was lowing the death o f Abbot James Stewart, prob­
accepted unquestioningly in the Middle Ages. ably on the field o f Flodden in 1513, the abbey
was governed by a series o f secular clerics
The History o f the Abbey as an Institution appointed by the king as commendators.22
From 1531 members o f the Colville family
Relatively little is known about Culross Abbey established a firm hold on that office, with no
as an institution, since its chartulary was burned break through the secularization o f the abbey
in the seventeenth century.15 However, a copy in 1560. Eventually in 1589 and 1609 the
of the original foundation charter is preserved abbey’s properties and estates were erected into
in a charter o f confirmation by Pope Alexan­ a temporal lordship forjantes Colville o f East­
der II (1214-49),16 inspected and copied in er Wemyss,25 who took the title o f Lord
1318.17 These copies specify the initial endow­ Colville o f Culross.
ments o f the new abbey, while a number o f M uch o f this reflects little credit on the
other charters provide details o f further endow­ abbey. And yet there are indications that life at
ments. By the Reformation, the abbey’s mini­ Culross must have been intellectually and artis­
mum income — based on the assessment for tically rewarding for at least a proportion of
thirds o f benefices — was £1600, compared the sixteen or so members o f the community
with £2300 for Deer and £1773 for Balmeri- within its walls during its later years.24 Richard
1«
Marshall, the abbot w ho was deemed to be

13. John D urkan, “ Archbishop R o b e rt Blackadder’s 19. For summary details o f the careers o f the abbots and
Will”. limes Review, 23 (1972). p. 138-48 (p. 139). commendators, see McRoberts, “Culross”, and D. E. R . Watt
and N. F. Shead. The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotlandfrom
14. William F. Skene, Celli: Scotland (Edinburgh, 18872),
Twelfth to Sixteenth Centuries (Edinburgh, 2001), p. 50-54.
il, p. 255-59; Macquarrie, The Saints of Scotland, p. 156-57.
20. John Stuart. Records o f the Monastery of Kinloss (Edin­
15. David M cRoberts, “Culross in the Diocese o f D un­
burgh, 1872), p. xl.
blane”, Society of Friends of Dunblane Cathedral, 10 (1969),
p. 91-98 (p. 91). 21. Ibid., p. xli.
16. William Douglas. “Culross Abbey and its Charters”, 22. Mark Dilworth, "T he Conunendator System in Scot­
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 14 (1925). land”, Innes Review, 37 (1986). p. 51-72 (p. 65).
p. 67-94.
23. Register o f the Great Seal of Scotland, voi. V (Edinburgh,
17. Archibald A. M. Duncan. Regesta Reguin Scottorum, the 1888), no. 1675, and vol. vil (1892), no. 9.
Acts of Robert I (Edinburgh, 1988), p. 417-18.
24. In addition to the Commendator and abbot there are
18. Summarized in Cowan and Easson, Medieval Religious references to sixteen monks in 1540; see Calendar of the Lung
Houses, p. 72: for fuller details relating to the abbey’s income Charters, 854-183 7, ed.J. Anderson (Edinburgh, 1846—64),
at the Reformation, see Jantes Kirk, The Boohs of Assump­ no. 442.
tion of the Thirds of Benefices (Oxford, 1995). p. 289-94.

84 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
living a wicked life, was also the patron o f a some o f the monastic buildings would have
handsome illuminated Psalter now in the been kept in repair for a period of time. Accom­
National Library o f Scotland.23 Indeed, the modation would have been required for the
Culross scriptorium evidently enjoyed a family of the commendator,32 and also perhaps
notable reputation, receiving orders for for those four o f the nine members o f the
antiphonaries and other books for the Chapel monastic community who refused to accept
Royal at Stirling Castle in the early sixteenth Protestantism but probably wished to continue
century,26 and a missal and gradual for the occupying their old quarters.33
mother house o f Kinloss.27 There was also a The church was evidently used for the wor­
school at the abbey. The scholarly Abbot ship of the local layfolk by this time. An Act of
Thomas Crystal! o f Kinloss (1500-28), a native Parliament in 1633 formally decreed that the
o f Culross, said that he and his brother had parish should be relocated to the abbey church,
been educated at the abbey by a m onk named where services were said to have been held since
Thomas Pearson who was eminent in religion the Reformation, since the old parish church
and learned in grammar.28 (about two kilometres west of the abbey) was
Members of the community also continued in ruins and had not been used for worship
to have an interest in architecture. A combina­ within living memory.34 It is not clear if the lay
tion of experience with building operations and brothers’ choir in the western nave was dis­
administrative skills presumably led the monk mantled at this time or earlier, with parochial
R obert of Wedale to become joint master of worship moving to the form er presbytery,
works for the royal building operations at Lin­ transepts, and monastic choir (see Fig. 11). It
lithgow Palace in 1434.29 Wedale soon suc­ appears, however, that the eastern parts o f the
ceeded John de Peebles as abbot in 1435, abbey church had been in continuous use for
governing the house until 1444. We shall see worship since being built, and although other
something o f another abbot’s patronage of Scottish Cistercian churches were adapted for
architecture when discussing the tower that parochial worship after the Reformation, Cul­
Andrew Mason built at a date around 1500, ross is the only one still in use.
while in the 1530s, ’40s, and ’50s loans were The monastic buildings have been less fortu­
being raised to cover the costs of repairs.30 The nate. Once the last o f the monastic communi­
southward-facing slopes of the abbey site per­ ty died and the successors of the commendators
haps also encouraged an interest in gardening, no longer wished to live there, the buildings
and the skills of Brother Matthew Taket were were allowed to fall into decay; only the north­
called upon for the royal gardens at Stirling in ern parts of the west range, taken over for use
1497-98.31 as a manse, were spared (see Fig. 11). This sit­
Following the Reformation in the years uation changed in 1913 when the area o f the
around 1560, it may be assumed that at least monastic buildings was taken into state care.33

25. W. K. Dickson, “Notes on the Culross Psalter in the 30. Register of the Great Seal, voi. ill (1883), nos. 1923 and
Advocates' Library", Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 2869; vol. iv (1886), no. 746.
of Scotland, 51 (1916-17), p.208-13; David McRoberts, Cat­
31. Accounts o f the Lord High Treasurer, vol.i (1877). p. 370,
alogue of Scottish Medieval Liturgical Books and Fragments (Glas­
378, 388.
gow, 1963), p. 11.
32. Since John Colville, w ho succeeded to the com -
26. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, voi. ii
mendatorship in 1581. did so on the resignation o f his father,
(Edinburgh, 1900). p. 68-69: voi. iv (1902), p. 409: vol. vi
Alexander, it may be assumed that Alexander had married
(1905). p. 22.
around the time o f the Reformation.
27. John Ferrerius’s Life o f Abbot Thomas Crystall in Stu­
33. Mark Dilworth, Scottish Monasteries in the Late Middle
art, Records o f... Kinloss, p. 36.
Ages (Edinburgh, 1995), p. 79.
28. Ibid., p. 20.
34. Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, voi. v (Edinburgh.
29. The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, v o l. IV (Edinburgh, 1870), p. 90-91.
1880). p. 554.
35. Edinburgh, National Archives o f Scotland file MW. 1.2
(SC 21809/3D).

Culross Abbey
 Fig. 3. Culross Abbey, plan in 1896, showing its state following the restoration by William Stirling in 1823.
(MacGibbott and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture o f Scotland, voi. ii, 1896)

Clearance excavations were carried out in The architectural evidence suggests that the
1920-23 which revealed parts of the claustral main medieval campaign began around the time
ranges (see Fig. 5),36 and a further area to the o f the foundation in 1217/18, albeit with the
south and east of the presbytery of the church possibility that work may have begun earlier in
was subsequently taken into care.37 the nave. The first fixed date is the burial o f the
founder in 1230,38 which indicates that enough
The Medieval and Later History o f the Abbey o f the building was complete for his tomb to
Buildings be afforded a sheltered location, presumably
within the eastern parts. The only other data­
Although still essentially a medieval building, ble medieval campaign is the addition o f the
the abbey church at Culross has undergone tower, which has a tablet with the arms and ini­
major repairs and remodellings both before and tials o f Andrew Mason, abbot from 1493 to
since the Reformation. If we are to understand 1510 (see Figs 2, 16).39 But there were appar­
what we see it is therefore necessary to take ently further building operations in the six­
account o f not only the little that is known of teenth century, as evidenced by fund-raising in
the medieval building campaigns, but also of 1538-39, 1542-43, and 1552-53.40 In 1538-39
the post-medieval restorations. it was stated that the monastery required repairs

36. N ational Archives o f Scotland files MW.1.1 (SC 38. Scotichronicon, vol. v, ed. D. E. R . Watt et al. (Aberdeen,
21S09/2C) and MW. 1.1068 (SC 21809/02). 1990). p. 143.
37. N ational Archives o f Scotland file MW. 1.3 (SC 39. T hree fraises on a fess betw een three masons' mal­
21809/313). lets.
40. See note 30, above.

86 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
 Fig. 4. Culross Abbey, plan show­ 5 Ä T MO. I

ing the proposals for restoration in

¡905. (Reproduced by permission
of the National Archines o f Scot­
land, R H P 1334/1)

ft*« Tcrn-cn

because the buildings were collapsing, though remodelled as a manse for the parish minister,
such statements were sometimes over-stated in with further alterations beina carried out in
the hope of attracting funds. It is perhaps equal­ 1752.
ly significant that the money was needed to save By the early nineteenth century both church
the commendator from his creditors, “pro rel- and manse were evidently in a poor state as a
evamine suo ad manus creditorum ” . Never­ consequence o f long years during which the
theless, it is possible that some work that has heritors (the principal property owners o f the
left traces in the monastic buildings was carried parish) provided only minimal maintenance on
out in those years. the church and associated buildings. A resur­
After the Reformation and the cessation of gence of interest in medieval architecture at pre­
conventual life, the eastern parts of the church cisely this time, however, led to a call for action.
were refitted for reformed parochial worship, The response was a rather heavy-handed inter­
with further work perhaps being carried out vention which introduced low-cost medieval-
after the formalization of parochial use in 1633. izing forms, but which showed little
The first significant dated addition to the church understanding of the surviving architecture. The
took place in 1642, when a burial vault and first stage in this process came on 26 September
tomb chamber were added against the north 1822, when the heritors sought advice on the
transept to house John Mercer’s extraordinari­ “best mode o f repairing [the church] on the
ly ambitious memorial to Sir George Bruce of most decent and economical plan” .42 Subse­
Carnock, who had died in 1625. As part o f the quently, on 30 January 1823, the architect
same operation, the north transept itself was William Stirling of Dunblane prepared a scheme
reconstructed as an aisleless rectangle to pro­ which would provide space for a congregation
vide the Bruce family with a self-contained area o f 790 “at a moderate expense”, and which
for their use when attending services (see Fig. could “accommodate the Parish without doing
12).41 Shortly afterwards, in 1647, the north­ injury either to the Walls or Roofs, both of
ern end o f the west conventual range was which may stand many years, if kept watertight”.

41. Both the tomb chamber and transept have an aedicule 42. National Archives o f Scotland. H eritors’ Records,
above their entrances with a tablet inscribed with the date M inute Book, 1755-1872. H R 158-1.
1642 and the name o f Sir George Bruce o f Carnock, the
son o f the earlier Sir George buried in 1625.

Culross Abbey
 Fig. 5. Cttiross Abbey, plan o f the present state. (Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy o f Historic Scotland)

By 1 May o f that year Stirling declared that

“the whole of the Repairs and seating had been
executed agreeably to the Plans and Specifica­
tions” (Fig. 3). The result of this operation was
a more regular arrangement o f pews and gal­
leries in what had been the presbytery, monas­
tic choir, and south transept, focused on a pulpit
set against a wall near the centre o f the build­
ing, and with a flat plaster ceiling running uni­
formly over all those parts. Once work on the
church had been completed, attention focused
on the needs of the manse within the north­
ern part of the west range, where Sir Robert
Preston, a local landholder, agreed on 8 Janu­
ary 1824 to meet the cost o f repairs. William
Stirling produced plans on 27 January 1825, and
on 16 April o f that year he declared the work
to be complete.
As understanding o f medieval architecture
became more sophisticated in the course o f the
later nineteenth century, Georgian Gothic
Restorations were seldom deemed acceptable,
and pressure for further restoration gained
Fig. 6. Cttiross Abbey, view o f interior to the eastfront the monks’ strength. At a time when the ecclesiological
choir, across the transept arches into the presbytery, 198Í. (Crown revival within the Church o f Scotland was at
copyright, reproduced courtesy o f Historic Scotland) full flood, the wish for more correct architec­
tural forms was frequently combined with a
desire to reinstate an essentially medieval
arrangement o f furnishings. This often result-

88 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
 tion with what had been achieved (Fig. 4).
Anderson’s restoration was more creative than
would be acceptable by modern conservation
standards, but he brought considerable sensi­
tivity to the work. While eliminating most of
the extensive Georgian intrusions, he respect­
ed the medieval fabric by the standards o f his
time, though there was much refacing o f the
stonework and the two transept arcades were
entirely rebuilt along with the eastern chapels.43
Anderson also replaced Stirling’s flat plaster ceil­
ings with ribbed pointed barrel ceilings, with
the slightly daring suggestion o f a rood-like tie-
beam to demarcate what had become the chan­
cel from the rest o f the church.

The Architecture of the Abbey Church

Having considered what is known of the his­
torical background to the abbey buildings, we
must examine the architecture o f the church,
taking sidelong glances at related buildings in
an attempt to understand its wider context.
Fig. 7. Culross Abbey, view o f the nave (lay brothers’choir) look­
The church was built on a cruciform plan
ing east. (Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy o f Historic Scot­
with an aisleless rectangular presbytery and sym­
land) 77if former rood screen and base o f the tower arc at the
metrical transepts each having a pair o f eastern
centre, with the south wall o f the nave on the right; to the left
chapels (Fig. 5). The total length of the church
is the stump o f the window arch from the chapel added to the
was about 56.7 m (186 ft), and the width across
north side of the tower.
the transepts about 25 m (82 ft). Although arch­
es open off the main space into the transepts,
ed in replacing a centrally located pulpit as the there are no arches running from north to south
principal focus o f worship by a communion and thus no defined crossing; there was clearly
table at the east end, on the site o f the medieval no intention of building a tower here (Fig. 6).
high altar; it also often involved the removal of West o f the transept arches is an unaisled area
some or all o f the galleries. All o f this was to be for the monks’ choir, beyond which two screen
accomplished at Culross. walls enclose a retrochoir. O f the western part
The movement for the reinstatement o f as of the nave, which would have contained the
much as possible of the medieval character of choir o f the lay brethren, apart from a higher
the church came to a head by 1902.43 But the fragment at the eastern end only the lower part
principal heritor, the Earl of Elgin, was anx­ o f its south wall survives (Fig. 7). That south
ious for costs to be kept down, and alarm bells wall was originally abutted by the north clois­
rang when the initial estimates of the architect, ter walk. At its west end is a section that evi­
Robert Rowand Anderson, of Rowand Ander­ dently flanked an ante-choir, and that has two
son and Paul, mounted to £2100.44*Work even­ blocked doorways into the west claustral range.
tually began in 1905 and was completed by At the western angle o f this wall are the remains
1908, when Lord Elgin expressed his satisfac- o f a clasping buttress embodied within the cor-

43. Sam McKinstry, Rowand Anderson, ‘the Premier Archi­ 45. Comparison with the illustrations in David MacGib-
tect of Scotland’ (Edinburgh, 1991), p. 166-67. bon and Thomas Ross, The Ecclesiastical Architecture o f Scot­
land, voi. Ml (Edinburgh. 1896), figs 637 and 638, shows that
44. National Archives o f Scotland, H eritors' Records.
Anderson also reinstated the medieval roof pitches — as
H R 158-2.
indicated by the crease against the east wall o f the tower —
and rebuilt the east gable, eliminating Stirling’s hipped roof
in the process.

Culross Abbey
 ner of the manse. The position o f this buttress
demonstrates that the west front was on the
same line as the outer face o f the west claustral
range; it is not known if there was a Galilee
porch in front o f it. O n the surviving evidence
the nave was almost certainly unaisled through­
out its history.
The church at Culross was not unique among
Scottish Cistercian abbeys in having transepts
with eastern chapels which closely flank a short
rectangular presbytery, combined with an aisle­
less nave. It is likely that the Cistercian abbeys
of Balmerino46 and Deer started life with a sim­
ilar plan (Fig. 8 A, B, and C). In both o f those
cases, however, a single aisle was later added
along the side opposite the cloister. At Balmeri­
no the differences between the rhythm o f the
wall shafts along the aisleless north wall and of
the arcade piers o f the single south aisle indi­
cate that the aisle was a later addition, and the
situation is similar at Deer. But aisleless variants
on this plan type were not confined to the Cis­
tercian Order in Scotland, perhaps because of
the economies that such simpler plans offered.
One example is at the Tironensian abbey of Lin-
dores (Fife) which had been founded in about
1190 (Fig. 8 E),47 although that church had three
rather than two chapels on each transept;48
another is at the Arroasian abbey o f Cam-
buskenneth (Stirlingshire), founded in about
114049 but probably not built until several
decades later (Fig. 8 D).3<) In each of those exam­
ples, as at Balmerino, a later aisle was added on
the side opposite the cloister, and the evidence
for its secondary addition is seen in the lack of
correspondence between wall shafts and arcade
piers. At Lindores, however, the existence o f a
free-standing campanile prevented the aisle from
continuing the full length of the nave.51
At Culross, our ability to understand the
building sequence has been impaired by the
quantity o f reconstruction and restoration since
Fig. 8. Sketch plans o f churches drawn to the same scale: A .
the Reformation. Nevertheless, there is a dif­
Culross Abbey, B. Deer Abbey, C. Balmerino Abbey, D. Cam-
ference between the character o f the nave
buskenneth Abbey, E. Lindares Abbey, (author)

46. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical 50. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical
M onuments o f Scotland, Inventory of Fife, Kinross and Clack­ Monuments o f Scotland. Inventory of Stirlingshire (Edinburgh.
mannan (Edinburgh, 1933), fig. 107. 1963), fig. 50.
47. Regesta Regum Scottorum, the Acts ofWilliam I, ed. G.W.S. 51. Cambuskenneth, like Lindores, has a free-standing
Barrow (Edinburgh, 1971), p.357-59. campanile, though it is unlikely to date from before the late
thirteenth century, and there was no problem in adding an
48. Royal Commission, Inventory of Fife. fig. 357.
aisle the full length o f the nave before that tower was built.
49. Barrow, Kingdom of the Scots, p. 182-84.

90 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
 Fig. 10. Culross Abbey, east capital o f south transept arch, 1981.
(Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy o f Historic Scotland)
The right hand part o f the leading capital is a restoration.

who were preparing the site, and as a first place

o f worship for the monks once they arrived?
Fig. 9. Culross Abbey church, moulding sections o f the transept It is nevertheless unlikely that construction
arches:A . south transept jambs, B. south transept arch, C. north o f the eastern parts was long delayed. The
transept jambs, D. north transept arch, (author) mouldings o f the responds and arches o f the
openings into the transepts, for example, appear
to be no later than the earlier decades o f the
masonry and that in the eastern parts o f the thirteenth century (Fig. 9). The south transept
church. The nave masonry is rather cubical in opening has three keeled shafts to the responds
shape and has relatively wide joints, whereas the and triplet or quadruplet rolls to the two orders
masonry in the eastern parts which appears to o f the arch, while the north transept opening
be medieval has stones that are longer in the bed has a filleted shaft32 flanked by rounded shafts
and more finely jointed (Figs 2, 7). There is also to the responds, and triplet rolls to the outer
the rather curious feature of a series of pilasters order o f the arch, with rolls and an axial spur
along all but the western part of the inner face to the leading order. Perhaps the clearest point­
of the south wall of the lay brothers’ choir. These er to a relatively early thirteenth-century date
differences suggest that the nave was built ear­ for these arches is the simple sprigs of stiff leaf
lier than the eastern parts, a hypothesis that may foliage on the capital over the eastern respond
be corroborated by the detailing o f the roll of the south transept arch, although parts of the
moulding at the exposed angle of the surviving capital were renewed in 1905—08 (Fig. 10).5253
buttress on the west front. If the nave was indeed Further dating indicators are the simple corbels
earlier than the eastern parts, is it possible that o f the wall-head corbel table along the south
it was built in advance of the colonization of side o f the presbytery (Fig. 2) and the lancet
the site from Kinloss in 1217 in order to pro­ heads of the windows in the two flanks o f the
vide a temporary oratory for the lay brethren retrochoir, now within the later tower.

52. It cannot be ruled out that the axial filleted shaft has 53. For reasons that are no longer clear, the south transept
been recut to this form, since it does not relate well to its arch rises to a greater height than that on the north: how­
capitals and bases. ever, one or both may have been rebuilt, either when gal­
leries were installed in the south transept or when the north
transept was rebuilt.

Culross Abbey 91
 Fig. 11. Culross Abbey, view from the south-east in 1693. (John Slezer, Theatrum Scotiae, 1693, pi. 48)

Many questions, however, remain about the transept was still occupied by a burial vault (Fig.
form and detailing o f the transepts and their 4),57 and that vault was only removed after fur­
chapels. The main body o f the south transept, ther consideration. W hen the north transept
while extensively remodelled and refaced, chapels were rebuilt, the northern one was made
appears to have survived essentially as built, to project further east than its neighbour to allow
though this cannot be said of its eastern chapels. space for a number of memorials that were relo­
Those chapels were still in place on Slezers views cated when the vault was demolished (Fig. 5).
of the abbey first published in 1693 (Fig. 11),545 None of the transept chapels thus fully repre­
and they are also shown on the plan drawn in sents the original design, though MacGibbon
1813 by A. M orton for General Hutton (Fig. and Ross’s drawing of the north transept58 shows
12).33 However, they were evidently destroyed that part o f the east wall of the inner chapel had
by William Stirling in the restoration of 1823 survived into the last years o f the nineteenth
and do not appear on the plan by MacGibbon century, and the round-arched plate-traceried
and Ross published in 1896 (Fig. 3), though the window depicted there would be consistent with
arches which had opened into the chapels were a date in the first half o f the thirteenth century
retained in the infill (Fig. 13).56 As mentioned (Fig. 14).This window, despite now being heav­
above, the north transept was almost complete­ ily restored, is a precious survival, since there are
ly rebuilt to a rectangular plan in 1642, as may very few other windows within the surviving
be seen on M orton’s plan. The transept chapels part o f the church likely to date from the orig­
were only reinstated as part of the 1905 restora­ inal building.
tion by Rowand Anderson and Paul, although Perhaps the most fascinating relic of the thir­
their first plan indicates that when work began teenth-century building campaign is the rood
the site of the northern chapel off the north screen that once separated the monks’ choir

54. John Slezer, Theatrum Scotiae (London, 1693), pis 47, 57. National Archives o f Scotland, 7334/1.
48. and 3rd edn (1719), pi. 69.
58. MacGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture, voi.
55. National Library o f Scotland, Adv. MS 30.5.23/24c. ill, fig. 639.
56. MacGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture, voi.
in, figs 635 and 638.

92 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
Fig. 12. Culross Abbey, plan drawn by A . Morton in 1813 for General George Hutton, showing the layout as it existed before
William Stirling’s restoration o f 1823. (Reproduced by permission o f the Trustees o f the National Library o f Scotland, Adv. M S
30.5.23,24c)

from that of the lay brethren (Fig. 7). This was part within the north cloister walk. There was
clearly not part o f the first campaign as repre­ presumably also a pulpitum east o f the rood
sented by the south wall of the nave, since it is screen in the thirteenth century, though the
built up against one o f that wall’s internal present one appears to be from the years around
pilasters. Nevertheless, there is no reason to 1500 when the tower was added.
doubt that the two (now blocked) pointed- There is fragmentary but tantalizing evidence
arched doorways with broadly chamfered jambs, for a number o f modifications to the church in
arches, and sills, which were on each side o f the the course o f the Middle Ages. One involved
altar of the lay brethren, are of thirteenth-cen­ cutting the two rectangular doorways (now
tury date; the same is true of the simply cusped blocked) through the upper level of the rood
piscina to the south o f the altar site.39 On the screen, above the arched doorways that flanked
masonry evidence, the rood screen may always the site o f the nave altar (Fig. 7). These gave
have risen to at least the height of the nave wall- access to a rood loft; the arched recess between
head, even if, as we shall see, the upper door­ them, which appears to date from the fifteenth
ways were later piercings. The insertion of this century, must have been behind the rood altar.
screen must have resulted in some nervousness The rood loft itself was o f cantilevered timber;
as to the structural consequences, since a but­ a number o f infilled sockets within the mason­
tress was added on the south (cloister) side, with ry (eight are still easily detectable) indicate
a trifoliate termination to the chamfers o f the where it was seated.

59. This piscina evidently replaced a double piscina in the aumbry, although the ghosting o f the arches and basins may
south wall o f the nave, which was itself converted into an still be seen within it.

Culross Abbey 93
 Fig. 13. C ulm s Abbey from the south-east in 1896, showing
the state of the church following William Stirling’s restoration Fig. 14. Culross Abbey, inner north transept chapel in 1896.
o f 1823. (MacGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture o f (MacGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture o f Scotland,
Scotland, voi ii, 1896) voi. ii, 1896)
Hie blocked arches o f the south transept chapels and the lean- Hie blocked arch o f the Stewart o f Innermeath tomb (d. 1445)
to roof over the sacristy are visible on the left. is on the right, the cast window o f the chapel on the left.

Several later changes to the church were the At least one chapel was added to the north side
result of a wish to have burial places for those of the church, and there is ambiguous evidence
hoping to benefit from the prayers of the com­ for a second. An undated, but presumably early-
munity o f St Serf. The most obvious are two nineteenth-century, print by D. Blackmore in
tomb arches cut through the walls between the the Hutton Collection shows an arch to the west
presbytery and the transept chapels (Fig. 6). On o f the transept, though by that stage it was
the north side an equilateral arch opened above blocked apart from a doorway opening onto a
a tomb chest and was surmounted by an ogee stair that led up to a gallery.61 A view by MacGib­
hood-m oulding enriched by crocketing and bon and Ross shows that the blocking was later
framed by buttresses and a cornice. Regrettably, pierced with two levels of four-centred Y-trac-
as part of the process of lining the interior of eried windows during Stirling’s restoration of
the church with lath and plaster in the restora­ 1823; those two levels of windows would have
tion o f 1823, all the salient mouldings on the lit the gallery and the space below it (Fig. 15).62
presbytery side were cut back. The heraldry of In Rowand Anderson’s restoration of 1905 the
one of the effigies associated with this monu­ galleries were removed63 and the arch filled by a
ment — rediscovered when excavating heating large four-light traceried window (Fig. 4). Black-
ducts in 190560 — commemorates John Stew­ more’s view gives the impression that the arch
art o f Innermeath, Lord of Lorn, who died in had extended up from ground level, and it there­
1445. Support for such a date may be found in fore looks as if it might once have opened on to
some general design similarities with the tomb a flanking feature, such as a laterally projecting
at Lincluden of Princess Margaret, who died in chapel. However the continuity o f the base
about 1451. The tomb arch on the south side course and string course across the opening,
was much simpler and bears heraldry o f the De although now partly renewed, shows that it did
Quincy family on shields facing the transept not in fact extend down to ground level. This
chapels. In 1823 both tomb arches were supports Rowand Anderson’s restoration of it as
blocked, with Stirling’s ubiquitous four-centred a window, although its great size indicates that
Y-traceried windows set within the blocking. it was a relatively late insertion.

60. Anderson. “Restoration o f the Abbey C hurch”, p. 62. M acGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture, voi.
32-33. ui, fig. 637.
61. National Library o f Scotland, Adv. MS 30.5.23/24a. 63. Traces o f the galleries may be observed as infilled joist
pockets in both the presbytery and monastic choir.

94 R I C H A R D FAWCETT
 Fig. 16. Culross Abbey, south-west corner o f the tower, 1981.
(Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy o f Historic Scotland)
Fig. 15. Culross Abbey, lower and north transeptfrom the north On the left, the window rear-arch shows the thickening o f the
in 1896. (MacGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture o f wall, and the arms o f Abbot Mason may be seen above the door­
Scotland, noi. ii, 1896) way. Traces o f the original south doorway through the rood screen
Remains o f the chapel on the north side o f the tower are visi- are visible at thejunction o f the two walls; above it is the blocked
ble on the right. secondary doorway to the rood loft.

If the idea o f a chapel off the north side of and south walls o f the retrochoir, and it was
the monastic choir therefore has to be dismissed, decided to double their thickness, as can be seen
immediately west o f the window arch there is within the rear-arches of the window on each
certain evidence for one lateral chapel flanking side (Fig. 16).The pulpitum with its central door­
the retrochoir between the two screens, which way (Fig. 17 E and F) was entirely rebuilt, though
was clearly built as part o f the campaign which the rood screen was retained, albeit with some
included the addition of a tower. The wish to internal refacing. One consequence o f thicken­
add towers to Cistercian churches was, of ing the side walls, however, was that the two lev­
course, by no means uncommon in the later els o f paired doorways through the rood screen
Middle Ages. At Culross the most obvious place had to be blocked. As an alternative means of
for a tower might have been over the junction access, at the lower level an early thirteenth-cen­
of the main vessel and the transepts, between tury round-arched doorway was brought from
the presbyter)' and monks’ choir. But we have an unknown location and inserted as a new cen­
seen that there was no defined crossing at that tral opening (Figs 7, 17 B and C); this was where
point, and the structural problems of raising a the altar of the lay brethren once stood, and its
tower over thin walls and arches would have piscina became a holy water stoup. As part o f the
been considerable; instead it was decided to con­ internal refacing, a new rear-arch to the door­
struct the tower over the screens and retrochoir way was created, and over it was set a tablet with
(Figs 2, 7, 15). the arms and pastoral staff of Abbot Andrew
In deciding how to erect the tower, the main Mason (1493-1510), held by an angel and
problem was evidently the strength of the north flanked by his initials (Fig. 16). At the upper level

Culross Abbey 95
 a rectangular doorway was cut immediately to
the north of the blocked south doorway (Fig. 7).
The fact that this doorway was still necessary to
give access to the rood loft, along with the pro­
vision o f a drip moulding for the nave roof,
shows that it was intended to retain the nave west
of the tower. It is certain that the western part
of the nave cannot have been required for lay
brethren by this stage, but it is possible that it was
already being used for worship by the local laity.
The tower itself is constructed o f finely cut
ashlar (Figs 2, 15), with a prominently expressed
circular stair tower at its north-western corner. It
rises through two storeys above the roof ridges
of the nave and choir, with a single-light belfry
window in each face which is firmly tied to the
wall visually by one string course at sill level and
a second string wrapping the tower horizontally
from the ends of the hood-moulding. A traceried
Fig. 17. C u lm s Abbey, moulding sections: A . chapter house oculus sits above each window. The wall head
doorway, B. jamb o f the doorway inserted at the centre o f the now terminates in a crenellated parapet resting
rood screen, C. arch o f the doorway inserted at the centre o f the on a deep and broadly projecting string course,
rood screen, D. doorwayfrom the base o f the tower into the north with miniature bartizans at the angles. The para­
chapel, E .jam b o f the pulpitum doorway, F. arch o f the pulpi­ pet and bartizans now seen are largely from the
tum doorway, (author) 1823 restoration, though the string course —

Fig. 18. Culross in 1719, with the abbey to the left and Abbey House at the centre. (John Slezer, Theatrum Scotiae, 3rd edit,
1719, pi. 69)

96 R I C H A R D F AWCETT
 three filleted rolls separated by hollows to both
jambs and arch (Fig. 17 D ).65 The surviving
fragment o f the chapel’s west wall has the
southern jamb o f a large window arch (Fig.
7), which was presumably intended to cast
light on an altar against the east wall. The east
face o f this wall is coursed in with the tower
stair turret and has a doorway into the turret
(Fig. 15). The evidence for the roof o f this
chapel shows that it must have run on an
east-west axis, parallel to the nave roof, rather
than at right angles to the tower as might have
Fig. 19. Culross Abbey, west claustral range from the north­
been expected.
west; the doorway to the lay brothers’parlour is to the left, with
doorways to their dormitor)’ stair and refectory to the right, 1984.
(author) The Monastic Buildings
The remains o f the monastic buildings are
grouped around a cloister measuring about 31.5
with provision for bartizans at the angles — is m (103 ft) from east to west and about 29 m
original. Slezer showed a double-pitched roof ris­ (95 ft) from north to south (Fig. 5). The only
ing behind an uncrenellated parapet in the late relics of the cloister walks are some o f the cor­
seventeenth century (Figs 11, 18). Internally the bels that once supported the roofs, together
lower level of the tower was covered by an with a section o f the drip moulding that cov­
octopartite vault with a central bell hole. The way ered the junction o f the roof with the wall along
in which the stair turret is emphasized and a trac- the lower part o f the tower. Both the cloister
eried oculus is set above a single-light window in and the area o f the lay brothers’ courtyard to
each face shows some parallels with the west the west are terraced to create a level platform.
tower of Linlithgow Church (West Lothian), To the south and east, however, the ground falls
which was completed around the time that a bell away steeply following the natural contours, and
was cast for it in 1490, and which is therefore of the ranges on those sides had to be elevated
a similar date as the Culross tower. Parallels for above vaulted undercrofts.66 The plans o f the
the miniature bartizans of the parapet angles may­ ranges were partly recovered through excava­
be seen on the central tower of Melrose Abbey. tion in 1920-23.
The construction o f the tower must have The most complete element of the monastic
been accompanied by a number o f modifica­ buildings is the west range, the part allocated
tions to contiguous parts o f the church. The to the lay brethren (Fig. 19). In 1693 and 1719
immediately adjacent window at the east end Slezer showed this range as extending some dis­
o f the south nave wall appears to have been tance beyond its junction with the south range
rebuilt, possibly with a flat lintelled head since and terminating in a gable with a multi-light
the reveal rises very close to the springing of window to the main storey on the cloister level
the segmental rear-arch (Fig. 7).64 But the most (Fig. 18). He also showed a block adjoining and
significant addition was the chapel on the running parallel to the southern part o f the
north side o f the tower mentioned above. This range, with another building projecting west­
chapel was entered from w ithin the tower wards at right angles from its core. The two lat­
through a segmental-arched doorway with ter elements are shown on the plan o f 1813 by

64. T he corresponding window on the north side is like­ 66. T he most extreme case o f the need for undercrofts
ly to date from the 13th century, however, on the basis o f to bring monastic ranges up to the level o f the cloister was
the provision o f a rebate for a glazing frame rather than a at nearby D unferm line Abbey, w here two storeys were
chase for fixed glazing. required below the outer part o f the dorm itory range and
refectory.
65. The blocking in this arch is pierced by the only sur­
viving example o f Stirlings four-centred Y-traceried win­
dows.

Cttlross Abbey
 Fig. 20. Culross Abbey, west claustral range from the south-east, Fig. 21. C u lm s Abbey, remains o f the chapter house entrance,
showing quadripartite vaulting in the refectory at the principal 1984. (author)
level, 1955. (Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy o f Historic
Scotland)

A. M orton, albeit in less complete state (Fig. north but enclosed to the south by the north
12). The southern end o f the range has since wall o f the adjacent block (Fig. 19).6/ Beyond
been lost, as have the adjoining and projecting this point the ground falls away steeply, and the
buildings, though there are residual clues to platform of the lay brothers’ courtyard is revet­
their extent and location. The best-preserved ted by a high wall. An undercroft extends under
section o f the ground floor level runs south­ the lay brothers’ refectory (Fig. 20), within
wards from the manse, the manse itself stand­ which a doorway opens into a latrine below the
ing over the northern end of the range. A short terrace, while a blocked staircase alongside a
distance south o f the manse, a wide doorway small chamber led up to the main floor. Inside
opens into the parlour, which has an inner the range at cloister level the parlour and refec­
doorway towards the cloister. Further south a tory are covered with quadripartite vaulting.
pair of doorways are set within a recessed sec­ The undercroft shows the remains o f barrel
tion of wall. The smaller one opens onto a mural vaulting, though there is evidence in the north
stair that led up to the lay brothers’ dormitory, wall that it was originally rib-vaulted in two
the stair itself being expressed externally in cor- aisles.
belled-out masonry. The larger o f the two door­ O f the south range only the lower north wall
ways, now blocked, opened into the lay survives, where it revets the terrace of the clois-
brothers’ refectory. Above the two doorways a
series of corbels perhaps supported a roof over
a partly covered area between the west range 67. At the upper level there are the lower courses o f a
and the building that projected out at right doorway opening oft" the lay brothers’ dorm itory into the
block that adjoined the outer end o f the west range. Since
angles to the west. Based on the wall tusking, a drain runs below this block it may be assumed to have
it would seem that this area was open to the been the rear-dorter.

98 R I C H A R D F AWCETT
ter. Excavation in 1920-23 failed to locate the adjacent entrance to the chapter house. W hat
south wall, but the evidence suggests that the survives o f it is a window arch and part o f the
refectory ran parallel to the cloister rather than doorway, which points to the usual arrange­
perpendicular to it. The undercroft was origi­ ment of an entrance flanked by unglazed win­
nally divided into two compartments, each cov­ dows (Fig. 21). Both the window and doorway
ered by two aisles of quadripartite vaulting, with had two orders o f arches carried on shafts (Fig.
seven by two bays in the main compartment 17 A) and, though the inner order of the win­
and two by two bays in the smaller eastern one dow is gone, it may have originally been sub­
(Fig. 5). In the later Middle Ages, perhaps at the divided into two lights. The face towards the
time that funds were being sought for repairs cloister walk was more richly finished than the
in the 1530s, ’40s, and ’50s, this vaulting was face within the chapter house, with a dogtooth­
replaced by a series o f barrel vaults running decorated hood-moulding running around the
across the width of the range. A similar modi­ arch heads, and large pellets to the outer order
fication was also introduced in the undercroft o f the jambs.
of the guest-house range at Dunfermline Abbey, The last building that must be mentioned is
where comparable structural problems were what appears to have been a gatehouse, about
resulting from the stresses imposed by embanked 185 m (610 ft) north-west of the abbey itself,
earth on a steeply sloping site. which was later absorbed into a lodge to Abbey
In the undercroft of the east range, however, House. The surviving portion seems to have
the ribbed vaulting was retained, as may be seen been part of its east gable; the lower storey was
from the pier stumps and wall ribs, though here stone-vaulted.
the lower parts of the octagonal piers towards
the southern end o f the central axis were part­ Conclusion
ly encased by an additional skin o f masonry in
an effort to strengthen them (Fig. 2). The exca­ It would be misleading to suggest that Culross
vated plan shows a projection on the east side was a foundation o f outstanding significance for
o f the range, a short distance beyond the south the Cistercian order. It must also be conceded
transept, suggesting a sequence on the cloister that successive post-Reformation remodellings
level of a sacristy immediately next to the have exacerbated the difficulties of understand­
ti'ansept, and then the chapter house. A further ing the intentions of its medieval builders and
projection towards the south end was probably patrons. But for modern students it has the par­
the rear-dorter, since the main drain ran under ticular distinction o f being the one Cistercian
it (Figs 2, 5). The sacristy was the only part of abbey church in Scotland still used for worship.
the range to survive for any length o f time; its Perhaps more important is the fact that it is the
use as a vestry continued until Rowand Ander­ only example in the British Isles of an early
son’s restoration of 1905-08 when it was Cistercian church with a square-ended pres­
demolished and replaced by a new structure in bytery and eastern transept chapels that is roofed
the angle between the south transept and the and still in use, and where the sense of space and
monastic choir (Fig. 4). Slezer’s view shows that volume o f such churches can still be experi­
by the late seventeenth century, following the enced. That makes it a very precious survival.
loss o f the rest of the range, the sacristy was
covered by a lean-to roof (Fig. 11); a similar roof Historic Scotland
is shown on MacGibbon and Ross’s view o f Longmore House
1896 (Fig. 13).68 The retention of the sacristy Salisbury Place
helped to ensure the partial preservation o f the Edinburgh

68. MacGibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture, voi. 2.

f ig . 6 3 8 .

Culross Abbey
 The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding
of the Cenacle on Mount Sion
and the Fortunes of a Style*
N IC O L A C O L D S T R E A M

eter Fergusson’s writings on Cistercian tury was held by the Augustinians, who possessed

P architecture have transformed the way in

which we think about it; he has also
prompted us to consider meaning and symbol­
the most significant Christian sites in and around
Jerusalem. These included the church of the Holy
Sepulchre, the Templum Domini (Dome of the
ism in buildings that are not Cistercian. One such Rock), and the church of the Ascension on the
is the refectory of the Premonstratensian abbey Mount of Olives.2 The church of Saint Mary of
of Easby in Yorkshire and its symbolic relation to Mount Sion was the supposed site of the tomb
the Cenacle, the upper room of the Last Supper, of David and of events in the Passion of Christ,
situated on Mount Sion, just outside the present including the washing of the disciples’ feet and
walls of Jerusalem.1As an apostolic archetype of the Last Supper. It also commemorated events
monastic refectories, the Cenacle sent a wave of after the Resurrection of Christ, including the
influence from one end of Christendom to the descent of the Holy Spirit and the Dormition of
other. Yet it also mediated between what was then the Virgin. Home to so many sacred sites, the
a fashionable style of architecture in north France abbey of Mount Sion played a leading part in the
and the eastern Mediterranean. It is the style of religious life o f Jerusalem.
the Cenacle — rather than its symbolic aura — The crusader church was the largest church
that is the subject of this essay, offered in honour in Jerusalem after the church of the Holy Sepul­
of Peter Fergusson as a small footnote to Iris work. chre.3 Replacing a Byzantine basilica, it was
By bringing the style into focus, we can see an begun probably in the early twelfth century and
illustradon of the extraordinary reach of ideas in was still under construction during the 1150s.
medieval architecture, demonstrating patterns of It incorporated into its fabric the Byzantine
influence that could extend over enormous dis­ eastern apse with its flanking sacristies.4 Like its
tances in both directions simultaneously. predecessor, the church had double aisles to the
The Cenacle was in the abbey church of Saint nave; the elevation, which was vaulted and may
Mary of M ount Sion, which in the twelfth cen- have had galleries, possibly resembled such pil-

* I am most grateful to Peter Edbury, Lindy Grant, and Corpus, 3 vols (Cambridge, 1993- ), voi. ill, forthcoming.
Denys Pringle for their help with aspects o f this essay. This will supersede all studies o f the Cenacle down to the
present day, and I am most grateful to Professor Pringle for
1. Peter Fergusson, “The Refectory at Easby Abbey: Form allowing me to refer to his text on M ount Sion before pub­
and Iconography” , Art Bulletin. 71 (1989), p. 334—51. lication.
2. Camille Enlart, Les Monuments des croisés dans la roy­
3. Denys Pringle, “A rchitecture in the Latin East,
aume de Jerusalem: Architecture religieuse et civile, 2 vols and 2 ! 098-157 i ”, in The Oxford Illustrated History o f the Crusades,
albums o f plates (Paris, 1925-28), I, p. 15. The account of ed. Jonathan Riley-Sm ith (Oxford, 1995), p. 160-83 (p.
the Cenacle given below, however, depends on Denys
168).
Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A

The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding of the Cenacle on Mount Sion and the Fortunes of a Style 101
 Fig. 1. Jerusalem, lhe Cenacle on Mount Sion, interior showing two types o f capital, crochet on right, (author)

grimage basilicas in the west as Saint-Sernin in

Toulouse and Santiago de Compostela. At the
east end o f the southern aisles, beside the choir
and high altar, was inserted an intermediate
gallery, open to the main vessel, in which was
located the chapel of the Holy Spirit and the
room of the Last Supper. The latter was referred
to ca. 1170 as the “cenaculum” .
The church o f Saint Mary survived the Mus­
lim attack o f 1187, though the monks retreat­
ed to a property belonging to the abbey in Sicily
before returning to the Holy Land, at Acre, by
1218. In the meantime M ount Sion was occu­
pied by Muslims, but pilgrims were allowed to
visit the Cenacle; and although the church was
severely damaged some time between 1217 and
1231, the Cenacle survived, possibly because it
was close to the tomb of David and thus also
revered by Muslims. It survived as well the des­
ecration o f the church by the Khwarizmians in
1244, perhaps for the same reason.-’’ In 1318 the
Franciscans were able to take over M ount Sion,45

4. For what follows, see Pringle, Churches.

5. Ibid.\ Hugh Plommer, “T he Cenacle on M t Sion” , in Fig. 2.Jerusalem, the Cenacle on Mount Sion, window interi­
Crusader Art in the Twelfth Century, ed. Jaroslav Folda. BAR,
or. (author)
International Series. 152 (Oxford, 1982), p. 139-66 (p. 145).

102 N I C OL A C O L D S T R E A M
Fig. 3. Nicosia, Cathedral o f Saint Sophia (Selimiye Mosque), apse and south transept cltapcl, exterior from the south, (author)

and between 1332 and 1336 they bought the century.7 It was Hugh Plommer who in 1982
Cenacle and the adjoining chapel of the Holy attributed the architectural details to sources in
Spirit, building a convent and a cloister. northern France and England in the third quar­
The Cenacle (Fig. 1) has six rib-vaulted bays, ter o f the twelfth century, from which he con­
with reused antique column drums supporting cluded that the Cenacle had been refurbished
capitals with foliage sculpture: two Romanesque shortly before the Muslim attack on Jerusalem.8
Corinthian and one, at the west end, a crock­ He drew a close parallel between work at the
et capital. The squared imposts on the side walls Cenacle and the cathedral o f Saint Sophia in
combine crockets with “crusader” foliage. The Nicosia, Cyprus.9 Saint Sophia (the Selimiye
vault mouldings have simple rolls with a fillet; Mosque since the Ottoman conquest o f 1571)
the abaci are squared, as are the spur bases. The was built some time after the Lusignan family
windows (Fig. 2), which are pointed lancets, left Palestine and established Frankish rule in
have angle shafts, roll mouldings around the Cyprus from 1192. Its building history is com­
window head, and on the exterior small, dog­ plex in detail and not helped by Muslim depre­
tooth ornam ent.6 Down to 1982, accepted dations, restoration, and severe damage from
opinion was that the appearance of the Cena­ earthquakes; but the broad outline of the con­
cle post-dated 1187 and represented a repair struction sequence is straightforward enough.10
made either in the 1230s or in the fourteenth The church is an aisled basilica (Fig. 3), with a

6. For detailed description and analysis, see Pringle, 10. For detailed description and analysis, see Camille Enlart,
Churches: in the meantime, see Enlart. Monuments. I. p.59-60: L’Art gothique et la Renaissance en Chypre. 2 vols (Paris, 1899),
II, p. 249—62; Plommer, "Cenacle” , p. 139—45. I. p. 78-141; Camille Enlart. Gothic Art and the Renaissance in
Cyprus, ed.and trans. David H unt (London, 1987), p. 82—130,
7. Enlart, Monuments, n, p. 258.
with additional illustrations and foreword by Nicola Cold­
8. An opinion accepted by Pringle, Churches. stream; Thomas S. R.Boase, "Cyprus: Ecclesiastical Art", in A
History of the Cnisades. ed. Kenneth M. Setton, 6 vols (Madi­
9. Plommer. "Cenacle”, p. 143-44. This connection was son, 1969-89), IV, p. 166-69; The Cartulary of tlte Cathedral of
also made by Enlart, Monuments, II. p. 258. Holy Wisdom of Nicosia, ed. Nicholas Coureas and Christopher
Schabel. Cyprus Research Centre, Texts and Studies in the
History o f Cyprus, 25 (Nicosia, 1997). p.48—54.

The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding of the Cenacle on Mount Sion and the Fortunes of a Style 103
 western narthex leading to six straight bays and
a 5/8 polygonal ambulatory with no radiating
chapels. There is no crossing, but projecting
from the second straight bay are transept chapels
with apses. The south side has one single-storey
chapel, the north a smaller chapel and a vestry
with a treasury above. In addition to the west
portals, there are doors at the east end to the
main apse, the north transept chapel, and the
north aisle of the nave.
Inside, the two-storey elevation has a band o f
plain masonry between the arcade and the
clerestory, which is pitched high under the
vault. The arcades are supported by thick
columns on spur bases and with capitals that are
now plain; but judging by the smaller capitals
in less accessible parts of the building, they were
originally crockets which the Muslim shaved
off when the church became a mosque. The
main mouldings are solid triple rolls with fil­
lets, the minor ones single rolls. Triple shafts ris­
ing from the abaci have shaft rings and lead to
a quadripartite rib vault; but above the capitals
at the springing o f the vault there is provision
for formerets as well as the vault ribs.
The arcade and vaulting are the same Fig. 4. Nicosia, Cathedral o f Saint Sophia (Selimiye Mosque),
throughout the church, but there was never­ exterior, south side, showing window form and change o f style,
theless a pause in construction. The ground (author)
floor, except for the narthex, is consistent with
the arcade, having lancet windows with ringed
angle shafts and crocket capitals inside and out. design. Otherwise, phase one seems to have
At the upper level single lancets in the apse give included the body o f the whole church to the
way to double lancets under perky little gables level o f the arcade and the aisle vaults, with the
in the straight bays: one to three on the south, eastern parts as far as the transept chapels built
and one and two on the north. The upper wall to full height. Phase two included the upper
o f bay three on the north side is blind, but the walls o f the western bays, continuing the forms
windows o f bays four to six on both sides are of the vaults, with changes to the design and
completely different in style, being broader and level o f the flying buttresses. Being a larger and
having four lights and a geometric tracery head. more complicated structure than the Cenacle,
These date from the other main building cam­ Saint Sophia (phase one) has a wider variety of
paign, which took place in the fourteenth cen­ foliage details than the Cenacle; but the resem­
tury and included the narthex and uncompleted blance o f the piers, windows, mouldings, bases,
west towers. W ith the change to tracery came and crocket capitals is very close. The foliage
a change to the design o f the flying buttresses sculpture on the eastern doorways closely
(Fig. 4): plain arches to the east, straighter, lower resembles the mixed crusader work on the
props to the west, with openwork tracery. impost blocks in the Cenacle."
W ithin the first phase there are minor The building dates o f Saint Sophia are not
changes, but these reflect the passage o f time in certain, owing to the absence of contemporary
the building campaign rather than a change of 1 records and conflicting information given in

11. Boase, “Cyprus: Ecclesiastical Art” , p. 167, suggest­ plars during their brief tenure o f the island in 1191, in which
ed a parallel with the D ome o f the R ock and proposed that Guy, the first Lusignan ruler, is said to have been buried in
these doors came from a church allegedly built by the Tem- 1194. For illustration, see Enlart, Gothic Art. figs 42, 49.

104 N IC O L A C O L D S T R E A M
later chronicles. Some chroniclers date the foun­
dation of Saint Sophia immediately after the
arrival o f the Lusignans in 1192, but the four
Latin bishoprics, with the archbishopric at
Nicosia, were established only in 1196.12 Other
chroniclers prefer 1209, and the main building
period of phase one is attributed to Archbish­
op Eustorgue de Montaigu (1217—50), with a
completion/consecration date of 1228.13 From
Enlart onwards, modern scholars have tended
to note the stylistic features o f the building and
match them to what little is known o f the like­
ly patrons. Thus Enlart, followed by Boase, see­
ing the influence of the Ile-de-France and
Champagne, noted that the obit o f Thierry (the
archbishop who allegedly laid the foundation
stone in 1209) was recorded at Notre-Dame,
Paris, before 1211, and that Hugh I, who suc­
ceeded Amalric de Lusignan in 1205, was mar­
ried to Alix o f Champagne.14 Eustorgue de
Montaigu, however, was from the Auvergne,
and no Auvergnat characteristics have been
detected in Saint Sophia, so such arguments
have been deployed only as far as is convenient.
The architecture o f Saint Sophia is derived
from more than one source. The main Cham­ Fig. 5. Nicosia, Cathedral o f Saint Sophia (Selimiye Mosque),
penois feature is said to be the passages that run north side,flying buttress, (author)
under the aisle windows.15 At Saint Sophia, they
are, however, quite unlike the Rémois passage
of the homeland, being bridge-like, with steps
changing the level. Enlart found a parallel for at one level straight from a textbook o f early
them at St-Dié; but a related form exists at Gothic motifs in the Ile-de-France in the third
Fontevrault abbey, and it is west-central France quarter o f the twelfth century. But Saint Sophia
that seems to be a source for the plan. The low has a feature that does not exist at the Cenacle:
transept chapels place Saint Sophia with a group the flying buttress (Fig. 5). The flying buttress­
of twelfth-century churches located south and es o f phase one at Saint Sophia are evidently
west of the Ile-de-France, identified by Stephen drawn from the same source as the other ele­
Gardner.16 These include N otre-D am e at ments, but they can be more specifically locat­
Cunault, east o f Angers and not far from ed. On the straight bays o f phase one the arches
Fontevrault. The patrons o f Fontevrault were o f the flyers are supported at the wall on a stout
the feudal lords o f the Lusignans. Yet, if the half-column with a large crocket capital under
Lusignan homeland may have contributed some a square abacus. This is a highly distinctive form.
elements o f design at Saint Sophia, the details By no means common, it can be found at the
that the church has in common with the Cena­ cathedrals o f Laon and Soissons; but onlv at
cle come from somewhere else entirely. Laon, more specifically in the work attributed
Lancet windows with angle shafts, shaft rings, to the 1170s — that is, in the transepts and east­
heavy solid mouldings, and crocket capitals are ern bays o f the nave — is it combined with

12. E. C. Furber. “T he Kingdom o f Cyprus. 1191—1291“. 15. Enlart, Gothic Art, p. 50; Boase, “Cyprus: Ecclesiasti­
in History of tlic Crusades, e d . Setton. II. p. 599-629 (p. 624). cal A rt”, p. 169.
13. For references, see note 10 above. 16. Stephen Gardner, “T he Church o f Saint-Étienne at
D reux” , Journal o f the British Archaeological Association, 137
14. Enlart, Gothic Art, p. 49, 82; Boase, “Cyprus: Eccle­
(1984), p. 86-113.
siastical Art”, p. 168-69.

The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding of the Cenacle on Mount Sion and the Fortunes of a Style 105
 Fig. 6. Laon Cathedral, north side o f nave, exterior, (author)

close parallels to the other elements (Fig. ó).1' ed the highest quality o f materials and design.
The similarity to Laon confirms Plommer’s date They were amply rich enough to afford to pay
o f before 1187 for the Cenacle and indicates for the workmanship. Yet that the style o f Laon
by analogy that the design elements o f Saint Cathedral should be thought suitable for the
Sophia should be dated to the same time, Cenacle, a building with an entirely different
regardless o f when the building was actually function and on a much smaller scale, does
executed.18 invite questions about what was regarded as a
The parallels between Laon, Nicosia, and the suitable manner o f building and the means by
Cenacle are so specific that there must have been which it came there. The abbey o f M ount Sion
direct transmission from one m onum ent to held a number of properties in Italy, Spain, and
another, in the course o f a very few years. Laon France, including several in the dioceses of
was an inspirational building. If its influence Bourges and Poitiers. It did not, however, have
could be felt as far north as Ripon Cathedral in any obvious connections with Laon.20*Owing
Yorkshire,19 there is no reason why it should to the destruction of Augustinian houses in the
not spread also to the eastern Mediterranean. Laonnais and Soissonnais it would be foolish to
The Augustinians perhaps considered that the assert that the local Augustinians did not adopt
building in which the Last Supper took place the style o f Laon,21 but the chronology is so
had the status o f a shrine and should be accord- tight that any Augustinian follower o f Laon

17. William Clark and R . King, hton Cathedral, C our- 19. Christopher Wilson, "T he Cistercians as ‘missionar­
tauld Institute o f Art Illustration Archives, Companion Text. ies o f G othic’ in N orthern England”, in Cistercian Art and
1 (London, 1983), p. 54. Architecture in the British Isles, ed. by Christopher N orton
and David Park (Cambridge. 1986), p. 89-116 (p. 89-90).
18. Plommer, “Cenacle”, p. 145, remarked that the pro­
portions o f the Cenacle are similar to the triforium levels 20. E. Rev, Les Colonies Franques en Syrie au xii et xtil siè­
o f Chalons-sur-M arne and Laon, but did not see the close cles (Paris, 1883), p. 282-83.
connections o f the decorative details. Enlart, Monuments, it,
p. 258, attributed the Cenacle to Frederick II, after 1229, 21. Gallia Christiana, ed. by Denis de Sainte-M arthe et
and found analogies between St Sophia, the Cenacle, and al., 16 vols (Paris, 1715—1865), vols ix, X .
buildings in France dating between 1211 and 1247.

106 N I C OL A C O L D S T R E A M
could not have influenced the Cenacle. Influ­ travelled to the Holy Land in about 1180. He
ence was immediate and direct. If there was no either brought templates with him or was able
Augustinian mediator in the transmission from to make them, but somehow he had to demon­
France to Palestine, nor was there Augustinian strate to his future employers the glories of the
involvement in Nicosia. As we have seen, the latest style o f northern French architecture. In
monks of M ount Sion fled to Sicily. The chap­ the aftermath o f the events of 1187 he retreat­
ter o f Nicosia cathedral did not follow the ed to Cyprus, together with masons with whom
Augustinian rule, and the first Augustinian he had worked at M ount Sion, who were expe­
abbey in Cyprus was on the north coast at Bel- rienced in established crusader styles. They found
lapais, which subsequently became Premon- work at the site of the new cathedral in Nicosia.
stratensian. The early-thirteenth-century church A style initially formulated for a cathedral was
o f Bellapais has crocket capitals and angle shafts once more being used for a metropolitan church,
in common with Saint Sophia and the Cena­ in all the parts that made maximum visual effect.
cle, but the main design o f the elevation is Influences from the crusader kingdom and the
entirely different.22 Lusignan homeland were confined to parts that
If the Augustinians themselves did not trans­ did not make an immediate impact on the spec­
mit the style, the only other possibilities are lay tator. By the 1190s, when Saint Sophia was
patrons or the master mason. If a private indi­ planned, the style was no longer the latest that
vidual paid for the refurbishment of the Cena­ France had to offer, but it was still the most mod­
cle, his or her identity is not recorded, and it is ern style o f Frankish architecture in the eastern
generally agreed that Saint Sophia was funded Mediterranean. It launched a long history of
by the Lusignans and the bishops. The bishops Gothic architecture in Cyprus, while at the same
were appointed directly from France; Hugh I time the building that had immediately inspired
was born only in 1195 and can have had no Saint Sophia — the Cenacle on M ount Sion —
involvement with the abbey of M ount Sion. was weaving a different kind o f magic in the
This leaves the master mason. Perhaps sum­ monasteries of north-western Europe.
moned specially, perhaps travelling as a pilgrim,
a mason with experience of working at Laon London

22. Furber, “ Kingdom o f Cyprus”, p. 171: Enlart. Goth­

ic A n , p. 179-87.

The Late Twelfth-Century Rebuilding of the Cenacle on Mount Sion and the Fortunes of a Style 107
 Savigny and its Saints
LINDY G R A N T

uring 1147 and 1148, the Cistercian Fortunately, the abbey had the support of

D Order succeeded in one o f the most

impressive o f monastic takeover bids
and absorbed the N orm an abbey of Savigny
some important dynasties in the area, notably
the Lords of Fougères from northern Mayenne.
They were regarded as the founders o f the
and its essentially A nglo-Norm an daughter abbey and were buried in its chapter house and
houses. It was seen in some quarters, particu­ cloister. At times, the abbey chronicle reads like
larly in England, as a hostile takeover. But Sav­ a Fougères genealogy. Various members of the
igny was offered an honourable place within family, including the founding Count Ralph,
the crystallizing Cistercian hierarchy as the fifth retired to the abbey. The Abbot o f Savigny
daughter house o f Citeaux, and as head of its might officiate at the marriage o f a daughter of
own filiation. In 1187 the abbey o f Savigny the dynasty, as did Abbot Stephen o f
obtained a papal bull declaring that it had been Chateaudun when the Fougères heiress mar­
an order on its own account.1 ried the C ount o f La Marche in 1253. The
The 1187 bull is a measure o f the abbey’s principal vita o f Vitalis, the charismatic founder
recovered status. Savigny undoubtedly did suf­ and first abbot o f Savigny, was w ritten by a
fer an eclipse in the mid-twelfth century when member o f the family, Stephen o f Fougères,
the Angevins took control of Normandy, for who had gone into the secular church, while
the order had become closely associated with the letter to Pope Innocent IV to obtain the
King Stephen. But Henry II soon once more canonization o f Vitalis in 1244 was written and
extended ducal patronage and protection to it, sent in the name o f C ount Ralph III o f
and fell under the spell of Haimon, master o f Fougères.3 The Counts o f Mortain were tradi­
the conversi at Savigny, who was widely regard­ tional protectors too, for Vitalis had been a
ed as a holy man and was, after his death, chaplain of Count R obert of Mortain before
accounted one o f its saints. Henry’s successors, retreating to the wilderness. Among subsequent
Richard and John, maintained his interest in holders of the county, Stephen of Blois and the
the house, though that strand o f patronage did future King John had upheld the role. In the
not survive the Angevins’ loss of Normandy in early thirteenth century, Stephen s great-grand­
1204.2 daughter, Matilda, countess o f Mortain, took

1. Gallia Christiana, ed. Denis de Sainte-Marthe et al., 16 David Bates and Anne Curry (London, 1994), p. 159-68
vols [hereafter GC] (Paris. 1715-1865), XI, col. 547. For the (esp. p. 160, 166-67). For King Stephen and Savigny, see
history o f the abbey of Savigny, see Claude Auvry, Histoire de Ralph H. C. Davis. King Stephen, 1135-1154 (London,
la Congrégation de Savigny. ed. Auguste Laveille. 3 vols (Rouen. 1967), p. 102-03.
1896-98). For the new erenietic orders in general, see Hen­
3. G C, XI, instr. I l l , no. vii, for the foundation act o f
rietta Leyser, Hermits and the New MonasticismtA Study of Reli­
R alp h o f Fougères; “ E C h ro n ico Savigniacensi” , in
gious Communities in Western Europe 1000-1150 (London, 1984).
Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, ed. M. Bou­
2. For ducal patronage, see Beatrice Poulie, “Savigny and quet et al. [hereafter RH F\ (Paris, 1869-1904), x x m , p.
England”, in England and Normandy in the Middle Ages, ed. 584-87.

Savigny and its Saints 109

 care to support the abbey, and her death in 1257 abbey’s founder, St Bernard. Bernard was
was duly recorded in the abbey chronicle.4 acclaimed a saint while still alive. Official can­
The abbacy remained a prize worth having. onization would be sought after his death, but
Simon, nephew o f Simon “the Bald” de irrespective of papal imprimatur, a popular cult
Montfort, count o f Evreux, and brother o f the was developing around him. The radiating
Abbess o f La Trinité at Caen, was abbot from chapel design at the new church o f Clairvaux
1179 to 1186.'’ Between 1229 and 1243, the was suggestive o f martyria, and the ambulato­
Abbot of Savigny was the Englishman Stephen ry would allow those who were deemed
of Lexington. O f less exalted birth than Abbot deserving access to the shrine o f the order’s
Simon, he was nonetheless reputed an out­ greatest holy man. N o previous Cistercian
standing churchman and scholar, “productive house had this sort of choir plan. Most had sim­
in both languages” — presumably French and ple, single vessel rectangular choirs or were of
Latin — and “one o f the most important echelon plan; none had ambulatories and radi­
among the abbots o f the Cistercian order” , ating chapels. This is hardly surprising. The
according to the Book o f Miracles of the Saints ambulatory and radiating chapel design had
o f Savigny. Its author did not, in this, exagger­ long been associated with the display o f major
ate, and in December 1243, Stephen was elect­ relics to pilgrims, something which was, with­
ed Abbot of Clairvaux. His successor at Savigny, in the Cistercian Order, discouraged. The
Stephen o f Chateaudun, while not quite pos­ arrangement in the new church at Clairvaux,
sessed o f Stephens distinction, was an impres­ then, overturned almost half a century o f tra­
sive figure, who had been dean o f R ouen dition and rule.9
Cathedral before retiring from the secular to This type o f ambulatory design was not just
the monastic life as Abbot of Beaubec in Upper convenient for the display o f relics; the multi­
Normandy.6 plicity o f chapels also proved appropriate for an
This is the context in which the monks o f order where more and more monks were
Savigny built themselves a new church in the priests. Savigny was not the only Cistercian
late twelfth century, and rehoused the Savignac house to adopt the new choir design of
saints in it in the 1240s. The new church was Clairvaux: so did Pontigny, probably in the
begun in 1173, the monks entered their new 1170s; so, between 1174 and 1200, did
choir in 1200, and the completed church was Mortemer, an upper N orm an house with
consecrated in 1220.7 Little more than footings strong links with Henry II and his entourage
remain, but they reveal a building o f impres­ and court, though its undulating radiating
sive size, including a chevet with ambulatory chapels are more redolent o f Abbot Suger’s
and radiating chapels. The radiating chapels shrine-choir at Saint-Denis than o f Clairvaux.
were trapezoidal in plan and contained within The community o f Cîteaux itself commis­
one continuous polygonal outer wall. They sioned a new choir with ambulatory and mul­
numbered nine in all.8 tiple chapels around 1170, though in this case
The inspiration for this design was undoubt­ the ambulatory was rectangular. So within a few
edly the new church at Clairvaux, built in the years in the early 1170s, some of the most pres­
mid-twelfth century. This church, as Peter tigious o f French Cistercian abbeys, including
Fergusson has convincingly demonstrated, had the head o f the order, and the heads o f two of
been designed to house the remains o f the its filiations, Pontigny and Savigny, were

4. Ibid., p. 586. See also Léopold Delisle, Recherches sur les 8. For further discussion o f the architecture o f the great
comics de Dammartin (Paris, 1869), p. 22, 27. church at Savigny, see Lindy Grant, Architecture and Society
in Normandy, c. 1120-c. 1270. forthcoming.
5. R obert o f Torigny, “Chronica” , in Chronicles of the
Reigns of Stephen. Henry II and Richard /, ed. R . Howlett, voi. 9. For this paragraph, see Peter Fergusson, "Program ­
IV (London, 1889). p.295. matic Factors in the East Extension o f Clairvaux”, Arte
Medievale, 2nd series. 8 (1994), p. 87-101. which has been
6. “E Chronico Savigniacensi” , p. 84, and “Ex Libro de
the inspiration and the starting point for this article. See also
Miraculis Sanctorum Savigniacensium”, in RHF. xxm. p.
his stimulating discussion o f Cistercian saints, cults, and
587-605 (p. 587).
shrines in Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison, Rievaulx
7. GC, XI, cols 546-48. Abbey: Community, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999),
esp. p. 164-69.

110 LINDY G R A N T
embellished with new, multi-chapel choirs, describes the body of Vitalis lying on the north
inspired by Clairvaux. It is impossible to believe side in the choir o f the church which he,
that there was no element o f deliberate emu­ Vitalis, had founded, and makes no mention of
lation, o f competition, however amicable, the building o f a new church, it would seem
behind this outburst o f construction. that Stephen was writing before 1173.1J Thus
O f all these interpretations of Clairvaux, the the life o f Haimon was written once the build­
closest was Savigny. As at Clairvaux, the Savigny ing of the church was under way, while the life
chapels were contained within a continuous o f Vitalis was w ritten shortly before. But it
faceted outer wall, for each chapel was flat-end­ seems reasonable to connect this intense liter­
ed. As at Clairvaux, there were nine chapels; ary output with the building — in some cases
five, just occasionally seven, was the more nor­ projected, in others current — of the new choir
mal number. The close relationship was not in which the saints’relics would be housed. The
accidental. For just as Clairvaux was designed lives would have provided a consistent account
to house the shrine of its great founder, so for the edification o f pilgrims, and there may
Savigny was presumably designed to house the have been plans to submit the lives o f Vitalis
relics o f its own saints. Indeed, the life of and Geoffrey to the Papal Curia with a view to
Haimon, master o f the conversi who died in securing the formal canonization which was
1173 just as the new church was begun, tells us becoming increasingly important by the later
that he was continually insisting on the need twelfth century.14 If these lives were intended
for a new church so the monks would be less to secure papal canonization, they came to
cramped and the abbey’s relics would be prop­ nothing. N ot until 1738 was Vitalis established
erly housed.10 as a saint by the Cistercian Chapter General.15
After his death, Haimon joined the ranks of To start with, the new choir was built around
the abbey’s saints: Vitalis, the founder; Geoffrey, the old, and the saints remained safely
the second abbot; and the monks Peter of ensconced in the old choir. But in 1182, the
Avranches and William Niobe. None had been masons were ready to destroy the old choir. The
officially canonized, but they were the focus of saints would have to be moved. Abbot Simon,
an established cult among the local populace as in the company of Abbot Peter o f Clairvaux,
well as the abbey’s aristocratic supporters. Ralph II o f Fougères, and an impressive crowd
Although the precise dates are not known, of clergy, magnates and, knights, had the saints
hagiographical lives were written for all of them transferred into the chapel o f St Katherine
except William Niobe around the time the which Simon had had dedicated in the previ­
church was rebuilt. H aim on’s vita must have ous year. There their bodies were placed togeth­
post-dated his death, of course, though prob­ er in a single carved stone sarcophagus.16 The
ably not by much. The life of Vitalis was w rit­ chapel o f St Katherine stood to the south of
ten by Stephen of Fougères, grandson of the the dormitory, next to the monks’ cemetery.1'
founder, chaplain o f Henry II, and finally, from It had its own cloister, and there are references
1168 until his death at Savigny in 1178, bish­ to burials “in the cloister o f St Katherine,
op of R edon.11 Intriguingly, Stephen tells us towards the infirmary” . Indeed, the presence of
that he is using an earlier life of the founding the saints made both the chapel and its cloister
saint, written in the vernacular.12 Since he a favoured place for burials, for clergy and also

10. Auvry. Histoire. li, p. 82-83, 87—88. 14. André Vauchez, Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages
(Cambridge, 1997). esp. p. 22-32. See also the account of
11. “ Vitae BB. Vitalis et Catifredi primi et secundi abbatum the vita and cult o f Aelred at Rievaulx in Fergusson and
saviniacensium in Normannia", ed. Eugène Paul Sauvage, Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey, p. 166—69.
Analecta Bollandiana, 1 (1882), p. 355—410. See also Auvry,
Histoire, i. p. xxxvi—ii, ut, p. 175: G C. xiv, cois 750—51. 15. GC, XI, col. 543.
12. "Q uae de venerando viro prim o abbate Savigniensi 16. “Ex Libro de Miraculis”, p. 587, for the translation.
vulgaribus verbis scripta reperimus” (“ Vitae”, p. 357) and GC, XI, col. 547, and Auvry, Histoire, il, p. 87, for the ded­
"Haec enim, sicut romane scripta reperimus, latino eloquio ication o f the chapel o f St Katharine, though ibid., p. 101,
fideliter transferentes, litteris evidentioribus tradidimus” gives the date as 1184.
(ibid., p. 364).13
17. Ibid., p. 87, note a. It burnt down in 1705; at some
13. Ibid., p. 386-87. stage it was used for chapter meetings.

Savigny and its Saints 111

 for laity.1s Although the chapel was set deep and fishbones extracted from throats.24 Most of
within the monastery, in what one might have those healed or otherwise affected lived quite
expected to be space accessible only to monks, close to Savigny, though a few came from as far
favoured lay patrons clearly had access to it. away as Caen. Their social profile is wide; there
In 1200, the monks o f Savigny took posses­ are magnates, like Fulk Paynel and Isabella of
sion of their new choir built in the image of Fougères; lesser local aristocracy, like the daugh­
Clairvaux with its ambulatory and nine radiat­ ter of the knight, John of Fontaines, or the armiger
ing chapels; in 1220, the completed church was nobilis Henry Godart of Louvigné; rich merchants
consecrated. But the saints, surprisingly, like Ralph of Carpiquet and Renault Gaudin of
remained in the Chapel o f St Katherine. They Saint-Jacques de Beuvron, who sold his mer­
were finally moved back into the choir of the chandise as far away as Poitou; a young man from
great church in 1244, on the initiative o f Cennilly, near Coutances, injured while work­
Stephen o f Lexington, though the event itself ing on the fabric of the abbey; and several cler­
took place under his successor, Stephen o f gy, both monastic and secular.
Chateaudun.1819 More unusual, perhaps, is an obsession with
Stephen of Lexington began the process of celestial fire. O n the eve of the translation into
translation in 1242, when he obtained license the new choir, flames flashed down from the roof
from the Cistercian Chapter General to move o f the chapel of St Katherine and licked around
the saints and to have a lamp burning perma­ the relic chests disposed on the wooden beam,
nently in front o f them.20 Stephen made much first that of Haimon, then the other four saints
o f his concern that the bodies o f the saints in a row, finally vanishing into the grave where
might become confused, for they had been put the bodies of the saints had been interred, before
one on top o f the other within a single tomb. the astonished gaze o f the Bishop of Sees and a
In the event, the saints’ remains were found crowd of praying laity. At the same time, people
enclosed in individual oak coffins, separated by coming to the abbey through the forest of
sheets o f lead, and clearly labelled.21 The trans­ Savigny observed flames rising into the sky from
lation was meticulously planned and choreo­ the abbey and casting an ineffable light. The
graphed. The opening o f the sarcophagus and author o f the Miracles gives these events an
the inspection of the relics appears to have been overtly Pentecostal meaning: the Holy Spirit has
a matter for the Abbot and his monks. Once come down upon the apostles in tongues of
extracted, the wooden chests holding the relics flame.23 The abbey made the most o f the oppor­
were placed on great wooden beams in the tunity. The beam on which the relics rested was
chapel o f St Katharine, while final arrangements carved into crosses, one o f which cured the
were made within the great church; at this toothache of a monk of Aunay-sur-Odon; even
point, the laity were allowed in to view and the water in which the beam was washed could
pray before the relics.22 The translation o f the be used to cure fevers.26 Celestial fire continued
relics into the choir o f the great church, where to grace the abbey:just before Ascension, flames
they were placed in five raised tomb chests,23 and smoke emerged from below the carved stone
was — like the translation into the chapel some sarcophagus in which the saints had been
fifty years previously — very public. One o f the entombed, now placed in the garth of the clois­
monks was commissioned to record the pro­ ter of St Katharine; on the Sunday after
tracted process of translation and the many mir­ Ascension a group including Ralph of Fougères
acles that occurred in connection with it. witnessed fire playing around the abbey church;
The result is a long catalogue o f fevers, abscess­ at Pentecost itself similar phenomena were
es, temporary blindness, and toothaches cured, observed.2/ Inevitably, the translation and the

18. “E Chronico Savieniacensi”, p. 585; Auvry, Histoire, 2 3. T hat at least is how Auvry (Histoire. ill, p. 305), w rit­
IH, p. 201. ing in the 17lh century, described them.
19. See the account in “Ex Libro de Miraculis”, p. 587-89. 24. “Ex Libro de Miraculis” , p. 587-605.
20. Ibid., p. 587; “ E Chronico Savigniacensi” , p. 584. 25. Ibid., p. 588-89.
21. “Ex Libro de Miraculis”, p. 587. 26. Ibid., p. 603.
22. Ibid., p. 588-89. also p. 603. 27. Ibid., p. 595. 589-90, 601.

112 LINDY G R A N T
associated collection of miracles inspired — function, liturgy and architecture, are not always
indeed were perhaps conceived as the first stage as neatly connected as we might wish.
in — another attempt to obtain papal canoniza­ The early Cistercians set themselves against
tion, not only of Vitalis, but also, this time, of encouraging and serving the cult o f relics.
Haimon. The letter to Pope Innocent IV pro­ However revered their founders and early
moting the cause of Vitalis was written and sent abbots, such veneration was to be an internal
in the name of Ralph III o f Fougères.28 affair. With Bernard of Clairvaux, that changed.
Bernard attracted pilgrims to Clairvaux while
W hat can we draw from this brief account he still lived; and to commission accounts of his
of what Savigny did with its saints? It serves to life, and a new choir designed to allow pil­
remind us that Savigny did not languish in grimage to his shrine, was merely to bow to the
obscurity after the Cistercian appropriation of inevitable. But only with Bernard did the
the order in 1147/48. It continued to attract Cistercian Order embrace the potential dis­
distinguished and well-connected men as traction that might come from the sanctifica­
abbots. It continued to attract the protection tion o f a founder and the creation o f a cult
and patronage of the highest aristocracy and the around his relics.
Angevin duke-kings. St Louis included it in his The extent to which the veneration o f
progress around western Normandy in 1256; Bernard took the Cistercians into new territo­
indeed he slept in the dormitory and dined in ry points up some of the differences between
the refectory.29 Cistercian traditions and those o f the western
The abbots and monks were always, it seems, eremetical new orders, o f which Savigny was
very conscious o f and responsive to develop­ one. These orders had from the start revered and
ments in other major Cistercian houses, espe­ promoted their founders, starting with R obert
cially Clairvaux and Citeaux. The new choir at d’Arbrissel and Bernard o f Tirón, with hagiog­
Savigny, begun shortly before Bernard’s can­ raphy and relics. Stephen o f Fougères’s pita of
onization in 1174, was based more clearly than St Vitalis may have been composed around
any other within the order on the new church 1170, but it was based on an earlier account in
at Clairvaux, with its form suggestive of mar­ French. The fact that this was in “ the vulgar
tyria. As such, it was, just like the church at tongue” perhaps reflects the fact that the west­
Clairvaux, perfectly designed to serve as the set­ ern eremetical reformers had always welcomed
ting for the shrines o f the Savignac saints. the crowds who flocked to hear them preach,
Indeed, it was ostensibly so, for the saintly and who flocked to revere the relics o f those
Haimon had been urging the monks to build a reformers who had died. They had always, it
new church for that very purpose. The build­ seems, taken a more demotic approach than had
ing of the new choir was accompanied by the the Cistercians. The difference emerges pow­
writing o f a series o f hagiographical lives o f erfully in Orderic Vitalis’s evocative account of
those saints, and while the new church was Vitalis’s preaching, and his comment on the ear­
under way, their remains were removed from ly Cistercians, who “bar their gates and keep
the building site into the haven o f another their private quarters completely enclosed”.30
sacred space. But why did it take the monks half The abbey of Savigny was not, of course, the
a century to move them back into the great only abbey within the Cistercian Order to fol­
church? Did they lose interest in their saints low the lead of Clairvaux in veneration of its
around 1200? If so, why did the monks sud­ founding fathers. Peter Fergusson has studied
denly recollect their relics’ potency in the the classic case of the cults of Abbots William
1240s? The episode reminds us that form and and Aelred at Rievaulx, which issued in some

28. Auvry, Histoire, u, p. 102 and note c. celane. Nullum alterius aeccelsiae monachum in suis pene­
tralibus admittunt, nec in oratorium as missam vel alia servi­
29. "E Chronico Savigniacensi” , p. 585.
tia ingredi perm ittunt.” See also Auvry’s comments (Histoire,
30. The Ecclesiastical History of Orderte Vitalis, ed. Marjorie I. p. 208). I would like to thank D r Kathleen Thompson,
Chibnall, 6 vols (Oxford. 1969-80), iv, p. 328—33, esp. p. w ho is preparing an edition o f the life o f Bernard o f Tirón,
332-33 on Vitalis' preaching; p. 326-37 on the early Cis­ for helpful discussions about the western eremetical tradi­
tercians: "Aditus suos satis obserant, et secreta sua summopere tion.

Savigny and its Saints 113

 splendid and surviving architecture. Savigny’s insight into how one Cistercian abbey might
architecture is all but lost, and its saints remained deal with its saints.
obscure, but the various writings produced at
the abbey in the late twelfth- and m id-thir­ Courtauld Institute of Art
teenth centuries do give us a particularly vivid University o f London

114 LINDY G R A N T
 The Lost Choir:
What Was Built at Three Cistercian
Abbey Churches in Wales?
LA W R EN C E B U T L E R

t is perhaps paradoxical to offer this new cian abbeys. It must be stressed that this curtailed

I examination o f supposedly uncompleted

plans based largely on negative evidence to
a scholar whose contribution to Cistercian
plan was most unusual and is not repeated at any
other Cistercian house in the British Isles.
All the three Cistercian abbeys in Wales (Fig.
architecture has been based so positively and 1) are linked by affiliation to Whitland in Dyfed
fluently on the still visible evidence o f major (now in Caermarthenshire). Cw m hir was a
structures, but these remote Welsh abbeys have direct foundation from Whitland in 1176 on
yet more information to yield and so are pre­ land given by Cadwallon ap Madog, ruler of
sented here, in Peter’s honour, as “archaeolo­ Maelienydd. Cymmer was the only daughter of
gy-in-progress”. Cwmhir, established late in 1198 or early in
The origin of this essay lies in Dr Ralegh Rad­ 1199 by the gifts o f Gruffudd ap Cynan and
ford’s discussion o f the east ends o f Cymmer, Maredudd ap Cynan, rulers o f M eirionydd.
Aberconwy, and Cwmhir. He argued that the Aberconwy was founded in 1186 from Strata
east end was not completed according to the Florida, itself founded in 1164 as a daughter of
intended plan at any of the three abbeys and that Whitland. Whereas Cwmhir may have had an
the community worshipped for most or all of its earlier temporary home at Ty Vaenor from
existence in the aisled nave.1 He has also linked 1143, that site is more likely to be a guesthouse
the evidence o f these three Cistercian abbeys or lay brothers’ home farm just east o f the main
with a temporary wall closing off the east end of precinct. The monks of Aberconwy had orig­
the nave to a similar “east façade” at the Augus- inally settled at Rhedynog Feien (on the coast
tinian house o f Beddgelert, where he considered at Llanwnda) before transferring twenty-five
that there was an uncompleted plan and that wor­ miles (forty kilometres) eastwards to a more
ship was performed in an aisled nave. This sup­ favourable location at the mouth of the Conwy
posed occurrence at Beddgelert strengthened his River, probably by 1192. Cymmer remained on
argument that this was the correct interpretation its original site at the confluence of the Wnion
of the architectural evidence at the three Cister­ with the larger river Mawddach.2

1. Courtenay A. Ralegh Radford, Official Guide, Cymmer Foster and Leslie Alcock (London, 1963), p. 355-72; id..
Abbey (London. 1946): Royal Commission on Ancient and “The Cistercian Abbey o f Cwmhir, Radnorshire”, Arcliae-
Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire [here­ ologia Cambrensis, 131 (1982), p.58-76.
after RCAM W ], Caernarvonshire, vol. i, East (London, 1956),
p. 39-41 ; Ralegh Radford. “The Native Ecclesiastical Archi­ 2. David H. Williams, The Welsh Cistercians, new edn
tecture o f Wales (c. 1100-1285)”. in Culture and Environ­ (Leominster. 2001), p. 1—21; The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain:
ment, Essays in Honour of Sir Cyril Fox, ed. Idris Llewelyn Far from the Concourse o f Men. ed. David Robinson (Kala­
mazoo. 1998), p. 64-65, 94-98.

What Was Built at Three Cistercian Abbey Churches in Wales? 115

 4—
i

i
i

1
li
it

o 5 \O M

ò ' 3 0 FT. ;; !|
I------------------1
Fig. 2. Cymmer, reconstructed plan, based on Whitland. (author)

transept with two eastern chapels, a sacristy

accessible by a doorway in the south wall o f the
south transept, and a dormitory approached
Fig. 1. Cistercian Abbeys in Wales, (author) from a night stair in the south-west angle of the
Square = abbeys mentioned in text; Circle = other Cistercian south transept (Fig. 2). It seems likely that this
abbeys;A —Aberconwy; C w = Cwmliir; C y = Cyntmer;R.F. was planned and that the foundations were laid,
= Rhedynog Feien; S.F. — Strata Florida; W = Wltitland. especially where it was joined to the east range.
Land over 1000ft. (305 m.) is stippled. It is probable that dressed stones for the win­
dows and doorways were prepared using local­
ly obtained sandstone from Bont ddu.3
Simultaneously with the preparations at the east
C y miner end, the external walls o f the aisles flanking the
nave were raised. It is not clear w hether the
intention was to have a fully arcaded north and
Cymmer was always a poor house with few south aisle, or to provide a bay design where
monks and lay brothers, limited income, and the arcades stood on 3 m high sill walls (as at
few benefactors. W hen the powerful prince of Strata Florida) or whether a solid wall would
North Wales, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn have separated the nave from its aisles. What­
the Great), confirmed the abbey’s land grants ever was intended, the actual construction pro­
and privileges, he added “lest what has been duced an aisled nave with the eastern two-thirds
justly given may be taken away by unjust pre­ (23 m /70 ft) composed o f solid walls, separat­
sumption in the future”. This proviso would ing nave and aisles, and the western one-third
seem to be a recognition o f the precarious sit­ (11.5 m /35 ft) with an open arcade o f three
uation at Cymmer. The uncertain nature o f its bays. Above the entire length o f the nave was a
existence is reflected in its architecture. The evi­ clerestory of evenly spaced lancet windows. The
dence provided in the planning o f the chapter window spacing seems to be based on the
house and the east range suggests that both intended full length rather than the slightly cur­
transepts and a projecting presbytery were tailed length that was actually built. The origi­
intended, using the models already built at nal form o f the west facade cannot now be
Whitland and being built at Valle Crucis, found­ determined because a west tower was added
ed in 1200. This would have given a south early in the fifteenth century.

3. Edward Neaverson, “The Building Stones o f Harlech

Castle and Cym mer Abbey”, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 100.2
(1949), p. 28(1-81.

116 L A WR E NC E B U T L E R
 Fig. 3. Cymmer, view from
south-easi, ca. 1820,
engraving from a drawing
by B. Ralph.
(Crown Copyright: Royal
Commission on the Ancient and
Historical Monuments o f Wales)

There are two further observations to be before the original plan was completed. Robin­
made about the surviving architecture o f the son has suggested that the monks may initially
aisled nave (Fig. 3). The first is that the east wall have worshipped in a timber oratory,4 but for­
closing the nave and its aisles (right side o f tunes can still decline once a building campaign
engraving) was clearly added to the original is undertaken. There may therefore be another
structure, as it is butted up against the nave and way to look at this wall. If one imagines, for
the external aisle walls; it was probably intend­ instance, that the church once had a presbytery,
ed to be temporary. Its central portion has an then it is possible to see this temporary wall as
external string course and a facade design of having been built from the stones and window
three tall lancets and, above in the gable, three embrasures recovered from the original sanctu­
smaller lancets (though only two now survive). ary.
Each aisle had a single lancet window in the The second aspect is the treatment of the pre­
east wall. All have a deep internal splay, and the sent eastern half of the aisled nave. Two sepul­
triple group terminating the nave has a simple chral arches were built into the solid side walls
roll moulding or the capitals of nook shafts. The o f the nave, presumably for the tombs o f the
style is the early Gothic current throughout the founders family (originally buried on either
twelfth century. It is most likely that this nave side o f the high altar?); in addition, the south
window design was intended for the original wall has a piscina to the east o f this arch and
east end and the simpler aisle windows were three sedilia to the west. There is now no evi­
destined for the transept chapels. This “tempo­ dence for an aumbry to house the sacred ves­
rary” or stopgap wall is also placed west o f the sels on either wall. It is likely that the monks’
line of the west wall of the south transept. It stalls were placed west o f the sedilia backing
would have been situated in this position so that against the solid flanking walls. A step down
the builders could erect the crossing piers (as at into the nave and the location o f opposed door­
Valle Crucis) before the temporary wall was ways would mark the division between the
removed. Radford regarded the visible remains monks’ choir and the lay brothers’ nave. These
as the only church structure ever to be built. In doorways would lead into the aisles (or the
his view the present east wall marks an interim chapels at their eastern end). There is no good
measure in a church built from the west end evidence for a pulpitum (as at Valle Crucis or
eastwards, an interim measure that became per­ Rievaulx), but a wooden screen might have
manent as the community’s resources declined been erected. The early-thirteenth-century

4. Cistercian Abbeys, ed. Robinson, p. 97.

What Was Built at Three Cistercian Abbey Churches in Wales? 117

 character o f the sedilia columns supports Rad­
ford’s view that this was the full ritual extent of
the monastic church from the mid-thirteenth
century until the Dissolution o f 1536/7.There
is no evidence that the sedilia has been moved
though it might well have been intended for a
more easterly position. While there is strong
evidence that Cymmer had a church restricted
to an aisled nave for much of its existence, there
is still ample room for discussion about the orig­
inal intentions o f the monastic planners and
how much they had built before the present
solution was adopted.5

Aberconwy
Whereas Cymmer clearly had a monastic
church of rectangular plan for three centuries,
the evidence for Aberconwy is much more
problematical. The abbey was transferred to a
new site at the mouth of the river Conwy soon
after 1190 and remained there for ninety years.
W hen the castle and town o f Conway were Fig. 4. Aberconwy, west wall o f the Cistercian abbey, incorpo­
established in 1283, the abbey was abruptly rated in the later tower o f Conway church. (Crown Copyright:
transferred eight miles (thirteen kilometres) Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments
upstream to Maenan on the orders o f Edward o f Wales)

I and with logistical assistance from Master

James of St George.6 The architect Harold
Hughes was the first to recognize that the parish materials to the east wall o f ca. 1190 — was of
church of St Mary — within the medieval town a comparable date to the chancel south wall,
walls o f Conway — contained the surviving itself English work of ca. 1300. Apart from repo­
remains o f the Cistercian abbey.7 The evidence sitioned doorways in the south aisle and at the
is largely confined to the west gable, now form­ west end, the remainder of the parish church
ing the base o f the later tower (Fig. 4). He also dates from the English occupation after 1283.8
considered that the east and north wall o f the W hen the present author examined the church
chancel belonged to the Cistercian church, but as part o f an excavation programme in the vic­
that the south wall o f the chancel had been arage garden, immediately south of the church,
rebuilt outside the line o f the previous abbey a different conclusion was reached by incorpo­
presbytery; he suggested that the sacking o f the rating evidence published by Hughes in 1937
abbey in 1245 by English troops led by Henry as well as unpublished drawings by Moses Grif­
III provided a possible occasion. Hughes’s evi­ fith.9 N ot only were the west and east walls con­
dence was examined by the Royal Commission sidered to be o f Cistercian workmanship, but
on Ancient Monuments (Wales) whose inves­ parts of the north aisle were built on the foun­
tigators accepted much o f his interpretation. dations o f the abbey church. The north wall of
They decided, however, that the north chan­ the chancel provided ambiguous evidence but
cel wall — though of similar construction and was probably Cistercian because of the choice

5. Lawrence A. S. Butler, “T he Cistercian Order: Cymer M arys Church, Conway”, Arcliaeologia Cambrensis, 5th ser..
Abbey”, in History of Merioneth, ed. J. Beverley Smith and 12 (1895), p. 161-79.
Llinos Beverley Smith, vol. II (Cardiff, 2001). p. 317-22.
8. RCAMW . Caernarvonshire, l. p. 39-43.
6. Williams, Welsh Cistercians, p. 13: Arnold Joseph Tay­
lor. The King's Works in Wales (London, 1974), p. 338. 9. Lawrence A. S. Butler, “An Excavation in the Vicarage
Garden, Conwav, 1961” , Arcliaeologia Cambrensis, 113
7. Harold Hughes, “T he Architectural History o f St (1964), p. 97-128 (p. 111-17).

118 L A WR E NC E BU TL ER
o f stone and a building technique similar to the near) the high altar. His coffin, now at Llanrw-
chancel’s east wall. st, shows it was a free-standing monument.
All three architectural analyses — by Hugh­ There is a further reason for doubting the Royal
es, the Royal Commission, and myself — Commission’s view. It is difficult to accept Rad­
assume that the east wall o f the present parish ford’s dating o f the east wall as being of ca. 1190
church belonged to the Cistercian abbey, but if that carries the implicit assumption that the
different interpretations were made of the other aisled nave is all that was intended in the first
walls. Hughes regarded the south transept as generation o f building, leaving the remainder
being in the approximate position of the south o f the plan to be completed only when cir­
transept of the abbey church. He did not, how­ cumstances permitted. This theory further
ever, examine the Cistercian church in detail, assumes that building proceeded from west to
and in particular did not draw parallels with the east rather than the well-attested Cistercian
recently excavated Strata Florida or the exposed practice o f starting at the east with those areas
remains at Valle Crucis; other Cistercian abbeys most essential for the liturgy being built first.
in Wales and the Borders had yet to be explored Even if one regards the raid of 1245 as the cause
in 1895. The Royal Commission relied upon o f a hiatus in the building programme, the
one o f their Commissioners, D r Radford, when supremacy in Gwynedd o f Llywelyn’s grand­
they wrote that “The original church was son, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, in the period
doubtless laid out on the normal Cistercian plan 1257-82 should have afforded ample opportu­
as a cruciform building with an aisled nave, but nity to complete the construction o f the abbey
the surviving remains of the late twelfth and church.
early thirteenth centuries show that, as at Cym- The two main arguments given against the
mer Abbey in Merionethshire, only the aisled erection of a complete church with the larger
nave was built.” 10 I tried to reconcile these two dimensions suggested are (1) the difficulty in
views by postulating a cruciform building of fitting a church of this size onto the available
modest dimensions. It might be possible to terrain, which slopes down towards the river
reconstruct an abbey church with a total length estuary, and (2) the constraints in accommo­
o f 135 ft (40 m) by using all the available evi­ dating a building of these dimensions alongside
dence. This would give an aisled nave, two a northern cloister with a medieval building
rather brief transepts, and a narrow presbytery. north-east o f the present churchyard.1- How­
It is possible that the transepts had two chapels ever, the building described by Pennant and
on each arm and that the eastern arm was of illustrated by Griffith may well be medieval
the same width as the central vessel o f the although not necessarily Cistercian. The poten­
nave.11* tially Cistercian features (arched doorway, string
One of the reasons that Radford’s interpre­ course) might have been reused; the window
tation o f the aisled nave as the totality o f the design and the use of thatch could be later mod­
abbey church is now considered unsatisfactory ifications to a late medieval urban structure. The
is that Aberconwy was a well-endowed reconstruction now offered (Fig. 5) uses Strata
monastery as well as the known burial place of Florida as the model; the abbey church, as com­
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (d. 1240). It seems most pleted by 1277-83, would fit within the pre­
unlikely that the premier monastery in sent churchyard. It also rejects the east wall of
Gwynedd would have been incomplete after the parish church as work of the early Cister­
forty years o f construction. As principal bene­ cian community. Both the east wall and the side
factor, Prince Llywelyn would not have antic­ walls of the parish church chancel are o f simi­
ipated being buried in a temporary structure, lar materials and construction with only the
but rather in the place of honour in front o f (or string course as a distinctive feature; if this were

10. RCAMW , Caernarvonshire, I. p. 39. Williams recorded a church length o f 126 ft (Stephen W.
Williams, The Cistercian Abbey of Strata Florida [London,
! 1. It must be admitted that the plan 1 suggested in 1964
1889], p. 19-20).
was not entirely convincing, certainly when set alongside
the plans known from Basingwerk. Buildwas. Strata Flori­ 12. These arguments were explored in my 1964 discus­
da, and Valle Crucis. It might have been o f similar size to sion (“An Excavation in the Vicarage Garden”) and prompt­
Strata Florida’s first foundation at Hen Fynachlog, where ed the solution then offered o f a small cruciform church.

What Was Built at Three Cistercian Abbey Churches in Wales? 119

 His suggestion was of an aisleless nave, transepts
with two eastern chapels on each arm, and a
presbytery slightly longer than the dimensions
of the transepts. He argued that the aisleless nave
stood in the position of the later church’s south
aisle. The later south aisle wall would have stood
on the foundations o f the earlier nave wall at
least as far west as the west range’s west wall. If
Radford was correct in his reconstruction and
his sequence o f events, then the nave would
have needed to be demolished almost as soon
as building on the enlarged church began. The
transepts and the eastern arm could have
Fig. 5. Abcrconwy, reconstructed plan, based oil Strata Florida, remained standing and in use until the two east­
(author). ernmost bays o f the aisled nave were ready to
be built; the first south transept might have
remained west o f the new south transept, but
the pulpitum wall, then the present recon­ its chapels would have had to be demolished to
struction would place it under the crossing accommodate the new construction. This older
rather than within the nave. W ithout further south transept would then become the new sac­
below-ground investigation the question of the risty, standing just south o f the door where the
original church plan will remain unresolved. monks processed into the east cloister gallery.
That investigation must surely re-examine the However, during small-scale excavations car­
foundations noted by Hughes, which appeared ried out by Williams in the late nineteenth cen­
to have no datable characteristics though they tury,13 no evidence o f a transept was found
should contain stratigraphical clues.13 within the sacristy, and the only wall on an
east-west alignment does not match anything
Cwmhir on Radford’s reconstruction though its narrow
width should indicate a primary structure.
The third church that has been interpreted as In view o f these difficulties consequent upon
having had an aisled nave without completed a rebuilding which very soon robbed the lay
transepts or eastern arm is Cw m hir in mid- brothers of their worship area, it might be desir­
Wales. W hile Cymmer displays an intact able to imagine other possible reconstructions
(though secondary) east wall to the nave and o f the original church plan. Two possibilities
Aberconwy displays an ambiguously interpret­ may be offered: the first is a reconstruction such
ed east wall, Cwmhir has far less evidence for as Radford has proposed but with only one
its east end (Fig. 6). Further, the discussion of chapel on each transept, thereby giving a short­
the first two abbeys concerns their original plan er transept and moving the nave south by the
and primary construction, while at Cwmhir it width of that chapel (5 m /16 ft) so that a greater
is the second church which is the focus of atten­ part o f the nave lies within the north gallery of
tion.14 An anomaly in the wall of the first room the cloister. In such a proposal, the first church’s
in the east range adjoining the surviving south north nave wall would provide the foundation
transept wall prompted Radford to propose a course for the second church’s south arcade.1516
first church analogous to Waverley and Tintern. The other possibility would be that the foun-

13. Harold Hughes, “St Mary’s Church, Conway”, Arcliae- 16. This suggestion has gained some credence from geo­
ologia Cainbrensis, 92 (1937). p.370-72. physical survey which revealed a wall parallel to the later
nave south wall, but 16 ft (5 m) south o f it in the cloister.
14. Radford, “Cistercian Abbey o f C w m hir”, p. 58-76;
There was no geophysical evidence for the north wall of
Cistercian Abbeys, ed. Robinson, p. 94-96.
the cloister gallery in the position where Williams record­
15. Stephen W. Williams, "T he Cistercian Abbey o f ed it, nor was there any evidence for the walls o f the other
Cwmhir, Radnorshire”, Transactions of the Honourable Soci­ cloister galleries (Sian Rees, Nigel Jones, and Bob Silvester,
ety of Cynunrodorion, 1894—95, p. 61—98 (p. 90). “Conservation and Investigation at Cwmhir Abbey, Powys”,
in The Cistercians in Wales and the West, ed. Maddy Gray and
Peter Vernon Webster [forthcoming], Fig. 5).

120 LAWRENCE BUTLER

Fig. 6. Cu’iiiliir, air vieu>from sonili, showing walls o f nave and transepts. (Copyright: Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust: 94c223).

dations previously identified as the east end of transept) or Strata Florida (with three east of
an enlarged chapter house were instead the east each transept) would be far more likely, espe­
end of a short presbytery, thereby placing the cially in view o f Cwmhir’s affiliation to W hit­
whole o f the first church inside the cloister, as land. Similarly, a plan which does not impede
was the case with Rievaulx s first stone church. a new church on the north makes good sense
This first suggestion would make the rebuild­ in liturgical terms, but it does delay the devel­
ing of the larger aisled nave much easier, whilst opment o f the cloister ranges, which seem here
the second suggestion would not obstruct the to characterize the earliest phase o f construc­
rebuilding at all. There is some supporting evi­ tion.
dence for these suggestions from recent geo­ As to the second church at Cwmhir, it is clear
physical work, but the nineteenth-century site that the difficulties surrounding the loss of the
exploration was very limited and offers no real original lay brothers’ nave (as soon as the first
help with the interpretation o f the early site. four western bays o f the new church had been
If one adopts the second suggestion, then the built) could be solved if a different sequence of
plan need not be restricted to the dimensions events were proposed. Rather than follow Rad­
proposed by Radford. Indeed an aisleless nave ford s argument that the new church was built
would be unusual in a house founded as late as from the west, a more plausible proposal is that
1176, though it may be seen in the early twelfth it was begun at the east in the early thirteenth
century at Waverley (1128), Tintern (1131), and century with an aisled presbytery and transepts
perhaps Neath (1132).1/ An aisled plan as at following the plan o f Dore, Byland, or Netley
W hitland (with two chapels east o f each17 (Fig. 7). This would give the monks immediate

17. Lawrence A. S. Butler, “Neath Abbey: The Twelfth-

Century C hurch”, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 133 (1984). p.
147-51'.

What Was Built at Three Cistercian Abbey Churches in Wales? 121

 height. The attached corner shaft in the sacristy
suggests that the sacristy was begun south of the
south transept.21 However, the practice o f lay­
ing part o f the foundations along an intended
wall line, and then o f erecting only part of the
wall upon those foundations, would be a depar­
ture from normal medieval practice in Britain
where the foundations o f an entire structure
(whether transept, chapel, or military tower)
were laid first and then the walls were taken up
Fig. 7. Cwmhir, reconstructed pinti, based on Netley. (author)
in horizontal stages. Victorian excavators usu­
ally could not distinguish stratigraphically
between disturbed ground and robber trench­
es. They relied instead upon the evidence of
access to the high altar for community mass and surviving pavements to detect floors. Until a
to the lesser ambulatory chapels for individual more careful archaeological campaign is initi­
masses. The original church could then be ated to determine the sequence o f events more
cleared away as the transepts were built, and the precisely, it is possible to argue that the aisled
lay brothers could worship in the transept and presbytery and most o f the transepts were
crossing until the nave was completed. After that removed by Fowler to obtain building materi­
they could use the nine western bays o f the al for his post-Dissolution mansion and the sale
nave, leaving the five eastern bays for the monks’ o f stone to other projects, leaving the area east
nave and the crossing area to be filled with the o f the nave totally levelled.22 No carved stone
choir stalls. After 1402, with a decline in lay belonging unambiguously to the transepts and
brothers, a contraction of choir monk num­ eastern arm has been found. All the carved stone
bers, and a reduction in income, only the five now on display at Cwmhir Hall comes from the
eastern bays were needed and the blocking wall 1824—30 clearance o f the nave recorded by
across the nave was then built.18 A similar Rees in 1850 and by Williams in 1896.23 Most
sequence of events at the Cistercian abbeys of of this carving from the nave can be matched
Sawley and Strata Marcella resulted in the west in details to those arcades transported to Llanid­
end o f the nave being abandoned.19 loes church in 1542.24
The usual argument for the hypothesis of an While he found no evidence for the com­
uncompleted church is the absence o f visible pleted transepts and presbytery, Williams was
structures. Additionally, the clearances made by able to prove from his trial trenches that the
Rees and the exploration by Williams20 sug­ proposed recasting of the cloister — indicated
gested that the transepts were unfinished with by the position o f the two doorways in the
only the foundations of part o f the north and south wall o f the nave — never took place. The
south outer walls having been laid, while the west door led to an open space west of the west
west walls of both transepts were erected to full range. The east door opened into a dog-leg pas-

18. Rees, Jones, and Silvester (“Conservation and Inves­ 20. Williams, “Cistercian Abbey o f C w m hir”, p. 90.
tigation”) suggest that the church may have been complet­
ed as originally intended, but that the collapse o f the eastern 21. Ibid.. Plate 4, no. 13.
piers o f the crossing tower caused the eastern arm to be 22. Geophysical work over the eastern area revealed lit­
abandoned, leading to the erection o f a “temporary” block­ tle that looks convincingly medieval: it is more likely to be
ing wall o f poor quality across the nave in line with the west a strong-house with angled corner turrets and an approach
wall o f the transepts. passage into a defensive courtyard or “barmkiiT'.This could
19. Glyn Coppack. Colin Hayfield, and R ich Williams. be the house that was stormed in the Civil War.
“Sawley Abbey: T he A rchitecture and Archaeology o f a 23. William J. Rees, “Account o f Cw m hir Abbey, R ad­
Smaller Cistercian Abbey", Journal of the British Archaeolog­ norshire", Archaeologia Cambrensis, 4 (1849), p. 233-60;
ical Association, 155 (2002). p. 22-114 (p. 74, 105-07); Williams, “Cistercian Abbey o f C w m hir”, Plate 4.
Christopher John Arnold, “Strata Marcella: The Archaeo­
logical Investigation o f 1890 and the Results o f a G eo­ 24. T he Llanidloes arcade is illustrated by Radford, “Cis­
physical Survey in 1990” . Montgomeryshire Collections, 80 tercian Abbey o f C w m hir”, Plate lib.
(1992), p. 88-94.

122 L A WR E NC E B U T L E R
sage to the cloister by going around the sacristy could have been strengthened by vertical posts
or library. The north wall of the sacristy was secured in the sill walls, as at the south range of
found on excavation. The sacristy doorway in Valle Crucis.
the south wall of the new south transept did
not survive (only the foundation level was Despite a recent geophysical survey at
encountered), though Williams does indicate Cwmhir, these proposals for a completed sec­
its west jamb.25 ond church remain speculative, but it is an open
Architectural evidence from the nave clearly site still available to all the current methods of
indicates a major building phase between 1215 remote sensing. Further work should answer
and 1240. If the original church was constructed the questions raised by the visible architecture,
between 1177 and 1198, the decision to enlarge or at least reduce the range of possibilities out­
first the chapter house — and then to com­ lined above. Similar solutions may be explored
mence an entirely new church o f ambitious at the other two abbey churches. The site of the
proportions — could have been taken when church at Cymmer has open ground immedi­
Roger Mortimer was in control o f the district ately to the north and south with more restrict­
o f Maelienydd. This might explain the use of ed access to the east where the farm buildings
English stylistic details more in keeping with stand, but offering sufficient opportunity for
the West Midlands. The completion o f an aisled geophysical work. Only Conway parish church
nave to the same ambitious design could, as presents substantial problems caused by the
Radford argues, have been financed by Llywe- crowded burial ground, which would limit
lyn ap Iorwerth. The structure that was left excavation and inhibit the use of remote sens­
uncompleted at Llywelyn’s death could have ing. It would however be possible to reopen the
been continued under his grandson by mar­ trenches recorded by Hughes and obtain more
riage, Roger M ortimer (ruler in Maelienydd evidence about the character of the foundations
1241-62). It is more likely, however, to have and their relationship to the existing church
been continued by his grandson in the direct walls. By using such methods at these three
male line, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, from his rise Welsh Cistercian houses, the interpretations
to power in 1262 up to his burial here in 1282. offered here can be confirmed or modified. At
After that date the Mortimers effectively con­ present, Radford’s suggestion that an aisled nave
trolled the area until 1425.26 served as the monks’ church for their entire his­
Whatever state the church had reached, it tory seems doubtful at Cwmhir, Aberconwy,
seems likely (on the evidence from Williams) and Beddgelert. Only at Cymmer has this “tem­
that the cloister remained modest in extent, not porary” solution been proven.
expanding beyond its initial layout, with its
three ranges using foundations only 2 ft (60 cm) Cambridge
wide to support a timber superstructure; these UK

25. A parchmark shows that the space west o f the south­ way; there are also differences in the layout o f the walls o f
west nave door was enclosed; it indicates a wall-line 30 ft (9 the sacristy and chapter house.
m) west o f the west wall o f the west range. T he geophysi­
cal work (referred to above, note 16) shows a wall break in 26. The M ortim er family's possession o f Maelienydd is
the south wall o f the south transept, giving access to the noted in C. Hopkinson and M. Speight, The Mortimers, Lord
sacristy further west than where Williams recorded a door- o f the March (Logaston, 2001), passim.

What Was Built at Three Cistercian Abbey Churches in Wales? 123

 CT lift up mine eyes”:
A Re-evaluation of the Tower in Cistercian
Architecture in Britain and Ireland*
ST U A R T H A R R IS O N

n 1970 Peter Fergusson published his analy­ chat these churches were initially designed with­

I sis of the evidence for the development and

adoption of Cistercian crossing towers in
the north o f England.1 His article brought a
out provision for a crossing tower and their
introduction came during the building process.
In the time since Fergusson’s pioneering arti­
new insight into the design of early Cistercian cle was published much new evidence has
churches in Britain. Prior to his investigation, emerged, and the sequences — though still not
little work had been done to establish a totallv clear — have been refined. Through a
sequence or time frame for the introduction of brief review o f the evidence, this essay sets out
crossing towers at British abbeys; indeed, the to draw a wider net than Fergusson did in order
very idea that some Cistercian churches in to try to evaluate the picture in Britain and Ire­
Britain had been built without crossing towers land.
seems never to have been explored before. It
was generally accepted that the surviving tow­ Any attempt to determine w hether crossing
ers were primary features and usually o f mod­ towers on British and Irish Cistercian church­
est height. Fergusson explored the apparent es were features original to the design or intro­
conflict between churches with towers and the duced later is hampered by the incomplete
statutes that seemed to prohibit their construc­ nature o f the surviving evidence. Many twelfth-
tion, concluding that low towers were permit­ century churches have been completely
ted and that this change from earlier practice destroyed or were rebuilt in subsequent cen­
occurred in the 1150s. In looking at Fountains, turies. Fergusson recognized this problem and
Rievaulx, and Kirkstall, Fergusson concluded concentrated his attention on the best surviv-

* Inevitably the w riting o f this essay drew directly and Museums and a digital ground plan prepared by West York­
indirectly on the help, experience, and knowledge o f shire Archaeology Service. Those o f Fountains were over­
numerous people researching Cistercian topics. Amongst drawn from J. A rthur Reeve. A Monograph on the Abbey of
the more prominent I would like to thank are Paul Barker, S. Mary o f Fountains (London. 1892) and photogrammetric
Glyn Coppack. Keith Emerick, and David Robinson for drawings by English Heritage, together with additional mea­
sharing their thoughts and research over many years and surements and moulding details.
Malcolm Thurlby w ho read and commented on the draft
1. Peter Fergusson. “Early Cistercian Churches in York­
paper. Above all, a huge debt is owed to Peter Fergusson for
shire and the Problem o f the Cistercian Crossing Tower”,
the massive contribution he has made to Cistercian studies
Journal o f the Society o f Architectural Historians, 29 (1970), p.
and the further research that his work has served to stimu­
211—21. This article was updated slightly with the publica­
late and foster. T he drawings were prepared as part o f the
tion o f his Architecture o f Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-
Cistercians in Yorkshire Project based at Sheffield Univer­
Century England (Princeton. 1984), p. 46-48. though the
sity. Those o f Kirkstall were drawn using corrected pho­
initial article remains the more detailed treatment.
tographs kindly supplied by Bryan Sitch o f Leeds City

A Re-evaluation o f the Tower in Cistercian Architecture in Britain and Ireland 125

 ing examples. In considering the evidence at was to carry the nave roof through the cross­
RievauLx, he pointed out that the western cross­ ing to the eastern arch.7 Such a nave roof can­
ing piers were the same size as those in the nave not, however, be reconciled with the present
arcade and that their relatively small size made springing height of the north and south cross­
it unlikely that they were designed to carry a ing arches, because to carry the roof through
tower.2 In fact these piers are slightly longer the crossing these arches would have had to be
than the nave piers, but this marginal increase set much lower. Their present high springing
in size can be explained as a provision to accom­ suggests that any intention to build an unseg­
modate and match the width of the adjoining regated crossing had been abandoned by the
west transept walls; it clearly does not indicate time they were built. It is clear that the twelfth-
provision for a tower. Fergusson pointed out century presbytery was the same height as the
that where towers are absent, as at Fontenay, it transept arms of the church, because sufficient
was common to provide a bell turret.3 Recent­ masonry remains to show this at the junction
ly it was recognized that a vertical slot in the of the presbytery and south transept.8 Here the
south transept south wall at Rievaulx fronts a original external clerestory corner survives and
small vertical shaft that must have housed a bell- shows clear evidence for a pair of pilaster but­
rope serving a bell turret on the south transept tresses in the angle. The string courses o f the
gable.4 This piece o f evidence adds weight to south transept clerestory continue around the
the suggestion that Rievaulx was initially built corner buttresses, and sufficient masonry sur­
with an unstressed crossing w ithout a tower. vives (from where it was cut back for the thir­
During an extensive thirteenth-century recon­ teenth-century presbytery extension) to show
struction, Rievaulx was eventually provided that the string courses continued to the east.
with just such a stressed crossing and tower, and This suggests that the original presbytery had a
the western crossing piers had to be massively range o f clerestory windows.9
encased with new masonry to support it.5 The Positive evidence for a tower survives on top
new crossing was closed with a tierceron vault, o f the south-east crossing pier in the form of
and excavated material from the site suggests an entrance lobby, including the lower treads
that the tower may have featured windows with o f a newel stair that was approached along the
geometric tracery designs.6 How high it rose south transept clerestory parapet walk (Fig. 1).
above the adjoining main roofs cannot now be The entrance lobby base into the newel is set
established, but its height may have been con­ three steps above the wallplate level o f the
siderable. transept roof. The masonry on the east side of
At Fountains the evidence is more complex, the south-east crossing pier has been much
and it is difficult to be certain if a tower was altered by the grafting on o f the eastern exten­
planned from the start. Glyn Coppack has also sion in the thirteenth century. This involved
suggested that the tower was introduced dur­ modification to the spandrel area of the east­
ing construction and that the original intention ern ci'ossing arch; all the original backing

2. Fergusson, “Early Cistercian Churches”, p. 214. 7. Glyn Coppack, The English Heritage Booh of Fountains
Abbey (London, 1993), p. 20; Glyn Coppack and R oy
3. Ibid., p. 211.
Gilyard-Beer Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire (London. 1993),
4. Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey: p. 40. Coppack also suggests the tower was built as a lantern,
Community, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999), p. 72. but for evidence that suggests the crossing was closed with
a vault, see Malcolm Thurlby’s essay in this volume.
5. Fergusson (Architecture of Solitude, p. 46) cites N ew m in-
ster Abbey as a parallel to Rievaulx where early square west­ 8.1 was fortunately able to inspect the upper parts o f the
ern crossing piers were later encased for the erection o f a south-east crossing pier at Fountains when it was scaffold­
tower. ed for repairs in 1999. Photogrammetric drawings made at
that time help to establish the layout o f the complex remains
6. This tracery was discovered in the clearance o f the of this part o f the Fountains crossing. I would like to thank
abbey buildings and laid in a dump together w ith other Keith Emerick o f English Heritage for providing copies of
material from the church. It has yet to be studied to try to the drawings.
recover the full pattern, but it appears to be o f openwork
design w ithout glazing and as such it might have been used 9. Similar evidence for a range o f presbytery clerestory
in a belfry. windows, including the blocked west jam b o f the first win­
dow east o f the crossing in the south wall, survives at Fur­
ness Abbey.

126 S T U AR T H A R R I S O N
masonry was removed and a wall rib for the
new presbytery high vault was inserted with
horizontally bedded infilling inserted between
it and the voussoirs of the original crossing arch.
The wall rib springs from a moulded capital that
formerly supported a tas-de-charge vault springer;
this was cut back when the thirteenth-century
high vault was removed in the late fifteenth cen­
tury. Above this area there is a recessed spandrel
with a coursed wallface above the crossing arch
that must have formed the lower part o f the
main eastern face of the crossing tower. D ur­
ino; the fifteenth-century reconstruction of the
south presbytery walltop, a new moulded wall
capping was introduced and the surviving sec­
tion in this area continues up to the tower wall-
face. The spandrel recess is of considerable depth
— at 70 cm (28 in.) almost half the width of
the crossing arch — indicating that the main
east wall of the tower was remarkably thin at
this level. Above the springing o f the south
crossing arch are the remains o f a similar
recessed spandrel with the stub of the south face
of the tower inset. Plotting these features on
plan suggests that the tower did not, at least at
the lowest level, have corner buttresses. Figure 1. Fountains Abbey, remains o f the south-east corner of
One original aspect of the church and its later the towerfrom the south transept clerestory walltop. (author)
alterations is highlighted by the newel stair. The A t upper centre is the lobby o f the newel stair with f u e steps
three steps up to it stand on the wallplate, which turning clockwise on the left. In the foreground are the three
retains a transverse chase for the sole plate o f a steps introduced when the roofs were rebuilt in the latefifteenth
roof frame (Fig. l).T h e wallplate itself is set 79 century. The scale is standing on the wallplate with the angled
cm (31 in.) above the top o f the external cor­ slope o f the twelfth century roof immediately abone right.
belled eaves on a wall that is also inset 25 cm
(10 in.) from the front edge o f the eave string
course. The upper course is chamfered and there
are indications o f at least one additional cham­ walkways in stone and begs the question of how
fered course above the level o f the present the newel stair to the tower was originally
wallplate. This arrangement seems to date part­ accessed. It appears that the height of the thresh­
ly from the twelfth century and partly from the old level o f the entrance lobby was purposely
later late-fifteenth-century alterations to the set in order to clear the raking angle o f the
transept when a new open-framed arch-braced transept roof, or nearly so (Fig. 1). As there were
roof was introduced. The trenched chase for no masonry parapets on the church, the door­
the roof framing appears to relate to this later way must have been approached by an exter­
roof, at which time the three steps were prob­ nal timber walkway set above the base o f the
ably introduced with a parapet wall walk. The roof. Access to this timber walkway must have
original twelfth-century design seems to have been via the centrally placed newel stair in the
included the 79 cm high wall on top of the eave south wall of the transept, and then by a pas­
corbel table together with the chamfered upper sage or straight stair in the gable from the tur­
courses. The roof would have begun at this ret to the upper south-east corner o f the
level, which coincides with similarly chamfered transept. Given the surviving evidence, this
coursing on top of the corbel table o f the thir­ seems the most practical solution to the prob­
teenth-century presbytery extension. This evi­ lem o f access to the tower newel stair.
dence would appear to rule out any question The original form o f the south-east pier,
of twelfth- and thirteenth-century parapet before the thirteenth-century and later addi-

zi Re-evaluation o f the Tower in Cistercian Architecture in Britain and Ireland 127

 Figure 2. Fountains Abbey, recon­
structed cross-section through the
crossing looking east, showing the
original arrangement o f the eastern
crossing arch and the projected out­
line o f the tower, (author, after
Reeve)

o f this arch seems to rule out a high vault in

the presbytery, indicating instead a timber ceil­
ing, probably of barrel form. In fact, the high
springing points and the height to which all the
crossing arches rose seem to indicate that it
would have been difficult to construct them
without also providing a crossing tower as abut­
ment for the arches (Fig. 3). The west face of
the south-east pier is now obscured by a mas­
sive later buttress that was installed to counter
the westward deformation o f the pier, itself the
result o f the thrust from the south arcade of the
presbytery. Above the buttress the springing of
the south crossing arch is visible and it is clear
that it stands on a strip corbel with scallop cap­
itals. Unlike the north face o f the pier, there is
no evidence of a pilaster on the western face;
in fact, apart from the corbel at the arch spring­
ing, there is no projecting masonry at all (Figs
2 and 3). In the internal corner between the
Figure 3. Fountains Abbey, reconstructed cross-section through east and south faces o f the pier are two single
the crossing looking south, showing the projected outline o f the capitals that show there was a squared offset fill—
tower, (author, after Reeve) ing the angle between them.
The western crossing piers at Fountains, in
contrast to those at Rievaulx, are substantially
tions, was discussed at length by Fergusson.10 It larger — approximately fifty percent — than
has a squared pilaster on its north face that pro­ the normal nave piers, with a projecting pilaster
jects well forward into the central vessel and, decorated with coursed corner angle shafts on
together with the high pointed arch that it sup­ the east face which suggests that they were
ported, would have focused attention on the designed with a tower in mind (Fig. 3). The
entrance to the presbytery (Fig. 2). The height north-west pier survives intact and shows the

10. Fergusson. “Early Cistercian Churches", p. 215-16.

128 S TU A RT H A R R I S O N
springing for the north and west crossing arch­ and contemporary photographs show newly
es. The west crossing arch was supported by a excavated stonework that originated in the pres­
similar strip corbel to the south crossing arch, bytery and crossing area.11 Some of this mate­
springing from the south-east pier, and the rial has been identified, including a series o f
north crossing arch from capitals set at the top marble chalice capitals o f single- and triple-
o f the pilaster. In the angle between them is a shafted designs that find their closest parallel in
single coursed shaft forming a pair with the cor­ the window nook shaft capitals o f the refecto­
ner shaft of the projecting pilaster. On the east­ ry constructed in the 1170s by Abbot Robert
ern piers the squared offset would have formed o f Pipewell.12 He is also recorded as having
a distinct architectural grouping with the pro­ recommenced work on the church, but noth­
jecting pilaster and focused attention on the ing in the surviving fabric o f the nave or
entrance to the presbytery. The eastern cross­ transepts can now be easily attributed to him.
ing arch is heavily moulded on its western side, The loose capitals have squared imposts with
and this would also have formed a strong visu­ bell rims, so they cannot have belonged to the
al focal point (Fig. 2). The lack o f a projecting later eastern extension o f the presbytery which
pilaster on the west side o f the eastern crossing features capitals with round moulded abaci
piers would have created an impression of mural throughout the work. The location of their dis­
recession o f the main pier and arch elements covery as well as their style suggest that Pipewell
into the depth of the presbytery. In creating this may have remodelled the tower, perhaps con­
effect, the north and south responds o f the east­ verting it to a lantern or adding a belfry to the
ern crossing were shifted eastwards out of align­ original stage.
ment with the transept arcades. Similarly, the
stepping applied to the west sides o f the east At Kirkstall Abbey Fergusson suggested alter­
piers shifted the alignment o f the south and ations to insert a tower during construction, a
north crossing arches sideways into the transept view that has since been challenged by Mal­
spaces. This is how the disparities of 70 cm and colm Thurlby who suggested the tower — or
67 cm between the respective outer face o f the at least the present arrangement of the eastern
east and south crossing arches and the east and crossing piers — was intended from the out­
south walls of the tower were created. These set.lj The builders o f Kirkstall were presented
disparities, which clearly show that the sup­ with a problem that was cleverly solved and
porting elements were not matched to the which the evidence suggests they had foreseen
superstructure they carried, seem to suggest that from the start. That the Kirkstall presbytery was
the tower was not envisaged when the eastern intended to be vaulted from the first is clearly
piers of the building were set out. The scheme shown by the immense thickness o f its side
o f access to the tower newel stair, as outlined walls. The layout of the crossing made adjust­
above, also smacks somewhat of expediency, ments for these thick walls to allow construc­
almost as if the provision o f the tower newel tion o f a nave that was wider internally than
stair was an afterthought. If this hypothesis is the presbytery. To keep the crossing square, the
correct, it raises the possibility that this was also main eastern pier responds were placed direct­
the case with the tower itself. At best the evi­ ly opposite the western pier responds, which of
dence is inconclusive; whatever the case, the course meant that they were out o f alignment
central tower at Fountains must have been one with the inner face of the presbytery walls; this
of the earliest constructed by the Cistercians in created a strip o f walling between the inner
England. edges o f the eastern crossing piers and the west­
The church at Fountains was excavated in the ern corner angles o f the presbytery. To com­
mid-nineteenth century by Richard Walbran, pensate for this discrepancy, the builders placed

11. R H. Delamotte and J. Cundall. A Photographic Tour Malcolm Thurlby. "Some Design Aspects o f Kirkstall
Amongst the Abbeys ofYorkshire (London, 1856), Plates 9 and Abbey”, in Yorkshire Monasticism : Archaeology, Art and Archi­
10. tecture, ed. Lawrence R . Hoey, British Archaeological Asso­
ciation Conference Transactions, 16 (York, 1995), p.62-72
12. Stuart A. Harrison. “T he Architecture o f Byland
(p. 65-66).
Abhev” (unpublished master's dissertation, University o f
Y ork,'1988). p. 111-13.

A Re-evaluation of the Tower in Cistercian Architecture in Britain and Ireland 129

 Figure 4. Kirkstall Abbey, cross-sec­
tion through the transepts and tower
looking cast, showing the arrange­
ment o f the eastern crossing arch.
The position o f the angled timbers
that cut the internal string course o f
the tower has been indicated,
(author)

a single shaft on the western corner angles of

the presbytery walls which carries the first order
of the eastern crossing arch. To the side of the
shaft capital, additional supports in the form of
strip capitals were provided to carry additional
orders applied to the western face of the arch
that then link across to the eastern crossing pier
capitals (Fig. 4).Though different in layout and
form to the arrangement at Fountains, the east­
ern crossing arch at Kirkstall was thus given sim­
ilar visual prominence. The western crossing
piers, like those at Fountains, are much larger
Figure 5. Kirkstall Abbey, external face o f the surviving east
than the normal nave piers, indicating provi­
side o f the crossing tower, (author)
sion to carry a tower. On balance the evidence
suggests that the stressed crossing with tower
was planned at Kirkstall from the start.
The tower built at Kirkstall is the most elab­ tracery, it seems clear that these openings would
orate English Cistercian tower to survive from have originally been subdivided with two small­
the twelfth century. It is articulated externally er round-headed openings standing on a cen­
with four pilaster buttresses on each face and tral shaft, in typical Romanesque fashion (Fig.
shafts on the corner angles. The inner pair of 6). The top o f the tower barely rose above the
pilasters on the east side is decorated with a apex of the flanking roofs o f the church. It was
frieze o f capitals at the top, but those on the later increased in height by the addition of a
south side are plain, suggesting changes as the large upper storey which overloaded the struc­
tower was completed. The pilasters are capped ture and eventually brought about a partial col­
by an eaves string course supported by corbels lapse. Internally it seems clear that the tower did
set between the buttresses (Fig. 5). The Kirk­ not function as a lantern since there is evidence
stall tower does not seem to have been provid­ for a belfry floor below the windows. How the
ed with a newel staircase as at Fountains. Instead space below this floor was closed is not obvi­
it could be entered through a small pointed cen­ ous. There are corbels in the internal corners
trally placed doorway in each side through a and angled cuts on a string course on the east
passage set in the apex of the adjoining roofs. wall indicating the former presence o f two sets
The belfry windows are set low and are round- o f raking timbers rising from them (Fig. 4). This
headed with jamb shafts carrying scallop capi­ suggests a complicated timber framing that may
tals that support angle rolls. Now filled by later have supported a timber quadripartite vault

130 S T U AR T H A R R I S O N
 Figure 6. Kirkstall Abbey, drawing
o f the east side o f the crossing tower
showing the most likely original
subdivision o f the belfry windows.
(author)

springing from the corbels. In this case the diag­ aisleless examples at Waverley and Tintern
onal ribs would have been distinctly segmental spring to mind and also the first church at Foun­
in form in order to avoid the belfry floor, some­ tains, where excavated details indicate an
thing that would have been difficult to accom­ unstressed rectangular plan at the crossing. At
plish in stone but easily contrived with timber. Melrose the plan of the early church also shows
In terms of design, the Kirkstall tower is very transepts substantially narrower than the nave,
conservative when compared to the tradition­ and the crossing plan seems to preclude a
al Romanesque tower. In Britain this type nor­ stressed crossing and tower.13 At Whitland in
mally took the form o f a lantern with an Wales, the plan o f the recently re-excavated
arcaded internal gallery surmounted by a bel­ church appears to indicate that it was built with­
fry which rose well above the surrounding out a tower, and the close similarity of the plan
church roofs. Selby Abbey tower could be and pier forms at Margam and Whitland would
classed as a typical Romanesque example,14 but also suggest that Margam was towerless until
there are no surviving twelfth-century exam­ the crossing was completely reconstructed in
ples o f this type of tower in a Cistercian con­ the thirteenth century.16 At Strata Florida the
text in Britain or Ireland. It seems therefore that recent study o f the loose stonework excavated
when the British and Irish Cistercians began in the nineteenth century shows that the stone
building towers, they took the form exempli­ type and mouldings of the western crossing arch
fied by Kirkstall and scrupulously avoided the were substantially different from the other three
traditional crossing tower design. crossing arches. This evidence suggests that the
building was initially planned and built with an
If we widen our scope it can be suggested that unstressed crossing, but that a lengthened and
there were a number o f earlier Cistercian rib-vaulted presbytery, a western crossing arch,
churches built w ithout crossing towers. The and a tower were introduced during construc-

14. Stuart A. Harrison and Malcolm Thurlby, “Observa­ 16. David M. Robinson, “Margam Abbey”, Supplement
tions on the Romanesque Crossing Tower, Transepts and to the Archaeological Journal Volume 150, ed. N orm an J. G.
Nave Aisles o f Selby Abbey’’, in Yorkshire Monasticism, ed. Pounds, 1993, p. 54—60 (p. 57); The Cistercian Abbeys of
Hoey, p. 54—56.15 Britain: Farfrom the Concourse of Men, ed. David M. R obin­
son (Kalamazoo, 1998), p. 140, p. 204.
15. Fergusson and Harrison. Ricvaulx Abbey, p. 48-51.

A Re-evaluation of the Tower in Cistercian Architecture in Britain and Ireland

 Figure 7. Buildwas Abbey, north-west crossing pier showing the Figure 8. Buildwas Abbey, showing the tower from the west with
inserted early Gothic corbel with waterleaf capital, (author) its small low-set lantern windows, (author)

tion.1' Fergusson highlighted similar features in were used as galleted packings throughout the
the fabric o f Buildwas, and a recent reappraisal walls of the church. There seems to be a pro­
o f the evidence by David Robinson and this gressive increase in the use o f these tiles that
writer confirms that the western crossing arch can almost serve to track the progress o f con­
is an insertion designed to accommodate the struction. If the theory that increasing density
central tower (Fig.7).18 It is notable that though of the galleting reflects the progress of the build­
most of the decorative elements used through­ ing works is correct, then it is notable that they
out the eastern parts o f the church at Buildwas were used most prolifically in the walls of the
are still firmly rooted in the local Romanesque central tower, perhaps indicating it was one of
style, the inserted crossing pier capitals of the the last parts to be erected.
eastern and western arches have early Gothic The cases o f Buildwas and Strata Florida
waterleaf decoration. The Buildwas tower (Fig. where towers were clearly introduced part-way
8) is a plain structure that, like Kirkstall, only through construction, almost as an afterthought,
rose to just above the flanking roofs o f the are not alone. At Holm Cultram a recent reap­
church; it has a pair o f low-set small windows praisal o f the arrangement o f the north-east
in each face. It seems these were open to the crossing pier suggests a similar sequence.19 The
crossing below which therefore took a lantern remains o f the pier show three phases of work.
form. O ne detail previously overlooked at The first — as shown by the surviving corner
Buildwas is the quantity o f roofing tiles that angle base — is Romanesque in character,

17. David M. Robinson and Colin Platt, Strata Florida 19. Stuart A. Harrison, “The Architecture o f Holm C ul­
Abbey, Talley Abbey (Cardiff, 1998), p. 28; Cistercian Abbeys, tram Abbey”, in British Archaeological Association Conference
ed. Robinson, p. 177. Transactions for Carlisle (forthcoming).
18. Fergusson, “Early Cistercian Churches”, p. 218; David
M. Robinson, Buildwas Abbey (London, 2002), p. 8.

132 S T U AR T H A R R I S O N
Figure 9. DunbrÓdy Abbey, view o f the crossing from the south transept, showing the massive reinforcing introduced when a tower
was added to the originally unstressed crossing, (author)

apparently without any projecting articulation for adding grand crossing towers into these
against the west face of the pier except a plain churches.20 As Stalley demonstrated, Dunbrody
pilaster. Butting against this western face is a is a classic case; the original early crossing arch­
triple shaft group of early Gothic design, pre­ es show massive reinforcement for the con­
sumably added in order to enlarge the eastern struction of the later tower (Fig. 9). He pointed
pier to support a tower. The third phase is late, out that these originally towerless churches are
possibly fifteenth- or sixteenth-century, when a predominately within the native Irish houses in
pilaster was added to the south face, presumably the affiliation of Mellifont, while the later hous­
to buttress the failing crossing. The tower is said es founded by the Anglo-Norman invaders seem
to have been 19 fathoms high (37.7 m /114 ft) to have had towers from the outset. The evi­
and fell in 1600, largely destroying the presbytery dence at Inch indicates damage caused by a par­
in the collapse. Existing remains o f the nave, tial crossing collapse, though the exact form of
compared with engravings that show the church the massing o f the church remains problemati­
before it was reduced in size, indicate that the cal. At Grey a crossing tower appears to have
reported height o f the tower is almost certain­ been an integral part of the design, raised in two
ly too high to have been a wholly twelfth-cen­ separate building campaigns. The crossing is
tury structure. This suggests that, like Kirkstall, notable for the provision o f a light barrel vault
Holm Cultram had been heightened later. articulated with transverse chamfered ribs.21
Roger Stalley has thoroughly examined the Unfortunately, however, not enough survives to
evidence for towers at Irish Cistercian sites. His indicate whether windows were provided in the
research clearly shows that these churches were tower. Grey was founded from Holm Cultram
originally built without provision for a crossing and Inch from Furness, both of which must have
tower and that there was a much later fashion had towers erected in the twelfth century.

20. Roger Stalley, The Cistercian Monasteries of Ireland (Lon­ 21. Stuart A. Harrison, “Grey Abbey. C ounty Down: A
don. 1987), p. 141-50. N ew Architectural Survey and Assessment” , Journal o f the
British Archaeological Association, 155 (2002), p. 124—30.

A Re-evaluation o f the Tower in Cistercian Architecture in Britain and Ireland 133

 By the advent o f early Gothic in the north bytery for which the building accounts still
of England, crossing towers appear to have been survive. No mention is made o f an existing
integral features of churches then being con­ tower or costs incurred in taking one down.
structed. At Furness the west wall of the new The evidence w ithin the spandrels o f the
early Gothic north transept was provided with crossing arches is somewhat ambiguous. The
a wall passage from the newel stair in the north­ two sets o f corbels and the wall scars spring­
west angle to the north-w est crossing pier, ing from the lower corbels suggest that the
where another newel rose up into the tower. crossing was closed with a ribbed vault. This
The remains o f this tower are now slight but would have risen higher than the present
the lowest parts o f the coursed shafts that dec­ crossing walltop, indicating that some mason­
orated its external corners can clearly be seen.22 ry has been removed, though not necessarily
At Roche the crossing has fallen but the design a substantial amount. The higher-set corbels
of the crossing piers and documentary refer­ may have supported an earlier timber ceiling
ences to a tower in which bells were hung sug­ or vault.2/ T he unaltered state o f the late-
gest that it was provided with a tower from the twelfth-century crossing and adjoining arms
outset.23 Dundrennan is in a similarly ruinous o f the church also suggests that it has never
state, but probably also had a tower from the suffered a tower collapse and the damage that
first because the great height o f the crossing would have caused. Had there been an exist­
arches could not have been easily accommo­ ing crossing tower it would surely have been
dated without one.24*At Calder two sides o f the easier to repair it than to build a new tower.
tower still survive and appear to date from the All these factors suggest that the crossing never
start o f the present church. Byland was the had a masonry tower, though a timber one
largest church built by the Order in Britain in cannot be ruled out.
the twelfth century. The crossing had four large A similar case can also be argued for the late-
piers, now ruined down to their bases, but thirteenth-century church at Tintern.28 All four
stonework recovered during excavation o f the crossing arches are still standing, and eighteenth-
church shows that the piers supported massive century engravings show that the present
pointed arches. A series o f bases and capitals appearance o f the crossing is relatively
deriving from arcaded gallery passages suggests unchanged since that time.29 Like Abbey Dore,
that the crossing had an elaborate lantern tower it was closed with a ribbed vault, in this case
that probably rose significantly above the steeply clearly o f primary build (no one would care­
raked roofs of the church, perhaps supporting fully remove a central tower, leaving the cross­
a belfry above.23 ing intact, when it would be easier to pull out
T he case o f Abbey D ore is interesting one o f the piers and fell the lot in one go). The
because past com m entators, including Fer- only logical conclusion is that Tintern never
gusson, have assumed there was a central had a crossing tower, at least not in masonry.
tower.26 The sem i-ruined building was These last two cases suggest that stone crossing
restored in the early seventeenth century by towers were not ubiquitous in Cistercian
Viscount Scudamore, and this work included churches in Britain, even in the Gothic peri­
the construction o f a wholly new tower in od, and that towerless church designs were not
the angle between the south transept and pres­ restricted to the earliest buildings.

22. William H. St John Hope, “T he Abbey o f St Mary 25. Harrison, “T he Architecture o f Byland Abbey", p.
in Furness, Lancashire". Transactions of the Cumberland and 89-92; id.. Bylaud Abbey, rev. edn (London, 1999), p. 8.
Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 16 (1900),
p.221—302; Stuart Harrison, Jason Wood, and Rachel N ew ­ 26. Fergusson, “Early Cistercian Churches", p. 218.
man, Furness Abbey (London, 1998), p. 6. 27. Stuart A. Harrison and Malcolm Thurlby, “An Archi­
tectural History", in A Definitine History of Dore Abbey, ed.
23. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 159.
R o n Shoesmith and R u th Richardson (Little Logaston,
24. Stuart A. Harrison. “T he Early G othic Church at Herefs., 1997). p. 51-52.
Dundrennan Abbey". Journal of the British ArchaeologicalAsso­
ciation, 151 (1998).' p. 137—48 (p. 143). 28. David M. Robinson. Tintern Abbey, 4th edn (Cardiff,
2002). p. 43.
29. Ibid., p. 21.

134 STUART H A R R I S O N
This brief review has only pointed out the obvi­ It may well be o f interest here to highlight
ous examples of churches that were constructed the changes in detail that seem to have accom­
with or without a tower or were modified dur­ panied each new church. Fountains dresses up
ing construction. Central to Fergusson’s article the plain Rievaulx design with more elaborate
was the idea that there came a point when the piers, moulded arches, and decorative capitals,
Cistercians in Britain changed the appearance of while Kirkstall in turn shows an even greater
their churches dramatically by the introducdon trend towards increased carved decoration, more
of stressed crossings with towers. In the time since complex pier designs, and arch mouldings — a
his article was published, the interpretation of sequence that might be indicative o f an overall
some o f his main examples has evolved and new tendency towards greater embellishment. Com­
evidence has emerged for other examples in Scot­ pared to Rievaulx, Kirkstall is a very elaborately
land, Ireland, and Wales that were either built decorated building in the local Romanesque
without towers or where towers were introduced. style. Is it any wonder that this trend also seems
These further examples show that the basic tenets to have gone hand in hand with the introduc­
o f his arguments still hold true. tion o f stressed crossings with towers? That
As Fergusson demonstrated, precisely when Fountains may have introduced a tower during
this change occurred can possibly be narrowed the building process — and Kirkstall seems to
to a short space of time. The key still lies with have had a tower planned from the start — sug­
his three main examples: Rievaulx, Fountains, gests that the towerless design fell out of favour
and Kirkstall. If we accept that Rievaulx was a in the early 1150s. As Fergusson pointed out,
towerless design begun under the abbacy of this is at the time when the General Chapter
Ailred it must date to the late 1140s, and it is started restricting the construction o f towers by
notable that the plan o f Rievaulx’s daughter legislation.31 The Yorkshire examples may well
house of Melrose, dedicated in 1147, clearly be part o f a more widespread trend towards
shows that it was also built without a crossing embellishment in the O rder’s architecture —
tower.30 The present church at Fountains was including tower building — that caused an
almost certainly started in the late 1140s or early administrative backlash. Even a low tower such
1150s, especially given the stylistic advances as that at Kirkstall provided a radically different
shown in the design o f Kirkstall. The details of silhouette than a towerless design. Whatever the
Fountains demonstrate that it was an improved case, it seems that the early Gothic churches
version of the Rievaulx desimi. Kirkstall was built later in England and Scotland paid little
established on its present site in 1152, and the heed to the statutes, and many new crossing
church was probably also started in the 1150s. towers were raised. This suggests that the
In its basic design it reflects RievauLx and Foun- statutes, as Fergusson pointed out, did not rep­
tains, and it is becoming clear that when orig­ resent a total prohibition; perhaps only towers
inally built this “family resemblance” was closer of immoderate height were in question.32 Here
than is now apparent. Recent research shows, we should recall that the few surviving twelfth-
for instance, that the present arrangement of century examples all seem to have risen only
the Kirkstall transept chapel roofs is a modifi­ just above the surrounding roofs o f the church.
cation and that originally they had individual In Wales and Ireland the picture was somewhat
gables similar to those still to be seen at Foun­ different, and a more conservative trend seems
tains. W hen first constructed, the external to have prevailed, though — as Strata Florida
appearance o f the transepts therefore bore a in Wales and Grey in Ireland show — this can
much closer resemblance to those at Fountains have lasted only for a short while.
than may now be seen. Though the transept
chapel arches follow the same arrangement as Ryedale Archaeology Service
Fountains, they have foliate and scallop capitals Pickering
and moulded arches, clearly showing an increase North Yorkshire
in elaboration on the earlier design. UK

30. Fergusson and Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey, p. 48-51. 32. ¡bid., p. 219.
31. Fergusson “Early Cistercian Churches”, p. 219-21.

A Re-evaluation of the Tower in Cistercian Architecture in Britain and Ireland 135

 The Crossing of Fountains Abbey Church*

M A LC O LM T H U R L B Y

n an article entitled “Early Cistercian was.4*Most importantly for our purpose, the

I Churches in Yorkshire and the Problem of

the Cistercian Crossing Tower”, Peter Fer-
gusson discussed aspects o f the design and
excavation in the south transept at Fountains
by Roy Gilyard-Beer and Glyn Coppack pro­
duced evidence for an early wooden church
archaeology of the crossings o f the twelfth-cen­ that was superseded by a stone church built
tury Cistercian abbey churches o f Rievaulx, before, and rebuilt after, the fire of 1147.° As a
Fountains, Kirkstall (all in Yorkshire), Buildwas result, the present fabric — the second stone
(Shropshire), and Dore (Herefordshire).1 Since church — could not have been commenced
the publication o f that article in 1970, each one until sometime after 1147. The excavation also
of these buildings has been the topic of further revealed that there was a revision in the design
investigation. Rievaulx is the subject of the bril­ o f this church. Although it is agreed that the
liant monograph by Peter Fergusson and Stu­ change of plan took place between 1150 and
art Harrison.2 Aspects o f Kirkstall have been 1160, the building chronology has not been
addressed by Stuart Harrison and Malcolm investigated vis-à-vis the design o f the daugh­
Thurlby.3 Dore has been the subject o f a multi- ter house at Kirkstall, where the construction
authored volume, and, most recently, David o f the church commenced in 1152.6 N ot least
Robinson has produced a new guide to Build- significant in this connection is the form of the

* I am very grateful to Peter Fergusson for encouraging 5. Roy Gilyard-Beer and Glyn Coppack, “Excavations
my adventures into the Cistercian world. Glyn Coppack at Fountains Ábbey, N orth Yorkshire. 1979-80; T he Early
kindly clarified and expanded on aspects o f the excavation Development o f the M onastery”, Archaeologia, 108 (1986),
in the south transept at Fountains. Stuart Harrison and David p. 147—88. See also Peter Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude:
Robinson read drafts o f this paper and were generous and Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton,
inspiring discussants on all aspects o f its contents. 1984), p. 39-48; Stuart H arrison, “T h e A rchitecture o f
Byland Abbey” (unpublished master’s dissertation, Univer­
1.Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 29 (1970),
sity o f York, 1988), p. 111-13; Glyn Coppack, English Her­
p. 211—21.
itage Booh of Fountains Abbey (London, 1993); Glyn Coppack
2. Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey: and R oy Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey (London, 1993);
Community, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999). Glyn Coppack, “Fountains Abbey: Archaeological Research
Directed by Conservation and Presentation”, in Monastic
3. Stuart Harrison, “Kirkstall Abbey: T he 12tl,-C entury Archaeology: Papers on the Study o f Medieval Monasteries, ed.
Tracery and Rose W indow", and Malcolm Thurlby, “Some Graham Keevill, M ick Aston, and Teresa Hill (Oxford,
Design Aspects o f Kirkstall Abbey”, in Yorkshire Monasti- 2001), p. 175-82, esp. p. 178-80; Jens Riiffer. “Fountains
cism: Archaeology, Art anil Architecture, cd. Lawrence R . Hoey, Abbeys frühe Klosterkirche(n) — zum Stand der Bau­
British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions, forschung". Cîteaux, 53 (2002). p. 73-98; Glyn Coppack,
16 (Leeds, 1995), p. 73-78 and p. 62-72 respectively. Fountains Abbey:The Cistercians in the North (Stroud, 2003).
4. A Definitive History of Dore Abbey, ed. R on Shoesmith 6. Thurlby. "Kirkstall”, p. 62.
and Ruth Richardson (Little Logaston. Herefs., 1997);David
M. Robinson. Buildwas Abbey (London, 2002).

The Crossing of Fountains Abbey Church 137

 Crossing at Fountains, a matter not easily re­ designed simply as a continuation of the nave up
solved in view o f the ruined state o f the fab­ to the entrance o f the presbytery, without a cen­
ric. Just the south-east and north-west piers of tral tower at the intersection”.11 He suggested
the crossing remain and, in the case of the for­ that provision for the central tower was only
mer, only in modified form. Therefore, it is per­ made when work commenced on building the
haps not surprising that there is difference of nave in the late 1150s.12 Elsewhere, Coppack has
opinion as to the form and articulation o f the written that the north-west and south-east cross­
crossing, especially for the superstructure. In ing piers “exhibit evidence of the change of plan
particular, was there a lantern tower or was the during building”.13 He adds that “ [a] round shaft
crossing vaulted? O r was there perhaps some rises from the springing o f the crossing arches in
combination o f both vault and lantern? The the south-east corner to support an arch similar
evidence provides for an intriguing examina­ to that on the west gable wall of the church that
tion of the appropriate form for the crossing of outlined the profile of a wooden ceiling”.14 The
a major Cistercian church, one that both reflects implication is that in the putative first design this
regional traditions and Cistercian practice else­ wooden barrel would have continued uninter­
where in Europe. rupted from the east crossing arch to the west
front. However, Coppack observed that “ [b]y the
time the nave was begun the decision had been
The State of the Question taken to build a tower, for no arch across the nave
would have been needed between the west cross­
In 1157 the General Chapter passed legislation ing piers if a tower was not intended, yet its
that stated “Let stone towers with bells not be springing remains of the north-west pier, clear­
built” .' Fergusson indicated that this was not a ly an integral part of the design”.13 Fergusson
ban on crossing towers but quite literally a ban also saw the crossing tower as part of a revised
on towers with bells.8 The classic example of a plan but this he placed earlier than Coppack,
Cistercian church without a crossing tower is at around 1152.16
Fontenay (Côte-d’Or), and something similar The excavation report by Gilyard-Beer and
once existed in England at Waverley (Surrey) Coppack indicated that the east crossing piers
and in Wales at Tintera (Gwent).9 However, if of the present church were probably executed
there was a desire to create a more ambitious before the demolition o f the nave o f the first
structure, the sine qua non of a great church was stone church.1' Moreover, the west crossing
a crossing tower. In the Cistercian context the piers could not have been erected until the pre­
matter was clearly not a straightforward one, as vious structure had been taken down. As to the
at Buildwas where the crossing tower represents sequence o f construction there is no debate, for
a modification o f the original design during the excavated remains of the south-west cross­
construction.10 ing pier are built over a northward continua­
Glyn Coppack stated that originally the cross­ tion o f the west wall o f the south transept.18 Be
ing o f the present church at Fountains “was that as it may, the change in plan does not nec-

7. “Turres lapideae ad campanas non fiant”: Twelfth-Cen­ 14. Ibid., p. 20. For the reconstruction o f a wooden bar­
tury Statutes from tlic Cistercian General Chapter, ed. Chryso­ rel vault over the Fountains nave, see Malcolm Thurlby,
gonus Waddell, Cfteaux: Studia et Documenta. 12 (Brecht. “ Glasgow Cathedral and the W ooden Barrel Vault in
2002). p. 70, 579. Twelfth- and T h irteen th -C en tu ry A rchitecture in Scot­
land". in Medierai Art and Architecture in the Diocese of Glas­
8. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 46—47.
gow, ed. Richard Fawcett. British Archaeological Association
9. David M. Robinson, Tintent Abbey, (Cardiff. 2002"'). Conference Transactions, 23 (Leeds, 1998), p.84-87 (p. 84),
reconstruction on p. 28. pl.XVIA.

10. Robinson. Buildwas Abbey, p. 8. 15. Coppack and Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey, p. 20.

1 1. Coppack. Fountains Abbey:Tlie Cistercians in the North, 16. Fergusson, Architecture o f Solitude, p. 46.
p. 46.
17. Gilyard-Beer and Coppack, "Excavations at Foun­
12. Coppack, English Heritage Booh of Fountains Abbey, p. tains Abbey”, p. 158.
40; Coppack. Fountains Abbey Hite Cistercians in the North, p. 18. Ibid., pi. LVIc.
48.
13. Coppack and Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey, p. 20.

138 MAL COL M T H U R L B Y

Fig. I. Fountains Abbey, south transept, interior to north-east, Fig. 2. Fountains Abbey, south transept, interior to north-cast,
(author) detail o f north bay. (author)

essarily entail any great lapse o f time between beneath the crossing tower was vaulted in stone,
the erection of the east and west crossing piers. but Peter Fergusson found this idea “implausi­
Coppack’s reading o f the shaft that rises in the ble for a number o f reasons”.20 Both St John
angle between the south and east crossing arch­ Hope and Coppack assumed a lantern over the
es is also open to reinterpretation. Concerning crossing.21 Aside from these interpretative mat­
the superstructure and covering of the Foun­ ters, there is the question o f the date o f the
tains crossing, J. A rthur Reeve wrote, “ [t]hat crossing tower and nave o f Fountains.
the space under the low central tower was vault­
ed is certain, because the springing stones of
the diagonal rib of a simple quadripartite vault Analysis
are still in situ at the top o f the south-east pier
o f the great crossing; these ribs did not spring The south-east crossing pier (Fig. 1) is now
directly from the capitals o f the great piers, but dominated by the large, stepped buttress added
from short columns which were inserted, in the to the west side and variously attributed to
angles, above them ” .19 Both A. W. Oxford and the fourteenth century,22 to Abbot D arnton
A. E. Henderson likewise claimed that the space (1479-94),2-’ and to Abbot Marmaduke Huby

19. J. A rthur Reeve. A Monograph on the Abbey of S. Mary 21. William H. Sc John Hope, “Fountains Abbey". York­
o f Fountains (London. ! 892). p. 18. shire Archaeological Journal. 15 (1900), p.269—402 (p.287);
Coppack and Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey, p. 20.
20. Arnold W. O xford. The Ruins of Fountains Abbey.
(Ripon, 19673), p. 19; Arthur E. Henderson, Fountains Abbey 22. Coppack and Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey, p. 20.
Then and Now (London. 194S2). unpaginated: Fergusson,
"Early Cistercian Churches”, p. 216, n. 27. 23. Hope, “Fountains Abbey”, p. 287-88: Oxford. Ruins
o f Fountains Abbey, p. 10.

The Crossing of Fountains Abbey Church 139

 Fií). 3. Fountains Abbey, south-east crossing capitals, (author) Fig. 4. Fountains Abbey, crossing to north-west, (author)

( 1495-1526).-4 Behind the buttress, at the The north-west crossing pier is different from
south-west angle o f the original pier, a small its south-east counterpart in a number of
section o f the original chamfered base of the respects (Figs 4—7). Here, a moulded corbel is
pier is preserved (Fig. 2). It aligns with, and has used only on the south face o f the pier and it
the same form as, the bases that front the piers has a different profile from the corbels on the
between the south transept chapels. Turning to south-east crossing pier (Figs 3, 7). The north
the top of the pier, the corbel that supports the crossing arch springs from a scalloped capital
south crossing arch projects from the flat plane atop a pilaster flanked by single capitals on nook
of the clerestory wall. This section o f wall is shafts (Figs 4, 6, 7).This contrasts with the cor­
separated from the lower wall face by the string belled support o f the south crossing arch on
course at the base o f the clerestory, but other­ the south-east crossing pier (Fig. 3). Like the
wise the plane o f the entire wall is flat (Fig. 1). north and south crossing arches, the west cross­
It follows that there could not have been anoth­ ing arch has just one order (Figs 4, 7). In con­
er pilaster projecting on the west face o f the trast, the east crossing arch has two orders; the
south-east crossing pier. This contrasts with the inner one carried on a scalloped capital on a
north face o f the pier on which the corbel is moulded corbel while the outer order rests on
set above a pilaster (Fig. 3). Between the cor­ a scalloped capital atop a stepped element in
belled capitals on the north and west faces of the pier (Fig. 3). The next capital to the right
this pier are two capitals with squared necking carries a triple shaft that rises four courses to
that would have topped square elements in the an angle-set, artichoke-leaf capital (Fig. 3). On
pier.24 the north-west crossing pier both minor cap-

24. Roy Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey (London, 1970), Gilyard-Beer and Coppack. "Excavations at Fountains
p. 25. 31: Fergusson, “ Early Cistercian Churches", p. 215; Abbey", p. 162.

140 MAL COL M T H U R L B Y

Fig. 5. Fountains Abbey, north-west crossing pier, detail from Fig. 6. Fountains Abbey, crossing and north transept front north
north-east, (author) choir aisle, (author)

itals top nook shafts (Fig. 7). The one on the chamfered orders (Figs 1, 2, 4). In the arches
right forms part of the support o f the single­ from the transepts to the nave aisles there are
order north crossing arch, while the one on the roll mouldings separated by an angle fillet (Fig.
left carries a triple shaft and angle-set capital, 5). Chamfered imposts in the transept chapel
like the right minor capital o f the south-east arches give way to scalloped and artichoke-leaf
crossing pier (Figs 3, 7). capitals in the nave arcades (Figs 2, 3, 4). Thus
The differences in form between the south­ there is a change from simple to more complex,
east and north-west crossing piers have sug­ an evolution analogous to that from the
gested to commentators that they belong to Romanesque choir to the nave o f St Peter’s
different phases of construction. There is every abbey (now cathedral), Gloucester, to cite just
reason to believe that this was the case, for oth­ one example.
erwise it would be difficult to explain the use Glyn Coppack suggested that originally the
of the more elaborate, shafted pier on the west design o f the second church at Fountains would
side of the crossing rather than on the east to have been for an aisleless nave, as at Sawley
mark the entrance to the sanctuary. O ther (Yorks.), even though there was no evidence
enrichments accompany the second phase of that its construction was ever undertaken.25 He
construction.The arches to the transept chapels pointed out that there “is a near vertical break
have two chamfered orders while in the nave in the west wall of the south transept where it
arcade a roll moulding intervenes between two was cut back to insert the return o f the south

25. Coppack. Fountains Abbey:The Cistercians in the North, Archaeology o f a Smaller Cistercian Abbey", Journal of the
p. 47. O n the parallel with Sawley. see Fergusson, Architec­ British Archaeological Association, 155 (2002), p .2 2 -1 1 4 (p.
ture of Solitude, p. 42: Glyn Coppack. Colin Hayfield. and 45-48. 105-06).
R ich Williams, “Sawley Abbey: T he A rchitecture and

The Crossing o f Fountains Abbey Church 141

 Fig. 7. Fountains Abbey, north-west crossing capitals, (author)

aisle wall”.-6 Ic is significant that this break stops and scalloped capitals which are absent at Foun­
after eight courses (counting from the angle of tains. There are ribbed vaults in the nave aisles at
the south transept and south nave aisle), above Kirkstall rather than the transverse barrels at
which the ashlar continues without interrup­ Fountains. The plinth is more complex at Kirk­
tion. This indicates that the change in plan took stall. The disposition o f string courses, pilaster
place soon after construction o f the second buttresses, the corbel table, and the two-storey
church had commenced, something that is not elevation suggests that Kirkstall is modelled on
surprising since an aisleless nave hardly seems Fountains. Admittedly, typological progression
an appropriate successor to an aisled nave in the cannot always be associated with absolute date,
previous church. and it might be argued that Fountains wanted an
Coppack placed the modified crossing and old fashioned design to emphasize the antiquity
nave to the late 1150s, but this is problematical and role as mother house. Had that been the case,
considering the typologically more advanced however, it would be very difficult to account
design o f Kirkstall. The transept chapel arches at for the stylistic updating between the first and
Kirkstall have roll mouldings, but these only second phases of construction in the second
appear in the nave and crossing arches at Foun­ church at Fountains. It therefore makes more
tains. The nave piers and arches at Kirkstall are sense to place the start of the Fountains crossing
more complex than their counterparts at Foun­ and nave before Kirkstall and perhaps to equate
tains.2'' The Kirkstall nave has larger aisle and the change in plan with the arrival in 1150 of
clerestory windows, the latter having nook shafts Abbot Richard from Vauclair.28

26. Personal communication. 28. Fergusson points out that "[w]hen Richard left Vau­
clair. the church was still under construction: the plan was
27. Excellent drawing o f Fountains and Kirkstall in
very similar to the one adopted at Fountains including the
Edmund Sharpe. Architectural Parallels, part 3 (LondomJ. Van
feature o f a segregated crossing” (Architecture of Solitude, p.
Voorst, 1848). Also on comparison o f Kirkstall and Foun­
42).
tains, see Fergusson. Architecture of Solitude, p. 49—50.

142 MAL COL M T H U R L B Y

Fio. 8. Kirkstall Abbey, crossing, detail from west, (author)

Fig. 9. Undisfarnc Priory, crossing and nane from south-west, (author)

The Crossing of Fountains Abbey Church 143

 Fia. 10. Foiitfroide Abbey, crossing mult, (author)

Fig. 11. Kirkstall Abbey, crossing tower from south-east, (author)

144 MAL COL M T H U R L B Y

 The final design o f the Fountains crossing shows that it, too, is angle-set (Fig. 7). Angle-
represents a carefully devised scheme that both set capitals are associated with the support of
emphasizes the hierarchy of liturgical space and diagonal ribs in a vault.33 Here a particularly
produces an aesthetically integrated design. In relevant parallel exists in the crossing of Lind-
the clear, the crossing measures 30 ft 4.5 in. isfarne Priory, where not only are there angle-
(9.25 m) north to south, and 29 ft 5 in. (8.97 set capitals, but one diagonal rib of vault is also
m) east to west. The east pilaster on the north­ extant (Fig. 9). One detail at Fountains deserves
west crossing pier projects 1 1 in. (34 cm) but, closer inspection: above the south-east angle-
because pilasters are not used on the north and set capital is a significant void in the shape o f a
south faces of either the south-east or the north­ rectangular channel into which something
west crossing piers, it follows that the plan for should be slotted (Fig. 3). It is possible that this
the crossing was generated from a square mea­ void was simply intended to accommodate
suring 30 ft 4.5 in. (9.25 m) on each side. The square-sided stone ribs, but had that been the
result is a directional crossing, a popular device case something closer to tas-de-charge construc­
in the great churches o f Norm an England, tion would be expected, as seen at Fountains
which has the effect o f emphasizing the itself in the slype. An alternative explanation is
east-west axis o f the church as well as the visu­ that such a channel would be well suited to a
al progression to the sanctuary.29 This is wooden rib.
enhanced by the embellishment o f the east In the hierarchy of vault forms the rib is litur-
crossing arch with two moulded orders in a gically superior to the barrel.34 This might
manner analogous to the crossing at Kirkstall imply that the twelfth-century sanctuary of
(Figs 3, 8).30 The inclusion o f nook shafts on Fountains would have been rib-vaulted, as at
the angles of the north-west crossing pier inte­ Kirkstall. In a Cistercian context, however, the
grates the design o f the pier with the nave piers matter is not so straightforward. There is a
and creates a nearly symmetrical plan for the quadripartite ribbed vault over the crossing at
pier itself (Figs 4, 5, 6). Moreover, the two nook Silvacane (Bouches-du-Rhône) with barrel
shafts on the angle o f the north-west pier vaults over the main arms; the ribbed vault
towards the crossing balanced allied stepped ele­ therefore seems to have been just a convenient
ments in the south-east pierA1 form for the crossing. There was a wooden bar­
Coppack compared the shaft in the south­ rel vault over the main span of the nave at Foun­
east angle o f the crossing with the one that car­ tains and wooden barrels probably covered the
ried the relieving arch o f the west gable wall of transept and presbytery.35
the nave (Fig. 3).32 However, the capital atop St John Hope and Coppack have suggested
the shaft in the crossing differs from the one at that there was a low lantern tower over the
the west end of the nave in being; set on a 45- twelfth-century crossing at Fountains.36*This
degree angle. Close examination of the analo­ idea is supported by the presence of a newel
gous capital above the north-west crossing pier post from a spiral staircase above the south-east

29. O n the directional crossing, see Eric Fernie. An Archi­ al Historians. 36 (1977). p. 3 0 -3 3 ; id., “ Spatial Innova­
tectural History of Norwich Cathedral (Oxford. 1994). p.73-76; tions in the C hevet o f Saint-G erm ain-des-Prés” , Journal
id.. The Architecture of Norman England (Oxford, 2000), p.257. o f the Society o f Architectural Historians, 38 (1979), p.
348-65. For a list o f English R om anesque examples, see
30. Thurlby. '‘Kirkstall”, p. 65-66.
M alcolm Thurlby, "T h e R om anesque Priory Church o f
31. O n symmetry o f design in the pier itself and around St M ichael at Ew enny” , Journal o f the Society o f Architec­
a void, see Lawrence Hoey, “ Pier Form and Vertical Wall tural Historians, 47 (1988), p. 281-94; and discussion in
Articulation", Journal o f the Society of Architectural Historians. id., “Jedburgh Abbey C hurch: T h e R om anesque Fab­
48 (1989), p . 258-83. ' ric ”. Proceedings o f the Society o f Antiquaries o f Scotland.
125 (1995), p. 793-812.
32. Coppack and Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey, p. 20.
34. Lawrence 1-loey and Malcolm Thurlby, “A Survey of
33. Paul Frankl, The Gothic: Literary Sources and Inter­
Romanesque Vaulting in Great Britain and Ireland”, Anti­
pretations Through Eight Centuries (Princeton, 1960), p.
quariesJournal, 84 (forthcoming 2004).
792-826; id., Gothic Architecture, rev. Paul Crossley (New
Haven. 2000). p. 18—19; Jean Bony. “D iagonality and 35. Thurlby, “Glasgow Cathedral”, p. 84. pi. XV1A.
Centrality in Early Rib-V aulted A rchitectures” . Gesta.
15 (1976). p. 15-25: William W. Clark. "T h e Nave Vaults 36. Hope, "Fountains Abbey”, p. 287; Coppack, Foun­
o f N oyon Cathedral” , Journal of the Society o f Archiiectnr- tains Abbey: The Cistercians in Northern England, p.48-49.

The Crossing o f Fountains Abbey Church 145

 crossing pier.37 In addition, Coppack also string course above the east crossing arch (Fig.
reported fragments o f “wall galleries o f the 8).41 The inner cuts may be associated with wall
lantern” related to Byland Abbey and Ripon arches of a wooden ribbed vault over the cross­
Minster and therefore attributable to Abbot ing, and the outer cuts with struts to support a
R obert o f Pipewell (1170—BO).38 These are floor above. The lower storey of the crossing
triple- and single-moulded capitals excavated tower at Kirkstall also dates from the twelfth cen­
just east of the crossing that can only have come tury, as demonstrated by the angle shafts, pilaster
from the crossing tower. W hat is not certain is buttresses, and articulation of the round-headed
whether they came from the interior or exte­ windows with nook shafts, scalloped capitals, and
rior o f the tower. If it is maintained that a wood­ heavy roll mouldings (Fig. 11). This combina­
en ribbed vault was constructed over the tion of a lantern tower and wooden ribbed vault
crossing, it follows that the marble capitals over the crossing at Kirkstall only makes sense if
would have come from the exterior o f the there was an oculus in the vault to admit light
tower. On the other hand, if plans for the cross­ from the lantern, as proposed here for Fountains.
ing vault were abandoned in favour o f a tradi­
tional lantern, then the capitals could have come
from the interior. They relate to the moulded Conclusion
capitals in the refectory attributable to Abbot
Pipewell, who is recorded to have “recom­ Construction o f the present — second stone
menced work on the church and erected splen­ — church o f Fountains Abbey would have
did buildings”.39 begun in 1148 or early 1149. The arrival of
In a number o f later twelfth-century Cister­ Abbot Richard from Vauclair in 1150 possibly
cian churches in France quadripartite ribbed coincides with a change o f plan for a segregat­
vaults were used over the crossing. O f these, ed crossing with ribbed vault and tower, as well
two are of particular relevance in the present as richer articulation in the nave. This served as
context: Fontfroide (Aude) and Noirlac (Cher). the inspiration for Kirkstall Abbey in 1152.
In each case there is a large ring at the centre Aspects of the design reflect the regional tradi­
o f the vault. At Fontfroide this opens to an tion in the north of England and awareness of
octagonal lantern tower and allows a Pantheon­ Cistercian architecture on the continent, a com­
like circle of light into the crossing (Fig. 10). bination that could well have resulted in the
This was formerly the case at Noirlac where construction of a lantern tower and wooden
there was a wooden lantern above the cross­ ribbed vault with oculus over the crossing at
ing.40 A ring at the apex o f the putative wood­ both Fountains and Kirkstall.
en crossing vault at Fountains seems an entirely
plausible construction. York University
At Kirkstall there are capitals on corbels in the York, Ontario
angles of the crossing tower and four cuts in the Canada

37. Thanks to Stuart Harrison for this observation. 40. Anselme Dimier, L’Art cistercien: France, (La Pierre-
qui-Vire [Yonne], 19823), p.257.
38. Coppack, Fountains Abbey: The Cistercians in Northern
England, p. 60—66; Harrison. “The Architecture o f Byland 41. William H. St John Hope and John Bilson, Architec­
Abbey", p. 112. tural Description o f Kirkstall Abbey. Thoresby Society, 16
(1 9 0 7 ), p. 15.
39. Memorials of the Abbey of St Mary i f Fountains, ed.John
Richard Walbran. vol. l, Surtees Society. 42 (Durham, 1863),
p. 114.

146 MAL COL M T H U R L B Y

 T u r r i s b a s ilic e i n n i x e :
The Western Tower of the Collegiate Church
of Saint-Quentin
ELLEN M. SH O R TE LL

he axial western tower o f the collegiate “the tower that supports the church” was

T church of Saint-Quentin in Picardy is

probably best known for the ceramic tile
floor in its upper chapel (Figs 1 and 2).1 Once
associated with a drawing in Villard de H on­
remembered annually, suggesting that the tower
held special importance for the community.
W hether because o f this or because o f more
mundane economic and political difficulties,
necourt s portfolio, the floor is one o f the most the central tower was never replaced with a
complete examples of a type o f twelfth-centu­ twin-tower façade. It thus reveals a sequence of
ry geometric tile pavement that was adopted in modifications that have been erased at other
Cistercian monasteries from Yorkshire to H un­ sites and sheds light on the transition from the
gary in the thirteenth century.- The survival of Romanesque central tower to the Gothic twin-
the pavement at Saint-Quentin, however, like tower façade.
the tower and chapel in which it is found, is an Chronologically, the tower may be situated
accident o f history rather than evidence o f a between the Carolingian and Gothic churches
direct connection between the collegiate at Saint-Quentin. An important monastery
church, Villard de Honnecourt, and Cistercian existed at this site under the Carolingians, and
architecture. Saint-Quentin s tower is nonethe­ several miracle stories refer to building in the
less a rare Romanesque survivor o f the Goth­ ninth and tenth centuries. A tower inscribed
ic rebuilding campaigns carried out around with a verse attributed to Theodulf o f Orléans
1200 in northern France. The dedication of figured prominently in the Carolingian church,

1. W hen, as a graduate student. I had the opportunity to share some quality o f intermediary space. T he thoughts I
invite speakers to the R obert Branner Forum for Medieval took away from that evening’s presentation on gatehouses
Art at Columbia, I thought o f the author o f the recently have stayed in my mind as I’ve thought about western tow­
published Architecture o f Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth- ers, and so I offer the following reflections as a thank-you
Century England (Princeton, 1984); Professor Fergusson gra­ for a long-ago visit to N ew York.
ciously accepted the invitation. On that occasion, he spoke
about his work on Cistercian gatehouses, some o f which 2. Pierre Bénard, “Recherches sur la patrie et les travaux
was later published as “ ‘Porta patens esto': Notes on Early de Villard de H onnecourt”, Travaux de la Société Académique
Cistercian Gatehouses in the North o f England”, in Medierai des sciences, arts, et belles lettres de Saint-Quentin, 13, 3rd ser.,
Architecture and its Intellectual Context: Studies in Honour of 6 (1864-65), p. 260-80 (p. 272-75): Hans Hahnloser, Vil­
Peter Kidsott, ed. Eric Ferme and Paul Crossley (London, lard de Honnecourt: Kritische Gesamtausgabe des Bauhüttenbuches
1990). p. 47—5 9 .1 was intrigued by the idea o f an architec­ (Vienna. 1935), p. 74; François Bucher, "A Rediscovered
tural space that served as the juncture between religious and Tracing by Villard de H onnecourt”, Art Bulletin, 49 (1977),
secular worlds. While it may seem a long way, in function p. 315-19 (p. 318-19); Carl Barnes, Villard de Honnecourt:
as well as in form, from a Cistercian gatehouse in England The Artist and his Drawings: A Critical Bibliography (Boston.
to the tower o f a secular collegiate church in France, they 1982).

The Western Tower of the Collegiate Church of Sahit-Quentin 147

 Fig. 1. Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin, view from south-west, (author)

and the present structure may well have been the latter is a hagiographie text, the report has
intended to replace it.3 Yet modifications to the the tenor of a first-hand account; it describes a
tower itself, and to the adjacent nave, make the funding quest in which the canons o f Saint-
structure difficult to date with precision. The Quentin took their relics to Péronne and Arras
present choir was consecrated in 1257, while to raise funds “to repair the loss from their intol­
the nave, completed in the fifteenth century, erable fire”. It gives the year as 1102.4
obliterates the nave to which the tower was ini­ Raoul o f Nesle gave a mill to the chapter in
tially joined. Events at the beginning o f the compensation for the damage he had caused,
twelfth century may have provided the impe­ and at an undetermined time between about
tus for the rebuilding of the tower. 1115 and 1152, Count Raoul o f Vermandois
During the ducal wars o f the early twelfth loaned funds to the chapter for rebuilding. Nei­
century, Raoul, seigneur o f Nesle, was sanc­ ther the amount o f destruction nor the extent
tioned by Archbishop Manasses o f Reims for o f rebuilding can be determined, but because
damages to Saint-Quentin. W hether he dam­ the incident provides both a reason and the
aged the church itself or some of its rural prop­ means to rebuild, it became a pivotal piece of
erties is unclear, but Raoul’s actions were linked evidence in early attempts to establish a chronol­
by a seventeenth-century canon to a fire men­ ogy for the church as a whole. It is now clear
tioned in the miracles o f St Marculf. Although that the date is much too early for the Gothic

3. Pierre Héliot. La Basilique de Saint-Quentin et l’archi­ 4. "Miraculi Sancti Marculfi”, Acta Sanctorum [hereafter
tecture du moyen âge (Paris, 1967), p. 10 and n. 14; May Vieil- A A SSJ. May, 7 (Antwerp, 1688). p.525, 529. See also Pierre
lard-Troiekouroff, “L’architecture en France du temps de Héliot and M.-L. Chastang, “Quêtes et voyages des reliques
Charlemagne”, in Karl der Grosse: Lebenswerk und Nachleben. au profit des églises françaises du Moyen Age”, Revue d ’his­
ed. Wolfgang Braunfels. 5 vols (Düsseldorf. 1965), III, p. toire ecclésiastique, 49 (1964). p. 789-822 (p.797.801-02, and
336-68 (p. 367). 810-12).

148 ELLEN M. S HORT E L L

 Fig. 2. Saint-Quentin, Saint
Michael chapel, ceramic tileßoor,
ca. 1190. (author)

church, but this early misconception resulted and died in 1152, while the list of known trea­
in some lasting confusion that can be resolved surers leaves many lacunae that could have been
by a closer look at the documents and at the filled by someone called Matthew. Hémeré sup­
fabric of the tower. posed that R aoul’s gift was associated with his
Adding some undated gifts to the story o f the coming o f age as Count, which he estimated
fire, the seventeenth-century chronicler Claude to be between 1115 and 1120. He then insert­
Hémeré concluded that a major building cam­ ed Matthew into this chronology.
paign was undertaken in the first decades o f the The fact that both gifts are recorded as obits,
twelfth century.3 Several nineteenth-century however, suggests a later date. W hile Raoul
antiquarians accepted his hypothesis, and later could have loaned the money at any time
architectural historians took it as evidence for between 1115 and 1152, his obit forgives the
a complete Romanesque church, replaced in debt only on his death in 1152, leaving the tim­
the thirteenth century.6*First, an obit for Count ing o f relevant construction quite uncertain.
Raoul o f Vermandois in the church’s marty- Another document that has been used to sup­
rology notes that he turned an earlier loan of a port the importance of the gift has been mis­
sum o f money into a gift to the chapter “for read. A charter issued by Raoul of Vermandois,
the rebuilding o f the church”.' Another entry which survives in two fourteenth-century
in the same book remembers the gifts of a trea­ copies, describes a gift in perpetuity of the fruits
surer named Matthew, who “laid the first stone o f a prebend, “for the greater honour o f the
in repair o f the church” .s The martyrology of deanship”.9*Although it has been taken to refer
course does not provide the years o f these gifts. to the same gift described in the obit, this much
Raoul I o f Vermandois was born around 1100 longer document says nothing about building.

5. Claude H ém eré, Augusta Viromanduorum Vindicata et although R obert Branner favoured the existence o f a com ­
Illustrata duobus libris quibus Antiquitates Urbi, et Ecclesiae Sanc­ plete Romanesque church (review o f Héliot, L·i Basilique
ti Quintini, Viroinandensiuinque Comitum series explicantur, 2 de Saint-Quentin, in Spéculum. 43 [1968], p. 729—30).
vols (Paris. 1643), I, p. 143.
7. Martyrologie du chapitre de Saint-Quentin, Saint-Quentin.
6. Charles Gomart, "La Crypte et le tombeau de Saint Bibliothèque municipale, unnumbered manuscript, fol. 164r.
Q uentin". Bulletin monumentai, 22 (1856), p. 198-233 (p. 14 O ctober: “ad reedificandam ecclesie".
212); Louis-Paul Colliette, Mémoires pour servir a l’histoire
ecclésiastique, civile, et militaire, de la province de Vermandois, 4 8. Martyrologie, fol. 159v: “Matheis [. . .] posuit primum
vols (Cambrai, 1772), II, p. 140; Pierre Héliot confessed that lapidem in reparatione ecclesie.”
he “remained perplexed" about the significance o f these
events (“Chronologie de la Basilique de Saint-Q uentin”, 9. Paris. Archives nationales, L 738, 4 bis: Paris, Biblio­
Bulletin monumental, 118 [1959], p. 7—50 [p. 10 and n. 5]), thèque nationale de France, MS n.a.l. 2591, fol. 81r.

The Western Tower of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin 149

 At the same time, the obit describes only a gift Matthew Le Sot, a mem ber o f a prominent
of “a lot of money”, apparently a one-time gift, family o f the region.14 His tenure dates to
and fails to m ention regular income, which between approximately 1189 and 1197 under
would be usual for a benefice such as that a dean named Anisius. Letters issued by the sub­
described in the charter. The two documents sequent dean, Daniel, indicate that Matthew
refer to different gifts. and Anisius had provided for the construction
The first signatory to the charter became the and decoration o f chapels in the Gothic chevet
guardian o f R aoul’s children on his death in which were in use by the time of Daniel’s instal­
1152, and two others are known to have been lation in 1197.1:5 The gifts of Matthew and of
alive near the end o f the twelfth century.10 Both Raoul I and his son, then, belong to entirely
the witnesses and the language o f the charter, different eras. Evidence of building in all three
in fact, compare closely to another issued by periods — the beginning, middle, and end of
R aoul’s son, Raoul II, providing income for the twelfth century — can be seen in the tower.
construction at Noyon Cathedral in 1164.11 In Despite the addition o f Gothic blind tracery
that year Raoul II apparently retired to a lep­ and a classicizing frieze to the third story, the
rosarium, and control of the region passed to tower’s exterior is distinctly Romanesque (Fig.
his sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth o f Ver- 1). Although its date can only be approximat­
mandois and Philip o f Alsace, who confirmed ed, the first decades o f the twelfth century
both the Saint-Quentin and Noyon charters.12 would provide a reasonable time frame which
Had the charter been issued by Raoul I, a con­ correlates with the fire and relic quest. The inte­
firmation by Raoul II would be expected rior, however, is rib-vaulted, both on the
instead. A second obit for a C ount Raoul is ground floor and at the tribune level, and
recorded on a different day in the martyrology belongs to a later period than the structure itself.
and remembers him for a gift of rural proper­ At the same time, the upper and lower cham­
ties, which better fits the type o f gift repre­ bers are noticeably different in style from one
sented by the charter.13 Among the early entries another. Further, the tower was not intended
in this manuscript, the most usual reason for originally to include a monumental portal; the
the existence of two obits in the same name on present doorway was cut into the western wall
different days is that they refer to two different after the interior had been completed. At sev­
people. Thus, there were two separate gifts by eral points during the twelfth and early thir­
Counts Raoul I and Raoul II which can be teenth centuries, then, the chapter had cause
dated to before 1152 and about 1164, respec­ to modify their tower.
tively. Only the former could be relevant to the The lower story o f the tower, which now
construction o f a tower in the first decades of serves as a narthex, is the earliest part o f the
the century, while we should look for activity interior. Its floor level was raised at some time
in the 1160s or 1170s that might have resulted during the construction of the Gothic church.
from Raoul I Is gift. Originally, it must have been much like the Car-
Finally, the treasurer Matthew can be secure­ olingian west tower of Saint-Père o f Chartres,
ly placed at the end of the twelfth century. Obits where one enters through a small door at
for other members of his family make it clear ground level on the north side, and then
that the treasurer who “laid the first stone” was descends several steps. In this earlier state, the

10. Ellen M. Shortell, "T h e C hoir o f Saint-Q uentin: l ’École des Chartes. 142 (1984), p. 81-92 (p. 84-85, 91-92);
Gothic Structure. Power, and C ult” (unpublished doctoral Paris, Archives nationales, L 738, 4 ter.
dissertation, Columbia University, 2000), p. 114—19.
13. Martyrologe, fol. 28r, 26January: "Rodulphus Cornes
1 1. Beauvais, Archives départem entales de l’Oise, G hic dedit ecclesie quadam bona in Castris.”
1984, Cartulary R o f the Cathedral o f Noyon, fol. 39r;
Charles Seymour, Notre-Dame of Noyon in the Twelfth Cen­ 14. Martyrologie, fol. 69r_v, 9 April, contains an obit for
tury (New Haven, 1939; repr. N ew York. 1968). p. 21. n. Erma, wife o f Matthew Sotus, who is identified as the m oth­
132. er o f the treasurer Matthew.

12. Louis Duval-Arnold. “Les Dernières Années du comte 15. Q uentin Delafons, Extraits originaux d’un manuscript
lépreux Raoul de Vermandois (v. 1147-1167) et la dévolu­ de Quentin de la Fons intitulé “Histoire particulière de l’église de
tion de ses provinces à Philippe d'Alsace”, Bibliothèque de Saint-Quentin”, ed. Charles Gomart (Saint-Quentin, 1854),
p. 415; Hémeré, Angusta Viromanduortim, il, p. 24.

150 ELLEN M. SHO RT E L L

 Fig. 3. Saint-Quentin, western
tower, interior.; lower level,
ca. ¡165—75. (author)

lower level o f the Saint-Quentin tower may Quentin tower could have been built as early
have served as a funereal space as many Car- as the 1160s; in that case, income from the gift
olingian and Romanesque western towers did.16* of Raoul II may have contributed to the fab­
In the narthex of Saint-Quentin, the piers and ric.
responds are coursed with the interior wall and After Raoul’s abdication, the chapter appears
mask the masonry behind it, but the capitals, to have received little patronage from the fam­
vaults, and formerets fit uneasily against the ily until the early 1190s, when Countess
upper wall (Fig. 3). The banded en délit for­ Eleanor, the youngest o f Raoul Is children,
merets, for example, are neither structurally nor took up residence there. Her arrival during the
visually integrated with the wall or the vaults tenure of Dean Anisius and treasurer Matthew
and follow the edge o f the vault rather than Le Sot coincides with the beginning o f a major
accenting the small, deep windows. In addition, campaign that would result in the new Gothic
the capitals o f the diagonal responds meet the church. The family’s absence in prior years may
wall at awkward angles; the ribs that spring help to account for a hiatus between the lower
above them are misaligned so that the formeret and upper chambers which is evident in the
hangs over the edge of the abacus. stylistic contrast between the two (Fig. 4). The
The capitals of the wall responds are all early wall responds o f the latter consist of compound
variations on the Gothic crocket capital. They piers with stepped bodies and en délit shafts of
have smooth, flat foliage and tight, finely carved varied dimensions that meet the ribs and for­
buds. Their closest parallels are in the choir tri­ merets. The central colonettes are banded like
bune and transept o f Noyon, dated to 1170-85 those below, but the capitals beneath the diag­
by Charles Seymour, and in the south transept onal ribs are turned at a 45° angle. While the
of Soissons Cathedral, completed between 1176 vault ribs o f the lower chapel have round pro­
and 1 lOO.1' The lower chamber of the Saint- files, those in the upper chapel have almond-

16. See. for example, Werner Jacobsen and Michaël Wyss. 17. Seymour. Notre-Dame of Noyon, p. 58-64, 67; Dany
“Saint-Denis: Essai sur la genèse du massif occidental", in Sandron, L t Cathédrale de Soissons. Architecture de Pouvoir
Avant-nefs et espaces d’accueil dans l’église entre le H' et le XIIe (Paris, 1998), p. 63-79, 86-87; Carl Barnes, “The Twelfth-
siècle, ed. Christian Sapin (Paris. 2002), p. 76-87; and Sylvie C entury Transept o f Soissons: T he Missing Source for
Balcon and Walter Berry, "Le Massif occidental de la cathé­ Chartres?". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 28
drale de Reim s”, in ibid., p. 108—26. (1969), p. 9-25 (p. 10); John James, The Template .Makers of
the Paris Basin (West Grinstead. Australia. 1989), p. 50.

The Western Tower of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin 151

 remain now; the rest must have been destroyed
when a large portal was inserted into the west­
ern wall. The profiles o f the upper and lower
dado roll mouldings match, but the half-round
arches in the upper chapel suggest that it was
completed in advance o f the dado below, with
its pointed arches.
Finally, the portal opens from a shallow porch
on the west side o f the tower. Like the interi­
or chapels, it uses banded en délit colonettes. Its
leaf and crocket capitals are comparable to those
in the St Michael chapel and in the dado on the
interior side o f the portal, yet it must have been
built at some time after the dado. It appears,
then, that the upper chapel construction moved
relatively slowly, that the decision was made to
insert the dado in the lower level as the masons
were working on the final stages above, and that
the portal represented a further change of plan
made soon afterward, probably by 1200.
It should be noted that these dates are early
for Villard de Honnecourt, whose hypotheti­
cal participation in the design of Saint-Quentin
has caused scholars to date the building much
later than the forms o f its piers and capitals
would indicate. The famous ceramic tile floor
in the upper chapel, which has served as an
Fií). 4. Saint-Quentin, Saint Michael chapel, ca. 1190. (anther) important piece o f evidence for Villard’s pres­
ence, surely dates to the 1190s and is contem­
porary with the chapel architecture, at least
twenty years before Villard could have arrived.
shaped tori. The foliate capitals compare close­ In the nineteenth century, similarities
ly to those in the radiating chapels, begun in between the geometric tile patterns at Saint-
the early 1190s, but the en délit colonettes are Quentin and the drawing by Villard de H on­
o f different dimensions, suggesting that they necourt were considered too striking to be
were at the least acquired at different times or coincidence.18 In fact, many more examples of
from different quarries. The upper chapel, ded­ this type o f floor survived into the nineteenth
icated to St Michael, was probably begun a short century but must have been unknown to Pierre
time before the Gothic chevet, but its con­ Bénard, the architect who first connected Saint-
struction may have continued while the east­ Quentin with Villard.19 Further studies o f relat­
ern parts o f the church were taking form. ed floors suggest that the similarities are indeed
Both upper and lower elevations include a the result o f accidental survival.
dado; in the St Michael chapel it covers three During the second half o f the twentieth cen­
walls and is an integral part of the design. In the tury, a number o f comparable examples were
narthex, it is found only on the west wall, and discovered, making the connection between
was apparently added some time after the inte­ Saint-Quentin and Villard more tenuous. A cap­
rior was completed. Only two partial arches tion beneath Villard’s drawing o f tile patterns

18. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 19093. (Kalamazoo, 1993), p. 15-44. 198—221 (p. 20-21); Emile
fol. 15v. Amé, Les Carrelages émaillés du Moyen-Age et de la Renais­
sance (Paris, 1859) provides examples o f numerous pave­
19. Terryl N. Kinder, “Clay and W hat They Did with It:
ments that have been lost, but could not have been consulted
Medieval Tiles and Bricks at Pontigny”, in Studies in Cis­
by Bénard, “Villard de H onnecourt” , p. 272-75.
tercian Art and Architecture, voi. tv, ed. M eredith P. Lillich

152 ELLEN M. SHO RT E L L

Fig. 5. Saint-Quentin, Saint Michael chapel, ceramic tile floor,
ca. 1190. (author)

states that he once saw such a floor in Hungary;

excavations of the ruined Cistercian abbey of
Pilis by Hungarian archaeologists in the 1970s
verify that Villard’s drawing could well have
been based on a Hungarian example, if not on
Pilis itself.20
But what Villard saw in Hungary was not new
in the thirteenth century. The ubiquity of this
type of floor in thirteenth-century Cistercian
architecture is now well known. In addition to Fig. 6. Saint-Quentin, Saint Michael chapel, ceramic tile floor,
several sites in Hungary, well-preserved exam­ detail, (author)
ples survive in the Cistercian abbeys of
Rievaulx, Byland, and Fountains in Yorkshire.21
O ther examples have been found in churches ture, although it has suffered more from wear
not affiliated with the Cistercians, including the than some that were covered by later floors. It
Corona chapel o f Canterbury Cathedral, the is composed o f different geometric patterns,
cathedral o f Châlons-sur-M arne in Cham ­ each laid out in a rectangular compartment and
pagne, and the abbey church o f Saint-Denis.22 framed with a border (Figs 1, 5, and 6). The
The existence o f geometric tile floors in patterns have been compared to Villard’s draw­
twelfth-century France suggests that this type ing, especially the six-petaled flower pattern
of pavement was developed there and export­ found in the centre o f the chapel (Fig. 5). This
ed to England, Hungary, and to the Cistercian is the most complex o f the arrangements in the
order more diffusely.23 floor, but is not unique to Saint-Quentin. It is
The floor at Saint-Quentin remains nonethe­ formed of individual tiles, once glazed in dif­
less remarkable as a complete pavement that has ferent colours. In other sections, however, the
survived to the present within its original struc- pattern was created by impressing a linear design

20. László Gerevich, “Pilis Abbey: A Cultural C enter”, Abbey: Community,Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999),
ActaArchaeologica Academiae Hungaricae, 29 (1977), p. 155-98 p. 221-24.
(p. 183-93): id., “Les Fouilles de l’abbaye hongroise de Pilis”,
in Mélanges à la mémoire du Père Anselme Dimier. ed. Benoît 22. E. Christopher Norton, “ Varietates Pavimentorum: C on­
Chauvin, 3 vols (Arbois, 1982-87), tu.5, p. 371—93 (p. tribution à l’étude de l’art cistercien en France”, Cahiers
389-93). archéologiques, 31 (1983), p. 69-113 (p. 97);Michael Cothren,
“Cistercian Tile Mosaic Pavements in Yorkshire: Context
21. Catalogue of Medieval Lead-glazed Earthenware Tiles in and Sources”, in Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, voi.
the Department of Medieval and Litter Antiquities, British Muse­ I. ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo. 1986). p. 112-29 (p.
um, ed. Elizabeth S.Eames (London, 1980), p. 72—82;Jenny 116-17).
Stopford, "Tiled Pavements and Phases o f Floor Decora­
tio n ”, in Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison, Rievaulx 23. Catalogue o f Medieval Tiles, ed. Eames, p. 72-82;
Cothren. “Cistercian Tile Mosaic Pavements” , p. 117.

The Western Tower of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin 153

 into the clay before the tile was fired, a less labo­ dwelling place of angels”.27 Like the St Michael
rious technique than cutting and glazing each chapel at Saint-Quentin, it was at one time open
piece o f the design separately (Fig. 6).24 It to the nave on its eastern wall. Yet, by the time
appears that the more elaborate and more the nave o f Saint-Denis was rebuilt in the 1230s,
expensive design was reserved for the centre of the chapel had been forgotten and the broad
the floor. arched opening to the nave, still visible inside
The common compartmentalized layout may the chapel, was walled up.
have had pragmatic origins, since it provided a Ordinaries reveal the use o f western chapels
way to plan for and accommodate the shrink­ in responsorial liturgy, with voices in the choir
age o f ceramic tiles; it may also have been used alternating with those in the upper chapel.28
to differentiate areas within a larger space.23 The Referring to older rituals, ordinaries, and pro­
segments o f pavement in the Saint-Quentin cessionals, Q uentin Delafons, a seventeenth-
tower are arranged so that they could have century canon of Saint-Quentin, reported that
delineated the spaces reserved for each o f three Saturday, Sunday, and feast day processions once
altars, although there is not enough informa­ passed through the St Michael chapel, but that
tion to tell us the specific locations o f these the liturgy was changed so that the processions
altars. Certainly, however, the floor and the normally proceeded around the choir and per­
tower itself may be better appreciated within formed stations in the choir chapels instead of
the context o f late-twelfth-century Saint- in the tower.29 He speculated that the number
Quentin, divorced from associations with Vil— o f participants in the procession had become
lard or Raoul o f Vermandois. too large for the tower chapel, and it is easy to
The central tower with a tribune-level chapel imagine that this was so as the numbers of
dedicated to St Michael was common in Car- canons and chaplains grew along with the reli­
olingian and Romanesque architecture, but it gious communities in and around the city who
is associated much less with French Gothic. were expected to join in the processions.
Churches that retained a single, western tower At the same time, this expanded procession
have traditionally been seen as either incom­ must have provided a more magnificent spec­
plete or conservative, and thus less interesting tacle which would have been more visible and
than those forward-looking buildings with audible in the vastly enlarged Gothic chevet.
twin-tower facades. Indeed, the western tribune Instead o f Delafons’s local explanation, the
chapel seems to have fallen out o f use by the abandonment o f the chapel seems to be part of
early thirteenth century, causing many exam­ a svenerai shift o f focus toward the eastern end
ples to be altered or destroyed. of the church and away from the west in the
Traces o f central western chapels remain in late twelfth century. This shift provided an
the fabrics o f the western blocks o f Soissons appropriately theatrical setting for the liturgy
and Chartres Cathedrals, and even Saint-Denis, o f a large secular church and corresponded as
with its quintessential Gothic facade, incorpo­ well to the translation o f relics to the area
rated such a chapel.26 Located directly above behind the high altar. The role o f the earlier
the central portal, it was described by Abbot western tower as a site for burial and memori­
Suger as “most beautiful and worthy to be the al was thus essentially transferred to the choir.30

24. Kinder. "Medieval Tiles and Bricks at Pontigny”, p. 27. Sum ner McK. Crosby. The Royal Abbey o f Saint-
23-25 and figs 13-14; E. Christopher N orton, "Early Cis­ Denis from its Beginnings to the Death o f Suger, 475-1151,
tercian Tile Pavements”, in Cistercian A n and Architecture in ed. Pamela Z .B lu m (New Haven, 1987). p. 1 5 9-61.485.
the British Isles, ed. Christopher N orton and David Park n. 92.
(Cambridge, 1986), p.228-55 (p.231-40).
28. Sandron, La Cathédrale de Soissons, p. 114—16; Alain
25. Elizabeth S. Eames and G. K. Beulah, “The 13th-C en- Dierkens, "Avant-corps, galilées, massifs occidentaux:
tury Tile Mosaic Pavements in the Yorkshire Cistercian Quelques remarques méthodoligiques en guise de conclu­
Houses”, Citeaux in de Nederlanden, 7 (1956), p. 264—77; sions”. in Avant-nefs et espaces d’accueil, ed. Sapin, p. 495—503,
N orton, "Early Cistercian Tile Pavements”, p. 246. esp. 502-03.
26.Sandron, La Cathédrale de Soissons, p. 113-16 and 212: 29. Delafons, Histoire particulière, p. 68.
John James, The Contractors of Chartres (Wyong. Australia.
1979—81). p.219—20, and n.2; Rüdiger Hoyer, Notre-Dame 30. See, for example. Jacobsen and Wyss, “Saint-Denis",
de Chartres, der Westkoniplex: Systematische Grundlagen der p. 76-87. esp. p. 80-81 ; and Dierkens, “Avant-corps, galilées,
bauarchäologische Analyse (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1991). massifs occidentaux” , p. 501-03.

154 ELLEN M. S HORT E L L

The choir took on a similar role in liturgical masons clearly understood the structural sup­
drama in the twelfth century, which serves to port provided by a tower, and the phrasing in
underline the importance of this shift.31 the martyrology, which is tied to the construc­
At least some o f the radiating chapels and tion (or reconstruction) of the tower rather than
ambulatory were in use by 1200, and this would to legendary events that took place within it in
have been a logical time to move stational litur­ the past, suggests that the rebuilding o f the
gy into the more spacious choir. This seems a tower was considered a structural necessity.'’5
likely time for a change in the role o f the tower The commemoration in a liturgical book,
spaces, and it may be that the lower chamber however, implies that the tower was to be cel­
became a narthex of a sort at that time. The ebrated as well for something more spiritually
addition o f a monumental portal suggests that meaningful, beyond preventing the collapse of
the lower chamber became a kind o f transi­ the nave. The surviving manuscript o f the mar­
tional passageway for the laity, and that the lat­ tyrology was one in a sequence, each copying
ter were given a new entrance, separate from an older version and adding new feasts and obits
any of the doors used by the dean and canons. to it; thus, whether this entry refers to the com­
Until 1214, all parish functions in the town pletion o f the Romanesque tower or to the
took place in the collegiate church; the lower reconstruction o f the lower chamber and St
story of the tower or the old nave are the most Michael chapel is unknown. The day chosen to
likely sites for lay activity in the building.32 celebrate it, however, had more to do with the
While less frequently used, however, the significance o f the tower than with the timing
tower was neither forgotten nor destroyed. The o f its construction.
martyrology of the chapter o f Saint-Quentin, The commemoration o f the dedication of
copied in 1214, includes among the liturgical the tower is one of only a handful o f celebra­
feasts and obits celebrated on 26 October, the tions o f the dedications o f buildings mentioned
following entry: “Dedicatio turris b asilich e in the martyrology. The others include four
sancti Quintini innix[a]e”, which may be smaller churches in the town o f Saint-Quentin,
roughly translated as, “ the dedication of the the basilica o f St M artin in Tours, and two
tower of the basilica o f Saint-Quentin which buildings in Rome: the Oratory of St Michael
leans on it” .33 The phrase is awkward and may the Archangel, and the church o f O ur Lady
have originated with an error in copying from Queen o f Martyrs.36 Several o f these celebra­
an earlier text. O ther twelfth- and thirteenth- tions are clearly tied to feasts o f the appropri­
century manuscripts containing stories o f the ate saints, and the dedication o f the tower of
miracles o f St Quentin refer to the Carolingian Saint-Quentin is no exception.
tower o f the church as “turris quaedam [. . .] The feast o f the passion o f St Q uentin is cel­
innexa ipsius martyris monasterio” — “a cer­ ebrated on 31 October-. The week leading up
tain tower attached to the monastery of the mar­ to that feast and the celebration o f its octave
tyr” .34 Changing “innexa”, the participle of comprised the most important time in the litur­
“innecto”, to “innixe” , participle of the depo­ gical calendar in medieval Saint-Quentin after
nent verb “innitor”, changes the meaning from Christmas and Easter. In fact, the canons fast­
“attached to” to “supporting”, but the hand of ed on the eve of the feast of St Quentin and
the scribe in the martyrology is clear, and we broke their fast the next day, contrary to the
can only assume that the altered meaning was practice of fasting on 31 October as the eve of
understood by scribe and listeners alike, even if All Saints’ Day. They were criticized in the
it did deviate from the original text. Medieval twelfth century for breaking their fast on the

31. Ogden H. Dunbar. 'Flic Staging of Drama in the Medieval 34. Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, MS 7460. fol. 128';
Clnirch (Newark, 2002). p. 39-99, esp. p. 68-74, 96-98. A A SS, October, 13 (Antwerp, 1883), p. 725-820 (p. 806).
35. O ne o f the more dramatic, if considerably later, exam­
32. For changes in Saint-Quentin after 1213, see Ellen
ples is the use o f the old bell tower in the construction of
M. Shortell. “Dismembering Saint Q uentin: Gothic Archi­
the nave o f Troyes Cathedral; see Stephen Murray. Building
tecture and the Display o f Relics”, Gesta. 36 (1997). p.32-48
Troyes Cathedral: The Late Gothic Campaigns (Bloomington.
(p. 34-39).
IN, 1987), p. 72-73, 89-93.
33. Martyrologie, fol. 169r. 36. Martyrologie, fols 86v. 90v. 93r. 96v, 11 0 '-1 1 lr, 156v. 174r.

The Western Tower of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin 155

 31st, but it was apparently sanctioned by spe­ no physical trace of the Carolingian tower, it
cial privilege.37 The feast o f the translation of may be that the canons o f the early thirteenth
Q uentin’s relics to a new crypt in 835 is cele­ century saw the razing and replacing o f the
brated on the 25th; the commemoration o f the original tower as one enormous repair.
tower followed on the next day. At another time during the building o f the
It is particularly interesting that the liturgical Gothic church, a distinction was made between
sequence associates the tower with the ninth- a church and a “material church” when a small
century crypt, since the Carolingian tower and building was destroyed and its dedication and
crypt were apparently built in close succession functions moved.40 For medieval Saint-
to one another. The translation o f Q uentin’s Q uentin, the tower was something that
relics to the crypt is traditionally dated to 835, enclosed three elevated altars, including one
while the completion of the tower was marked dedicated to St Michael. It was an entity that
by a verse attributed to Theodulf of Orléans. was associated with posthumous miracles per­
The tower was the site of one miracle set in the formed by Quentin and was part o f the build­
late ninth century, in which a thief died trying ing programme that provided a new crypt with
to steal objects from the altar in the upper chapel. a place o f honour for the patron saint. Both
In another miracle o f about the same period, tower and crypt had been built in the time of
Quentin punished a monk who neglected to Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald, when the
convey his demand that the church be com­ monastery o f Saint-Quentin flourished.
pleted.-’8 Both of these were among the mira­ The collegiate foundation was the heir to the
cles read on the octave of the feast of St Quentin, monastic one, and its prominence in the past
and reinforce the idea that the site of the church remained an important part of the sense of insti­
was chosen and guarded by Quentin himself. tutional identity in the twelfth and thirteenth
They also underline the ongoing importance of centuries. The Carolingian past tied the Goth­
the Carolingian-era monastery of Saint-Quentin ic-era canons to a legendary, miraculous time
for the later medieval collegiate foundation. in which the patron saint frequently made his
W hen the martyrology and miracle texts are presence manifest; in an era when the secular
taken together in the context o f the liturgy clergy’s authority was threatened by civil unrest,
around St Quentin’s passion, there seems a blur­ royal ambition, and the new preaching orders
ring of the distinction between the Carolingian o f Franciscans and Dominicans, the sense of
tower and the present one. Similarly, the crypt this presence manifested itself in the imposing
to which Q uentin’s relics were translated in 835 tower and the mysterious crypt.41 Only the
had no doubt undergone important alterations physical appearance o f the structure had
and would be changed even more as the Goth­ changed in response to the needs o f different
ic choir construction advanced to that point in times; the tower still stood.
the 1220s. There has been as yet no agreement
on what, if anything, remains beneath the choir Massachusetts College o f Art
floor o f the Carolingian crypt.39 While there is Boston, MLA

37. A A SS, O ctober, 13, p. 771—72; Johannes Beleth, 39. CharlesJournel, “Vestiges archéologiques mis à décou­
Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, C hapter 158, “ De festo vert dans Saint-Q uentin”, Mémoires de la société académique
Om nium Sanctorum", in Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series de Saint-Quentin, 51, 5th ser.. 2 (1935), p. 143-87: Ernest
Latina, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne (Paris, 1844-64), 102, col. Will. “ R echerches dans la collégiale de S t.-Q uen tin ” ,
156. Cahiers archéologiques, 9 (1957), p. 166-85.
38. Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, MS 7460. fols 40. Shortell, “Choir o f Saint-Q uentin”, p. 176, 201.
128r—129'.
41. Shortell, “Dismembering Saint Q uentin”, p. 32-41,
47-48.

156 ELLEN M. S HORT E L L

 The Two Cistercian Plans of
Villard de Honnecourt
N IG EL H IS C O C K

f the five church plans in the thir­ lio, elevations and other details o f Cambrai

O teenth-century portfolio of Villard de

H onnecourt (Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale de France, MS. fr. 19093), two are
which are now lost. O n one of the drawings he
made o f Reims Cathedral, which he also
appears to have visited during construction, he
Cistercian and his inclusion of them poses inter­ states that the walls o f the chapels at Cambrai
esting questions about Cistercian planning in should be crenellated in a similar fashion.2
the thirteenth century, about attitudes towards Five kilometres north of Honnecourt, on the
architecture within the Order, and about con­ road to Cambrai, the first Cistercian abbey
nections Villard may have had with Cistercians.1 church o f Vaucelles was being replaced on a
Four o f the plans focus on the layouts o f much bigger scale, and its chevet was under
chevets, and it is hardly surprising that they construction between 1216 and 1235 (Fig. 2).
should have attracted Villard’s architectural Villard sketched this plan on fol. 17r but left its
curiosity, since three o f them were under con­ identification to a later hand. He originally
struction near Honnecourt around the time he included the north transept and east bays o f the
was active there. Cambrai is located sixteen kilo­ nave but erased them to make room for the cap­
metres north o f Honnecourt, and the chevet tion and figure drawing below.-’ This plan con­
of its cathedral was being built intermittently sists o f a single-aisled choir and ambulatory,
from 1220 to 1251. The caption to Villard’s with double-bay extensions either side o f the
sketch on fol. 14v states that it was drawn “where last straight bay, and five radiating chapels, the
it rises from the ground”, which is generally axial chapel being square and the others having
taken to mean that he was present during its rounded ends. The third chevet was further
construction (Fig. l).T he drawing shows a dou­ away at Meaux Cathedral, which Villard could
ble-aisled choir, single-aisled ambulatory, and have reached by way o f Laon, where he also
five round-ended chapels radiating from the stopped and sketched the cathedral. The chevet
choir apse, the axial chapel being elongated. He at Meaux was under construction between 1198
also says that he included, earlier in the portfo- and 1213 and may have been completed short-

1.1 would like to thank Peter Fergusson for his kindness 2. Carl Barnes, The Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt:A New
and advice over a period o f years. I would also like to record Critical Facsimile Edition in Color (Aldershot, forthcoming),
my appreciation o f his work on Cistercian architecture and ch. 3, p. 2, 8; fol. 14v, p. 2. I am greatly indebted to Carl
the eloquence with which he evokes it in its spiritual set­ Barnes for generously sharing this material prior to publi­
ting and landscape. As an architect, I am particularly grate­ cation. For a discussion o f the term ‘portfolio’, see Carl
ful for his work on Cistercian master builders in the early Barnes, “What's in a Name? T he Portfolio o f Villard de
days o f the Order, and on the importance o f architectural H onnecourt”, AVISTA ForumJournal. 12.2 (2001). p. 14-15.
expression, which have provided the inspiration for this
3. Barnes, Portfolio, ch. 3. p. 10; fol. 17r, p. 1-2.
study.

The Two Cistercian Plans o f Villard de Honnecourt 157

 Fig. 1. Villani de Honnecourt,
Portfolio,fol. I4v, the Cistercian
plan o f squares (left) and the chevet
o f Cambrai Cathedral. (Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France)

the plan o f Meaux. It appears to be a schemat­

ic elaboration o f the three chevets currently
under construction or recently finished, which
Villard says he devised in discussion with a cer­
tain Pierre, who came from Corbie, a town to
the west o f Honnecourt. Where Cambrai, Vau­
celles, and Meaux have single ambulatories, this
plan has a double ambulatory; and while Cam­
brai and Meaux have five rounded and three
polygonal chapels respectively, the Villard-
Pierre scheme has four half-round chapels alter­
nating with three that are square (or five square
ones if the pair flanking the last straight bay is
Fig. 2. Villard de Honnecourt, Portfolio, fol. Hr, plan o f the counted). It has been observed more than once
chevet o f the church o f Vaucelles Abbey. (Paris, Bibliothèque that this sketch most resembles Villard’s draw­
nationale de France) ing o f Vaucelles, but with a double ambulato­
ry and with square chapels inserted between the
round-ended chapels.3
The final plan o f the group appears alongside
ly before the 1220s and 1230s, the dates gen­ the sketch o f Cambrai on fol. 14v (Fig. 1), and
erally postulated for Villard’s portfolio.4*This it differs from the others in several respects.
drawing fills the lower half o f fol. 15r and shows Unlike the other plans, where chapels radiate
a double-aisled choir — except for the last bay from the centres o f choir apses, this plan con­
which is single-aisled — and a single ambula­ sists entirely o f squares, including a square-
tory with three polygonal radiating chapels. The ended chevet. This chevet accommodates a
fourth sketch plan o f a chevet is drawn above two-bay rectangular choir and ambulatory, with

4. George Zarnecki. Art of the Medieval World (Englewood 5. Hans Hahnloser, Villard de Honnecourt: Kritische Gesamt­
Cliffs, NJ, 1975). p. 379-80; François Bucher, Architector: ausgabe des Bauhüttenbuches (Vienna, 1935), p. 69-72; Elie
The Lodqc Boohs and Sketchbooks of Medieval Architects (New Lambert, Untitled report on the church plans o f Villard de
York. 1979). p. 29. Honnecourt. Bulletin de la Société des Antiquaires de France,
1945-47. p. 253-56 (p. 256).

158 NIGEL H1SCOCK

bays for four square chapels along the east wall I. Cistercian Planning
resulting in an axial pier. The plan further
includes the crossing, transepts, and all or most Ad quadratum: Presumption of Precedence
o f the nave, not just its east end.6 In addition, Use o f the term ad quadratum appears in the
it is the only plan that has the appearance o f a Annali of Milan Cathedral for 1392 during the
single-line diagram rather than the plan o f a debate as to w hether the height o f the new
building, although the thickness o f the but­ cathedral should be raised ad quadratum, in
tresses is indicated. The caption has been trans­ accordance with the plan that had already been
lated “Here is a church composed o f squares, set out, or ad triangulum.12 Late though this is,
planned for the Order o f Citeaux”/ although it has generally been presumed that designing
no particular building was identified. It has also ad quadratum was the antique method13 and pre­
received a variety of interpretations. According ceded the complex geometry o f radiating
to one author, it represents the final expression chevets seen, for example, in four of Villard’s
o f klassisch-doktrinären Gotik;8 to another it sketch plans.14 It is a presumption that rests part­
shows Villard s interest in contemporary m od­ ly on Vitruvius, who specified that temples
ifications of earlier Cistercian architecture;9 to should be laid out as double squares (although
another it is an antiquated example o f Cister­ he does not say so in such terms),15 and partly
cian planning, associated with Bernard of Clair­ on the existence o f squares in the ninth-cen­
vaux a century earlier, as distinct from the tury Plan of St Galld6 While it might be argued
chevets o f radiating chapels that were current­ that laying out temple plans in proportions of
ly fashionable.10 For this reason, Villard’s refer­ 1:2 hardly amounts to a full system of design­
ence to it being composed of squares has been ing ad quadratum, it is at least possible that such
dismissed as “a condescending remark” .11 a method could have evolved from the Vitru-
In view of these differences o f interpretation, vian texts extant in medieval monasteries. One
it may be helpful to review the medieval evi­ was even to be found at St Gall.1' As for the
dence for the use of planning grids ad quadra­ Plan of St Gail, the main body o f the church
tum. In view as well o f the contrast between does approximate a square grid, although its
Villard’s two Cistercian plans — the chevet of south aisle and north transept do not, and there
radiating chapels at Vaucelles and the rectan­ are large apses at both ends.
gular chevet of his plan o f squares — this study The variant of designing ad quadratum known
will enquire into some of the possible reasons as square schematism posits an additive use of
why Villard included them in his portfolio and squares as a repeating module,18 taking the form
why they are so different. o f discrete spatial compartments, each bound-

6. T he west end o f the nave, as left by Villard. is w ithout 13. Fredrik Lund, Ad Quadratum (London, 1921), p. 7;
buttresses, unlike the rest o f his plan. Prof. Barnes has con­ Paul Frankl, "T h e Secret o f the Mediaeval Masons”, Art
firmed that the parchment shows no signs o f erasure here; Bulletin, 28 (1945; repr. 1973). p. 46-60 (p. 57-58): Bucher.
therefore the intended length o f the nave must for the pre­ Architector, p. 9 4;/(/./‘Architectural Design Methods", p. 37.
sent remain an open question. See Hahnloser, Villani, p. 66.
14. Joseph Gwilt. A n Encyclopaedia of Architecture: Histori­
7. "vesci une glize desquarie ki fu esgardee a faire en lor- cal, Theoretical, and Practical, rev. Wyatt Papworth (London,
dene de cistiaus” : Barnes, Portfolio, fol. 14v. p. 3. 1903). p. 1017; Bucher. Cistercian Architectural Purism, p. 98.
8. Hahnloser, Villani, p. 65. Hahnloser qualified his view 15. Vitruvius states that the length o f temples should be
later, towards a classic, constructive Gothic on mathemati­ twice their breadth; De Architectura, 111. 4.3, IV. 4.1, V. 1.2;
cal principles: Supplement (Graz, 1972). p. 234. Lund, A d Quadratum, p. 5, 7; Frankl. “Secret o f the Medi­
aeval Masons”, p. 57.
9. Hanno Hahn. Die frühe Kirchenbaukunst der Zisterzienser
(Berlin, 1957). p. 222.' 16. Walter H orn and Ernest Born, The Plan of St Gall: A
Study of the Architecture and Economy of, and Life in a Paradig­
10. Bücher, Architector, p. 16; id., CistercianArchitectural Purism matic Carolinoian Monastery, voi. I (Berkeley, 1979), p. 82. 90.
(Cambridge, 1960). p.89-105 (p.98): Hahnloser. Villard, p.66.
17. Nikolaus Pevsner, “T he Term ‘Architect" in the M id­
11. François Bucher, “Medieval Architectural Design dle Ages”, Speculum. 17 (1942), p. 549-62 (p. 558).
Methods 800-1560”, Cesta. 11.2 (1972). p.37-51 (p.38).
18. Bucher, Cistercian Architectural Purism, p.94 ;/</., “Archi­
12. Annali della fabbrica del Duomo di Milano dall’originefino tectural Design M ethods", p. 37; O tto von Simson, The
al presente. Vol. I (Milan. 1877), cited in James Ackerman, “Hrs Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval
sine Scientia nihil est: Gothic Theory o f Architecture at the Concept of Order (London, 19622), p. 14.
Cathedral o f Milan", Art Bulletin, 31 (1949), p.84—111 (p.91).

The Two Cistercian Plans of Villard de Honnecourt 159

 ed by its cross arch, arcade arch, or section of ating chapels characteristic o f the French Goth­
wall. One example cited is St Michael’s Abbey ic cathedral.
at Hildesheim,19 yet — although its plan does
suggest square compartmentalization — the Rectangular Chevets and the Later History of Design­
middle bay of the nave is not a square and the ing Ad quadratum
claim has been refuted.20 O ther references to The rectangular chevet, seemingly far from
Romanesque square schematism where indi­ being part o f an antique tradition, only made a
vidual bays might prove to be square can be widespread appearance half a century or more
equally problematic, for other bays often sug­ after its rounded counterpart. Although it might
gest less obvious proportions. have originated partly in Carolingian outer
crypts and partly in the Anglo-Saxon tradition
Rounded and Polygonal Chenets with Radiating o f square-ended churches — carried forward in
Chapels important Anglo-Norm an buildings such as
O n the other hand, there is abundant evidence Southwell Minster23 — surely nothing can com­
for the early evolution of Romanesque apses pare with the outbreak o f rebuilding in England
into Gothic chevets, a trend that appears to have from early in the twelfth century, followed by
little to do with planning ad quadratum. Burgundy in the middle decades, that resulted
Although it has been shown that the chevet in planning that was exclusively rectilinear.
with radiating chapels might be traceable to the Anglo-Norman apses were demolished to make
mid-tenth century,21 the next century saw it way for large rectangular choirs, retro-choirs,
develop from the apse with concentric ambu­ and lady chapels that produced the archetype of
latory, as seen at the abbeys of Hildesheim from English Gothic design. Between 1110 and 1125,
1015 and Jumièges in the 1040s, to chevets Old Sarum, Romsey, and Rochester were all
complete with radiating chapels, as in French rebuilt with square-ended presbyteries, those at
and Anglo-Norman abbeys and cathedrals from Old Sarum and Romsey incorporating rectan­
the latter half o f the eleventh century. During gular ambulatories and chapels as well.24 Dur­
this period, the complexities o f the geometry ing the 1130s and 1140s, the first major churches
required were also in the process o f being of the Cistercian Order were being built in Bur­
resolved. In the 1090s, the church of Saint-Éti­ gundy, sometimes replacing earlier oratories, at
enne in Nevers was rebuilt to include a three- Cîteaux, at Clairvaux and its daughter house
chapel chevet, yet the radials of the north and Fontenay, also at Pontigny and Morimond, and
south chapels fail to correspond with those of these set the pattern for rectilinear design with­
the apse colonnade. When, a decade or less later, in the Order. Since Fontenay was founded as a
the apse of the Benedictine abbey church o f daughter house of Clairvaux when Bernard was
Sainte-Foy in Conques was replaced by a three- abbot, and its church has survived substantially
chapel chevet, the radiating geometry o f the intact in contrast to Clairvaux, its plan has been
chapels and the pillars of the apse colonnade commonly cited as exemplifying the so-called
were made to coincide.22 It was such experi­ “Bernardine plan” in comprising a two-bay,
ments and the additions of choirs elsewhere in square-ended, aisleless choir with two east
the following decades, notably at Saint-Denis, chapels to each transept arm, and a single-aisled
that led to the fully developed chevet of radi- nave (Fig. 3).

19. Bucher, “Architectural Design M ethods”, p. 37. 23. Hearn, “ Rectangular Ambulatory”, p. 196-202.
20. Eric Fernie. “The Grid System and the Design o f the 24. Ibid., p. 189, 192-93, 2 0 1 -0 2 . To these may be
N orm an Cathedral", in Medieval Art and Architecture at Win­ added the later example o f York M inster ca. 1165-80,
chester Cathedral, ed. T.A. Heslop and V. Sekules; British w ith its square choir and am bulatory; Peter Fergusson,
Archaeological Association Conference Transactions. 6 Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Centu­
(Leeds. 1983), p. 13-19 (p. 17). ry England (Princeton. 1984), p. 75, fig. 13. For her dis­
cussion o f English square ambulatories, in particular Wells
21. Millard F. Hearn, “T he Rectangular Ambulatory in
from 1186 and its com parison with Villard’s Cistercian
English Medieval Architecture”,Journal of the Society of Archi­
plan o f squares, see Carolyn M alone. “Cistercian Design
tectural Historians. 30 (1971), p. 187-208 (p. 202-03).
in the C h o ir and Transept o f Wells C athedral” , in the
22. Nigel Hiscock, The Wise Master Builder: Platonic Geom­ present volume.
etry in Plans of Medieval Abbeys and Cathedrals (Aldershot,
2000), p. 239-41.

160 NIGEL H IS CO CK
 upon the Cistercian world has been challenged
by the diversity o f individual abbeys as built and
as revealed by excavation. Lines of supposed fil­
ial influence contain exceptions and frequent­
ly cross with others. The influence o f local
traditions also appears formative, serving to
modify any given model.27 However, it has also
been pointed out that half o f Clairvaux’s daugh­
ter houses founded after Bernard’s death per­
petuated the rectilinear plan and, although none
o f the other four branches of the Order for­
mulated a model o f its own, many o f their
daughter houses adopted this particular type of
plan. This is thought to have been due to the
influence both of the Clairvaux model and of
Bernard’s authority.28 As for the verification of
the original layout o f Clairvaux’s church, it has
been affirmed that the graphic and literary
sources enable its original nave and transepts to
be reconstructed, whilst the original chevet may
be inferred from the similar chevets found
among Clairvaux’s daughter houses, which
Fig. 3. Fontenay Abbey (Côte-d’Or), plan of the church. (M.-
might reasonably be expected to have followed
Ansehnc Dimier, Recueil de plans d ’églises cisterciennes (Paris,
Clairvaux’s layout.29 Thus the plan may still war­
1949), pi. 117)
rant being identified with Bernard, not in the
sense that he designed it himself, but that it was
spread by the two architectural masters at Clair­
vaux, Achard and Geoffrey, and possibly oth­
Although the “Bernardine plan” refers to a ers, presumably with Bernard’s knowledge, to
type that is identifiable, its use as a term has the extent that it is a recognizable, recurring
been debated extensively in the literature and type, to be found in Germany, France, Eng­
now needs to be qualified in the light of cur­ land, and elsewhere.
rent thinking. Since the type was termed In comparison with the proliferation of com­
Bernardine on the supposition that it originat­ plex radiating chevets elsewhere on the conti­
ed at Bernard’s abbey of Clairvaux when he was nent, it is easy to imagine how well the right
abbot, it has been pointed out that Clairvaux’s angle suited Cistercian simplicity.30 This would
church remains demolished and unexcavated appear to be reflected in Bernard’s Apologia to
and, incidentally, so is Cîteaux.25 O f nearly 170 William o f St Thierry, and in William’s own
houses o f the Clairvaux filiation founded in words:
Bernard’s lifetime, the plans o f only thirty are
known.26 Moreover, the postulation of a model Let those who care for what is within [...] erect
attributable personally to Bernard and willed for their own use buildings conceived accord-

25. Terryl N. Kinder. "Les Églises médiévales de Clair­ bave et son architecture", Cîteaux, 54 (2003), p. 171—86 (p.
vaux: Probabilités et fiction”, in Histoire de Clairvaux: Actes 172).
du Colloque de Bar-sur-Aube / Clairvaux, 22 et 23 juin 1990
(Bar-sur-Aube, 1991), p. 204—29 (p. 205, 2\ô)-,cad., Cister­ 27. Kinder, Cistercian Europe, p. 108. 163, 169, 374—75,
cian Europe:Architecture o f Contemplation (Grand Rapids. MI. 385-88.
2002), p. 164, 171. 28. Coomans, Villcrs, p. 101.
26. Thomas Coomans, L'abbaye de Villers: Construction, con­ 29. Kinder. “Les Églises médiévales à Clairvaux” , p. 210;
figuration et signification d ’une abbaye cisterciennegothique (Brus- but see cad., Cistercian Europe, p. 170-71.
sels/Brecht. 2000), p. 101; id., "Fontenay au-delà de saint
Bernard: A propos de deux publications récentes sur l'ab- 30. Hahnloser, Villard, p. 66.

The Two Cistercian Plans o f Villard de Honnecourt 161

 1190 (Fig. 4) and Ebrach in 1200.j2 It was a
process o f enlargement that has been attributed
to a desire to avoid a proliferation of small com­
munities, to accommodate growing numbers
of choir monks in existing foundations,33 and
to provide more altars — and therefore more
chapels — for ordained monks.
Thus it may be seen that evidence for
designing ad quadratum early in the Middle
Ages is somewhat patchy, and the radiating
chevet may have preceded the rectangular. On
the other hand, rectangular planning is firm­
ly established by English and Cistercian archi­
tecture from the twelfth century onwards,
whilst designing ad quadratum is confirmed by
Villard’s plan o f squares in the thirteenth. Its
presence is further attested by the Annali of
Milan late in the fourteenth century when the
masons explained that they had placed the
cathedral’s towers in such a way as “to square
out like a net the already mentioned church,
and its vault, in order that they should corre­
spond with the square according to the laws
o f geometry”.34

Cistercian Planning and Villard

Before these large rectangular chevets began
to be added to Cistercian churches at the end
o f the twelfth century, the earlier phase o f
Cistercian expansion in the middle decades of
Fig. 4. Cfteaiix Abbey (Côte-d’Or), plau o f the church the twelfth century was to bring a surprise.
( “Cîteaux III"). (Dimier, Recueil, pi. 80) Following Bernard’s death in 1153, a number
o f Cistercian abbeys replaced their rectangu­
lar choirs w ith large rounded chevets with
ing to the form of poverty, taking holy sim­ radiating chapels.35 Among these were
plicity as a model and following the lines laid Bernard’s own abbey of Clairvaux shortly after
down by the restraint of their fathers.-51 1154, possibly in anticipation o f his canon­
ization (Fig. 5),-’6 and Pontigny from about
Even when the need arose for larger churches, 1185. These were the years which saw the
the rectilinear principle o f design was adhered establishment o f the semicircular chevet with
to so that the small aisleless choir of some early radiating chapels in its Gothic form, notably
Cistercian abbeys evolved into the large rec­ at Suger’s church o f Saint-Denis in 1144 and
tangular chevet that appeared towards the end elsewhere in and around the Ile-de-France.
of the century, most notably at Cîteaux around W ith this in mind, perhaps it is not surpris-

31. As quoted in Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 101. 34. “pro retificando praedictam ecclesiam et croxeriam
quod respondent ad quatrangulum secundum oridnem
32. Marcel Aubert and the Marquise de Maillé, L’Archi­
geom etriae”: Annali di Milano, 1.209. in Lund. A d Quadra­
tecture cistercienne en France (Paris, 19472), p. 191-92: M .-
tum. p. 4.
Anselme Dinner. Recueil de plans d’églises cisterciennes, 2 vols
(Paris, 1949), 1. 105. 35. Colin Platt, The Abbeys and Priories of Medieval Eng­
land (London, 1984), p. 51-54.
33. Fergusson. Architecture of Solitude, p. 13-14.
36. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 52.

162 NIGEL H IS CO CK
Fig. 5. Clairvaux Abbey (Aube), plan o f the church (‘‘Clair­ Fig. 6. Longpont Abbey (Aisne), plan o f the church. (Dimier,
vaux III”). (Dimier, Recueil, pi. 84) Recueil, pi. 178)

ing that the new chevets with radiating chapels from the rebuilding o f Vaucelles (Fig. 7), the
at Clairvaux and Pontigny were followed by closest o f Villard’s building sites to H on-
Longpont, a daughter house o f Clairvaux, necourt and, as it happens, in the vicinity o f
around 1200 (Fig. 6), and R oyaum ont, a Royaum ont and Longpont. Starting in 1190,
daughter o f Citeaux, in 1229, each incorpo­ the church at Vaucelles arose on such a vast
rating a two-bay, double-aisled choir, seven scale, and with an elaborate chevet o f seven
radiating chapels, with two east and west side square and rounded chapels radiating from it,38
bays to each transept arm .j7 Just how far Cis­ that Clairvaux’s abbot, who made the annual
tercian architecture was developing away from visitation to Vaucelles, was rebuked and pun­
its initial ideals of simplicity may be judged ished for allowing such ostentation which was

37. Aubert and de Maillé, L’Architecture cistercienne, p. 183. 38. The chevet has been dated between 1216 and 1235
187-89; Hahnloser, Villard, p. 66; Dimier, Recueil de plans, and may have been the result o f further rebuilding. Lam­
II, pis 84, 178, 237. 253. At Royaumont, the three south­ bert. U ntitled report, p. 254; François Baron, “ Les Églises
western transept bays are taken up by the north-eastern angle de Vaucelles". Citeaux, 11 (1960), p. 196-208 (p. 200-01).
o f the cloister.

The Two Cistercian Plans of Villard de Honnecourt 163

 Fig. 7. Vaucelles Abbey (Nord), plan o f the clnirch. Fig. 8. Fontainejean Abbey (Loiret), plan o f the church.
(Dimier, Recueil, pi. 312) (Dimier, Recueil, pi. 116)

shocking to many, and he was ordered to as a possible model for Villard,41 it cannot be
return to the abbey to correct that which stated with certainty that its layout specifical­
infringed the simplicity o f the Order, as a les­ ly conformed to a grid o f squares.
son to others.39 It has recently been suggest­ The conjectural layout o f Fontainejean, on
ed that the Abbot o f Clairvaux may have been the other hand, resembles Villard’s sketch
reluctant to condemn the work at Vaucelles most closely (Fig. 8). Reaching completion
in view o f the architectural aggrandisement sometime between 1230 and 1240, and coin­
o f his own abbey.40 By contrast, the new work ciding therefore w ith Villard’s sketching
currently rising at Citeaux and elsewhere not career, one reconstruction o f this plan dis­
only adhered to rectilinear planning but trans­ plays only two variations from his plan o f
lated the plain aisleless choir o f mid-century squares. Instead o f Villard’s four easterly bays
into the fully developed rectangular chevet opening from its ambulatory, Fontainejean’s
akin to Villard’s plan. This was at a time, more­ church has chapels term inating the choir
over, that led up to Villard’s period o f activ­ aisles, with a double bay behind the high altar
ity. Yet although Citeaux has been advanced divided from the side chapels by screen

39. Statute 1192.29, in Twelfth-Century Statutes from the 41.Hahnioser, Villard, p. 355-56; Roland Bechmann, Vil­
Cistercian General Chapter, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Citeaux: lard de Honnecourt, la pensée technique au xitle siècle et sa coin-
Studia et Documenta. 12 (Brecht. 2002), p. 247. muncation (Paris, 1991), p. 107.
40. Ibid., p. 247.

164 NIGEL H1SCOCK

walls.42 Secondly, although each transept arm recently finished. Given their distance apart and
has two side bays to the east and west, the their different filiations, the similarity of their
altars are located in the four corners, again plans with each other and with Villard’s sketch
screened from the main space by dividing might suggest a common source, an enlarge­
walls.43 Since Villard does not show the loca­ ment perhaps of the original type of plan for­
tion o f altars or internal divisions, his plan merly identified as being “Bernardine” . It is
could have been a diagram o f the church o f interesting to note that Villard’s sketch is dia­
Fontainejean, except for the extra choir bay. grammatic and not labelled, and so it may not
Byland, thought to be under construction have been drawn from his personal observation
between 1160 and 1 190,44 also resembles Vil­ o f something built. If this was the case, it was
lard’s plan, with the single exception that its presumably schematic, which poses a question
easternmost bay, opening from the ambula­ about his source. Could it have come from one
tory, is divided into five chapels instead of o f the lay masters who worked for the Cister­
four, with three o f them subdividing the dou­ cians in the thirteenth century,48 or from some­
ble bay between the main arcades, thereby one inside the Order, maybe at Vaucelles, arising
avoiding Villard’s axial pier.45 Moreover, the perhaps from the controversy within the Order,
choir and nave could have been set out from already mentioned, over the architectural osten­
a grid o f squares, although deviations are tation at Vaucelles and elsewhere? In contrast
apparent in the transepts and ambulatory.46 especially to Vaucelles, Villard’s plan o f squares
Villard’s Cistercian plan o f squares has been surely reflects a return to Cistercian simplicity
ascribed to his evident fascination with chevet in architectural design, even perhaps as a repu­
design,4' yet if this alone was o f interest to him, diation o f the work at Vaucelles. Among such
he would presumably have drawn only the east questions, one fact does remain certain: Villard’s
end, as in his other examples. He might also layout is made only o f squares.
have been expected to record the new rectan­ In pursuit o f the hypothesis that geometry
gular choir at the nearby cathedral o f Laon, was used to express the beliefs which religious
which lies halfway along the road from Hon- architecture was erected to proclaim, the Cis­
necourt to Reims at the point where he could tercian Order provides an interesting field of
have turned off towards Meaux. Since it was enquiry, for, in its early days, it was noted that
finished around 1220, and Villard was on site Cistercians at least occasionally had their own
drawing the plan and part-elevation of one of architectural masters. At Clairvaux, it seems the
its towers, he would surely have seen the new monks worked under two master builders —
east end. Perhaps he was uninterested in it Achard and Geoffrey o f Ainai.49 Achard was
because it was simply a square-ended choir, said to be the most gifted of Bernard’s masters
without ambulatory and chapels. Be this as it and worked under his direction, being sent by
may, his Cistercian plan of squares clearly stands him to Himmerod in 1138 to build its church
in marked contrast to his interest in chevets with and train other monks.50 Shortly after working
radiating chapels and to the recent efflorescence at Clairvaux, Geoffrey was dispatched by
o f them by the Cistercians at Clairvaux, Pon- Bernard to Fountains where, according to the
tigny, and elsewhere. It compares closely, on the Narratio of the abbey, Geoffrey “set in order and
other hand, with Byland and Fontainejean, established many monasteries” .51 He helped
which were currently under construction or with the reform o f Fountains, saw its buildings

42. Fontainejean has never been excavated. A different 46. Verification o f this would require an analysis o f site
reconstruction o f its plan shows two single bays behind the measurements, which is beyond the scope o f this study.
altar divided by a cross-arch and axial pier, though how these
47. Hahnloser. Villard, p. 66-67, 249.
two bays might have been used in such a position is unclear.
Aubert and de Maillé. L'Architecture cistercienne, p. 194, fig. 48. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 171.
73.
49. Ibid., p. 36.
43. Dimier, Recueil de plans, li, pi. 116.
50. Von Simson, Gothic Cathedral, p. 47. n. 65; Fergusson,
44. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 73. Architecture of Solitude, p. 36; Coomans. Villers, p. 101.
45. Ibid., p. 74, fig. 12. 51. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 39; quotation from
Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison. Ricvaulx Abbey: Com­
munity, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999). p. 55.

The Two Cistercian Plans of Villard de Honnecourt 165

 erected, and is thought to have trained three and superfluities regarding buildings “which are
other masters there — R obert, Adam, and a stain on the ancient honour o f the Order”.60
Alexander.32 These in turn are recorded as set­ These references in the Cistercian record to
ting out, respectively, Newm inster in 1138, foundations being “set out [...] after our man­
Woburn in 1145, and Kirkstall in 1152. Geof­ ner”, to “the pattern [...] o f the Order”, sup­
frey is also recorded working at Woburn, as well ported by the architectural evidence o f a
as Kirkstead and Vaudey, which were founded recurring model — occasional, evolutionary,
in 1139 and 1149.53 and adaptable though it may have been — have
The similarity in projects resulting from this led studies to enquire into the possible mean­
apparent programme, such as Clairvaux 1135,34 ing that it may have carried. The results are well
Himmerod 1138, Fontenay 1139,33 Kirkstall known and have much in common with each
1152, and La Charité in the same century, other in focusing on the geometry o f plan
strongly suggests the implementation o f a design, and in advancing various forms of square
schematic model along the lines already dis­ schematism and systems o f lengths. Both the
cussed. The existence of such a model, or at proportioning found in the compartmentaliza-
least a consistent approach to schematic or con­ tion o f plans and the ratios found between dif­
structional design, also seems borne out by the ferent lengths usually occur as 1:1,1:2, 1:3, 2:3,
new foundations o f the three masters from and 3:4.61 However, some o f these systems only
Fountains being set out “after our manner”,555657* appear partly confirmed if the crossing o f a plan
and by statutes o f the General Chapter o f the is taken to include all four surrounding arches
Cistercian O rder when they periodically while other bays include just one side arch.
inveighed against architectural ostentation. Moreover, although each grid may relate later­
Those for 1192 require the dormitory at Long- ally to the nave and aisles, rarely does it account
pont, which had been constructed “against the for the longitudinal subdivision o f the plan.
pattern and usage o f the O rder” , “to be Here, other proportions sometimes appear to
returned within three years to the pattern of be present whether intended or not. Finally, by
the Order”.37 It was at this same Chapter that variously including walls and side arches, these
the Abbot o f Clairvaux was criticized for allow­ proposals may point to square schematism o f a
ing the architectural excesses in the new work sort but not to the planning grid o f axis lines
at Vaucelles,38 and further proscriptions fol­ of Villard s sketch.
lowed from the General Chapters of 1213, To those who assert that geometry was used
1231, and 1240 against grand, sumptuous, or only as a practical procedure by medieval
superfluous buildings, pictures and sculptures masons, designing ad quadratimi as in Villards
o f figures other than Christ, and decorative plan of squares has much to commend it since
pavements.59 That a return to architectural sim­ — for practically-minded Cistercians — noth­
plicity was policy is attested by the statute for ing could have been simpler to set out on a
1231, which orders the removal o f all novelties building site. However, such a limitation o f

52. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 36, 39. For his in Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Waddell, p.244 (trans. T im ­
account o f Cistercian master builders in England, see Appen­ othy Beech, 2004).
dix B, “T he Builders o f Cistercian Monasteries in Eng­
land”, p. 165-72. esp. p. 169-71. 58. Statute 1192.29, in Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Wad­
dell, p. 247.
53. Ibid., p. 169. Fergusson and Harrison (Rieuaulx Abbey,
p. 55) have linked Geoffrey with Rievaulx at the beginning 59. Statute 1213.1. 1231.8, 1240.1 ; Statuta Capitulorum
o f its building campaign. Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis ab Armo 1116 ad Annum 1786,
ed. Joseph-M arie Canivez, 8 vols (Leuven, 1933—41). I. p.
54. See Kinder, “Les Eglises medievales de Clairvaux", 404: ii, p. 93, 215.
p. 209.
60. “ quae deform ant antiquam Ordinis honestatem ” :
55. T he date generally, but not universally, accepted is Statute 1231.8, ed. Canivez, ii, 93 (trans. Timothy Beech,
1139; see Coomans, “Fontenay”, p. 184. 2004).
56. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 36. 169. 61. Von Simson, Gothic Cathedral, p. 48—50; Hahn, Die
frühe Kirchenbaukunst, p. 66-75.
57. “contra formam et consuetudinem Ordinis [...] infra
triennium ad formam ordinis redigatur”: Statute 1192.23,

166 NIGEL H1SCOCK

intent, it is argued here, would be inconsistent tinuator, at a time presumably when he was also
with the volume o f twelfth-century Cistercian working on the Vita Prima 66
writing on spirituality and the embodiment of
meaning in things spiritual and metaphysical. The Meaning of Numbers
Indeed the ratios found in Cistercian plan design, O do’s Analetica numerorum et rerum, originating
for example at Fontenay Abbey, have sometimes in 1147, set out to examine the numbers 1 to
been interpreted in terms of the musical ratios,62 10 in Scripture for the first time as a scholastic
and to this may be added associations with the study. Having been taught at the school of Hugh
sacred significance o f numbers and the Cister­ o f St Victor,67 Odo produced his own varia­
cian ideal of unity and equality. tion of Hugh’s method68 in which numbers are
arranged in different categories o f meaning.
II. Cistercian Thought and Design After revising his work several times, Odo only
just reached the number 3 before the task was
In order to explore these possibilities, it may be taken up by William o f Auberive, who pro­
useful to cite writings from Bernard’s time ceeded to 12, and Geoffrey o f Auxerre, who
together with Augustine’s De musica, De Trini­ continued to 20. Finally, Theobald o f Langres
tate, and De vera religione which are listed in a systematized the material within a single
twelfth-century catalogue of Clairvaux.63 Most digest.69
o f the authors were o f Bernard’s circle and It is not surprising therefore that Villard’s plan
therefore carried a certain authority within the o f squares can be interpreted numerologically
Order. William o f St Thierry, a close friend of with ease. By counting piers or bays, a corre­
Bernard while still a Benedictine abbot, com­ spondence is invariably found within the tradi­
menced writing the Vita Prima at the request tion o f Christian Platonist teaching. For
of Clairvaux’s monks, and he was helped by the example, the internal piers number 30, the
notes o f Geoffrey of Auxerre, one o f Bernard’s number o f squares in the grid is 64, the num­
secretaries, who later took over the task him­ ber o f square bays 32, double square bays num­
self.64 Odo was also Bernard’s secretary before ber 14, and the number of aisle bays is 28.70*
becoming Abbot of Morimond, and part o f his Among the integers o f these totals, the most
work, which he entitled the analysis of num­ common associations were 3 with the Trinity,
bers, and his successors the sacrament of num­ 4 for the Gospels, 6 for Creation and the first
bers, was copied at Clairvaux during Bernard’s perfect number, 7 for the Holy Spirit, 8 for Sal­
abbacy.6-’’ W hen Geoffrey also became interest­ vation, and 10 for the Decalogue. The problem
ed in this project, he corresponded with anoth­ is not a lack o f evidence but an over-abundance
er William — from Clairvaux’s daughter house of interpretative possibilities. When Odo broke
o f Auberive — who was to continue O do ’s off his first draft to begin rewriting, he had
work before Geoffrey became William’s con- reached chapter three o f the seventh significa-

62. Von Simson, Gothic Cathedral, p. 39—4 1.48-50; Hahn. 66. Grill. “Die Epistola defensionis, p. 195.
Die frühe Kirchenbaukunst, p. 75.
67. Ibid., p. 193.
63. Von Simson, Gothic Cathedral, p. 40 n. 4 7 .1 am grate­
ful to David Bell and Fr. Hilary Costello for the generous 68. Hugh o f St Victor, De numeris mysticis Sacrae Scrip­
help they provided over the Cistercian literature on the turae, in Les Données mathématiques des traités du site siècle sur
sacred nature o f numbers; also to Fr. Hilary for help with la symbolique des nombres, ed. H anne Lange, CIM A, 32
the new edition o f the Statutes. (Copenhagen, 1979), p. 83-85.

64. Cistercian World: Monastic Writings of the Twelfth Centu­ 69. O do o f M orim ond, Analecta, vols I and il; William o f
ry. ed. and trans. Pauline Matarasso (London. 1993), p. 19—20. Auberive, Tractatus de sacramentis numerorum, in L’arithmé­
tique de Guillaume d ’Auberive, ed. Jean Leclercq, Studia
65. O do o f M orim ond. Analecta numerorum et rerum in Anselmiana, 20 (Rome, 1948), p. 181-99: Geoffrey' o f Aux­
theographyam, 3 vols, Traités du Xlle siècle sur la symbolique des erre, De sacramentis numerorum, and Theobald o f Langres,
nombres, ed. Hanne Lange, Cahiers de l'Institut du Moyen De quatuor modis, in Traités du Xlle siècle sur la symbolique des
Âge grec et latin [hereafter CIMA], 40, 58, 69 (Copen­ nombres: Geoffrey d'Auxerre et Thibault de Langres, ed. Hanne
hagen. 1981-99), I, p. vii—xxxiii (p. x. xiv, xvi); Leopold Lange, CIMA, 29 (Copenhagen, 1978).
Grill. “Die Epistola defensionis des ersten cisterciensischen
Zahlenmystikers O do von M orim ond”. in Analecta Monas­ 70. This analysis depends on Villards plan showing the
tica: Textes et études sur la vie des moines au Moyen Age. series whole nave (see note 6 above). Yet such are the permuta­
6. Studia Anselmiana, 50 (Rome. 1962). p. 193-203 (p. 194). tions possible that any extra squares omitted from the plan
are likely to result in an equivalent set o f interpretations.

The Two Cistercian Plans ofVillard de Honnecourt 167

 don and twenty-fourth meaning of 2.71 William we are all one in Christ [.. .J.Therefore let the
o f Auberive acknowledges that many interpre­ abbot show an equal love to all.77
tations are possible and can be the result o f per­
sonal invention, provided they do not conflict Bernard declares:
with tradition.'2 Villard’s plan may therefore be
interpreted numerologically and is even likely To you all the flocks have been entrusted as one
to have been conceptualized in this fashion, but flock to one shepherd [...]. And perchance the
— given the diffusion o f thought and prolifer­ rest of the disciples were present when [...] he
ation o f meaning in Cistercian writing — any would commend to all unity in one flock and
specific intent is likely to remain a matter of in one shepherd [....]. Where unity is, there is
speculation. perfection.78

Unity and Equality Aelred also sees unity in community:

Another possible key to understanding Villard’s
plan might be found in the importance given when I was going round the cloister of the
by Cistercians to the unity and equality o f the monastery, sitting with the brethren in a lov­
many in one spirit. As Augustine puts it, ing circle, as though amid the delights of par­
adise I...] I found no one in that great number
number also begins from one, and is beautiful whom I did not love, and whom I did not
in equality and likeness, and bound by order. believe loved me. [...] I felt as though my spir­
And so, whoever [...] desires unity [.. .J must it were transfused into them all, and their affec­
confess all things whatever [...] are made from tion into me, so I could say with the prophet:
one beginning through a form equal to it and “Behold how good and how pleasant it is to
like to the riches of His goodness, by which dwell together in unity.”79
they are joined together in charity as one and
one gift from one.73 Considering the geometry o f Villard’s plan of
squares, unity is present in 1 and in the ratio
The O rder’s teaching on unity is also to be 1:1, its geometric equivalent being the square
traced back to the Rule of St Benedict, to which figure consisting of equal sides, with unity and
the Cistercians had returned, and to Cassian, equality existing between all the squares of the
who was one o f only two authors named by layout, surrounding the unifying square o f its
Benedict in his R ule.'475B oth translated Augus­ crossing, which lies at the centre o f its cruci­
tine into a monastic context. form.

And we will come at last to that objective The Musical Consonances

which I have mentioned, the goal which the Numerical ratios are also fundamental to the
Lord prayed to be fulfilled in us: “That they musical consonances, as transmitted by Augus­
may ail be one as we are one, as I am in them tine and by Boethius who, to Bernard, was “the
and you in me so that they are utterly one Wise M an” .80 They were demonstrated on a
[.. .j’’73 This, then, is the goal of the monk.76 m onochord with a movable bridge so that,

71. O do o f M orim ond, Analecta, I, p. xvi. 77. Rule o f Saint Benedict, ch. 2: “W hat Kind o f Man the
Abbot O ught to Be.”
72. William o f Auberive, Tractatus, p. 185.
78. Bernard o f Clairvaux, De Consideratione, II. 8. 15, in
73. Augustine, De musica, VI. 17. 56, in On Music (De
Watkin Williams-Wynn, Saint Bernard oj Clairvaux (Man­
musica), trans. R obert Taliaferro. T he Fathers o f the Church,
chester, 1935; repr. 1953), p. 247.
4 (Writings o f Saint Augustine, 2), ed. Ludwig Schopp (New
York, 1947), p.375. 79. Psalm 132. 1. Quotation in Fergusson and Harrison,
Rievaulx Abbey, p. 65.
74. John Cassian, The Conferences o f John Cassian, ed.
H enry Wace and Philip Schaff, N icene and Post-Nicene 80. Augustine, De musica, VI. 10.26 in On Music (De musi­
Fathers o f the C hurch. 2nd series, 11 (Oxford, 1894), ca), trans. R obert Taliaferro, p. 351-52; Boethius. De musi­
p. 189. 194. ca. IV. 14. in Fundamentals oj Music, trans. Calvin Bower (New
Haven, 1989). p. 148: Williams-Wynn. Saint Bernard of Clair­
75. John 17. 22-23.
vaux, p. 245, 365.
76. Cassian, Collationes patrum, 10.7, in John Cassian: Con­
ferences, trans. Colm Luibhéid (Mahwah, NJ, 1985). p. 129.

168 NIGEL H I S C O C K
dividing its string equally into halves in the ratio [...]. Having agreed that [it] was to be [. . .]
1:1, unison is produced; 1:2 produces diapason, corrected, they put me in charge of the task.
or the octave; 2:3 is the consonance o f diapente; 1, however, summoned those [...] who proved
and 3:4 is diatessaron. As noted above, the pres­ to be better instructed and more skilful in the
ence of these same ratios has been posited for theory and practice of chant. We put together
the plan o f Fontenay Abbey. To these may be the new Antiphonary [... and] wish [... it to]
added the 1:1 ratio for its crossing and each aisle be adopted in our monasteries.83
bay; 1:2 in the complete transept and in each
main bay; 2:3 may be present in each transept In upholding the Gregorian tradition, the
arm; and 3:4 in the depth of the transept and reform perpetuated the singing of everything
width of the nave. For this proposition to be in unison. A statute o f 1159 even forbad more
tenable, however, would depend on the com- than one bell to be rung at the same time in a
partmentalization o f Fontenay actually con­ similar pursuit of simplicity.84 Harmony, on the
forming to a grid o f squares, and this would other hand, would result from the application
require dimensional verification. However, no o f the musical ratios to the intervals o f a melod­
such uncertainty exists with Villard’s plan ic line, including the octave, or the 1:2 conso­
because he states that it is made of squares and nance o f diapason, which was revered in the
an examination of the plan shows that all the Cistercians’ Cantum.85
musical ratios are present. Most obvious are 1:1 By the time Boethius wrote De musica,
for the crossing and aisle bays, 1:2 for the main Pythagorean musical theory had already become
bays and the projection o f transepts, 2:3 as the elaborated,86 with the result that the possibili­
proportion of the whole plan between the ties o f formal composition had become diver­
north-south and east-west arms, and 3:4 in the sified, its permutations complex. Nevertheless,
projection o f the east arm. in writing his Reoulae de arte musica, which for­
It will be observed that the ratios of unison malized the twelfth-century chant reform o f
and diapason, 1:1 and 1:2, are the same as those the Cistercians, Guy d’Eu reiterated that
of the square and the double square, and that
Bernard’s promotion of Cistercian architecture The extreme voices of the diatessaron, the first
was accompanied by his dedication to the and the last, joined together, produce an agree­
importance o f chant, in the belief that, if prac­ able consonance; the diapente a more agreeable
tised correctly, it embodied divine harmony.81 one; and the diapason the most agreeable. The
For this reason, he supervised the Order’s chant diapason does not only produce a similarity but
reform, and when Geoffrey of Ainai arrived at an ineffable identity in the different voices.87
Fountains Abbey as one o f the Order’s archi­
tectural masters, he also taught chant to the Guy does not include unison in this because it
monks.82 Bernard introduced the reform thus: is not a consonance. It is simply the result of
repeating the same tone and was therefore iden­
[The Fathers] who began the Cistercian Order tified with equality. Augustine revered both dia­
[...] sent persons to transcribe and bring back pason and unison.
the Metz Antiphonary, since this Antiphonary,
it was said, was “Gregorian” [...] upon exam­ “What is it we love in sensible harmony?”
ination, the Antiphonary proved unsatisfacto­ Nothing but a sort of equality and equally mea­
ry: texts and melodies were found to be corrupt sured intervals [...] that is, either into two equal

81.1 am grateful to Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell for various 85. See Guy d'Eu. Regulae de arte musica. 79, 80, in Claire
conversations about Cistercian chant reform, and to John Maître, La Réforme cistercienne du plain-cliatit: Etude d ’un traité
Caldwell for assistance with medieval musical theory. théorique (Brecht, 1995), II, 116, 118.
82. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 39. 86. T h e num ber o f consonances had been extended
from three to five; they were applied in three genera; the
83. Bernard o f Clairvaux, Prologue to the Cistercian
three Greek modes had been expanded to eight: and the
Antiphonary, introd. Chrysogonus Waddell, in The IVorhs of
strings o f the ancient tetrachord had been increased to
Bernard of Clairvaux, vol. l. Treatises I, Cistercian Fathers, 1
eleven.
(Shannon, 1970), p. 153-62 (p. 161-62).
87. Guy d’Eu, Regulae, 79, 80, in Maître, La Réforme cis­
84. Statute 1159.21 (Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Wad­
tercienne, II, 116, 118 (trans. Timothy Beech. 2000).
dell, p. 581).

The Two Cistercian Plans o/Villard de Honnecourt 169

 parts [...] or into one part single and the other Villard’s Cistercian plan consists only o f square
double [...] so the greater part is twice the less and double square bays.
and is in this way divided equally by it [...] .‘ss The possibility, even likelihood, that design­
ing ad quadratum carried meaning for the Cis­
In the practice of metrics in music, equality in tercians raises a question about any intended
the length o f each note was customary, the only association that might lie behind the contrast­
variation being the doubling in length o f the ing plan design o f Vaucelles. It has been
last note o f a line.89 Thus, besides unison, which observed that Vaucelles seems indistinguishable
is the ratio of 1:1, the fundamental interval and from an early Gothic cathedral, and its con­
consonance in melody and harmony was dia­ struction may have coincided with an increas­
pason, in the ratio of 1:2, and in metrics the ing use by the Order of secular master builders.
fundamental measures were the single and the One, for example, was at Byland around the
double. The importance o f this was again time work started at Vaucelles.93 Although
explained by Augustine. Byland adheres to Cistercian principles of plan
design, it is possible that other masters produc­
This correspondence [...] describing how one ing Cistercian buildings in the manner o f sec­
is joined to two, is of the greatest importance ular cathedrals might simply have brought their
[...] this co-adaptation is what the Greeks call own lodge practice to the job. If this were the
hamonian. [...] the harmony between the sin­ case, it has been argued elsewhere that there is
gle and the double [...] has been naturally so evidence o f geometric proportioning in plan
implanted in us [.. .J for by means of it the tre­ design arising from the use of the figures o f Pla­
ble and the bass voices blend together [...] one tonic geometry, the triangle, the square, and the
familiar with the subject can demonstrate it [.. .J pentagon, figures that permeate Villard’s port­
on a properly-adjusted monochord.90 folio, especially fob 18V.

Furthermore, it was understood that the har­ Conclusion

mony that was heard, for example in chant, and
the proportion that was seen, for example in In considering Villard’s plan o f squares in rela­
architecture, were one and the same. Boethius tion to Cistercian thought, it is not suggested
wrote, that Villard necessarily understood its possible
meaning, for there appears to be no reference
The same relationship which we remarked in to such comprehension in his portfolio. If he
geometry can be found in music. The names did record the plan because it was in some way
diatessaron, diapente, and diapason are derived novel to him, it seems likely to have been
from the names of antecedent numerical terms.91 because it was an example o f contemporary
Cistercian planning that was composed only of
as the ear is affected by sound or the eye by a squares, in contrast to the elaborate geometry
visible form, in the same way the judgment of o f his other plans o f chevets with radiating
the mind is affected by numbers [.. ,].92 chapels — including Vaucelles, which was also
Cistercian yet had been censured for its osten­
Thus everything proceeds from numbers. The tation. It has been argued here, in view o f this
equivalent o f unison and diapason in harmon­ contrast, that the source for Villard s plan marks
ics, and o f the single and double in metrics, are a return to Cistercian rectilinearity as exempli­
the numbers 1 and 2, their geometric equiva­ fied by Citeaux III, followed by other projects,
lent being the square and double square, and especially Fontainejean, which was under con-

88. Augustine, De musica, VI. 10. 26, in On Music (Dc 91. Boethius, Dc arithmetica, I. 1, trans. Michael Masi, in
musica), trans. R obert Taliaferro, p. 351-52. Boethian Number Theory, Studies in Classical Antiquity, 6
(Amsterdam, 1983), p. 71.
89. Scolica enchiriadis, 1. 86, 87, in Musica Enchiriadis and
Scolica Enchiriadis, ed. Claude Palisca, introd. and trans. Ray­ 92. Boethius, De musica, I. 32, in Fundamentals of Music.
mond Erickson (New Haven. 1995), p. 50-51. trans. Bower (New Haven. 1989), p. 49.
90. Augustine, DcTrinitate, IV. 2.4, trans. Stephen McKen­ 93. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p.72, 103-05, 167,
na. T he Fathers o f the Church, 45 (Saint Augustine: The 171.
Trinity), ed. Roy Deferrari (Washington. DC, 1963). p. 133.

17 0 NI GEL H IS CO CK
 PILIS

Fig. 9. Pilis Abbey (Hungary), plan o f the abbey. (László Gerei’ich, “Pilis Abbey: A Cultural Center”, Acta Archaeologica Acad­
emiae Hungarìcae, 29 (1977), p. 1 55-98 [p. 170, fig. 25])

struction while Villard was active. With Vau- nection that has been established between
celles just an hour’s walk from Honnecourt9495* Cambrai and the Cistercian world via Eliza­
and with the layout o f its choir recorded in his beth o f Marburg, daughter o f the King o f
portfolio, Villard’s plan o f squares, in repre­ Hungary. The edifice which has been erected
senting this return to Cistercian simplicity, could upon this connection will be familiar to stu­
have arisen in some way from the dispute over dents o f Villard and o f Cîteaux. It consists of
Varicelles, as a counter perhaps to the ostenta­ (1) Elizabeth’s donation to Cambrai at the time
tion prevailing there, which had attracted crit­ work was commencing on its choir, (2) Vil­
icism.93 It could have originated within the lard’s probable presence on site at the same
Order, either at Vaucelles or elsewhere, or from time, (3) his trip to Hungary and his sketch o f
among the builders at Vaucelles, as an exemplar a church pavement which he saw there, (4) the
perhaps, which Villard recorded out of inter­ alleged resemblance o f this pavement to one
est. in the Cistercian abbey o f Pilis, and (5) the
Yet Villard’s drawing o f his plan o f squares existence in Pilis Abbey o f the tomb of Eliz­
appears next to his sketch o f the Cambrai abeth’s mother, (6) fragments o f which have
chevet, not Vaucelles, and this recalls the con­ been attributed to the influence o f Chartres

94. Bucher, Architector, p. 106. an early period. Indeed, one reconstruction, based on the
recorded location o f altars, suggests a layout consistent with
95. Villard’s plan o f squares might have been a record o f
the so-called “Bernardine plan” (Lambert, Untitled report,
the first abbey church at Vaucelles, which was consecrated
p. 254; Baron, “Vaucelles”, p. 197).
in 1149, but his chevet layout is surely too complex for such

The Two Cistercian Plans of Villard de Honnecourt 171

 and Reims and likened to other sketches in less choir and two square chapels to each
Villard’s portfolio.96 This has been taken as transept arm .101 To an even greater degree than
proof that Villard was at Pilis,9' even that he Villard’s sketch o f square and double-square
is likely to have constructed the tomb.98 How­ bays, Pilis is composed only o f squares, archi­
ever, Villard’s pavement sketch is different from tecturally and spatially as well as schematical­
that uncovered at Pilis,99 and it is acknowl­ ly, for its principal bays were apparently
edged that many masons and artists from covered by large, square, four-part vaults, each
northern France were working in Hungary at incorporating two o f Villard’s double bays.
this time,100 any one o f whom could have built This particular arrangement o f vaulting, rem­
the tomb. Yet if Villard was at Pilis, he would iniscent o f Lombardie construction,102 when
have seen yet another church under construc­ set beside Fontainejean, demonstrates how
tion or recently completed, and this one, contemporary Villard’s plan — and his source
moreover, raised from a grid o f squares (Fig. — were at the time he drew it.
9). R efounded on the site o f a Benedictine
monastery in 1184, and with construction well Department o f Architecture
under way by 1213, Pilis nevertheless sticks to Oxford Brookes University
the so-called Bernardine layout of a short aisle­ Oxford, UK

96. See Laszlo Gerevich, “ Pilis Abbey: A Cultural Cen­ five tile patterns which Villard shows on fol. 15v, only the
ter”, Acta Archacologica Academiae Hungaricac, 29 (1977), p. design at bottom left can be found at Pilis, not two designs
155-98 (p. 179-85, 188 fig. 50, 194 fig. 57); Paul Crossley, as claimed, and this is set parallel to its border, whereas Vil­
“T he A rchitecture o f Queenship: Royal Saints. Female lard draws his diagonally: Gerevich, “Pilis Abbey”, p. 183,
Dynasties and the Spread o f Gothic Architecture in C en­ 185 fig. 47, 186 fig. 48; see also 188 fig. 50. which incor­
tral Europe”, in Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe rectly shows the Pilis tiles set diagonally.
(Woodbridge. 1997), p.263-300 (p.269-73).
100. Crossley, “Architecture o f Queenship”, p. 270.
97. Gerevich, “Pilis Abbey”, p. 183; Crossley, “Architec­
ture o f Queenship”, p. 272. 101. Gerevich, "Pilis Abbey”, p. 155. 168, 170 fig. 25.

98. Gerevich, "Pilis Abbey”, p. 183. 102. The Rom anesque church o f S. Ambrogio in Milan
is an early example o f this type o f compartmentalization
99. Villard’s caption states: “ior la vi io le pavement dune where each large square bay o f four-part vaulting over the
glize de si faite maniere” (“There I saw a church pavement nave and sanctuary corresponds to two square aisle bays on
made in this design”); Barnes, Portfolio, ch. 3, p. 5. O f the either side.

172 NIGEL H I S C O C K
 N e a l i q u i s e x t r a n e u s e la u s t r u m in t r e t '.
Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of
Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons
SHEILA B O N D E
and C LA R K M AINES

he visitor to Saint-Jean-des-Vignes Fergusson has been influential in the ways in

T today enters the site through an enor­

mous iron gate inserted into the
medieval fortifications by the French army dur­
ing the nineteenth century. He or she will begin
which we read the many spaces o f the abbey,
for example the gatehouse and especially the
refectory.1 He, as much as any contemporary
scholar, has called attention to the importance
the visit at the tourist office just inside and then, o f the architecture of the canons regular. It is
armed with an explanatory brochure and a plan thus a pleasure to dedicate to him this study of
of the site, is free to wander at will throughout entry and access at the Augustinian abbey o f
the surviving buildings o f the abbey and across Saint-Jean-des-Vignes.
the foundations revealed by excavation. The
great Gothic cloister is a favoured destination. Plan and Function at Saint-Jean-des- Vignes
A modern door inserted into the west wall of
the refectory permits direct access to the clois­ D uring the Middle Ages and the early m od­
ter from the outer court in a way that was nev­ ern period, the monastery was not accessible
er possible before about 1870. Nearly every in the free-form fashion enjoyed by the con­
tourist also visits the modern lavatory located, temporary visitor. The monastic community
conveniently, near the modern gate, but does was hierarchically structured, and access to its
so without realizing that this space once formed architectural spaces was restricted insofar as the
part of the sacristy and vestry of the thirteenth- larger world was concerned. In many cases, the
century parish church. spaces o f a monastery were limited to mem­
Twenty years of excavation, archival study, bers o f the community, which could be com­
and analysis o f extant buildings has given us posed not only o f abbey officers and monks,
insight into the ways in which medieval visi­ but also o f lay brothers, lay sisters, and ser­
tors would have experienced Saint-Jean-des- vants.
Vignes, ways that were sometimes similar, but Much of our effort over the past twenty years
more often profoundly different from the mod­ has been devoted to the recovery and identifi­
ern. The work of our friend and colleague Peter cation o f elements o f the plan o f Saint-Jean-

1. Peter Fergusson, ‘“Pona Païens Esto’: Notes on Early 1990). p. 47-59: and Peter Fergusson, “T he Refectory at
Cistercian Gatehouses in the North o f England”, in Medieval Easbv Abbey: Form and Iconography” , Art Bulletin. 71
Architecture and its Intellectual Context: Studies in Honour of (1989), p. 334-51.
Peter Kidson, ed. Eric Fernie and Paul Crossley (London,

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, Soissons 173
 des-Vignes during the Gothic period, and to tion on the basis o f material evidence or place­
analysis o f the human actions that both ani­ ment within the site are aided by comparison
mated and shaped those spaces. O ur labelled site with other sites and, most importantly, by the
plan thus represents hard-won and, in some text o f the abbey’s unpublished customary. The
cases, still contested identifications (Figs 1,2). earliest customs for Saint-Jean seem to have
Architectural spaces that are extant or whose been codified during the eleventh century.
foundations have been revealed archaeological- Though the original manuscripts do not sur­
ly are shown in black, while conjectural zones vive, they were revised in the fourteenth cen­
known from texts and old engravings are shown tury, probably as a direct result of the end of
in outline. Functional identifications of the var­ the Gothic reconstruction of the abbey around
ious buildings are sometimes obvious (e.g., that time. The consonance in date between the
church, cloister, refectory), but in other cases recension of the customary and the completion
are more elusive. O ur efforts to adduce func­ o f the architectural campaign make manuscript

174 SHEILA B O N D E and C L ARK MAINES

 S pace A rea in m 2 # o f c o n n e c tio n s

1. exterior / 1
2. gatehouse 84 2
3. forecourt 900 3
4. parish church 200 1
5. outer court 2700 5

6. porter’s lodge 84 3
(6a. female reception room) 80 1
7. refectory passage 30 2
8. conversi building 480 2
(8a. conversi dormitory) 480 1
9. steward’s court 2400 3

10. cellar 350 1

11. great cloister 1090 10
12. south court 875 5
13. conversi court 350 3
14. steward’s lodge 140 1 (2)
15. grange 375 1

16. nave 625 2(3)

17. sanctuary zone 1125 4
18. armarium 50 3
19. chapter room 169 1
20. passage 60 o
21. small cloister 300 3
22. refectory 350 1
23. abbot’s parlor 40 2
24. lavabo 16 1
25. conversi latrine 175 1
26. abbot’s passage 16 4
27. kitchen 120 1
28. infirmary passage 16 2
29. cellarer’s vestibule 16 2

30. night stair 20 2

31. sacristy 25 1
32. day stair 20 2
33. cemetery garden and potager4375 1
34. abbot’s office 44 1
35. infirmary garden 240 3
36. cellarer’s office 9 1
37. canons’ room 300 1
38. dormitory 660 3
39. guesthouse 75 1
40. infirmary 110 1

41. latrines 160 1

Fig. 2. Saint-Jeau-des- Vignes, key to plan with tabulations o f area in metres squared and number o f connections between spaces,
(authors)

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, Soissons 175
 and architecture even more appropriate as dual tionships between social actions, including rit­
“informants” on site history.2 ualized processions, and monastic space.
The customary for Saint-Jean defines the “job None of these earlier studies, however, has
descriptions” for abbey officers, describes daily addressed the question of the linking o f indi­
procedures such as chapter meetings and pro­ vidual spaces to one another, nor their access.
cessions, proscribes activities such as playing To put it differently, none o f them considered
games or dropping eggshells on the refectory explicitly the question of movements through
floor, and details the rules for the admittance the monastic space and how, for example, those
o f visitors. While customaries are often terse, movements might have been similar or differ­
they can yield the most precise written infor­ ent for the canon, lay brother, or visitor.
mation available about movements and actions
undertaken by a particular community at vari­ Spatial Analysis
ous times of the day and year.3
Several of our publications on Saint-Jean have Over the last thirty years, space in its many and
linked analysis of individual spaces within the varied definitions has become a category o f
abbey with a critical reading of the customary. inquiry. Analysis o f space has been the concern
In this way, we have been able to link the cam­ of a number of archaeologists who have sought
era abbatis of the customary text with the small to define it and to develop strategies to inter­
room just off the cloister (#23 on the plan).4* pret it. Beginning in the late 1960s, archaeolo­
We have also identified as the cellarers office a gists applied principles o f historical geography
small space (#36) located off a stairwell between to the study of settlements and regional group­
the refectory exterior and the cellar under­ ings o f sites.7 In this endeavour, mathematical
neath.3 Ritual uses o f the excavated chapter models and central place theory have been
room (#19) and extant refectory (#22) have applied to data recovered from survey archae­
also been discussed in the light of passages in ology.8 From the late 1970s, medievalists began
the customary.6 In each o f these studies, our to apply such techniques to the mapping and
aim has been to examine the reciprocal rela­ analysis o f monastic domains.9

2. It is the 14dl-century recension o f the customary that Belief in Medieval Europe: Papers of the “Medieval Europe Brugge
has come down to us in two 16th- and 17th- century copies 1997” Conference, voi. iv, ed. Guy De Boe and Frans Ver-
(Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France [hereafter BnF], haeghe (Zellik, 1997). p. 43-53. '
MS n.a.l. 713, and Paris. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève,
5. Sheila Bonde and Clark Maines, “ A R oom w ith a
MS 2973). T he BnF manuscript preserves a copy o f the
View: T he Cellarer and his Office at the Augustinian Abbey
R ule o f Saint Augustine, copies o f a number o f important
o f Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons” , jn Pierre, lumière, couleur:
charters, and an obituary, as well as the abbeys liturgical cal­
Etudes d ’histoire de l’art du Moyen Age en l’honneur d ’Anne
endar, its customs, and other documents, all in a single vol­
Proche, ed. Fabienne Joubert and Dany Sandron (Paris, 1999).
ume. We therefore call this volume a “chapter book” rather
p. 199-212.
than simply a customary. T he Sainte-Geneviève manuscript
preserves only a copy o f the customs as well as the proce­ 6. Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in Soissons: Approaches to its Archi­
dures for the admission o f novices. T he latin edition o f the tecture, Archaeology and History, ed. Sheila Bonde and Clark
customary will soon be available in Constitutiones canonicarum Maines, Bibliotheca Victorina, 15 (Turnhout, 2003), Part
regularium ad Galliam septentrionalem spectantes, ed. Luc Joc- IV. p. 255-349.
qué and Ludo Milis, Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio
Mediaevalis (Turnhout, forthcoming). We would like to 7. See the seminal volume. Settlement Archaeology, ed. and
thank both M .Jocqué and M. Milis for permission to quote introd. Kwang-chih Chang (Palo Alto, CA, 1968).
from their work prior to its publication. 8. See, for example, Ian Hodder and Clive O rton, Spa­
3. The famous “Farfa” customary (actually those o f Cluny tial Analysis in Archaeology, N ew Studies in Archaeology
II) and the customs o f Barnwell Priory in England are two (Cambridge, 1976), and Centre and Periphery, Comparative
well-known examples o f this kind o f “practical” custom­ Studies in Archaeology, ed.Timothy C. Champion, O ne World
ary. See Consuetudines monasticae, I Consuetudines Fameuses, Archaeology, 11 (London, 1989). For a recent overview o f
ed. Bruno Albers (Freiburg, 1900); and The Observances in methods and approaches, see Brian K. Roberts, Landscapes
Use at the Augustinian Priory of S. Giles and S. Andrew at Barn­ of Settlement, Prehistory to the Present (London, 1996).
well, Cambridgeshire, ed. and trans. John Willis Clark (Cam­ 9. A m ong the many studies now available, see R . A.
bridge. 1897). Donkin, 77te Cistercians: Studies in the Geography o f Medieval
4. Sheila Bonde and Clark Maines, “A R oom o f O n e’s England and Wales, Pontifical Institute o f Medieval Studies:
O wn: Elite Spaces in Monasteries o f the Reform Move­ Studies and Texts, 38 (Toronto. 1978); David Robinson, The
m ent and an Abbot’s Parlor at Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Sois- Geography of Augustinian Settlement in Medieval England and
sons (France)” , in Medieval Europe Brugge, 1997, Religion and Wales. 2 vols, BAR, British Series, 80 (Oxford, 1980); L'En-

176 SHEILA B O N D E and C L A RK MAINES

 Writers like Michel de Certeau, Pierre Bour­ monasticism,14*and in two important confer­
dieu, and Michel Foucault have importantly ence proceedings devoted to monastic space.13
affected the ways in which historians and
archaeologists theorize space.10 De Certeau sees Space Syntax Analysis
space as different from a defined and stable place.
He argues that space is only created through In an effort to examine the manipulation of
time and movement. The process o f walking space and movement through it, the technique
through space thus takes on a new importance, of space syntax analysis has proven especially
w ith the production o f space located in the useful to a number of scholars. First developed
body o f the individual. Bourdieu has provided by Bill Hillier and Julie Hanson as a design tech­
a model for relating internal spatial divisions to nique,16*space syntax analysis has begun to be
cultural constructs. For Foucault, space func­ adopted by archaeologists as an analytic tool.
tions as an active institutional tool o f coercion Mark Grattarne has applied it to the study of
and control. Foucault explores the ways in private and public space in the Roman house,1/
which the institutions o f the prison or the and Roberta Gilchrist has adopted it as a means
school manipulate space to exert power and to to compare enclosure in male and female hous­
produce docile subjects. Interpretive archaeol­ es. ,s Nicola Arravecchia has applied it to exam­
ogists like Austin and Thomas have responded ine spatial hierarchy and spatial organization in
to many o f these ideas.11 Byzantine kellia in early Christian Egypt.19
Theories of space have been applied recent­ Most recently, Amanda Richardson has applied
ly to the medieval monastery and to the indi­ it to English royal castles to assess the role of
vidual spaces within it by Megan Cassidy-Welch queens and the changing performance of
in her examination of thirteenth-century Cis­ queenship.20
tercian male houses,1- by P. H. Cullimi in her Space syntax analysis (or access analysis) pre­
analysis o f an Augustinian hospital in York,13 sumes an underlying spatial language that can
by Roberta Gilchrist in her analysis of female be decoded through graphing o f its grammar.

vironnement des églises et la topographie religieuse des campagnes 14. Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: The
médiévales (Actes du 3e Colloque International de la Société Archaeology of Religious Women (London, 1994).
Française d'Archéologie Médiévale), ed. Michel Fixot and Elis­
15. L’Espace cistercien, dir. Léon Pressouyre, Mémoires de
abeth Zadora-Rio. Documents d'archéologie française, 46
la section d’archéologie et d’histoire de l'art, 5 (Paris, 1994);
(Paris, 1994): and Cîteaux et les femmes, dir. Bernadette Bar­
and Shaping Community: The Art and Archaeology of Monasti-
rière and M arie-Elizabeth H enneau, ed. Annelle Bonis,
cism, ed. Sheila McNally. BAR, International Series, 941
Sylvie Dechavanne, and M onique Wabont, Rencontres à
(Oxford, 2001).
Royaumont (Paris, 2001). For a precocious study o f this
type, see Léopold Genicot. “Donations et villae ou défriche­ 16. Bill Hillier and Julie Hanson, The Social Logic of Space
ments: les origines du temporal de l’abbaye de Lobbes", in (Cambridge, 1984).
Miscellanea Historica in Honorem Alberti de Meyer (Leuven,
1946), p. 2S6-96. 17. Mark Grahame, “Publié and Private in the Rom an
House: The Spatial Order o f the Casa del Fauno”, in Domes­
10. Michel de Certeau, The Practise of Everyday Life, trans. tic Space in the Roman World: Pompeii and Beyond, ed. Ray
Steven Randall (Berkeley, 1984): Pierre Bourdieu, Algérie Laurence and Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Journal of Roman
I960, trans. Richard Nice (Cambridge. 1979):Michel Fou­ Archaeology. Supplem entary series, 22 (Portsmouth, R I,
cault, “Espace, savoir et pouvoir”, in his Dits et écrits, 1997). p. 137-64: and Mark Grahame, Reading Space: Social
1954-1988, 4 vols (Paris, 1994). îv, p. 270-85. Interaction and Identity in the Houses oj Roman Pompeii:A Syn­
tactical Approach to the Analysis and Interpretation o f Built Space.
11. David Austin and Julian Thomas, “The ‘Proper Study’
BAR. International Series, 886 (Oxford. 2000).
o f Medieval Archaeology: A Case Study” , in From the Baltic
to the Black Sea: Studies in Medieval Archaeology, ed. David 18. Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: and Roberta
Austin and Leslie Alcock, O ne World Archaeology, 18 (Lon­ Gilchrist, “ Com m unity and Self: Perceptions and Use of
don, 1990), p. 42-78, esp. p. 51-53. Space in Medieval M onasteries”, Scottish Archaeological
Review, 6 (1989), p. 55-64.
12. Megan Cassidy-Welch, Monastic Spaces and their Mean­
ings: Thirteenth-Century English Cistercian Monasteries, 19. Nicola Aravecchia. "Hermitages and Spatial Analy­
Medieval Church Studies, 1 (Turnhout, 2001). sis: Use o f Space at the Kellia” , in Shaping Community, ed.
McNally, p. 29-38.
13. Patricia H. Cullimi, “Saint-Leonard’s Hospital, York:
The Spatial and Social Analysis o f an Augustinian Hospi­ 20. Amanda Richardson, “Gender and Space in English
tal", in Advances in Monastic Archaeology, ed. Roberta Gilchrist Royal Palaces c. 1160—c. 1547: A Study in Access Analysis and
and Harold M ytum , BAR. British Series. 227 (Oxford. Imagery”, Medieval Archaeology, 47 (2003). p. 131-65.
1993). p. 11-18.

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, Soissons 177
 It graphs each architectural space according to seen for spaces such as the dormitory (#38) and
its “permeability”, or access between spaces. infirmary (#40).
Each space and architectural volume is graphed It might, o f course, be argued that the mea­
as a node connected by a line to the other spaces sured plan of any monastic site accomplishes
with which it communicates directly. The the same task, but we believe that the use of
resulting network of nodes and lines forms an space syntax analysis has three advantages. First,
“unjustified access map”. The “justified” map it forces us to examine critically each o f the
clarifies this network by presenting all connec­ connections between spaces. In other words, it
tions that are made at a similar depth on the pushes issues o f movement and access to the
same level. To date, much work in space syntax forefront. Second, the process o f thinking crit­
analysis has focused on notions o f public and ically about access has been crucial for our inter­
private space. O ur aim in this study is to apply pretation o f partially surviving or destroyed
space syntax analysis to a medieval monastery spaces. Reconstructing the placement o f the
while simultaneously critiquing its applicabili­ boundary walls is not sufficient; detailed analy­
ty to a set of communal spaces. sis of the placement o f doorways, the connec­
tions or lack of connections between spaces,
Mapping Access at Saint-Jean-des- Vignes and the movements reflected and shaped by
architectural spaces by a variety of users is also
The justified access map for Saint-Jean-des- important to consider. Third, most scholarship
Vignes (Fig. 3) shows all the connections exist­ “experiences” the totality o f spaces shown on
ing among the spaces within the monastic a monastic plan in linear, narrative form, much
enclosure. We see the ways in which access to like the description of the site given in the stan­
the abbey is controlled by its fortified precinct, dard visitor’s handout. Space syntax analysis has
and in which entrance is permitted at only one the advantage o f being able to present both the
point, the fortified gatehouse. Movement is then totality o f spaces and their access as a unified
channelled through particular “checkpoints” visual experience that privileges movement over
such as the porter’s lodge (#6) and the refecto­ buildings.
ry passage (#7). The degree o f remoteness from Such analysis underscores the importance of
these points o f entry and control can also be zones that almost appear as “negative” space in

178 SHEILA B O N D E and C L A RK MAINES

a traditional plan. The great cloister at Saint- continually guard the door, so that no outsider
Jean is, as it is at nearly every monastery or con­ may enter the cloister, nor look within.)
vent, a physically open space. Access analysis
underscores its position, however, as a major The porter and his lodge thus functioned as the
thoroughfare in human movement within the main controlling point for access to the abbey.
abbey. O ther “courtyards” (the outer court, the O ne might wonder why, then, the lodge is
south court, the steward’s court) serve a simi­ located so far from the main gatehouse (#2),
lar crossroads function. Even less obvious on the and why the visitor would be invited to pass so
plan o f the site, but emphasized on the justi­ many “open” doors before confronting the
fied plan, is the role in controlling access played porter. The answer may lie in the lockable
by important passages like the one beneath the nature o f those doors. The location o f the
refectory (#7). porter’s lodge implies that other points that
In figure 3, we can identify no fewer than eight might seem to be open to the outer court may,
levels of access or permeability at the abbey. N ot in fact, have remained locked, awaiting an offi­
surprisingly, the parish church and the outer cer with a key. These other points probably
court are the most accessible or permeable spaces included the western portals o f the church
within the monastic enclosure. The canons’dor­ (#16), the refectory passage (#7), the doorway
mitory, latrines, and the infirmary are the least to the cellar (#10), and certainly the steward’s
permeable. Surprisingly, the guesthouse at Saint- lodge (#14), all o f which have doorways com­
Jean is also among the least accessible spaces. This municating with the outer court. That the
is markedly different from the location of the church portals and the door to the cellar were
guesthouse in Cistercian monasteries, where normally kept locked need not be doubted. The
guest facilities are found in a separate outer court, refectory passage, though reworked probably in
preventing lay visitors from penetrating into the the sixteenth century, has a rebate for a door at
more restricted claustral zone.21To some degree, its eastern end, the presence of which implies
the location of the guesthouse at Saint-Jean-des- a lock. Such a door would probably have been
Vignes is a by-product o f the location of the unlocked from within the cloister as, in fact, it
abbot’s spaces and other service zones to the is today. The passage may well have been used
south court. It is also related to the use of the only by conversi to enter the church and canons
outer court as the abbey’s “home farm”. In this, to leave the cloister. Thus we may infer that
we see Saint-Jean as it was, a sub-urban access to service and reception spaces seems to
monastery with characteristics of both the rural have been controlled by an abbey officer (the
and the urban religious house. prior or the porter) and to have been shunted
Returning to the access map, it is important to to the south side o f the site.
signal that there are two main “tracks” for access­ The aspect o f multiple tracks for diverse users
ing privileged zones at Saint-Jean-des-Vignes. is one that access analysis brings to the fore, and
One may either enter the great cloister through yet is something that a single access map can
the passage that runs beneath the refectory, or obscure. Figure 4 shows the social organization
access the south court through the porter’s lodge. o f the abbey as we reconstruct it from the “job
This latter was clearly an important “node” in descriptions” o f the customary. Evident is not
abbey access. Lectio 39 of the customary tells us: only the hierarchy that orders administrative
and liturgical life at Saint-Jean, but also the
Portarius claustri unus de conversis debet fieri,
cross-section o f medieval society present with­
vel honesta persona qui assidue hostium cus­
in the abbey’s walls. As a way o f exploring the
todiat, ne aliquis extraneus claustrum intret vel
different ways in which these social groups used
intus respiciat.22
and experienced the site, we have prepared
access maps for four constituencies within the
(One of the conversi or an honest person ought
community: canons, conversi, lay visitors, and
to be made porter of the cloister, who shall

21. See Terryl N. Kinder. Cistercian Europe: Architecture of 22. Paris, BnF, MS n.a.l. 713, lectio 39.
Contemplation (Grand Rapids, M l, 2002), p.367—71, on the
configuration o f the “hospitality zone” in Cistercian hous­
es.

Entry and Access at the Angustinian Abbey o f Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, Soissons 179
 A bbot

Liturgy & C onventual Life A dm inistration & Daily Life

Prior Steward

Subprior

Sacristan Pittancer M agister

Porter C antor Weekly Priest

I
D eacon

Subdeacon

Novidi

Record Archivist Vestarer Infirmarer Hospitaller A lm o n er Cel arer Grainarer

K eeper

Procurators Sub-Infirm arer Refectorer

Kite rener

Conversi/ae Serviti

Fig. 4. Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, table o f social hierarchy as suggested by the customary, (authors)

women. O ur evidence for these routes comes Figure 5 shows the access routes for the
from the plan, the access map, and the cus­ canons. We map only those spaces accessible to
tomary. canons, and omit those zones reserved for abbey

180 SHEILA B O N D E and C L A RK MAINES

 f7. refectory passage!
¡57 porter’s lodgi-

|5. outer court!

P- forecourt]

¡2. gatehousei

|1. exteriori

Fig. 5. Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, access map for the canonial community, (authors)

officers such as the sacristan, cellarer, or abbot. The conversi, by contrast, occupy just those
The map demonstrates the centrality o f the zones (Figs 1, 6).They had direct access to their
cloister and claustral buildings in the canon’s own building and court to the extreme south
daily experience. Virtually all of the canonial o f the site, and from there, to the south court.
zones are accessed through the great cloister. This latter access was undoubtedly also moni­
Indeed, the canons probably rarely left the clois­ tored by the porter, whose lodge lies within the
ter, spending much o f their time within its block o f the conversi building.24 The custom­
walls. The customary tells us that: ary tells us explicitly not only that the porter
should be a conversus, but also that conversi
Omnes licentia sive foras egrediendi, sive cum
worked for the infirmarer,25 They undoubted­
aliquuo extraneo colloquendi, aut minuendi
ly held other service jobs within the commu­
aut aliquod mundus accipiendi ab ipso postu­
nity, and thus the location of their block near
lentur [...]. Prior nulli licentiam tribuat eundi
the south court both facilitated and underscored
in villam nisi cogens necessitas emerserit.23
their service roles within the larger communi­
(All permission is requested from [the prior], ty
whether in going outside, or speaking with Lay access to the abbey was also largely
some stranger, or in bloodletting, or in wel­ restricted to areas off the outer and south courts
coming the world [...]. The prior shall grant (Figs 1, 7). O ur map presents the access chan­
permission for going into town to no one, nels for a (male) lay visitor. The customary gives
unless compelling need arises.) us several invaluable passages regarding the pres­
ence of such guests within the abbey. Lectio 25
As we see in the access map, the canons had vir­ tells us that a hospitaller was to be named from
tually no contact with the service areas to the among the ranks of the canons:
south and west.

23. Paris, BnF, MS n.a.l. 713, lectio 20. Saint-Jean-des-Vigne, Soissons (Aisne): quelques hypothès­
es dans le contexte d’une fouille éventuelle” , Reime
24. This latter building no longer survives and has not yet
archéologique de Picardie, 3 /4 (2003), p. 103-13.
been excavated. A short study o f the iconography for the
building and a surviving capital from it is in: Sheila Bonde, 25. Paris, BnF, MS n.a.l. 713, lectio 24.
Kyle Killian, and Clark Maines, “A utour des convers de

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons

 without permission: no one shall be received
as a guest without consulting the hospitaller.

As we see in figure 7, lay guests (diligently

supervised) might visit the parish or consult the
steward, but their entry beyond the porter’s
lodge was carefully circumscribed and con­
tained so as to avoid contact with the canonial
community.
The presence o f women at Saint-Jean-des-
Vignes is a notable aspect o f this male monas­
tic community. The customary devotes an entire
section to this topic:
Infra portam quae est ad domum portarii
mulieres non intrent sine aliquo conductu et
Fig. 7. Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, access wapfor lay visitors, (authors) in claustrum non intrent, nisi aliqua nobilis vel
valde religiosa quae causa devotionis et oratio­
nis intrare velit. Et illae quae ad processionem
Hospitalarii est hospites suscipere, ut sciat pro veniunt, quae statini debent egredi.27*Mulieres
persona loco et tempore quomodo recipiantur infra officinas claustro continguas non debent
[. . .]. Nullus fratrum claustralium ad hospites comedere vel jacere, sed in domum supra por­
accedat sive licentia: nullibus recipiatur in hos­ tam, vel alibi ducantur.2S
pitem, hospitalario inconsulto.26
(Women may not enter within the gate at the
(It is the hospitallers duty to receive guests, so porter’s lodge without an escort, and they may
that he knows for each person at what time and not enter the cloister except where a noble or
place they were received [...]. None of the very pious woman wishes to enter for purpos­
claustral brothers shall even approach the guests es of devotion or prayer. And those who come

26. Paris, BnF, MS n.a.l. 713, lectio 25. in procession to the abbey. See Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, ed.
Bonde and Maines, p. 344.
27. We are told in various sources that the canons o f Sois-
sons Cathedral came in procession to Saint-Jean-des-Vignes 28. Paris. BnF. MS n.a.l. 713, lectio 43.
to celebrate the principal feasts o f John the Baptist, but we
have found as yet no reference to women religious coining

182 SHEILA B O N D E and C L A RK MAINES

 Fig. 8. Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, ¡19. chapter room]
access map for women, (authors)

[16. navej (o n ly i f deceased)

111, great cloister!

[23. abbot’s parlorj

(o n ly i f n o b le o r religious)

|12. south court) |6a. receptioni

|6. porter’s lodge

(4. parish church) [3. outer courtj

gT~Forecourt

¡2. gatehouse)

|1. exterior}

in procession should leave immediately after­ The customary mentions such noble visitors
ward. Women ought not to eat, nor to lie down once, saying that kings and queens, counts and
in the buildings near the cloister, but in the countesses might come to the abbey, but in this
house above the (porters?) door, or they should passage we are only told that the sacristan is not
be led elsewhere.) obliged to provide them with candles.29
The combined evidence o f archaeology and
Clearly, women entered the precincts at Saint- the abbey obituary provides one further exam­
Jean-des-Vignes (Fig. 8). Many were probably ple of female access at Saint-Jean-des-Vignes.
lay sisters or conversae; others may have been The obituary identifies a female patron named
guests. Nuns and abbesses from nearby convents Adelaide as having been buried in the chapter
(such as Notre-Dame or Saint-Etienne) would room, and a possibly female burial excavated in
certainly have fallen into the category of suit­ the chapter room may in fact be her.30 Thus,
ably devout women seeking entry for prayer, women might penetrate into the chapter room,
and these would probably have been admitted but seemingly only after death.
into the cloister and possibly the nave. Other It is interesting that male guests receive much
noble women were clearly admitted, but they less discussion in the customary than do female
ought not to lodge there, except in an upper visitors. This may be the result o f heightened
chamber kept for their use, probably located in anxiety about the transgressive nature of females
the conversi block and supervised by the porter. in a male house, but it may equally signal a more

29. Paris, BnF, MS n.a.l. 713, lectio 31. 30. Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, ed. Bonde and Maines, p. 371,
375.

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons 183

 frequent visitation by women that required one or two connections. The porter’s lodge, sac­
commentary. risty, abbot’s parlour, and cellarer’s office are
among these small-scale spaces with limited
Privacy access. Their connection to individual abbey
officers reinforces their identity as private spaces
The analysis o f movement within enclosed sites within a communal architectural context.
has been used not simply to underscore distance
from the entrance but to infer levels o f priva­ Conclusion
cy. As mentioned earlier, access analysis has been
used by Mark Grahame to study the public and Space syntax, or access, analysis has underscored
private zones o f the Rom an house and by aspects of social hierarchy and spatial function
Roberta Gilchrist to demonstrate the enclosed at Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in the second half of
nature of female monastic communities.31 If we the fourteenth century. It is important to note,
read impermeable spaces at Saint-Jean-des- however, that the abbey saw multiple periods
Vignes in this fashion, the latrines would thus o f construction and reconstruction during the
emerge as the most “private” space in the abbey. Gothic period (Fig. 9). Each new phase of build­
The customary mentions in several passages, ing would necessarily have brought both
however, that the toilet block, or necessarium, changes in patterns of access and revised social
was visited communally. O ur archaeological and responses. We cannot now reconstruct these
architectural analysis o f the buildings excavat­ “ephemeral” levels o f access, generated as they
ed foundations has demonstrated a capacity for were by the temporary transfer o f functions to
about twenty-four individuals at any one time, spaces that were not designed for them, as this
that is, about one-quarter o f the community of was necessitated by the sequence o f the rebuild­
ninety canons.32 This information makes the ing program. It is essential, however, to recog­
medieval use of the necessarium far less private nize that the lines o f access within the
than the modern lavatory experience. monastery charted here did not exist unaltered
Yet there do exist private spaces in the abbey. or unchanged. Indeed, access maps for Saint-
Here access analysis alone seems insufficient and Jean-des-Vignes in ca. 1230, before its Gothic
must be joined to an accounting of the size of nave was completed (Fig. 9, phase E), or in ca.
the spaces. Figure 2 lists the area in square meters 1690, after its century-long restoration during
for each space and the number o f connections the early modern period (Fig. 9, phase J), would
to it.33 We define the most accessible spaces as both look very different.
those with areas in excess o f 500 m2 and four Furthermore, we have “encoded” the exte­
or more connections. Courtyard areas are not rior of the abbey as a monolithic entity with a
unexpectedly such “public” spaces. The outer single number (#1). In this, we follow to some
court (measuring 2700 m2 with five connec­ degree the verbal expression o f the customary
tions), the great cloister with its ten doors and which explicitly prohibits exit without speci­
passages and 1090 m2, and the south court with fying destination. Yet, for the urban, Augustin-
875 m2 and five connections are all open thor­ ian community o f Saint-Jean-des-Vignes,
oughfares. Perhaps surprisingly, the sanctuary committed as it was to parish service, charity,
zone also qualifies, with four connections and and education, the “outside” was not simply a
1125 m2. Although secluded from lay and con­ threat but a zone where the apostolic mission
versi access, the sanctuary was nonetheless a ver­ o f the house had to be realized. We would do
itable hub o f canonial activity, with links to the well to remember the potential multivalence of
cloister and dormitory as well as the armarium the exterior to canons committed to commu­
and nave. nity service.
Relatively inaccessible zones are defined as Within all o f its constructional phases or his­
those with an area o f under 100 m2 and only torical periods, the social hierarchy o f the

31. Grahame, “Public and Private”, and Gilchrist, Gen­ 33. For a study that prioritizes available space, see C on­
der and Material Culture. stance Berman, “How M uch Space Does a Medieval Nun
Need?“, in Shaping Community, ed. McNally, p. 100-16.
32. Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, ed. Bonde and Maines, p.
386-88.

184 SHEILA B O N D E and C L ARK MAINES

o 30 m

#>

Phase A: Pre-Monastic Phase

(Pre- 1076)

Phase I: Sixth Gothic Phase

(c. 1350 -1400)

Phase B: First Monastic Phase

(c. 1100 -USO)

Phase F: Third Gothic Phase

(c. 1220 -1250)

Phase G: Fourth Gothic Phase

Phase C: Foundation Phase (c. 1230 -1275)
for Gothic Construction Phase J: First Early Modern Phase
(c. 1215) (16"’ century)

-tJLi
ï;;t=zr
Phase D: First Gothic Phase Phase H: Fifth Gothic Phase
(c. 1215 -1230) (c. 1275 -1300)

Fig. 9. Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, major phases o f construction

Phase K: Second Early Modern Phase
and reconstruction, (authors) (17th century)

Entry and Access at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des- Vignes, Soissons 185
 monastic community at Saint-Jean-des-Vignes
was reinforced by manipulation o f spatial
boundaries and relationships between spaces.
Yet at any moment, an invitation or its refusal,
ingrained habits or unspoken constraints, or the
simple locking or unlocking o f a door could
affect access to spaces at Saint-Jean-des-Vignes,
and our readings o f it.j4

Department of History of Art and Architecaire

Brown University
Providence, RI

Archaeology Program
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT 34

34. T he authors would like to thank Nathaniel M. Stein

for a critical reading o f the manuscript which improved the
final version.

186 SHEILA B O N D E and C LA RK MAINES

 Chambers, Cells, and Cubicles:
The Cistercian General Chapter and
the Development of the Private Room*
DAVID N. BELL

hat a pleasure it is to offer this small earlier scholars had attributed to the fifteenth cen­

W contribution to a volume commem­

orating the retirement o f Professor
Peter Fergusson, a great teacher and an estimable
tury were actually to be witnessed some three
centuries earlier. There are a number of twelfth-
century writers — Abelard is the obvious exam­
scholar. I have had the pleasure of knowing him ple — in which we find
for more years than I care to remember, and have
a keener awareness than in the immediately
always profited from his conversation, his exper­
preceding centuries both of the complexity of
tise, and, above all, his formidable zest for life.
the individual’s inner life and of the boundary
Given the fact that he is an individual among
that separates that varied and fascinating inner
individuals, it seemed to me that a brief investi­
being from other equally fascinating and com­
gation of the development of the private room
plex selves.1
in Cistercian monasteries — Virginia W oolf’s
room of one’s own — might be an appropriate In a paper published in 1980, however, Caro­
way to thank a unique scholar for his great con­ line Bynum suggested with some cogency that
tribution to the world of the Cistercians and the “discovery o f the individual” was not so
those who love them. much the discovery of the individual as the dis­
In 1972 there appeared a study by Colin Morris covery of the self.2 If an “individual” is some­
entided The Discovery of the Individual: 1050-1200. one distinct from society, isolated, personal, and
In this volume the author (following in the foot­ private, then such a term would indeed be inap­
steps of Wirker Ullman, Peter Dronke, Robert propriate for a twelfth-century person who, says
Hanning, Richard Southern, and a number of Bynum, “did not find himself by casting off
others) suggested that the emphasis which, in the inhibiting patterns, but by adopting appropri­
twelfth century, we find being placed on inner ate ones.”-5The discovery o f “self”, she main­
intention and motivation — together with a bur­ tains, involves the discovery o f a model for
geoning interest in emotive and psychological behaviour and the discovery o f a consciously
development — was evidence that changes which chosen community.4

* In the following notes. Suit. — Stanna Capitulorum Gen­ the Spirituality o f the High Middle Ages (Berkeley, 1984), p.
eralium Oriliitis Cisterciensis ab Anno 1116 ad Annum 1186. 82-109 (p. 86).'
ed.Joseph-Maria Canivez, 8 vols (Leuven, 1933—41), cited
by tlie year and paragraph num ber o f the statute, and the 2. Ibid. For the background to the question, see the works
volume and page num ber in Canivez’s edition. cited by Bynum in ibid., p. 83.

1. Caroline Walker Bynum, “ Did the Twelfth Century 3. Ibid., p. 90.

Discover the Individual?”, in her Jesus as Mother: Studies in 4. Ibid., p. 108.

The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development o f the Private Room 187
 Giles Constable, while agreeing in essence increase in the number o f Carthusian founda­
with Bynum, finds difficulties with the term tions,8 and (in the eyes o f the General Chap­
“self” and prefers the term “person”, on the ter) the insidious spread of private rooms and
grounds that “personalism” involves the partitioning o f dormitories in Cistercian
monasteries.9
a sense of the importance of the inner persona
So far as I am aware, there is no archaeolog­
rather than a view of society, in modern terms,
ical evidence for such partitioning in the twelfth
made up of distinct units marked by a self-aware­
century, but in the ruined dormitory o f Jer-
ness of their differences from other people.3
vaulx in Yorkshire there remain socket holes for
Constable makes a valid point, and my own wooden screens which may date from the early
view which, for reasons o f space, I cannot thirteenth century.10 By the end of that centu­
demonstrate in detail here, is that the discov­ ry, in some monasteries, wooden screens had
ery o f the individual — the individual as a dis­ given way to permanent stone walls, but how
tinct unit marked by a self-awareness o f his or widespread this was is unknow n.11
her difference from others — began to take The first indisputable documentary evidence
place from the late thirteenth century. It evolved of problems appears in a statute o f 1287 which
hand in hand with the development of the con­ prohibits nuns from having private rooms (cam­
cept o f privacy, together with certain techno­ erae) but makes an exception for any nuns who
logical innovations such as the development of may also have been the founders of monaster­
the chimney and the invention o f the wall-fire- ies.12 O n the other hand, something had been
place6 which permitted the heating o f small, going on in the dormitory o f Longpont about
individual spaces and the enjoyment o f a room a century earlier, for in 1192 the General Chap­
of ones own. It is not coincidental that this is ter decreed that the dormitory o f the abbey had
the period in which we begin to see the pro­ to be rebuilt within three years adformam Ordi­
liferation of anchorites and recluses,7 a dramatic nisi 3 Unfortunately, the statute gives no hint as

5. Giles Constable, 'Pie Reformation of the Twelfth Century tioning o f Cistercian dormitories may be found in Virginia
(Cambridge, 1996), p.293. Jansen. “Architecture and Com munity in Medieval Monas­
tic Dorm itories”, in Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture,
6. T he earliest English chimney dates from c. 1130, but
voi. v, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo, 1998), p.58-94,
they did not become really popular for another century and
but D r Jansen’s account o f the legislation concerning pri­
a half. See Margaret Wood, Pie English Medieval House (Lon­
vate rooms and stoves/fireplaces is not always reliable. Two
don, 1965; repr. 1996), chs 19-21. Marcel Aubert and the
other, and very sound, articles by Sheila Bonde and Clark
Marquise de Maillé, L ’Architecture cistercienne en France, 2 vols Maines deserve mention here, though both are concerned
(Paris, 1947-), II, p. 86, suggests that there might have been
with an Augustinian house and neither deals in detail with
a chimney at Sénanque in the twelfth century, but this can­ Cistercian legislation: “A R oom o f O ne’s O wn: Elite Spaces
not be regarded as certain.
in Monasteries o f the R eform Movement and an Abbot’s
7. See Appendix C, “Tabulated List o f Cells” [with dates] Parlor at Augustinian Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons
(p. 203-63) in the classic study by R otha M. Clay, The Her­ (France)”, in Medieval Europe Brugge, 1997, Religion and Belief
mits and Anchorites of England (London, 1914), and Ann K. in Medieval Europe: Papers of the “Medieval Europe Bnigge 1997”
Warren, Anchorites and their Patrons in Medieval England Conference, voi. IV, ed. Guy De Boe and Frans Verhaeghe
(Berkeley, 1985), p. 18-29. (Zellik. 1997), p. 43-53; and “A R oom with a View: The
Cellarer and his Office at the Augustinian Abbey o f Saint-
8. O f the ten English Carthusian houses, only one — Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons” , in Pierre, lumière, couleurs:Etudes
W itham — was founded in the twelfth century (1178-79). d’histoire de l'art du Moyen Age en l ’honneur d’Anne Praclie, ed.
Two more were founded between 1222 and 1232, and all Fabienne Joubert and Dany Sandron (Paris. 1999), p.
the others after 1343. In the whole o f Europe there were 199—212. In this present essay, I do not intend to deal with
thirty-nine houses in 1300, but during the course o f the abbots’ houses. They deserve a separate study in their own
fourteenth century a further 113 came into being. During right.
the fifteenth century the num ber o f new foundations
dropped to forty-four. It should be noted, however, that 10. See Jansen, “Architecture and C om m unity”, p. 75.
Carthusian life in the Middle Ages was not quite as solitary
11. Ibid.
as in its later revival.
12 .Stai. 1287/9; in. 239.
9. And, o f course, in the monasteries o f other Orders as
well, but that is not here my concern. See Nancy Bauer, 13. Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cistercian General
“Monasticism After Dark: From D orm itory to Cell", Amer­ Chapter, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Cfteaux: Studia et D oc­
ican Benedictine Review, 38 (1987), p. 95-114 (a charming umenta, 12 (Brecht, 2002), p. 244 (1192, no. 23). For exam­
but lightweight survey, based almost entirely on secondary ples o f similar problems in houses o f other Orders, see
sources). Useful archaeological inform ation on the parti- Jansen, “Architecture and C om m unity”, p. 72.

188 DAVID N. BELL

to the nature of the problem, and its real inter­ more significantly — to counter the vice of per­
est, as Chrysogonus Waddell has pointed out, sonalitas or partialitasj8 both of which are the
lies in the expression adformam Ordinis, which product of that self-will or egocentricity whose
certainly presupposes “at least a general norm eradication lay at the heart of the Cistercian tra­
to which Cistercians are expected to con­ dition.
form” .1415To suggest that the censure resulted Quite what we are to make of the fact that
from the partitioning o f the dormitory can be these earliest injunctions all relate to nuns is dif­
no more than conjecture, and the matter is not ficult to say. There is no reason to believe that
heard o f again. their male colleagues were any less partial to
As we said above, the 1287 statute applied to privacy, but unless the problems in the Long-
nuns, and that is also true o f the next three pont dorm itory were related to partitioning
statutes which refer to private chambers. In 1314 (and we cannot be sure of that), the fact remains
the General Chapter found it necessary to take that until the bull Fulgens sicut stella (common­
further action, for the proliferation of private ly referred to as the Benedictina) promulgated by
rooms for nuns appeared to be a cause o f envy Benedict XII in 1335, the men of the Order
or spite. The Chapter therefore decreed (under escaped specific censure.
pain of excommunication) that no new rooms In his great scheme for Cistercian reform,
should be constructed and that if any were, they Pope Benedict addressed himself to the entire
were to be utterly destroyed. Furthermore, said Order, and the section of the constitution deal­
the General Chapter, there shall not be more ing with private rooms makes it quite clear, first,
than two nuns with the rank of abbess (degenere that the problems were not restricted to nuns
abbatissae) in the same monastery, si possit fieri and, second, that they had been going on for
bono modo}5 But what has this last curious pro­ some time. The institutes o f the Order, says the
nouncement to do with private rooms? pope, require all religious to sleep in one place,
The key is to be found in a statute of 1323, but in some monasteries separate rooms (cam­
for it has now come to the ears o f the Gener­ erae sejunctae) have been built outside the infir­
al Chapter that certain nuns, seeking luxury and mary, and cells (cellae: the first appearance of the
pleasure, are taking upon themselves the posi­ word) have been constructed in dormitories.
tion of abbess too lightly faciliter) and then, after This has led to many shameful and wicked
a short time, resigning it. The reason for this is things. The pope therefore decrees that no
so that they can have the perquisites which monk shall sleep in a private room, save only
come with abbatial status: viz., an annuity (pen­ those who are suffering from bodily infirmities,
sió) and their own private room. To prevent the and they shall use only the rooms in the infir­
spread of this sickness, the General Chapter now mary. All the others shall sleep in the common
prohibits the granting of annuities or rooms to dormitory “unless they may be excused from
these other abbesses.16 this by virtue o f their office” . In other words,
It is clear, however, that abuses continued, for the officials o f the monastery may be excused
four years later, in 1327, the General Chapter from the general requirement if it is not con­
found it necessary yet again to prohibit nuns venient (commode) for them to sleep in the same
from residing in private rooms w ithout the room as their fellows.19 But, as we shall see,
Chapters special permission, and nuns inhab­ exceptions of this nature are always dangerous.
iting such chambers without such permission Furthermore, the pope continues, no more
must give them up.17 At this time, the Gener­ such cells shall be constructed in dormitories,
al Chapter also drew attention to the most and those that are there now shall be demol­
important reason for the prohibition: it was not, ished within three months on pain o f the usual
in this case, to prevent envy or spite but — far sentence of excommunication. But — and here

14. Twelfth-Century Statutes, cd. Waddell. For further 17. Stat. 1327/3;m ,376.
examples o f the phrase adformam Ordinis, see notes 46 and
18. Ibid. Personalitas appears in Canivez’s text: partialitas is
55 below.
a variant reading.
15. Stat. 1314/4; in, 328-29.
19. Stat. 1335/23:m , 425.
16. Stat. 1323/12:111. 365.

The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development o f the Private Room 189
 follows the exception — claustral priors and clear that by that time private rooms were stan­
sub-priors20 may have an appropriate cell with­ dard. The statute requires that all rooms, save
in the dormitory if such is the decision o f the those occupied by monk-students with bache­
abbot or principal official of the monastery.21 lors’ degrees, should be restored to common
Reaction to the Benedictina was very mixed, use and allocated either to students who were
and many powerful abbots had profound objec­ ill or to “those who have need” by the provi­
tions to it on the grounds (not unjustified) that sor or cellarer o f the college. The nature of the
it presented a serious erosion of their plenipo­ need, however, is not specified, and we may
tentiary powers. The prime purpose of the doc­ suspect that exceptions were common.
ument, as Bernhard Schimmelpfennig has said, Exceptions everywhere appear to have been
was to reform monastic life so that it would sufficiently common to goad the General Chap­
“reflect the order’s original ideals — or, rather, ter into action in 1370. A statute of that year is
the notion o f the early period o f the order as the first since the Benedictina to be directed to
Pope Benedict understood it”.22 The problem, the Order as a whole, and it specifies clearly some
however, was that the orders original ideals had of the problems which, in the eyes of the Chap­
been formulated more than two centuries ear­ ter, were associated with camerae privatae?5 There
lier, and, in the matter o f privacy, the world had is no mention here of what we might call the
changed. In the twelfth century few would have general spiritual danger of personalitas or partial-
found the commonness o f the common dor­ itas which we mentioned above, but the much
mitory to be any hardship since life itself was, more down-to-earth scandals of opulent meals
in general, lived in common. But by the four­ (commessationes: from now on the word occurs
teenth century, as we have seen, the modern frequently), disorderly get-togethers, meat eat­
concept o f individuality was well developed, ing, “murmurings”, and, sometimes, conspira­
and new forms of study and devotion had devel­ cies against either the principal officials or the
oped along with it. It was inevitable, therefore, institutes of the Order. The Chapter therefore
that Pope Benedict’s call for a return to an ear­ decrees that, in accordance with the papal statutes
lier mode o f life would have met with opposi­ (the reference is to the Benedictina of 1335) and
tion, and we will not be surprised to hear, in the ancient constitutions o f the Order, cells (cel­
1370, yet another strident call on the part of lae) in all monastic dormitories shall be com­
the General Chapter for the destruction o f pri­ pletely demolished and the dormitories restored
vate chambers and a return to the ideals o f the to their original state. As to private rooms (cam­
Benedictina. erae privatae), they too shall be demolished,
Before that, however, we must glance at a though exceptions may be made for those who,
statute o f 1343 which leads us away from the ab antiquo, have been granted the use o f such
purely monastic cloisters to the Collège Saint- rooms: abbots, the sick, and the community itself.
Bernard in Paris.23 The college had been found­ But in general, private rooms deemed to be
ed in 1245 as part of what Louis Lekai has called unprofitable or dangerous shall either be de­
the “thirteenth-century aggiornamento”24 in the stroyed or converted to community use. And all
Cistercian attitude to learning, and, as might be this is to be done within two months after the
expected, the first monk-scholars were required promulgation of this statute. Furthermore, adds
to sleep in a common dormitory like all other the General Chapter, no new private rooms shall
monks, scholars or not. But scholarship has be constructed in any monastery, and meat shall
always demanded a certain amount o f private be eaten only in such places as have been
space, and the statute of 1343 makes it quite ordained in the ancient customs of the Order.

20. Suppriores, but there is a variant reading superiores. See the Benedictina and Cistercian reaction to it remains Jean-
also note 33 below. Berthold Mahn, Le Pape Benoît X II cl les Cisterciens (Paris,
1949).
21. Star. 1335/24:in, 425-26.
23. Stai. 1343/1; in, 472-73.
22. Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, "T he Papacy and the
R eform o f the Cistercian O rder in the Late Middle Ages”, 24. Louis J. Lekai. "T h e Cistercian College o f Saint
in Studiosorum Speculum: Studies in Honor of Louis J. Lekai, Bernard in Paris in the Fifteenth C entury” . Cistercian Stud­
O.Cist, ed. Francis R. Swietek and John R . Sommerfeldt ies. 6 (1971). p. 172-79 (p. 172).
(Kalamazoo, 1993), p. 337-54 (p. 340). The best study o f
25. Stai. 1370/2; ill, 550.

1 90 DAVID N. BELL
 From the statutes we have considered so far, clausae, which implies both a door and a lock.
it seems that camera is the general term for a Furthermore, not only were many abbots,
room, but that cella is the preferred term for monks, and lay brothers enjoying the privacy
structures in the dormitory. The nature o f these of enclosed spaces, they were also sleeping on
structures, however, is nowhere described, but feather mattresses with linen sheets and wear­
a clue is provided by a statute o f 1392 which ing a variety o f garments wholly unbecoming
permits a brother o f Boulbonne to have a door to Cistercian monks. Abbots and monks, states
(porta seu ostium) to his cell in the dormitory. the Chapter, are to refrain from these excesses,
The reason for the concession is the brothers the rooms are to be demolished, the feather
state of health and great age, and the Chapter mattresses and sheets done away with, the lux­
adds that the door must not open into the cell urious garments eschewed, and the religious of
in such a way as to conceal anything inside from the Order are admonished to imitate “our most
the eyes of those whose duty it is to inspect it.26 blessed father Bernard”, so that those who see
The clear implication is that, in general, dor­ them shall see nothing which may cause
mitor)' cells at this time were no more than sim­ offence.32
ple wooden partitions which projected from The rooms, o f course, were not demolished.
the wall o f the dormitory and afforded a min­ Two years later, in 1439, as part of a general
imal degree o f privacy.27 They did not have programme o f reform, the General Chapter
doors (or, presumably, ceilings, though canopies found it necessary to reiterate the demands of
are a possibility28) and would not have been dif­ the Benedictina that, except for the chambers
ficult to dismantle. But it would not be long placed at the disposal of priors and sub-priors,33
before doors became standard, and the Gener­ all other rooms within the dormitory were to
al Chapter then had to deal with the question be dismantled. But as we have seen, in the cen­
o f w hether such doors could or should be tury since the Benedictina new problems had
locked or bolted. arisen, and the Chapter of 1439 also found it
Meanwhile, the General Chapter was still necessary to forbid any doors or locks (clausurae)
having difficulty with nuns.29 In 1405, an by which entry into a room might be imped­
exception was made in the case o f a nun o f ed.34
Parc-aux-Dames who had used part of her The doors, however, were still there in 1442
inheritance to effect necessary repairs to the when the abbot o f La Charité was ordered to
monastic buildings, and who was rewarded for remove them from the dormitory o f Balerne.
her generosity by being granted a room in the But we now have the added refinement of
infirmary.30 But five years later, the General warmth, for the abbot was required to destroy
Chapter again had to prohibit abbots from not only all doors, but also all stoves or fire­
granting camerae particulares to nuns, or permit­ places (camini).35 That some sort of personal
ting them to build new ones.31 heating device was in use cannot come as a sur­
By 1437, however, the situation had become prise (one pales at the thought o f an unheated
more serious, for not only were cells still to be northern abbey in winter36), but how early they
found in dormitories, they were now camerae appeared is unknown. Fireplaces were prohib-

26.Stat. 1392/47;ni, 631. 33. O r priors and superiores: the same variant reading as
appears at note 20 above.
27. In some houses, both for men and women, curtains
were used for the same purpose: see Jansen. "Architecture 34. Star. 1439/96(j); IV, 487.
and Com m unity”, p. 75.
35. Stat. 1442/83; iv, 527. Cantinus here almost certainly
28. See ibid., p. 86, n. 16 and p. 90, n. 48. means a portable stove, not a built-in fireplace.Jansen, "Archi­
tecture and Community”, p. 65, observes that “removal o f
29. As were the English bishops: see Eileen Power,
fireplaces and stoves was ordered in 1335. 1482,1494, 1531,
Medieval English Nunneries, c. 1275—i 535 (Cambridge, 1922;
and — for the last rime — in 1605”, but the list is incom­
repr. New' York, 1964), p. 319-22. plete and partly incorrect. T he actual dates are 1442. 1476.
30. Slat. 1405/15; IV, 74. 1482. 1494, 1601 and 1605. All are discussed below.

31. Sfdi. 1410/41; IV, 124. 36. Though the actual location o f the dorm itory on the
second floor and not far from the w arm ing-room might
32. Sf<i/. 1437/46; IV. 431-32. have taken some o f the chill off the air: see Jansen, "Archi­
tecture and C om m unity”, p. 64, 85—86, n. 13—14.

The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development of the Private Room
 ited in granges as early as the second half of the heinous conduct and never or hardly ever par­
twelfth century,37 but granges were always a dif­ ticipate in the claustral rituals in the dormito­
ferent matter and presented their own prob­ ry or common refectory. And what is the result?
lems. Conspiracies, “murmurings”, and the vice of
Meanwhile, the women, like the men, con­ personal as against communal possession.40 The
tinued to enjoy their privacy, though the pos­ General Chapter therefore prohibits such prac­
session of their rooms was not always undisputed. tices, and this time invokes imprisonment as a
In 1454 the abbess o f La Zaida in Spain had dis­ punishment.41
possessed Sister Castellana Catula, and the sister But only the next year it comes to the ears
had appealed the decision, apparently to the o f the Chapter that many abbots, monks, and
abbot of Citeaux. In any case, the abbot of lay brothers are doing exactly what they were
Citeaux had approved the restitution o f the doing more than twenty years earlier in 1437.42
room, and the General Chapter ratified his deci­ The statutes o f 1461 and 1437 are identical,
sion — so long as the said sister conducted her­ even to the invocation o f the name o f “our
self religiose and was found to be humble and most blessed father Bernard”. Some monks are
obedient to her abbess.38 still living in lockable rooms, they are still sleep­
Should a nun be elected abbess, she was ing on feather mattresses, they are still using
expected to move into the abbess’s quarters, but linen sheets, they are still wearing unsuitable
it seems that this was not always to the taste of clothes, and the General Chapter is still fulmi­
the one elected. Thus, in 1470, the abbess of nating against all these dissolute practices.43
Val-Notre-Dame in Belgium successfully peti­ As to the individual rooms, which are here
tioned the General Chapter to keep the room our only concern, they continued to be used,
in which she had been living before her elec­ and by 1476 the General Chapter had effec­
tion. The room, we might note, was referred to tively given up the struggle to return to the
as a “Gloriette” (illa camera quae vocaturgloriette^9) unpartitioned common dorm itory and had
which, in the fifteenth century, indicated a turned its attention to the question of heating.
chamber on the uppermost floor o f a house A statute from that year tells us that in many
with a view o f the surrounding countryside. dormitories, camerae et camini construuntur, which
Later on, the term usually referred to a garden seems to indicate not just portable stoves, but
pavilion. W hether the gloriette of the new abbess permanent built-in fireplaces. This, indeed, is
o f Val-Notre-Dame looked out over the clois­ confirmed by archaeological findings,44*but it
ter or the lands extra claustrum we do not know. was not to the liking o f the General Chapter,
By 1460, however, the situation seems to have especially since the rooms were being used for
deteriorated. There are now some abbots who feasting (commessationes, the usual term) both by
are granting their monks permission to have day and night. All fireplaces, therefore, which
rooms in the infirmary and, “to the grave dan­ have been built in dormitories within the last
ger o f their souls, to spend time in them both fifty years shall be destroyed and the rooms
day and night over-indulging, sleeping, and rebuilt ad formam O rdinisi This last phrase is
other irregularities” . They persist in their important,46 for it indicates clearly that if —

37. Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Waddell, p. 620 (local col­ 41. Stat. 1460/30: V, 53.
lection from Signy [1158-1189/90], no. 32) = p. 632 (Vau-
clair [1158—1201], no. 11) = p. 681 (Alcobaça [same date], 42. See note 32 above.
no. 25). In all cases the term is cantinata which normally refers 43. Stat. 1461/26; v, 76-77.
to a room with a built-in fireplace.
44. See, for example, Glyn Coppack, “The Planning o f
38. Stat. 1454/46; IV. 702. Cistercian Monasteries in the Later Middle Ages: T he Evi­
39. Stat. 1470/37; v, 274. dence from Fountains, Rievaulx, Sawley and R ushen”, in
The Religious Orders in Pre-Reformation England, ed.James G.
40. This is the m eaning o f the rare word monopolia, Clark, Studies in the History o f Medieval Religion, 18
“exclusive possessions” . It echoes the concern with person­ (Woodbridge. 2002), p. 197-209 (p. 200-02).T he examples
alitas mentioned at note 18 above. The Chapter o f 1573 also discussed by Coppack are but few among many.
stated that no one should possess private property and that
45. Star. 1476/67; v. 347-48.
proprietorial terms like “m ine”, “yours”, and “his” should
be avoided {Stat. 1573/9; vil, 128). 46. For an early example, see note 14 above. See also note
55 below.

192 DAVID N. BELL

proh dolor! — private rooms were here to stay, olution. As to private rooms at that time, there
there should be some regulations about how was, of course, no possibility o f going back to
they were to be constructed. Unfortunately, the a common dormitory in the twelfth-century
statute provides no information about the forma sense, and the private cells into which the dor­
to be followed. mitory had been divided remained. The new
Six years later, the fireplaces were still there, regulations, however, insisted that each monk-
both in men’s and women’s houses,47 and the scholar have his own cell and that he must not
situation had not changed in 1494. In this last share his bed with anyone else.3-2 How com­
statute, however, the General Chapter again mon this bed sharing was we do not know (it
demands that all members of the monastic com­ was certainly contrary to chapter 22 of the Rule
munity should sleep in the common dormito­ o f St Benedict), but there is no reason whatev­
ry (though presumably in their own unheated er to pounce upon this single phrase and cate­
cells), but, once again, there is the usual excep­ gorize the college as a hotbed o f homosexuality.
tion: “save for those whom the abbot, for just Little, in general, changed in the course of
cause, assigns elsewhere.”48 the sixteenth century, though we do find the
Meanwhile, at the Collège Saint-Bernard in introduction o f two new terms. In 1521 the
Paris, the situation was grave. Throughout the General Chapter gives special permission to a
fifteenth century the college operated only at monk o f Mont-Sainte-Marie (Doubs) to enjoy
about half its capacity, and the efforts o f the the use of “one room or dwelling (domus) which
General Chapter to remedy the situation he has built in the aforesaid monastery” ,53
remained, as Louis Lekai has told us, largely though the unusual term donuts is not
fruitless.49 The buildings were in a state of decay, explained;34 and in 1565 the abbot o f Poblet is
discipline was lax, and according to the Chap­ granted permission to construct “little cubicles”
ter of 1453, (parva cubicula) in the dormitory, provided the
said cubicles be arranged “according to the forma
the bachelors refused to accept the authority of
Ordinis” and that “the discipline of the Order”
the provisor, but tried to boss and abuse those
be observed in all things.33 But again, the form
below their ranks. They often neglected to attend
o f the forma is not specified. “ Cubicles” also
divine services and spent the time in their own
appear in a statute o f 1573 which, yet again,
quarters eating, drinking, and playing.50
requires all religious to sleep in a common dor­
An attempt at redressing the situation was made mitory and forbids them from having “private
in February 1493 with the promulgation of the cubicles” (cubicula privata) elsewhere. Further­
so-called Articuli Parisienses, an ambitious pro­ more, their rooms shall not be used for feasting
gramme for general reform proposed by the (commessationes yet again), drinking parties (ebri­
abbot o f Cìteaux, Jean de Cirey, but more sig­ etates, a new problem), or any other dissolute
nificant were the statutes published specifically practices, and it is the business o f the monastic
for the college on 11 August o f the same year.31 superiors to ensure that this statute is obeyed.36
It was these statutes which, essentially, direct­ In 1601, however, and in obedience to the
ed the life of the college until the French R ev- 1579 Ordonnance o f Blois, there appeared a

47. Stat. 1482/54; V, 447. The Chapter appeals once again 54. Donuts occurs in a num ber o f statutes (see the index
to the Benedictina. to Canivez. vm, 168, though this list is not comprehensive),
but always, so far as I am aware, as a house or dwelling in a
48. Stat. 1494/45; Vl. 92. This is part o f the Articuli
town. I know o f no other instance where it appears as a syn­
Parisienses discussed below.
onym for camera. Ten years later, in 1531, a visitation of
49. Lekai, “Cistercian College o f Saint Bernard”, p. 175. Fontfroide revealed that the twenty-five monks living there
had “a dorm itory partitioned into individual cells, many
50. Ibid., p. 177. furnished with fireplaces” (Louis J. Lekai, The Cistercians:
51. See Michel Félibien, Histoire de la ville de Paris, rev. Ideals and Reality [Kent, O H , 1977], p. 113). but pureJansen
Guy-Alexis Lobineau (Paris, 1725), il, p. 168-80. (“Architecture and Com m unity”, p. 65), the General Chap­
ter o f that year does not m ention the matter.
52. See Lekai, “Cistercian College o f Saint Bernard”, p.
178.35 55. Stat. 1565/41; vu, 97. For the phrase secundum Ordi­
nis formant, cf. notes 14 and 46 above.
53. Stat. 1521/18; vi, 578.
56. Stai. 1573/10; vu, 128-29.

The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development of the Private Room 193
 new attempt at comprehensive reform which Furthermore, the document continues, the
covered the whole of Cistercian monastic life.'17 abbot or prior shall inspect the cells at least once
It was the result o f many years o f assiduous a month to check that the bedding is appro­
preparation, but, as Lekai has said, priately monastic and that there are no prohib­
ited books, weapons, garments, or anything else
The text was found to be too elaborate for prac­
unbecom ing to the Order. They shall also
tical execution, and in 1604 an abbatial con­
ensure that no one is keeping either food or
vention held in Paris produced a shortened
drink in his cell. The abbot and/or prior must
version of the decree, to be considered by the
therefore have a master key by which they can
next Chapter. It was probably this modified text
enter any cell whenever they wish; and with the
that was incorporated into the decisions of the
same or a different key, the abbot or prior shall
Chapter of 1605.38
open any box or book-chest {arcula aut scrini­
In chapter XV o f the 1601 docum ent there um) in each m onk’s cell and examine its con­
appears a fairly detailed discussion o f the dor­ tents.61
mitory, and what it says sheds considerable light So what does this statute tell us about cells in
on the actual construction and furnishings of dormitories in 1601? It tells us that a cell was
dormitory cellae at the beginning o f the seven­ — or should be — an enclosed space with a
teenth century. The chapter begins by assum­ door that could be locked, and that in the door
ing the existence of private rooms, for it tells there was a small barred or grated window. Each
us that after the blessing which follows Com ­ cell would also have had a larger window let­
pline the brethren should climb the stairs to the ting in the sunlight.62 Inside the cell there must
dormitory and, once there, each should retreat have been a bed and a reading lectern or some
to his own little cell (cellula) and there occupy sort of work table (the statute requires monks
himself for a part o f one hour in regular med­ to study or read in their cells), and each monk
itation, study, reading, or other spiritual exer­ had a lockable chest or chests in which to keep
cises. The prior then locks up the dormitory, his papers, books, and possessions. There was,
visits each cell, and looks through a little win­ in theory, no heating device, and the con­
dow {fenestella) set in the door to check that sumption o f food and drink was forbidden. A
everyone is there and that they are all resting good example is the dormitory at Bebenhausen,
“decently and in an orderly manner” . We are which was remodelled with individual cells in
also told that these little windows were to be 1513-16 (Fig. 1).
protected, where necessary, by iron gratings or In 1605, as we have seen, the General Chap­
bars, so that nothing improper might be passed ter promulgated a modified version o f the great
through them.39 reform programme o f 1601, but the statute
W hen it came to heating, however, the Gen­ concerning private rooms has been misunder­
eral Chapter remained adamant. In winter in stood. According to Lekai,
colder climes the brothers may warm them ­
Surprisingly, the Chapter of 1605, “disregard­
selves in the warming-room for half an hour
ing all excuses”, ordered the removal of parti­
before retiring to their cells, but “camini, wher­
tion walls, the destruction of fireplaces, and the
ever they may be found, are to be destroyed”.60
restoration of old-style common dormitories.63

57. See Louis J. Lekai, The Rise of the Cistercian Strict Obser­ from 1213 also tells us that scrinia were commonly called cofria,
vance in Seventeenth Century France (Washington, 1968), p. “coffers”. According to chapter 55.19 of the Rule o f St Bene­
20- 21. dict, the only things a monk or nun should have in his or her
possession — presumably in the dormitory — are a cowl,
58. Ibid.
tunic, gaiters (pedules), shoes, girdle, a small knife, stylus, nee­
59. Stat. 1601/XV (De dormitorio)A —5; vil, 217. dle, face-towel (or kerchief or napkin: the word is mappula),
and writing-tablets. But by the late Middle Ages this bare min­
60. Stai., 1601/XV.2 and 5. imum was frequently exceeded, and some nuns at least were
61. Stat., 1601/XV.2.Jansen, “Architecture and Com mu­ equipping their cells with their own furniture (see Power,
nity", p.79, observes that "a cistercian statute o f 1213 forbade Medieval English Nunneries, p. 319).
writing chests [i.e. scrinia]”, but this is incorrect. T he statute 62. See Jansen, “Architecture and Community” , p.67—68.
in question forbade abbots from carrying them, and that is a
quite different matter (see Stat. 1213/1 ; i. 404).The same statute 63. Lekai, Rise of the Cistercian Strict Observance, p. 23.

1 94 DAVID N. BELL
Fig. I. Bebenliausen (Württemberg), m onk’s dormitory remodelled into individual cells, 1513—16. ( T N. Kinder)

Were this the case, it would indeed have been essential question is who is to be given per­
surprising, but the Chapter of 1605 did noth­ mission to have a room extra dormitorium. We
ing of the sort. What the statute actually says is might also note that this is the last time that the
that in many places, dormitories have ceased to General Chapter orders the destruction of cami­
live up to their name, for everyone everywhere ni, and Professor Virginia Jansen has made the
is extorting from their superiors an exemption interesting observation that it coincides with a
to the requirement that all should sleep in the series o f intensely cold winters in Europe,
same room. The General Chapter therefore sometimes called the “Little Ice Age”.66*
decrees that, with the exception o f monks who The same question concerning rooms extra
have received their doctoral degrees, or who dormitorium was addressed four years later, when
are “formed” bachelors (i.e., those who have the Chapter of 1609 decreed that no monk shall
completed their reading o f the Sentences), or have a private room outside the dormitory, but
others who need “the comfort of special cham­ then, as usual, added the qualifier sine gravissi­
bers” (specialium camerarum solado), “each and ma causa, “save for the most important reason” .
every m onk should be pushed back into or Furthermore, the officials o f the monastery
enclosed within (retrudi seu recludi) the little cells were not to use the excuse of their office to eat
(cellulae) o f the dormitories;64 and if, at the in their rooms, but were to take their meals in
moment, there are any stoves in these [cells], the common refectory or, if they were so com­
they are to be destroyed immediately, disre­ manded, at the table o f the abbot. They were
garding all excuses.”65 In other words, the prob­ also forbidden to spend the night in their own
lem is not the cells but the stoves, and the rooms, but were to sleep in the common dor­

64. Reading dormitoriorum for dormitorium. is he w ho suggested the necessary amendment at note 64
above.
65. Stat. 1605/67; v ì i , 260.1 am indebted to my colleague
Dr James Butrica o f the D epartment o f Classics at M em o­ 66.Jansen, “Architecture and C om m unity”, p. 86, n. 15.
rial University for his assistance in translating this statute. It

The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development of the Private Room 195
 mitory or, if that were not possible, in the infir­ There are, however, certain conditions. In
mary, unless the abbot-visitor judged otherwise accordance with the decrees o f Pope Clement
pro necessitate locorum.67 But by 1623 the obedi­ VIII (this can only refer to the reform pro­
entiaries appear to have been given blanket gramme o f 1601 which we discussed above)
clearance from this last requirement, for the there must be a master key which will unlock
statute requires everyone praeter necessarios offi­ every cell, and no one shall have a cell which,
ciales to sleep in the common dormitory.68 at night, can be locked in such a way that it can­
And so we come to the last statute we need to not be opened by a superior. There shall also
consider: that which appears in the apostolic con­ be a hole or opening (foramen: this must refer to
stitution In suprema approved and sealed by Pope the little window we have already discussed) in
Alexander VII on 19 April 1666.69 The consti­ each door covered by a board (tabula) which
tution as a whole cannot be understood with­ can be raised or drawn aside.71
out reference to the complicated story of the war By April 1666, however, Armand-Jean de
of the Observances, but the section dealing with Raneé had been regular abbot o f La Trappe
private rooms (unlike, for example, the sections for almost two years and the great Trappist
dealing with abstinence) was one of the less con­ reform was well under way. But it is signifi­
tentious items. The essential form of the consti­ cant that, despite Raneé s desire to re-create
tution is a paragraph by paragraph commentary what one o f his mentors, Julien Paris, had
on the Rule of St Benedict, and the section on called le premier esprit de l’ordre de Cîteaux,72
private chambers is therefore to be found in the and his intention to restore “l’entière Obser­
commentary on chapter 22 of the Rule: Quo­ vance de la Règle de S. Benoist” ,73 the dor­
modo dormiant monachi. mitory at La Trappe remained partitioned. The
We begin with familiar material: all abbots, Regulations for the abbey make it clear that
abbesses, monks, and nuns are to sleep in the com­ the dormitory was divided into cells and that
mon dormitory, except (as usual) those whom cells had doors (which were never left open)
the abbot or other obedientiary may excuse by and windows which could be opened to the
reason of their office, their duties, or “other just outside. In each cell there was a bed, a table,
cause”. The reasons for exemption could hardly various images, clothing (including a face-
be more wide-ranging. But then, for the first time, towel or kerchief74), and a chamber pot, and
we find an apologia for private chambers: each cell was to be swept twice a week. D ur­
ing the day, however, the cells were not to be
Even though the Rule [of St Benedict] demands
used either for reading (which was to be done
that everyone sleep in one place without sepa­
in the chapter room or cloister) or prayer
rate cells (sine cellis separatis), and even though
(which was to be done in the church). Nei­
the constitution of Pope Benedict XII [i.e., the
ther candles nor lamps were permitted in the
Benedictina\ requires it, nevertheless, for reasons
cells, save for the superior, the cellarer, the sac­
of greater modesty and decency of life, as has
ristan, and whoever was in charge of the clock.
been proved by long experience, and taking into
And no brother entered the cell o f any other
consideration those who are sick, the use of such
brother, save only the infirmarían and w ho­
cells has come to be tolerated.70
ever dealt with the monastic wardrobe.7'’

67. Stai. 1609/29-30; v ii , 273-74. 1653. Two later augmented editions were published in 1664
and 1670. Its influence on Raneé is examined in ch. 6 o f
68. Stat. 1623/27; vu, 350.
my Understanding Ranee (Kalamazoo, forthcoming).
69. See Louis J. Lekai, “Pope Alexander VII and the Cis­
73. See ibid.
tercian Observances”, Catholic Historical Review, 45 (1959),
p. 1-23, and (better) the same author’s Rise of the Cistercian 74. As required by the Rule o f St Benedict: see note 61
Strict Observance, p. 132-42 (ch. 10). above.
70. Stat. 1666/19; vu, 430. 75. Armand-Jean de Raneé, The Regulations of the Abbey
o f Our Lady o f La Trappe in the Form of Constitutions: Printed
71. Ibid. T he Cluniacs appear to have used the same
at Paris, by Estienne MichaUet, First Printer of the King, rue S.
device: see Bauer, “Monasticism After Dark” , p. 107.
Jacques, at the Image of St. Paul, 1690, with the Privilege o f the
72. T he first edition o f Dn premier esprit de l’ordre de Cis- King, trans.John Baptist Hasbrouck (Lafayette, O R , 1999),
tcaux by Julien Paris, abbot o f Foucarmont, appeared in p. 6-8.

196 DAVID N. BELL

 Ranee’s regulations, of course, represented spheres, a variety o f paintings (six large and
an ideal, as also did the regulations and statutes eleven small), two vases of Bohemian glass filled
issued so abundantly by the General Chapter. with artificial flowers, two clocks, a large mir­
But we cannot dismiss them as no more than ror, a barometer, a crucifix, and his own per­
pie-in-the-sky idealism. If we do so, we must sonal library o f forty-seven volumes in folio,
also dismiss Bernard o f Clairvaux’s De diligen­ 118 in octavo, and fifteen in quarto.78 It must
do Deo or William o f Saint-Thierry s letter to have been a crowded room.
the brethren o f M ont-D ieu. Few o f us will It is easy, too easy, to generalize from Dorn
achieve a love of God which is without mea­ Tronchet to the rest o f the Order and accuse
sure (sine modo),76 and few of us will experi­ every monk and nun o f gross laxity at the time
ence the Trinitarian vision which is the summit of the Revolution. This was not the case. The
o f William’s mystical theology, but that is no same thing has been said o f English monasti-
reason to throw aside their works. The statutes cism at the time o f the Dissolution, and it is
issued by the General Chapter are actually only within about the last ten years that the old
important documents of Cistercian spirituali­ idea o f religious who “turned lazie, then, get­
ty, and the fact that a large number o f monks ting wealth, waxed wanton, and at last endowed
and nuns did not live up to the ideals they set with superfluity, became notoriously wicked”79
forth is no more than a reflection o f human came to be challenged.80 There was, in fact,
frailty. A little warmth and privacy are not, per­ both in France and England, a revitalization of
haps, the gravest o f sins, not even for religious; monastic life in the decades before the monas­
or, if they are, then all of us are in deep trou­ teries were closed, and although there were
ble. indeed examples o f straightforward laxity and
O n the other hand, it can be argued that decadence, there was also a great deal o f hon­
things could go too far. The inventories taken est effort to live the religious life to the full.
by the commissioners when the French abbeys But the eighteenth century was not the twelfth,
were dissolved at the Revolution often reveal a and not only the times but mentalities had
degree of comfort — indeed, opulence — quite changed. The question to be asked, therefore,
contrary to the austere regulations set forth in is not whether religious in the eighteenth (or
the In suprema. Quincy, for example, an abbey twenty-first) century could live in the same way
situated in northern Burgundy about ten kilo­ as their tw elfth-century predecessors, but
metres east of Tonnerre, was visited by the Rev­ whether they should live in the same way. My
olutionary commissioners in May-June 1790, own view is that they should not. Adaptation
and they have left us a detailed account o f the does not always imply decadence, and those of
rooms and possessions of the four monks then us who know the m odern Cistercians will also
in residence.'7 O ne o f them, Dorn Etienne know that a room o f one’s own is not neces­
Tronchet, was seventy-nine at the time and in sarily the first inexorable step to everlasting
poor health, and in his room were to be found darkness, eternal torment, and the worm that
a bed with bed-curtains (in poor condition), dieth not.
two bolsters, two coverlets (one green, one red),
a feather mattress, a bureau, two tables, six Department o f Religious Studies
chairs, a reading-stand, a wardrobe (also in poor Memorial University o f Newfoundland
condition), a night-table for his medicines, a St John’s, NL
large natural history collection, five celestial Canada A1C 5S7

76. Bernard o f Clairvaux, De diligendo Deo 1.1; Sancti 78. Auxerre, Archines départementales de l ’Yonne, Q.354
Bernardi Opera, ed. Jean Leclercq et al. (Rome, 1957—77), “ Inventaire”, fol. 3r. See also Bell, “Library o f the Abbey of
in. p. 119. Q uincy”, p. 27.
77. See David N. Bell, "T he Library o f the Abbey o f 79. Thomas Fuller, The Church-History of Britain;from the
Q uincy from the Twelfth C entury to the French Revolu­ Birth o f Jesus Christ, until the Year M DCXLV1I1 (London,
tion”, Analecta Cistercicnsia, 54 (2002), p. 26-29, 33-35. 1655), p. 265.
80. See, for example, the excellent collection o f papers
in The Religious Orders in Prc-Reformation England, ed. Clark.

The Cistercian General Chapter and the Development of the Private Room 197
 A PPE N D IX

T H E T E R M IN O L O G Y O F T H E PRIVATE C H A M B E R

References are to year and paragraph number in Stcit. (see note preceding n. 1).

Camerae
1287/9,1314/4, 1323/12, 1327/3, 1335/23, 1343/1, 1405/15,1439/96E ,1442/83,1444/10,
1454/46, 1460/30, 1470/37, 1476/67, 1521/18, 1609/29-30

Camerae clausae
1437/46, 1461/26

Camerae particulares
1410/41

Camerae privatae
1370/2

Camerae sejunctae
1335/23

Camerae speciales
1605/67

Cellae (in dormitorio)

1335/23-24, 1370/2, 1392/47, 1601/X V 1-3, 1666/19

Cellula
1601/XV.l, 5, 1605/67

Cubicula parva
1565/41

Cubicula privata
1573/10

Domus
1521/18

198 DAVID N. BELL

 East of the Cloister: Infirmaries,
Abbots5Lodgings, and other Chambers*
JACK IE HALL

t my viva in summer 2003 I was privi­ abbots in a similar location. On the one hand,

A leged to discuss many aspects of my

work with Peter Fergusson and so it
seems appropriate now to revisit those discus­
this is because the western range o f the clois­
ter was the domain o f lay brothers rather than
o f abbots and priors, and on the other it is a
sions. As the examiner of my thesis, he displayed result of the practice — enshrined in the Cis­
those characteristics which make him so tercian customary — of abbots sleeping in com­
beloved o f the scholarly community: immense m on with their communities in the main
courtesy and generosity and, o f course, deep dormitory.2 It has been reasonably assumed that
and extensive knowledge o f Cistercian life and when Cistercian abbots did begin to move out,
buildings. This paper addresses one of the ques­ largely in the thirteenth century, that they
tions which arose then: how to interpret those moved into the buildings so frequently found
complexes which usually lie on the eastern side annexed to reredorters. The link with the
o f a Cistercian cloister, typically including the monks’ dormitory was then not wholly lost,
abbots lodging and the infirmary, along with and abbot and convent shared a common
associated buildings. latrine. Abbots’ lodgings have been identified,
The reasons for locating monastic infirmaries for instance, in latrine extensions at Fountains,
well to the east of the main cloister have been Kirkstall, Tintern, and Waverley3 and may also
examined in detail by David Bell,1 and these have existed at Jervaulx and Roche, as suggest­
reasons are valid for all orders. But, unlike other ed below. In many cases — but by no means all
orders, the Cistercians accommodated their — separate lodgings were built later and,

* W ith gratitude to English Heritage for their support at Jansen, “Architecture and Com m unin' in Medieval Monas­
the early stages o f my research into this subject at Croxden tic Dorm itories”, in Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture.
Abbey, and to Christopher N orton and David Robinson vol. V, ed. Lillich, p. 59-94 (p. 76-78).
who read this paper and made numerous helpful comments,
and to Shelagh Sneddon for discussions o f the statutes. 3. For Fountains, sec William H. St John Hope, “Foun­
tains Abbey”, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 15 (1900). p.
1. David N. Bell, “The Siting and Size o f Cistercian Infir­ 269-402 (p.335-39), and Glyn Coppack and Roy Gilyard-
maries in England and Wales” , in Studies in Cistercian Art Beer, Fountains Abbey (London, 1993), p. 47: for Kirkstall,
and Architecture, vol. V, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo. William H. St John Hope and John Bilson. The Architecture
1998). p. 211-37 (p. 212-21). o f Kirkstall Abbey Church, with some general remarks on the Archi­
tecture o f the Cistercians, Thoresby Society, 16 (Leeds, 1907),
2. The instruction for abbots to sleep in the dormitory
p. 34-38, and Stephen Moorhouse and Stuart Wrathmell,
can be found in Les “Ecclesiastica officia’’ cisterciens du xif'""'
Kirkstall Abbey. The 1950-1964 Excavations: A Reassessment
siècle, ed. and trans. Danièle Choisselet and Placide Vernet.
(Wakefield. 1987), p. 50; for Tintern, David M. Robinson.
La Documentation cistercienne. 22 (Reiningue, 1989), p.
Tintern Abbey. 4th edn (Cardiff, 2002), p. 31 and p. 63; and
313. See also David H. Williams. The Cistercians in the Early
Middle Ages (Leominster, 1998). p. 72-73. and Virginia

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 199
 whether because o f tradition or other reasons, buildings rely on those made a century or more
these buildings tended to remain in the same ago, principally by William St John Hope and
area, often sharing facilities, such as kitchens, Harold Brakspear. Their work was pioneering
with the infirmary. This essay does not look at and comprehensive and should never be
the earliest accommodation o f the abbot in the ignored, but a review suggests that, in some
dormitory, nor at the earliest spaces in which cases at least, the buildings can be legitimately
the abbot might have conducted business (pos­ interpreted differently. O n the one hand, there
sibly the parlour or another small space off the seems to have been (and still is) a determina­
cloister4), but at those extra-claustral buildings tion to identify infirmaries, despite the fact that
or parts of buildings that still survive, includ­ many equally substantial buildings have disap­
ing many infirmaries or supposed infirmaries. peared.' Even though what now survives at each
Despite their frequent proximity, and despite abbey is usually much later than its foundation
the fact that their basic components are very (often by a century or more), infirmaries are
similar, infirmaries and abbots’ chambers have assumed to have existed almost from the begin­
to date been treated separately. The contention ning of each house. This is because of St Bene­
here is that if these buildings are studied togeth­ dict’s injunction in the Rule that “Before all
er, then new interpretations can arise, both of things and above all things care must be taken
specific buildings and more generally o f the o f the sick” and that they should have a special
ways in which they were used. Even if the activ­ room assigned to them.8 O n the other hand,
ities which went on inside them were often dif­ the probable fluidity of abbots’ chambers has
ferent, in essence each had to supply somewhere only recently been grasped,9 and the notion that
to eat, somewhere to sleep, and somewhere to chambers may have had many different uses, or
pray, as well as heating and access to a latrine existed for a range o f occupants, is not yet fully
and a kitchen separate from those of the clois­ explored.
ter.5 The opportunities for misunderstandings What follows is not a comprehensive survey,
are clear, even though recent studies — such as but an examination o f four particularly prob­
the rich accounts o f the infirmary and abbot’s lematic examples. The second half o f the essay
lodging at Rievaulx by Peter Fergusson and Stu­ contains a discussion o f the multiplicity of
art Harrison6*— mean that at some abbeys these chambers, followed by an exploration o f the
buildings are both well attributed and well many uses of infirmary buildings including, per­
understood. Elsewhere, the attributions o f haps, their use by abbots as proto-abbots’ halls.

for Waverley, Harold Brakspear. Waverlcy Abbey (Guildford. 5. Rochelle Rainey recognized this in her study o f late
1905), p. 70-71. medieval Cistercian abbots’ lodgings (“Abbots’ Lodgings o f
the Cistercian O rder in the Late 15th and Early 16lh Cen­
4. M onastic business was conducted in the parlour, turies” [unpublished master’s thesis. University o f York.
w hich functioned as the prior’s office and also as a place
1996], p. 5).
for visiting abbots to interview monks (see L a “Ecclesias­
tica officia”, ed. and trans. Choisselet and Vernet, p. 214 and 6. Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey:
220; and Narrative and Legislative Texts from Early Cfreanx. Community, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999). ch. 5
ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Ctteanx: Studia et D ocumenta, and ch. 7.
9 (Brecht, 1999], p. 494-95). For the possible use o f the
7. An earthwork survey ofjervaulx’s precinct, for instance,
parlour to conduct secular business, see Williams, The Cis­
was unable to locate the main gatehouse (Royal Commis­
tercians, p. 243, and Jackie Hall, “ Croxden Abbey: Build­
sion on Historic M onuments [England], “Survey R eport,
ings and C om m unity” (unpublished doctoral thesis,
Jervaulx Abbey, Richmondshire. N orth Yorkshire” , unpub­
University o f York, 2003), p. 77-81. For the use o f other
lished report (1999), p. 15-17 and fig. 14).
claustral spaces for abbots to conduct business in the con­
text o f reform ed monasticism, see Sheila Bonde and Clark 8. The Rule of St Benedict, ed. and trans. Justin McCann
Maines, “A R oom o f O n e’s O w n: Elite Spaces in Monas- (London. 1976), ch. 36. See David N. Bell, “The English
tries o f the R eform M ovement and an A bbot’s Parlor at Cistercians and the Practice o f M edicine", Citeaux, 40
Augustinian Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Soissons (France)” , in (1989), p. 139-73 (p. 143-45). Oddly, the infirmary is one
Medieval Europe Brugge, 199 7, Religion and Belief in Medieval o f the few buildings mentioned in the Rule that does not
Europe: Papers of the “Medieval Europe Brugge 1997” Con­ also appear in the list o f buildings which must exist prior
ference, vol. IV, ed. Guy de Boe and Frans Verhaeghe (Zel- to a convent moving into a new foundation (Narrative and
lik, 1997), p. 43-53. ' Legislative Texts, ed. Waddell, p. 408 and 461).

200 J a c k ie H all
Figure I. Roche Abbey, plan. (A. Hamilton Thompson, Roche Abbey, London: H .M .S .O ., 1935; reproduced by permission o f the
Syndics of Cambridge University Library)

Roche Abbey
unlikely to be the infirmarers lodging." It is
At Roche (Fig. 1), o f the two major two-storey not conveniently sited for the infirmary, and it
buildings south-east o f the cloister, one (four­ seems unlikely that an infirmarer could have
teenth-century) has traditionally been called the commanded such a building at such an appar­
abbot’s lodging, and the other (early-thirteenth- ently early date. The building would seem bet­
century) has been called either the infirmary or ter interpreted as an early abbot’s lodging. A
the infirmarer s lodging.10 Yet the covered pas­ mass of masonry at its north-west corner joins
sage from the cloister heads more-or-less due it to the latrine block, which means that, as at
east — surely this could have led to a now-lost other abbeys, it could have communicated indi­
infirmary, in its most traditional location? rectly with the monks’ dormitory. W hen the
Indeed, as seen in figure 1, Hamilton Thom p­ new abbot’s lodging was built in the fourteenth
son identified this as the site of the infirmary century the old one could have had many uses,
in 1935, but did not go on to draw the logical including housing important guests or officers
conclusion that the building to the south is then of the abbey, such as the prior.

9. See especially Terryl N. K inder’s recent thoughtful 1967), p.416;Peter Fergusson, Roche Abbey (London, 1990),
observations on abbots’lodgings (Cistercian Europe:Architec­ p. 23-24; a particularly useful account o f archaeological work
ture of Contemplation [Grand Rapids, MI, 2002], p. 355-59). on the abbey can be found in Alice Rodgers, ‘“ Lifting the
dark veil o f earth’: R oche Abbey Excavations 1857-1935”,
10. Nikolaus Pevsner and Enid Radcliffe, Yorkshire, the
in Aspects of Rotherham, voi. il, ed. Melvyn Jones (Barnsley,
West Riding, T he Buildings o f England (Harmondsworth.
1996), p. 95-114.

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 201
 NETLEY ABBEY

1 1 O rdinal W ort, li a « «

I I-atcr 13th (Vftiary

j U ih Century

H l^tb Cenivi«
I ~~1 h » l Sopf.tr»õ«o

ioti» w u x M t . u i

Figure 2. Netley Abbey, plan. (The Victoria History o f the Comity o f Hampshire, voi Hi, London: Institute o f Historical Research,
1908)

Netley Abbey
beds. Yet why did the monks at Netley feel able
Netley s infirmary has usually been located either to do without the use of a work-room in the dor­
in the latrine undercroft or in the dormitory mitory undercroft (in Dimier s interpretation, part
undercroft, rather than the detached eastern o f the infirmary) and why should we not see the
building, interpreted as the abbots lodging (Fig. latrine undercroft as the novice s room, as tradi­
2).1112 The basis for this attribution appears to be tionally located at other abbeys? Only one com­
on the one hand the lack of a suitable infirmary mentator interprets it this way rather than as an
building elsewhere, and on the other the pres­ infirmary.13The undercroft does have a fireplace,
ence of internal buttresses in the latrine under­ but this was also true of the much earlier pro­
croft, possibly marking bays for the placement of posed novices’room at Rievaulx.14 Furthermore,

11. A. Hamilton Thompson, Roche Abbey (London, 1935), Netley Abbey [London. 1976]; M .-Anseime Dimier,
p. 17-18. "Infirmeries cisterciennes”, in Mélanges à la mémoire du Père
Anselme Dimier, vol. 1.2, ed. Benoît Chauvin [Arbois, 1987],
12. Brakspear thought the latrine undercroft may have
p. 804-25 (p. 819-20); Bell, "Cistercians and Medicine” , p.
been the novices' infirmary, and Thompson thought it the
163n). Brakspear also interpreted the eastern building as the
monks infirmary, an interpretation continued by Dimier
visiting abbots lodging, while subsequent studies have sug­
(who also added the dormitory undercroft) and Bell (Harold
gested that it is the abbot’s lodging.
Brakspear, The Victoria History of the County of Hampshire,
voi. in [London, 1908], p. 475-76; A. Hamilton Thompson,

202 Jac k ie H all

 \

Figure J. Furness Abbey, pinn (southern half). (W. H. Sr John Flope, “The Abbey o f St Mary in Furness, Lancashire”transac­
tions o f the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 16 [1900], detail; reproduced by permission
o f the Syndics o f Cambridge University Library)

the space is minute and has no chapel, a sine qua the lack of an infirmary should not worry us;
non of medieval infirmaries.131415 The two-storey equally substantial buildings have disappeared
eastern building seems a better candidate since it without trace, both at Netley and elsewhere.
had a chapel, but it is still very small compared
with the massive infirmaries recendy built else­ Furness Abbey
where, including at Beaulieu, Netley s mother
house. Something more in keeping with the scale Furness Abbey (Fig. 3) has an early-thirteenth-
o f its own buildings would seem appropriate. century eastern building very similar to the
Although Netley was never rich, it completed all slightly later one of Netley. It was two-storeyed,
its necessary buildings swiftly and with some style. including a well-lit ground-floor hall with a
If the eastern building is the abbots lodging, then fireplace.16 Here, though, the building has been

13. "Netley Abbey”, in The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain, 16. For Furness, see William H. St John Hope, “T he
ed. David Robinson (London. 1998). p. 151—53 (p. 153). Abbey o f St Mary in Furness, Lancashire”, Transactions of
the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeologi­
14. Fergusson and Harrison. Rievaulx Abbey, p. 117.
cal Society, 16 (1900), p.221-302 (p.290-97);John C. Dick­
15. Chapels were not always structurally distinct from an inson, Furness Abbey, Lancashire (London, 1965), p. 15-16;
infirmary hall; earlier ones often just occupied the eastern Stuart Harrison. Jason Wood, and Rachel Newman, Fur­
bay, but at Netley, since the latrine undercroft is complete, ness Abbey (London. 1998), p. 19. 1 am grateful to Jason
if it had been used as an infirmary one might expect to see Wood for discussing the early structure o f the eastern build­
liturgical vestiges, such as a piscina, in the chapel. ing at Furness Abbey with me in detail on site.

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 203
 Figure 4. Jervaulx Abbey, plan of eastern buildings. (W. H. St John Hope and Harold Brakspear, “Jervaulx Abbey", Yorkshire
Archaeological Journal, 21 [1911], detail)

interpreted as the early infirmary, later con­ earlier building was the infirmary throughout
verted to the abbot’s lodging, but it could equal­ the life of the abbey. The large chapel of the
ly have been an abbots lodging from the later building would, however, be unusual in
beginning. While it might seem early for an the context of lodgings, where a private ora­
abbot’s lodging separate from the monks’ dor­ tory for prayer (rather than mass) is likely to
mitory, earlier examples survive at Rievaulx and open off the abbot’s private chamber rather than
Byland.17 The absence of a chapel, either pro­ the hall. Additionally, the chambers do not com­
jecting or axial, usually a prominent feature of municate easily with the hall. At the very least,
infirmary buildings, is also significant. The first the attributions o f buildings at Furness are open
infirmary could have been in the same location to discussion.
as the second, its unusual southern position a
consequence of the rock face on the eastern Jervaulx Abbey
side o f the site.18*Alternatively one might argue
(though I am not) that the later infirmary is in At Jervaulx (Fig. 4), the situation is complex
fact a particularly impressive abbot’s hall and the since there are four buildings, or parts o f build-

17. For Rievaulx, see Fergusson and Harrison. Rievaulx 18. Since the building stone for the abbey was quarried
Abbey, ch. 7, and for Byland, Stuart A. Harrison, Byland from this rock face, this eastern area may not even have been
Abbey (London, 1990), p. 18. Rievaulx, o f course, was available when the supposed first infirmary was built.
exceptional both for the early date o f its lodging and the
sanctity and illness o f its abbot, Aelred.

204 Ja c k ie H all
ings, which could arguably be called abbots’ small chapel on die north side and to a cham­
lodgings, yet only one o f them is suggested as ber on the east side. This chamber has previ­
such.19 The earliest is the early-thirteenth-cen- ously been interpreted as a garderobe, but other
tury southern extension to the east range. than the fact it is over the main drain there is
Although apparently not much later than the no positive evidence to confirm this. The whole
rest of the range, the extension is in a quite dif­ could certainly have made a very impressive
ferent style. East of this is a chapel, which is later abbot’s lodging — the hall measures approxi­
still. While the chapel may seem excessively mately 19.4 m by 6.6 m (63 ft 8 in. by 21 ft 8
large for the private prayers of an abbot,20 in in.). However, the lack of an internal stair might
other respects this little annexe is entirely suit­ suggest different users for the two storeys of the
able for an early abbots chamber. It is quite building; the noviciate, for example could have
modest and communicates directly with the moved into the ground floor.
monks’ dormitory. It could also, of course, have been the infir­
The second and third buildings appear to be mary, as proposed by Hope and Brakspear and
contemporary with each other and date to the every subsequent commentator,22 with a refec­
late thirteenth century.21 They are the annexe tory on the ground floor and sleeping arrange­
east of the latrine block, called the infirmary, ments on the first floor. The hall to the east,
and that south of the latrine block, called the added in the fourteenth century at a time of
abbot’s lodging (see Fig. 4). The latter is really a reduced monastic populations and presumed
chamber on the upper floor, built over an decreased use o f the infirmary, would seem to
unvaulted celiai'. Its north end abuts an earlier favour the use o f this complex as an abbot’s
structure and, judging by the position o f the lodging. But if this were the case, where was
external stair, it would have spanned the earlier the infirmary? The covered passage from the
structure at first floor level, giving direct access parlour leads now to a much later (sixteenth-
to the latrines. As well as a transomed and trac- century) building called the infirmarer’s lodg­
eried window in its south wall, the chamber had ing. Before this was built, the covered passage
a fireplace and a small sink within a trefoiled cup­ could have led further east to what would have
board. Overall, it was not much bigger (though been the conventional location for an infirmary.
perhaps more private) than the putative first Immediately north o f the sixteenth-century
abbot’s chamber and it was in communication building is a substantial north-south rectangu­
with the monks’ dormitory via the reredorter. lar bank, recently interpreted as a post-sup­
The “infirmary” was rather different. Like the pression garden structure.23 It could, though,
former building it was in communication with have been the infirmary, but it is perhaps more
the dormitory via the latrine but in this instance likely that that building lay further east, in a
the ground floor was not for storage but con­ completely levelled field which now retains no
tained a substantial hooded fireplace, was fully monastic features other than the bottom o f the
vaulted, and had, perhaps, a private latrine in main drain. The “infirmarer’s lodging” is, in
the south-east corner. On the first floor were fact, the last of the surviving high status cham­
transomed and traceried windows very similar bers on the eastern side of the cloister at Jer-
to that of the lodging to the south, access to a vaulx.

19. William H. St John Hope and Harold Brakspear, “Jer- 21. Despite the slightly different dates given to them by-
vaulx Abbey”. Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 21 (1911), p. Hope and Brakspear (“Jervaulx Abbey”, plan facing p. 308.
303-44, plan facing p. 308 and p. 332-34. Subsequent com ­ p. 325 and 332), the window details are close to identical,
mentators have accepted their interpretation o f the build­ with transomed windows (with tracery above and probably
ings, including o f the infirmary, e.g. Dimier, “ Infirmeries shuttered below) and matching mouldings. The trefoiled
cisterciennes” , p. 818—19; S. Davies,Jervaulx Abbey (Jcrvaulx. opening in the building south o f the latrines also has a very-
1997); Bell, “Cistercian Infirmaries”, p. 227. late 13‘h-century look about it. despite the suggested 14th-
century date. Additionally, both buildings have identical
20. T he chapel, though, is rather smaller than the one for
shouldered lintels in some o f their doors.
the proposed abbot’s lodging at the south end o f the dorter
o f Coggeshall abbey. At Coggeshali, however, the chapel is 22. See note 19, above.
on the first floor. See J. S. Gardner, “Coggeshall Abbey and
23. R.CHME, “Jervaulx Abbey”, fig. 15.
its Early Brickwork”,Journal of the British Archaeological Asso­
ciation, 18 (1955), p. 19-32 (p. 26-27).

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 205
 Multiple Chambers to be occupied for only a few days a year. W ith­
out doubt the visiting abbot would have been
At Jervaulx, then, there appears to be no extant provided with accommodation befitting his sta­
infirmary, and by the sixteenth century there tus, but it is likely to have had different uses the
were at least three sets o f elaborate chambers rest o f the year, perhaps for other elite guests.
other than the abbots lodging. At Roche, the O ther interpretations for multiple chambers
building o f an improved free-standing abbot’s must additionally be found. One is their use by
lodging in the fourteenth century left a cham­ retired abbots. For example, abbots are record­
ber block free for an alternative use. At Furness, ed as having retired, or been deposed, at Crox­
the new infirmary o f «.1300 incorporated den in 1242, 1284, 1308, 1313, 1329, and 1368,
chamber blocks at both ends; only the eastern and abbots from other houses joined the con­
block survives to any height. The ground floor vent twice.28 Retirement was common both in
comprises the chapel and serving rooms but the Cistercian houses and those of other orders.29
first floor is almost completely cut off from the Thomas Burton, the Meaux chronicler and for­
infirmary hall, suggesting that they too might mer abbot, recorded the provisions made for
be discreet rooms for a monastic officer — retired abbots at his house in some detail, and
whether or not the infirmarer — rather than it is clear from his descriptions that chambers
accommodation for residents of the infirmary. in three different places were used for this pur­
This situation of multiple chambers clearly per­ pose at different times. The first reference of
tained at many abbeys; at Croxden, for instance, 1310 — though not necessarily the first case —
a new one was built for the abbot in 1335, only is perhaps the most interesting, since we learn
a year after major repairs to the earlier cham­ that Abbot Roger, planning his retirement, built
ber, leaving that one free.24 a chamber especially for that purpose on the
Some o f these extra chambers could have east side o f the monks’infirmary; later it became
been the “visiting abbot’s lodging” that appears the abbot’s chamber.30 We find another cham­
on several abbey plans where two buildings of ber prepared (but not built) for William of
obvious importance and domestic character (not Drynghowe in 1353, after his deposition. It was
counting the infirmary) have survived east of located between the monks’ infirmary and dor­
the cloister.2'’ This is based on the Cistercian mitory, and it can easily be imagined as the reuse
system o f visitations which specified that the o f an earlier abbot’s lodging, perhaps in an
abbots o f m other houses should visit their annexe to the latrines.31 Lastly, Thomas Bur­
daughter houses once every year.26 The attri­ ton mentions the arrangements for William of
bution seems to originate in the nineteenth cen­ Scarborough, who retired in 1396. Thomas was
tury, at least by the time of H ope’s pioneering William’s successor, which no doubt accounts
studies o f individual houses,27 yet it seems for the fact that the arrangements he made for
inherently unlikely that a chamber should exist William are mentioned three times.32*As well

24. Hall. “Croxden Abbey”, p. 84-89. Waverley (Hope and Bilson, Kirkstall Abbey, p. 40 and plan;
Brakspear, Waverley Abbey, p.65-66).
25. For instance, those o f Kirkstall, Tintern, and Waver-
ley. See Hope and Bilson, Kirkstall Abbey, loose plan; R obin­ 28. See “T he Chronicle o f Croxden Abbey”, ed. Philip
son, Tintern Abbey, end plan; Brakspear, Waverlcy Abbey, loose Morgan et al, in Collections for a History of Staffordshire (forth­
plan. coming). passim.
26. For visitations, see Louis J. Lekai. The Cistercians: Ideals 29. See The Heads o f Religions Houses: England and Wales,
and Reality (Kent. O H . 1977), p. 26-29 and 463; Williams. vol. I, 940-1216, ed. David Knowles, C. N. L. Brooke, and
The Cistercians, p. 41-43. Vera C. M. London (Cambridge, 20012), and 77ic Heads of
Religions Houses: England and Wales, voi. u, 1216-1377, ed.
27. For instance, Hope in his study o f Fountains Abbey
David Smith and Vera London (Cambridge, 2001), passim.
suggested that the north chamber east o f the infirmary hall
for an idea o f the frequency o f resignations.
may have been used for this purpose. Earlier, Micklethwaite
in his study o f Cistercian plans suggests the use o f a cham­ 30. Thomas de Burton, Chronica Monasterii de Melsa, ed.
ber by the visiting abbot, probably in the infirmary (Hope, E. A. Bond, 3 vols. Rolls Series, 43 (London, 1866—68), II,
“ Fountains Abbey”, p. 329-30:J.T. Micklethwaite, “O f the p. 238. Around the same time a large chamber was built next
Cistercian Plan”, Yorkshire ArchaeologicalJournal, 7 [ 1882], p. to the cemetery by the Dean o f York. It may have been his
239-58 [p. 256]). T he move from the suggestion o f use to residence, but its purpose is not clear (Ibid., n, p. 237).
seeing this use as permanent in a single building had occurred
by the time o f H ope’s study o f Kirkstall and Brakspear’s o f 31. Ibid., m. p. 86-87.
32. Ibid., in, p. 234; ill, p. 275; III. p. 242.

206 Ja c k ie H all
as receiving the usual pension and other provi­ is that we should expect there to have been two,
sions, he was to inhabit a chamber at the north three, or even four abbatial or sub-abbatial res­
end o f the infirmary which Thomas had idences in the area beyond the cloister in Cis­
decently repaired for him. This retired abbot’s tercian abbeys, some free-standing and some
lodging was probably within the infirmary and incorporated into other buildings. This appears
shows the sort of use to which that building to be a reflection o f the situation at Benedic­
could be put after the decline in monastic pop­ tine abbeys. At Westminster Abbey, several
ulation during the fourteenth century and after senior monks occupied chambers in the infir­
the division o f the infirmary into separate mary, although most o f the evidence for this is
chambers. The chamber in question, though, from the fifteenth century; obedientiaries had
must have been somewhat above the ordinary chambers near the infirmary at Ely, Durham,
since much is made o f William’s former status. and Bardney; also at Bardney, a “new chamber”
This honouring o f past — but living — was made next to the infirmary in 1318 for the
abbots with the provision of special chambers occupation o f a deposed abbot.36 The date at
(as well as other privileges) is certain to have which private chambers began to be built for
continued up to the suppression. There is a monks other than the abbot is not clear, though
record of a “white chawmber” being assigned the Louth Park chronicle suggests that it start­
to John Colyngham, a former abbot of Kirk- ed at least as early as the mid-thirteenth centu­
stall in 1432, and a “new chamber” of three ry. They may even have been used by
rooms was assigned to Thomas Cleurbery of corrodians, who are documented at almost
Dore in 1526.33 At Louth Park a private cham­ every abbey from the late thirteenth century,
ber was built between 1227 and 1246. This is but current research suggests that such people
o f interest both because o f its early date and were housed outside the precinct or at least not
because it was neither for an abbot nor a retired close to the conventual buildings.-’7 The use of
abbot, but for one William o f Tournay, former extra-claustral buildings may have been very
Dean o f Lincoln who became a monk o f the fluid (as implied by the evidence o f the Meaux
abbey. He is described as “venerable and most chronicle). Many may have changed use more
pious, amiable and religious, who on his com­ than once, fallen into disuse, or been destroyed
ing raised the house in divers ways, and enriched by the time o f the Dissolution. Frustratingly, at
its offices exceedingly from his own wealth”.34 Rievaulx — despite a wealth o f Dissolution
Seemingly, a man with the status and wealth material — there is no reference to a building
which he had was accorded the privileges of conveniently called “the retired abbot’s cham­
that status and wealth even though he became ber”, although the survey lists “on the east side
a monk, just as retired abbots were accorded of the same dorter a howse of 4 bays wt a steap
privileges even though they remained monks. roffe coveryd wt lede”, which has not been ade­
This apparently did not cause any resentment, quately located.38
since William o f Tournay is eulogized in the
Louth Park chronicle, perhaps no surprise in a Multiple Uses o f Infirmaries
hierarchical society.35
W hat this documentary evidence shows, as The doubtful attributions o f buildings at
the physical evidence at many abbeys suggests, Roche, Netley, Jervaulx, and Furness show that

33. The Victoria History of the Comity of York, voi. Ill 36. Barbara Harvey, Living and Dying in England
(London. 1913), p. 144: David Williams. “T he Abbey o f 1000-1540: The Monastic Experience (Oxford. 1993), p.
D ore” , in A Definitive History of Dore Abbey, ed. R on Shoe- 87-89; Roy Gilyard-Beer, Abbeys (London, 1976-), p. 42:
smith and Ruth Richardson (Little Logaston, Herets.. 1997), Harold Brakspear, “Bardney Abbey”, ArchaeologicalJournal.
p. 15-36 (p. 29). 79 (1922), p. 1-92 (p. 4).
34. Chronicon Abbatie de Parco Lude, ed. Edmund Venables, 37. Williams, The Cistercians, p. 122—23.
Lincolnshire Record Society'. 1 (Horncastle, 1881), p. 16.
38. Glyn Coppack. “Some Descriptions o f Rievaulx
35. T he chronicler says "A nd, w hat is still o f greater Abbey in 1538-1539: T he Disposition o f a Major Cister­
importance, by his pious, holy and religious life, he set a cian Precinct in the Early Sixteenth C entury”, Journal o f the
praiseworthy example to us all. Moreover, during the whole British Archaeological Association, 139 (1986). p. 100-33 (p.
time he was with us, he universally and cheerfully showed 112, 125).
kindness and very great solace to both upper and lower ser­
vants and to strangers” (Ibid., p. 16—17).

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 207
 there is clearly a need for the careful disentan­ it is generally assumed that, perhaps as early as the
gling o f structural sequences, absolute early thirteenth century, the Cistercians had
chronologies, and the former uses o f buildings begun to adopt the custom of other orders, which
to understand better the development o f the allowed their brethren to recover in the infirmary
monastic infirmary. That is a very big job, which or elsewhere outside the cloister.41 The whole
I shall not attempt here. It should be stated at community was bled four times a year, in groups
once, however, that these interpretations of chosen by the abbot, which could have substan­
individual buildings may not affect the general tially increased the numbers of patients in the
interpretations o f Cistercian medicine and infir­ infirmary, at least during the day.42
maries, the most important of which have been This was a move not only towards contem­
made by David Bell.-’9 After all, as a group, they porary Benedictine practice, but also towards
remain sited to the east o f the cloister and are ancient practice. The plan o f St Gall (ca. 815)
impressively grand, no doubt for the mixture has a separate house for blood-letting, but with­
of practical, medical and spiritual reasons pro­ in the infirmary complex; it also shows a room
posed by Bell, with the possible exception, as for the very ill, as well as a dormitory, a refec­
we shall see, of a desire to separate the sick from tory, and a room for the infirmarer.43 The very
the well. As we shall also see, they may not have differently planned infirmaries o f the later Mid­
been built solely for the benefit of the sick. dle Ages must have had to provide for a simi­
Instead of surveying all the buildings, only a lar range of functions. Divisions like a hospital
single issue is addressed here — the multiple uses hall, kitchen, refectory, infirm arers room,
of monks’ infirmaries — which will add differ­ latrine block, chapel, and sometimes a cloister
ent elements to the interpretation of infirmaries have been recognized in recent interpreta­
and lead back to the study of abbots’ lodgings. tions,44 although not all may be seen at each
From the perspective of Cistercian customs, as abbey. The list should also include (as at St Gall)
set out in the Ecclesiastica officia,40 there was only a chamber for the seriously ill. One was built at
a single type of infirmary patient, whether more Louth Park by Richard o f Dunham, abbot
ill or less ill, whose conduct, along with those of 1227—46,43 and a similar chamber at Meaux was
the infirmarer and his assistants, is detailed at newly furnished between 1372 and 1396.46 The
length. The customary, however, dates to the late famous early-sixteenth-century description of
twelfth century, before the majority of surviving Clairvaux also describes la chambre griefve, for
infirmary buildings had been erected and before those with infectious diseases.47 In other orders,
monks were permitted to leave the cloister to be the infirmary was divided into areas for long­
bled and to recover. Although the custom of mimi­ term patients and areas for day patients, who
ti staying in the cloister was not formally relaxed, included those recovering from phlebotomy.48

39. Even chough in his earlier paper, he uses all o f these 43. Walter H orn and Ernest Born. The Plan of St Gall: A
examples. See Bell, “Cistercians and M edicine” and “Cis­ Study of the Architecture and Economy of, and Life in a Paradig­
tercian Infirmaries”, with references to other standard works. matic Carolingian Monastery, 3 vols (Berkeley, 1979), i, p.314
and figs 247-50; u, p. 184.
40. Les “Ecclesiastica officia”, ed. and trans. Choisselet and
Vernet, p. 262-69 and p. 326-28. See especially Williams, 44. Williams, The Cistercians, p. 250; Kinder, Cistercian
The Cistercians, p. 250-53, and Kinder, Cistercian Europe, p. Europe, p. 364.
361-65. for accounts based on the Cistercian customary.
45. Chronicon Abbatie de Parco Lude, ed. Venables, p. 13;
41. Bell, “Cistercians and M edicine”, p. 163; Williams. Williams, The Cistercians, p. 250.
The Cistercians, p. 252; Fergusson and Harrison, Ricvaulx
Abbey, p. 123 n. 15. For the early usages, see Les “Ecclesias­ 46. Thomas de Burton. Chronica Monasterii de Melsa, ill,
tica officia", ed. and trans. Choisselet and Vernet, p. 254-60. p. 223-24.
In the later Middle Ages, some o f the larger Benedictine 47. Q uoted in Dimier, “ Infirmeries cisterciennes”, p. 811.
houses at least had a separate house for blood-letting and
recovery and the whole event was regarded as a holiday. At 48. Carole RawclifFe, “ ‘O n the threshold o f eternity’:
Bardney (Lincolnshire), a grave cover records that Prior Wal­ Care for the Sick in East Anglian M onasteries”, in East
ter Langton built the new place for the minuti at Southrey Anglia’s History, ed. Christopher Harper-Bill, Carole Raw ­
two miles from the abbey before 1426 (Brakspear, “Bard­ clifFe, and Richard G. Wilson (Woodbridge, 2002). p.41-72
ney Abbey”, p. 65-67). (p. 49). At Benedictine Westminster, it was also usual For all
but the ver)' ill to be admitted only as “day-cases” , even in
42. This is one o f the reasons given by Bell for the large the later Middle Ages (Harvey, Living and Dying, p. 98 and
size o f infirmaries (“Cistercian Infirmaries”, p. 230-31). 91-92).

208 Jac k ie H all

Figure 5. Croxden Abbey, plan o f eastern buildings and excavations, (after Peter Ellis, “Croxden Abbey, Staffordshire: Report on
Excavations 1 956-57 and 1 9 7 5 -7 7 ”.Transactions o f the Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society, 3 6 [1995], with
additions; reproduced with permission)

Some o f these divisions can be seen, if not Furness, Jervaulx (though here south o f the
precisely identified, in surviving buildings. At cloister near the refectory), Fountains, and
Croxden Abbey (Fig. 5), there is evidence in Beaulieu.31 Prior to the use o f misericords,
foundations and parchmarks o f chambers part o f the infirmary proper must have been
added to the infirmary hall to the south-east used as a refectory, w hether it was just for the
and south-west and perhaps also the north­ infirm or a wider community. In 1228, in one
east.49 Rievaulx’s infirmary hall, built in the o f his injunctions to the abbeys o f Ireland,
1150s, was divided in a complex manner into Stephen o f Lexington required that monks and
many rooms, but the date and purpose o f the lay brothers should eat together in their own
divisions is not know n.5051W here refectories infirmaries, save for the bed-ridden and
have been identified, they have been identi­ blind.52 Given the appalling conditions in the
fied as misericords, for the eating o f meat, and Cistercian abbeys o f Ireland at the time (as
not just by those in the infirmary but by the Stephen o f Lexington saw it), this comment
whole community in turn. They are frequently can almost certainly be read as a reflection of
separate buildings, invariably erected later than the norm elsewhere — a norm only practica­
the infirmary. Examples include buildings at ble for the relatively fit.

49. Hall, “ Croxden Abbey", p. 95—95 and fig. 67. H. St John Hope and Harold Brakspear, “T he Cistercian
Abbey o f Beaulieu in the County o f Southampton", Archae­
50. Fergusson and Harrison, RJevaulx Abbey, p. 111—15.
ologicalJournal, 63 (1906). p. 129-86 (p. 171-72).
51. For Furness, see Harrison, Wood, and Newman, Fur­
52. Stephen o f Lexington, Letters from Ireland 1228-1229,
ness Abbey, p. 20; for Jervaulx, Hope and Brakspear. "Jer-
ed. Barry O ’Dwyer (Kalamazoo, 1982). p. 164; Williams,
vaulx Abbey” , p. 334-35; for Fountains, Coppack and
The Cistercians, p. 251.
Gilyard-Beer, Fountains Abbey, p. 51; and for Beaulieu, W.

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 209
 Figure 6. Croxdeu Abbey, stone table end. (author) Figure 7. Fountains Abbey, stone table end. (author)

There is evidence of communal eating at have faced them .33 Allowing eighteen inch­
Croxden Abbey, where four chalice-shaped es o f table per person, four monks may have
stone table legs survive in three of the visible been accommodated at each table (the space
bays (Figs 5 and 6), perhaps indicating use o f the betw een the legs is 1.85 m /6 ft 1 in.),
infirmary hall as a refectory. Furniture like this although they m ight also have sat at the ends.
does not often survive, which makes dating and Since C roxden’s infirmary probably had two
comparison difficult, but a table-end similar to storeys, all the bays in the lower hall could
the Croxden examples was recently recognized have been occupied by tables, save for those
at Fountains (Fig. 7). It lies within the guest hall bays with the chapel, the fireplace, and two
discovered by remote sensing, provisionally dated lateral doors, and thirty-tw o monks or more
to the late twelfth century.3-5 In any event, they could have eaten here, a substantial propor­
show that the buildings in question, including tion o f the convent even at its height.36
the infirmary hall at Croxden, were places for The infirmary might also have had other uses,
formal eating and that this use was, literally, fixed not associated with the infirm. Indeed, it may
in stone (and buried in the ground), unlike the have been facilities such as those at Croxden
more mutable uses of a secular hall. that provided the kernel o f truth in early crit­
Even if only half the bays were used for icism o f the Order as in the following satirical
eating at Croxden, the infirmary eating space verse, describing the visitation o f a father abbot;
would still be almost as large as the contem ­
Hinc facturus scrutinium
porary claustral refectory.34 Perhaps those
ad abbatiam equitat,
w ho had been bled were served at one or
intrat infirmitorium,
more tables, elderly monks at another, the
illud in primis visitat;
convalescent at another, and so on. Follow­
ibi sumit edulium,
ing usual practice, the monks would have sat
ibi libenter habitat.37
with their backs to the wall and no one would

53. Keith Emerick and Kate Wilson, “Fountains Abbey: 30—50. and C. Anne Wilson, “From Medieval Great Hall
Some Interim Results ot' R em ote Sensing”, English Her­ to C ountry House Dining Room : The Furniture and Set­
itage Conservation Bulletin, 18 (1992), p. 7—9 (p. 9); Hope, ting o f the Social Meal”, in The Appetite and the Eye, ed. C.
“Fountains Abbey”, p.364. There are also survivals at Roche, Anne Wilson (Edinburgh. 1991). p. 28—55.
Jervaulx, Rievaulx. and (Benedictine) Bardney (Stuart Har­
56. Hall, “Croxden Abbey", p. 62.
rison, “T he Cloistral Ranges and a Fresh Look at the Chap­
ter H ouse”, in A Definitive History of Dore Abbey, ed. 57. From De visitatione abbatis, in The Latin Poems com­
Shoesmith and Richardson, p. 113—24 [p. 114]; Fergusson monly attributed to Walter Mapes, ed. Thomas W right. Cam­
and Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey, p. 144-45: Brakspear, “Bard­ den Society. 17 (London, 1841), p. 185. and quoted in
ney Abbey”, p. 42-44). Micklethwaite, “Cistercian Plan”, p.256. T he author o f the
poem, however, is almost certainly not that well-known
54. Hall. “Croxden Abbey”, p. 61-63 and 95-102. T he
critic o f the Cistercians, Walter Map. but anonymous (see
size o f the infirmary is based upon reconstructing it with
six bays.5* A. G. Rigg, A History o f Anglo-Latin Literature 1066-1422
[Cambridge, 1992], p. 88. and A. G. Rigg, “Satire”, in
55. For the social context o f eating, see Mark Girouard. Medieval Latin, ed. Frank A. C. Mantello and A. G. Rigg
Life in the English Country House (New Haven, 1978). p. [Washington. DC, 1996], p.562-67 [p. 564]).

210 Ja c k ie H all
Similar uses are suggested in some o f the statutes the General Chapter released abbots from the
of the General Chapter. In 1193, visiting abbots weekly rotas o f reading, kitchen service, and
are enjoined to be an example to the flock, and other duties and also granted them leave to rest
this included not entering infirmaries too light­ in the infirmary.63 This isn’t the equivalent of
ly.38 It was allowed, however, for visiting abbots entertaining but is definitely an official loosen­
to interview monks there (among other places) ing o f how an infirmary might be used.
in both the Instituta (ca. 1147) and the 1202 cod­ The Abbot o f Croxden and his guests might
ifications.39 In 1205 the Abbot of Rigny was have eaten at the infirmary table prior to the
punished for receiving in the infirmary a bish­ construction o f the new abbot’s hall in 1335,
op whom he could have received convenient­ since the Rule did specify that abbots were to
ly elsewhere, and the Abbot of Cherlieu was eat with guests away from the monks’ refecto­
punished for receiving bishops, archbishops, and ry.64 After completion o f the abbot’s hall, if not
abbots in the monks’ infirmary. The latter statute before, the infirmary hall might have easily
ended with the general admonition that secu­ passed into use as a misericord, where all mem­
lars should not again be lodged in infirmaries.5960 bers o f the community could eat meat away
Also in 1205, the Abbot o f Pontigny was con­ from the cloister, after bleeding and on other
demned for receiving the Queen o f France and occasions, as discipline relaxed.
her party; among other things they stayed for
two nights in the infirmary. In 1211, the Abbot Conclusion
o f Bithaine was deposed for allowing seventy-
priests access to the church, chapter house, and The aim o f this study has been to show the
refectory and, presumably on the same occa­ mutable nature o f both infirmaries and cham­
sion, eating with abbots in the infirmary.61 In bers — including abbots’ chambers — in
1218, all abbots were prohibited from entering Cistercian monastic life, as well as the potential
and leaving the infirmary on the same day, per­ connections between the two. Evidence suggests
haps to prevent them using its table as their pri­ that infirmaries were partially appropriated by
vate hall, while the Abbot of Sambucina was abbots, or even designed with abbatial use in
deposed for leading the monks of Eberbach to mind. As separate abbots’ lodgings were built,
his own house, a crime seemingly aggravated often close by infirmaries and sharing some of
by his staying for six weeks in the infirmary of the same facilities, infirmaries might have been
Eberbach.62 put to other uses besides caring for the sick. This
Although it is possible to interpret some of could include the provision of private chambers
these statutes as meaning that abbots and other for monastic officers, guests, or retired abbots,
dignitaries were received into the monks’ infir­ a provision which also found expression in the
mary for medical care, it seems much more like­ springing up of new buildings or the reuse of
ly that they reflect a situation in which the lack old ones, such as early abbots’ lodgings. This
of separate abbots’ lodgings was handicapping multiplicity o f chambers, and the physical sim­
abbots from conducting their abbatial business, ilarities o f infirmaries and lodgings, has often
including necessary entertaining and hospital­ resulted in confusing physical remains, which
ity. The (re)building of great infirmaries in stone require careful consideration before these build­
during the thirteenth century might even have ings can be properly interpreted.
been made with this extra function in mind.
The lack of later statutes on the issue suggests Linton
a growing realization throughout the Order of Cambridgeshire
the necessity of this sort o f use. Indeed, in 1260 UK

58. Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cistercian General 60. Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis ah
Chapter, cd. Chrysogonus Waddell. Cîteaux: Studia et Doc­ Anno 1116 ad Annum 1786, ed. Joseph-M arie Canivez, 8
umenta, 12 (Brecht, 2002), p. 257. vols (Leuven, 1933-41), i, p. 312-13, 316.
59. Narratine and Legislative Texts, ed. Waddell, p. 408: (A. Ibid., I, p.389.
Bernard Lucet, La Codification cistercienne de 1202 et son évo­
lution ultérieure (Rome, 1964). p. 107. 62. Ibid., ï, p. 487.
63. Ibid., U, p. 461, 501-02.
64. Rule, ed. and trans. McCann, chs 53 and 56.

East of the Cloister: Infirmaries, Abbots’ Lodgings, and other Chambers 211
 Cistercian Grange Chapels*
DAVID H. W ILLIAM S

n the model farms of the Cistercians were a feature of the estates o f an incorporat­

O — their “granges” or “courts” — an

oratory was presumably a necessity
where the resident lay brethren, more correct­
ed monasterv or hermitage, as for Froidmont
Abbey at Parfondeval (F-Oise)5 and Margam at
Llanfeuthin (Glamorgan, Wales),6 or because
ly called the conversi, could say their prayers, but they were located at some distance from the
as they were supposed to return to their parent monastery, such as the grange o f Burli-
monastery for Sundays and greater feast days to at, which was some nine kilometres distant from
hear Mass, it was not meant to be a “chapel” in Aubepierres.7
the sense that Mass was said there.1A statute of In the late twelfth century and beyond, the
the General Chapter in the 1150s, referring to General Chapter repeatedly tried to stop Mass
an earlier lost “sentence”, makes it clear that being said on the granges but it was a losing
some granges did have chapels within their battle. In 1180, it enjoined that no new altars
precincts at an early date.2*This may have been might be built on the granges; those already in
because they were part and parcel of lands given place could not be destroyed unless the dioce­
to the abbey, as were the lands belonging to the san bishop gave leave, but there was to be “no
abbeys of Aubepierres (F-Creuse)-5 and of singing” at them; in other words Mass was no
Neath (Glamorgan, Wales),4 or because they longer to be chanted in those chapels.8 Despite

* W ith gratitude to the late Richard Kay, w ho espe­ Waddell, Citeaux: Studia et Documenta, 12 (Brecht, 2002),
cially surveyed the Llanfair Cilgoed Grange (Fig. 10) for p. 88 [No. 6],
the author, and whose papers are now at the Royal C om ­
3. G. Martin, “Les Cisterciens et l’agriculture”, Mémoires de
mission on A ncient M onum ents in Wales at A beryst­
la société des sciences naturelles et archéologiques de la Creuse, 2nd
w yth, C eredigion. T h e photographs o f W oolaston
ser., 3 (1893), p. 47-123 (p. 60-62). Location o f granges and
G range chapel w ere kindly taken by D r C yril H art,
abbeys is by country, using the abbreviations B (Belgium), F
O .B .E.. C h ief Verderer o f the Forest o f D ean. Since
(France), G (Germany), I (Italy), NL (Netherlands) plus the
preparing this article. Dr Geraldine Carville has described
county or its equivalent, or, when more appropriate, the
two Cistercian grange churches in The Impact o f the Cis­
medieval country; for England only the county is given.
tercians on the Landscape o f Ireland (Ashford, 2003), p.
116-69. 4. David H. Williams, The Welsh Cistercians, vol.il (Caldey
Island, 1984), p.236.
1. J. O thon Ducourneau, “De l’institution et des us des
convers dans l’ordre de Cîteaux”, in Saint Bernard et son temps 5. Louis-Eudore Deladreue, “L'Abbaye de Froidmont”,
(Dijon, 1928), II, p. 139-201 (p. 196); Cistercian Lay Broth­ Mémoires de la société académique d’archéologie, sciences et arts du
ers: Twelfth-Century Usages with Related Texts, ed. Chryso­ département de l’Oise, 8 (1871), p. 11-62 (p. 52-5S).
gonus Waddell. Ctteaux: Studia et Documenta. 10 (Brecht.
6. Williams, Welsh Cistercians, Ii, p. 236; John M. Lewis
2000), p . 169, 171.
and Bernard Knight, “Early Christian Burials at Llanvithyn
2. Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis ah H ouse”, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 122 (1973), p. 147—53.
Anno I 116 ad Annum 1736, ed. Joseph-M arie Canivez, 8 7. M artin, “Les Cisterciens”, p. 61.
vols (Leuven, 1933-41), i, p. 49 (1152/27); Twelfth-Century
Statutes from the Cistercian General Chapter, ed. Chrysogonus 8. Statuta, ed. Canivez, i. p. 87 (1180/6).

Cistercian Grange Chapels 213

 this injunction, written into the 1202 codifica­ which it soon turned into a chapel for the farm­
tion o f statutes,9 Innocent III, in 1198, allowed ing conversi. By 1221 Saint-Benoît-en-Woëvre
the monks o f Ter Doest (B-Flanders) to cele­ (F-M eurthe-et-M oselle) had a chapel on its
brate divine service on their isolated granges.10 Bouzonville Grange where Mass was sung on
Quarr (Isle o f Wight) had a chapel on its far Sundays and feast days.19 In 1230 the Bishop of
removed Forwood Grange (Devon) by about Llandaff consecrated a chapel on Margam’s
1190;11 Furness, by about 1199, had a chapel Llangewydd Grange (Glamorgan), and from
at Hawkshead Grange (Cumbria) where the 1239 allowed Mass at its Melis Grange.20 The
monks could celebrate “with wax candles” , General Chapter itself gave leave for Mass in
even in time o f Interdict.12 grange chapels where there were extenuating
These were probably not isolated examples, circumstances, as on a grange o f Casanova des
for the Chapter took firmer action. In 1204, it Abbruzes (I-Civitella Casanova) in 1231
ordered all altars in grange chapels to be because it “had been an abbey”,21 and in 1236
destroyed, and all fixtures and vestments neces­ on island granges of the Dunes and Ter Doest
sary for Mass were to be removed. Mass could (B-Flanders) because of their inaccessibility and
only be said on a grange by special leave of the the danger the sea posed to travellers.22 In 1236
General Chapter.13 As sometimes happened, also, Altenberg (G -N orth Rhine-Westphalia)
this statute was modified the next year (1205), instituted a priest to celebrate Mass daily in its
perhaps after protests from benefactors and bish­ chapel at Eppinghoven, but the usual proviso
ops; altars which had been consecrated might applied that all, save abbey servants, must repair
remain, but Mass was not to be said at them, at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost to their
and no more were to be built.1415Ten years on, parish church.23
the rules were relaxed for those granges which Innocent IV, in 1245, permitted Mass in the
had previously contained churches with ceme­ grange chapels o f the recently founded Saint-
teries. Such chapels could be restored (if in ruin), Bernard-opt-Scheldt (B-Antwerp) because, he
and Mass said in them twice a week.13 N o new said, this had been newly proposed at the Gen­
chapels were to be erected, and as late as 1228 eral Chapter.24 In especial, he noted that the
the Chapter ruled, “o f grange chapels, the monastery had a grange called “Castrum” where
ancient sentences stand”.1617Further relaxation “the altar ought to remain, where the abbots
was to come with the ruling (in 1236) that and brothers on coming, as is the custom, are
abbeys which had non-parochial chapels before able to celebrate”.23 This apparent shift in the
their incorporation into the Order might main­ Orders attitude may have lain behind the deci­
tain worship in them .1/ sion by the Bishop of Lincoln, in 1236, to allow
Times were changing. In 1214 Auberive (F- Thame Abbey to have a chapel at Oddington
Hte-M arne) had obtained a nearby church Grange (Oxfordshire),26 and the Bishop of

9. Bernard Lucet, La Codification cistercienne de 1202 et son 18. O dile Grandmoctet, “ Aspects du Temporel
évolution ultérieure, Bibliotheca cisterciensis. 2 (Rome, 1964). d’Auberive” , Les cahiers haut-marnais, 52.1 (1958), p. 6.
p. 35-36.
19. Chartes de Saint-Benoit-en- Woévre, ed.Jean Denaix
10. Cronica abbatum monasterii de Dunis, ed. by Adrian But (Verdun, 1959), p. 93.
(Bruges, 1864), p. 315.
20. Williams, IVelsh Cistercians, il, p. 236-37.
IL S . Frederick Hockey, QuarrAbbey and its Lands (Leices­ 21. L ’économie cistercienne, ed. Charles Hia;ounet (Auch,
ter. 1970), p. 48-49. 1983). p. 161.
12. Victoria History of the County of Lancaster, vol. il (Lon­ 22. Statuta, ed. Canivez. il. p. 153 (1236/3).
don, 1908), p. 121.
23. Urkundenbuch derAbtei Altenberg, vol. I, ed. Hans Mosler
13. Statuta, ed. Canivez, i. p. 297-98 (1204/11). (Bonn, 1912), p. 99.
14. Ibid., I. p. 307-08 (1205/7). 24. Oorkondeitboek dcrAbdij van St-Bcrnardsaan de Schelde,
ed. Pieter Jozef Goetschalckx (Eekeren-Donk. 1909), p. 92
15. Ibid.. I, p. 428 (1214/55): Lucet. La Codification, p. (No. 78).
35-36.
25. Ibid., p. 75 (No. 67).
16. Statura, ed. Canivez, li. p. 65 (1228/1).
26. Colin Platt, The Monastic Grange in Medieval England
17. Ibid., il, p. 153 (1236/3). (London, 1969). p.27-28.

214 DAVID H. WILLIAMS

Winchester, in 1249, to perm it Waverley to was “in a mountainous district, remote from
have Mass at Neatham Grange (Hampshire).2' parish churches”, it received leave in 1232 to
In the mid-1250s,28 Alexander IV gave gen­ administer the sacraments to its servants.35 At
eral permission for Mass to be said on granges Altenbergs Eppinghoven Grange chapel (G-
“far from a parish church”, but only for their North Rhine-Westphalia), from 1236, men liv­
residents; strangers wishing to receive the sacra­ ing within the bounds of the grange could hear
ments there required the permission of the Mass there, except at Christmas, Easter, and
diocesan bishop. (These safeguards protected Pentecost when they were to repair to the parish
the local parochial clergy from the loss of finan­ church; seemingly tins restriction did not apply to
cial oblations they might otherwise suffer.) its immediate servants.36 On Waverley s Neatham
Alexander IV, in 1261, also gave specific — and Grange, from 1249, the confessions of seculars
wider-ranging — permission for chapels on the were not to be heard unless they were in danger
properties of Velehrad Abbey (Moravia).29 It of death, and even the grange servants were to
has been said that all in fact he did was “to reg­ receive the sacraments at Holybourne parochial
ularise an existing state o f affairs”.30 chapel (Hampshire).37 The monks of Plasy, from
Bishops, too, might give leave for Mass to be 1250, were allowed to administer the sacraments
said on the granges but, again, usually only for to grange and other servants who could not oth­
their residents: the Bishop of Exeter, in 1259, erwise easily receive priestly services.38
confirmed the right of Mass on those granges About 1265, Aduard (NL-Groningen) built
far from a parish church, implying perhaps that a chapel at its Everswold property for its work­
tenants could attend.31 As matters became more ers there;39 in 1317, Lekno (Central Poland)
relaxed, particular leave for Mass on the granges was building a “stone chapel” near its Hamel­
was also given, by the Chapter or local bishop, springe Grange, perhaps for the tenantry.40 In
to Cambrón (B-Hainaut) in 1262,32 Plasy an interesting development in perhaps still
(Bohemia) in 1280,33 and M orimond (F-Hte- somewhat a missionary area, the Bishop of
Marne) in 1284,34 but always with some limi­ Kamierí (north-west Poland) in 1300 allowed
tations imposed to respect parochial rights. Mass and “the preaching o f the Word o f God”
The attitude of both the Order and the bish­ on the urban and rural properties o f Doberan
ops was that grange chapels were meant for the (D-Mecklenberg-Pomerania) within his dio­
conversi and, perhaps, the hired servants, but not cese. It was not to be to the prejudice of the
for outsiders. Even the lay workers were general­ local parishes, but those who — after hearing
ly only supposed to receive the sacraments at a the monks’ preaching — confessed their sins
grange chapel if they lived far from a parochial were awarded a forty-day indulgence.41
church. The pontiff or the diocesan bishop did Even after the papal concession (which was
allow relaxations in such cases. As Welsh Cwmhir limited) o f 1255, not all granges had chapels.42

27. Annales Monastici, vol. u, ed. H enry Richards Luard 34. Archdale A. King, Ctteaux and her Elder Daughters
(London. 1865), p.342. (London, 1954), p.357.
28. Documentación del Monestir de Las Huelgas de Burgos, 35. Calendar of Papal Registers, ed. W. H. Bliss, (London.
voi. i i , ed. José Manuel Lizoain Garrido and Araceli Castro 1893), l, p. 131.'
Garrido (Burgos. 1985), p.297 (No.479);Deladreue, “Froid-
m ont”, p. 91. 36. Urkundenbuch, ed. Mosler, i, p. 99.

29. Codex diplomáticos et epistolaris Moraviae, vol. ni, ed. 37. Annales, ed. Luard, n, p. 342.
Anthony Boczek (Oloinouc, 1836), p. 295.
38. Regesta diplomatica, ed. Erben, I, p.580-81 (No. 1250).
30. R . A. Donkin, The Cistercians: Studies in the Geogra­
phy of Medieval England and Wales, Pontifical Institute o f 39. Franciscus Koppius, Vitas ac Gestas Abbatum Adwer-
Medieval Studies: Studies and Texts, 38 (Toronto. 1978). p. densium (Groningen, 1850), p. 10; Regnerus R. Post, “H et
52. Sint Bernardsklooster Te Aduard”, Archie/ voor de Gesched.
van het Aartsbisdom Utrecht, 48.2 (1922-23). p. 1-232 (p. 211).
31. Platt. Monastic Grange, p. 27-28.
40. Statuta, ed. Canivez. III. p. 337-38 (1317/22).
32. Carrnlaire de Cambrón, ed. Joseph Jean de Sinet.
Chroniques Belles Inédites, 2 (Brussels. 1869), p. 129 (No. 41. Ernst Joachim von Westphalen, “D iplom atarium
X III). Doberanse”, in Monumenta Inedita, vol. ill (Leipzig, 1743),
col. 1468-1648 (col. 1566).
33. Regesta diplomatica nec non epistolaria Bohemiae et Moravi­
ae, vol. I. ed. Karol Jaromir Erben (Prague, 1859), p. 580-81. 42. L’économie, ed. Higounet, p. 171.

Cistercian Grange Chapels 215

 Fig. 1. Chapel at Gaussatt Grange
(Fontfroide Abbey), Aude, France,
(author)

Fig. 2. Plan and site o f chapel at

Cwrt-y-carnau Grange (Neath
Abbey), Glamorgan, Wales, 1953.
■'XxUliunnu, (Richard E. Kay; Royal
Commission on Ancient Monuments
in Wales at Aberystwyth,
Ceredigion)

— *
dr
25^
Tidal v /w a II

N* ( remains) . .. \
10 20 t \ jm
__i
Feet dr M arsh '—

0 5,0 100
‘ ft '
a f t e r R .E .K ay. 1953
SI TE PLAN

The position varied. In Wales, Margam had thir­ but two is the maximum known for any other
teen granges with chapels (including at least Welsh house.43 In Ireland, Jerpoint had nine
those of two pre-existing ecclesiastical sites); grange chapels (one on each o f its granges).44
Tintern and Llantarnam had seven chapels each, In France, Aubepierres45 and Jouy (Seine-et-

43. Williams, Welsh Cistercians, II, p. 234. 44. Daphne D. C. Pochin Mould, The Monasteries of Ire­
land (London, 1976), p. 55.
45. Martin, “Les Cisterciens”, p. 61.

216 DAVID H. WILLIAMS

 r

Fig. J. Chapel at Woolaston Grange (Timern Abbey), Glouces­

tershire, 1960s (now destroyed). (Dr Cyril Hart, O .B.E.)

Fig. 4. Chapel at Woolaston Grange, detail o f east wall, 1960s.

(Dr Cyril Hart, O.B.E.).

Fig. 5. Chapel at gatehouse o f FraviUe Grange (Clairvaux

Abbey), Aube, France, (author)

Marne)46 each had eight grange chapels; Froid-

mont had six.4/ N o thorough survey has ever
been attempted o f grange chapels, but mostly
they appear to have been modest in size — an
exception being that at Fontfroide’s Gaussan
Grange (Aude, Fig. 1).
Some grange chapels were quite small: Tamié’s Land, Switzerland, (author)
chapel at La Bridoire (F-Savoie) measured 10
m by 6 m;48 Neath’s chapel at Cwrt-y-carnau
(Glamorgan, Wales), 11 m by 7 m (Fig. 2). Tin- The twelfth-century chapel (more o f an ora­
tern’s chapel on its Woolaston Grange (Glouces­ tory) at Clairvaux’s Fraville Grange (Aube)
tershire), now demolished (Fig. 3), had a formed part o f the gatehouse (Fig. 5). The
cellar/crypt. The earlier lancet windows on its chapel at Kirkstall’s Roundhay Grange (York­
east wall, replaced later by a gothic design, sug­ shire) may have been a large vaulted basement
gest its antiquity (Fig. A). room with stone seats around its sides.49 In

46. S. Lefèvre, “Les Granges de Jouy“ , Bulletin de la société 48. Félix Bernard. L ’abbaye de Tamié: ses granges (Greno­
d’histoire et d ’archéologie de l'arrondissement de Provins, 137 ble, 1967), p. 56.
(1983). p. 33-44 (p. 36-37). 47
49. John William Morkill, The Manor and the Park of
47. Deladreue, “ Froidmont". p. 36. 39-40, 42—44, 53. Roundhay, Thoresby Society, 2 (Leeds, 1891). p. 224.

Cistercian Grange Chapels 217

 Majorca, La R eal’s Esporles Grange had, in
1356, a silver chalice, altar cloth and hangings,
missal, breviary, and Psalter.30 Lucelle’s chapel
at Klösterle, south-west o f Basel on the border
between France and Switzerland, is ascribed to
1602, but perhaps replaced an earlier wooden
edifice (Fig. 6).31
The Order disallowed the ringing of bells on
its granges, save for a small refectory bell to call
the conversi to meals.52 Chapel bells were for­
bidden, as emphasized in 1228 by Stephen Lex­
ington, then abbot of Stanley and on a general
visitation o f Cistercian houses in Ireland, when Fig. 7. Cltapel at Trelech Grange (Tiritera Abbey), M on­
he made one exception.33 When, in 1249, the mouthshire, Wales, ca. 1845 (anonymous). (Society o f A n ti­
Bishop o f Winchester gave permission for Mass quaries o f London)
on Waverley’s Neatham Grange,34 and when San
Galgano was given Santa Margherita by the city
of Siena on condition of building an oratory mon — and for practical reasons. Burials were,
there, it was laid down that bells were not to be for example, permitted at Altenbergs Epping­
rung. Moreover, at Santa Margherita, chanting hoven Grange in 1236.60 In Wales, there is plen­
was to be in subdued tone.33 There was a bel­ ty o f evidence for grange burials afforded by
fry (clocher) in 1256 at Boulbonne’s Tramesaygues tradition, by field names, and by finds of human
Grange (F-Hte-Garonne), but it is not clear that bones. Chapel Farm Terrace in Cwmcarn
this served as its chapel, and it was very proba­ (Gwent) on a former grange of Llantarnam was
bly a relic of the days when Tramesaygues was once popularly called “Skeleton R ow ”.61
a monastery in its own right.36 Grange chapels, where consecrated, received
As for burials on granges, these were also dis­ a formal dedication. The saints so patronized
countenanced by the Order.37 The Abbot of follow no pattern but frequently represent local
Dalon (F-Dordogne) was rebuked in 1190 for or national devotional interests. They included
consenting to a cemetery on a grange.38 The first St Bernard (at Camp’s Bergharen Grange, G-
and second codifications of statutes, of 1202 and Rhineland,62 and on a grange o f Aduard in
1237, ruled that no cemeteries were to be made Holland63), (the Celtic) St Bridget (at Llantar­
on granges and that none were to be buried there nam s Gelli-lâs Grange in Gwent, Wales64), SS
unless a right o f burial existed.39 In practice, Candida and R adegund (on Flaxley’s Arlon
grange interments may have become quite com- Grange in Gloucestershire63), St Catherine (at

50. Diplomatavi del Monestir de Santa Maria de La Real dc 58. Ibid., p. 195—96.
Mallorea, vol. I, ed. Pau Mora and Lorenzo Andrinal (Palma.
1982). p. 593 (No. 257). 59. Lucet, La Codification, p. 35—36: id., Les Codifications
cisterciennes de 1237 et dc 1257 (Paris, 1977), p. 211.
51. Bernard Peugniez, Routier des abbayes cisterciennes de
France (Strasbourg, 1994), p. 141. 60. Urkundenbuch, ed. Mosler, I. p. 99 (No. 126).

52. Lucet, La Codification, p. 166. 61. R ex Howell Pugh, Glimpses o f Wist Gwent (Newport,
M on.. 1934) p . 19—20; Williams, Welsh Cistercians, II, p.
53. Bruno Griesser, “Registrum Epistolarum Stephani 235-36.
de Lexington, IL', Analecta Cistcrciensia, 8 (1952). p. 181-378
62. “Kapel in Bergharen”, Hieren Ginder, 17 (1976), No.
(P- 295).
7, p. 75-77 (it was dedicated about 1315).
54. Annales, ed. Luard, il, p. 342.
63. “De Kroniek van het Klooster Aduard”, ed. Hajo
55. Antonio Canestrelli. L’Abbazia di San Galgano (Flo­ Brugmans, Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historische
rence, 1896), p. 31. Genootschap, 23 (1902). p.48-49. Dedicated in 1265, a forty-
day indulgence was granted to pilgrims visiting it.
56. Ch. Cathala, “Bourbonne”, in Dictionnaire d ’histoire
et de géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. X (Paris, 1938), p. 62.57* 64. Williams. Welsh Cistercians. II, p. 237.
57. Twelfth-Century Statutes, ed. Waddell, p. 195-96 (no. 65. Registrum Caroli Bothc, ed. A rthur Thomas Bannister
9). 727 (no. 130), 747 (no. 113). (Hereford, 1921), p.357.

218 DAVID H. WILLIAMS

Aiguebelle’s Freysinnet Grange, F-Drôme66),
St Denis (at Pontigny’s Le Beugnon Grange, F-
Yonne), St Edmund (on its Villiers-la-Grange,
Yonne67), St Eloy (on the grange o f La Ferté
so named, F-Saône-et-Loire68), St John (at
Stams Home Grange, Austria69), St Lawrence
(at Clairvaux’s Champigny Grange, Côte
d’O r70*), St Margaret (at T intern’s Trelech
Grange, Monmouthshire, Wales; Fig. 7 /!), St
Maurice (on a grange o f Saint-Benoît-en-
Woëvre, Meuse72), St Nicaise (on Froidmont’s
grange at Le Plessis-Billebaut, F-Oise73), and
St Sylvester (on a grange o f Hauterive in
Switzerland74).
O ur knowledge o f these particular dedica­
tions o f grange chapels comes mostly from the
late thirteenth to early fourteenth centuries
when the numbers o f conversi had dwindled,
and the tenantry had greatly increased. The ded­
ication o f the now-vanished chapel of Tintern’s
at Rogerstone Grange (Monmouthshire, Wales)
is implied by the nearby “St John’s Mead” and
“StJohn’s Well”.0 La Ferté’s Saint Eloy Grange
was known from 1120 until the mid-fifteenth
century as Chevals Grange; its name was
changed when it became the monastery’s infir­ Fig. 8. Chapel at Pwl-pan Grange (Llantarnam Abbey), M on­
mary.76 mouthshire, Wales. (MrJ. K. Knight)
There is little or no physical evidence now of
many former grange chapels. In certain cases
(as Strata Marcella’s Capel Dolwen in M ont­
gomeryshire, Wales, used for some years after At least one Welsh grange chapel, at Tintern’s
the Dissolution as a school) not even aerial pho­ Woolaston Grange, has been demolished in
tography is very revealing.77 In numerous cases modern times, and another, Dore’s Llanfair Cil—
in Wales, as at Llantarnam Abbey’s Pwl-pan goed in Monmouthshire (used for recusant wor­
Grange (Monmouthshire, Fig. 8), the evidence ship until around 1700), has severely
of a former chapel comes partly through such deteriorated until little is left (Figs 9, 10)./9 After
field-names as “Cae Capel” (Chapel Field) or the suppression of Abbey Dore in 1536, one of
from burial finds.78 its former monks, John Didbroke, continued to

66. Chartes et documents del'abbaye de Notre-Dame d ’Aigue- 71. David H. Williams, Trelleck Crange (Aberystwyth,
bcllc, ed. Jacques de Font-Réaubc (Lyon, 1953), p. 117. It 2001), p. 7.
was dedicated in 1317.
72. Chartes, ed. by Denaix, p. 92. T he chapel was noted
67. Terryl N. Kinder, “As Above. So Below: Architecture in 1221.
and Archaeology at Villiers-la-Grange o f Pontigny”, in Die 73. Deladreue, “ Froidmont”, p. 44.
Joy of Learning and the Lone of God: Studies in Donor of Jean
Leclercq. ed.E .R ozanne Elder (Kalamazoo, 1995), p. 157-77 74. Cécile Som m er-Ram er and Patrick Braun, Helvetia
(p. 167). Sacra. 3.3 (I) (1982), p. 181.
75. David Ff. Williams, “Rogerstone Grange, St. Arvan’s”,
68. Peugniez, Routier, p. 168.
Monmouthshire Antiquary, 15 (1999), p. 22—31 (p. 26—27).
69. Bruno Griesser, “Jahresberichte über die Wirtschafts 76. Peugniez, Routier, p. 168.
führung im Klosters Stams", Cistercicnser Chronik, n.s., 31 /32
(July 1955), p. 17-30 (p. 29). The chapel was noted in 1345. 77. Williams. Welsh Cistercians, H, p. 238.
78. Ibid., Il, p. 235-36.
70. "Receuil des Chartes et Bulles de Clairvaux”, ed. A.
Prévost, Renne Mabillon, 1 (1924), p. 140—56 (p. 153). 79. Ibid., il, p. 234.

Cistercian Grange Chapels 219

 Fig. 9. Pimi and site o f chapel at
Uanfair Cilgoed Grange
(Dore Abbey), Monmouthshire.
(Richard E. Kay, 1976;
Royal Commission on Ancient
Monuments in Wales at
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion)

reside at Llanfair until his death around 1570,

and — since the people o f the locality were far
from a parish church — he provided “mattyns,
masse and evensong” every Sunday, Wednesday,
and Friday.80 In Radnorshire, a holy water stoup
is all that survives o f Strata Florida’s former
Capel Madog (Fig. 11).SI In Gloucestershire, a
fourteenth-century piscina survives in the now-
modern kitchen at Kingswood’s former chapel
o f Estcourt Grange.82
Fortunately, some former grange chapels are
still places o f divine worship — as Tintern’s St
Margaret’s Chapel on its Trelech Grange. The
chapel at Granges-le-Bourg (F-Haute-Saône),
in the sphere of influence of Lieucroissant, now

80. David H. Williams, The Welsh Cistercians, new edn

Fig. 10. Chapel at Llanfair Grange, as it stood ca. 1845 (anony­ (Leominster, 2001), p. 199.
mous). (reproduced with permission o f the Society o f Antiquar­ 81 .Aberystwyth, National Librarv o f Wales, MS 13452A,
ies of London) p. 120.
82. Platt, Monastic Grange, p. 238.

220 DAVID H . WILLIAMS

\i'o
S t o v ?
f r o t i u C a PêLI-IyCa OOO'v

Fig. 11. Sump from the chapel at Capel Madog Grange (Strata Florida Abbey), Radnorshire, Wales, by Geoige
Eyre Euans, 1911. (reproduced with permission ofUyfrgell Gencdlaethol Cymru/The National Library ojFVales).

forms the centre of a nucleated hamlet, as does

Pontigny's Villiers-la-Grange (Fig. 12), whilst
that at Fontfroide’s former Gaussan Grange is
now the home o f a traditionalist Benedictine
community. In northern Italy, the chapel o f
Staffarda s former Lagnasco Grange stands with­
in the peripheral buildings which formed a pro­
tective cordon for the grange.83
Only occasionally do the histories o f Cister­
cian abbeys refer in any great detail to their
granges and, even less so, to the grange chapels.
There is a vast field o f study awaiting detailed
listing, documentary research, and the precise
survey o f remains and foundations, throughout
the whole o f Europe. It would be a rewarding
enterprise if conducted with the same scholar­
Fig. 12. Chapel at Villiers-la-Grange (Pontigny Abbey),
ship and attention to detail that Peter Fergus-
Yonne, France. (T. N. Kinder)
son has applied to the monastic buildings.84

Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
UK

83. Laura R Quaglino, “Le Grangia dell’abbazia di Staf- 84.The author would be glad to hear o f any grange chapel
farda a Lagnasco e Scarnafigi” , in L'Abbazia di Staffarda. ed. site, with or w ithout visible remains, for inclusion in such
Rinaldo Comba and Grado Giovanni Merlo (Cuneo, 1999), a survey. (4 Clos y D rindod, Heol y Buarth, Aberystwyth,
p. 287-98 (fig. 8). Ceredigion, U.K., SY 23 1LR. Tel/Fax: 00-44-1970-
612736. [email protected]).

Cistercian Grange Chapels 221

 Cistercians in the City: The C hurch o f
the C o lle g e S a i n t - B e r n a r d in Paris

M IC H A EL T. DAVIS

ithin the walls o f Paris, the new metropolis was, however, only one o f several

W church of the Collège Saint-Bernard

constituted the most ambitious eccle­
siastical construction project of the fourteenth
century. Praised in the early fifteenth century by
anomalies that surrounded this building. Its mon-
umentality broke dramatically with the intimate
scale of collegiate chapels such as those of the
Collège de Cluny or the Collège de Navarre.
Guillebert de Mets as “un edifice moult bel et Financed by Pope Benedict XII, the design linked
hault”, the church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary to southern France rather than to contemporary
and Saint Bernard, rose high above the rooftops Paris, and the elaborate traceried windows and
of the Left Bank (Fig. I).1*This intersection of delicate gables composed a sumptuous appear­
Cistercian architecture with Europe’s largest ance altogether rare in the Order’s architecture.

Fia. 1. P Mariette, after Jean Marot (1619?-1679), Collegiate Church o f Saint Bernard, Parii, exterior viewed from the south
(Paris, B.n.F., Estampes Va 256c). (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

1. Guillebert de Metz, Description de la ville de Paris au xi *

siècle: Publiée polirla première fois d'après le manuscrit unique par
M. Le Roux de Line)' (Paris, 1855), p. 58.

Cistercians in the City.The Church of the Collège Saint-Bernard in Paris 223

 Casually considered, the church o f the goals of monastic life — the reconciliation of
Collège Saint-Bernard might be written off as a structure, function, and message”.5 Although
rare, late enterprise that reflected the com ­ the church has disappeared beneath the
fortable decadence o f an Order that had long Boulevard Saint-Germain, its images can be
since slipped the traces o f its original ideals o f recovered from extensive archaeological and
spiritual rigour and aesthetic austerity.2 Yet, as graphic records,6*while the survival of its build­
Peter Fergusson’s insightful research has ing accounts ushers us into the construction site
demonstrated time and again, Cistercian archi­ to follow the assembly o f lifting machines, the
tecture was neither a herm etic creation nor raising o f scaffolding, and the plastering of
can its elaboration be read as a simple barom­ vaults/ These records also introduce us to some
eter o f decline. His Architecture of Solitude o f the men and women in the city who made,
argued compellingly that tw elfth-century sold, and delivered the materials for the build­
English Cistercian design developed out o f a ing. This project reveals that, at least in this sin­
cross-Channel dialogue with northern French gular instance, expansive architectural horizons,
construction, while Rievaulx Abbey presented intense human contact, and the city were as
the luxurious new thirteenth-century choir as much a part o f the Cistercian world as the
a considered response to a changing architec­ silence of the cloister or the remote woodland
tural vocabulary as well as the abbey church’s valley.
expanded functional and symbolic program.3
In a similar vein, Terryl K inder’s recent Beginnings: A Regular Plan, Irregular Finances
panoramic survey o f Cistercian Europe show­
cased the stylistic fluidity o f the O rder’s archi­ On 13 March (Hi idus) 1338, Benedict XII, in
tecture that endowed its studied simplicity an act familiar to American higher education
with rich and varied complexity.4 today, published his intention to enrich his alma
Exploring the construction of this Cistercian mater.8 Acknowledging that his surprising
collegiate church in Paris in this essay reveals ascent to the papal throne was made possible by
the way in which a papal patron, a monastic an exceptional education, this former monk of
order, and a city came together in a project that, Fontfroide ordered the church o f the Collège
in Kinder’s words, balanced “changing tastes, Saint-Bernard in Paris rebuilt “with seemly
advancing technology, and exterior circum­ workmanship”.9 The original chapel o f the col­
stances with the traditions o f the Order and the lege, founded in 1245 by Stephen o f Lexing-

2. See, for example, Marcel Aubert and the Marquise de Willesme. T he building ran at a south-east to north-west
Maillé, L'Architecture cistercienne en France, 2 vols (Paris, angle from roughly nos 25 to 36 o f the Boulevard Saint-
19472), I, 221 and 227, who saw the adoption o f the “cathe­ Germain.
dral” choir scheme in the 13th century at Vaucelles, Roy-
7. Vatican City, Archivio Segreto Vaticano (hereafter
aumont, or Longpont as a sign o f the O rders softening and
ASV), Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fols 94—121. I wish to
loss o f architectural identity; Colin Platt, The Abbeys and Pri­
thank Ingrid Rowland for her orientation to the archives
ories of Medieval England (London, 1984), p. 53; or Lester K.
and Margaret Switten for her help with 14*-century O cc­
Little, Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval
itan.
Europe (Ithaca. NY. 1978), p.94, who writes that “early Cis­
tercian ideals o f simplicity, poverty, and manual labor were 8. Georges Daumet, Benoît X II (1334—42): Lettres closes,
dissipated in an orgy o f wealth in less than a century”. patentes et curiales se rapportant à la France (Paris, 1920), col.
262, nos 411-12. In a letter o f 4 March 1339 (ASV, Reg.
3. Peter Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys
Vat. 134, no. XLV, fol. 15). Benedict mentioned that the pre­
in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton, 1984); Peter Fergus­
son and Stuart Harrison. Rievaulx Abbey: Community, Archi­ vious church was not adequate: “D uduin ad eccl(es)iam
domus sancti Bernardi [. . .] digne moventib(us) specialis
tecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999), p. 151-74.
dilect(i)o(n)is et devot(i)o(n)is affectum et atte(n)tes q(uo)d
4. Terryl N. Kinder, Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Con­ eccl(es)ia ip(s)a iuxta loci decentia(m) no(n) erat sufficien­
templation (Grand Rapids. MI. 2002), esp. ch. 5, “The ter constructa voluimus et ordinavim(us) ut ad decente(m)
C hurch”, p. 141-241. et utile(m) construct(i)o(n)em procederetur." A concise biog­
raphy o f Benedict XII can be found in Guillaume Mollat,
5. Ibid., p. 241.
The Popes at Avignon, 1305-1378, trans. Janet Love (Lon­
6. A useful orientation to the history and images o f the don, 1963), p. 26-36.
church and college is furnished by the catalogue o f the exhi­
9. ASV. Reg. Vat. 133, no. CXXX1, fol. 40, and published
bition Les Cistercians à Paris, Paris. Musée Carnavalet (Paris.
by Daumet, Benoît XII, cols 292—93, no. 463.
1986), p. 18-26 and the entries w ritten by Jean-Pierre

224 M ICH A EL T. DAVIS

con with the approval o f Innocent IV, had been capital, including the college, a century earli­
a small, unpretentious structure that served the er.15
devotional needs of resident students and fac­ Although no accounts survive from the first
ulty.10 A reconstruction may have been year o f activity, Benedict must have sent funds
launched around 1286 to express the eminence sufficient for the rapid prosecution o f con­
o f the college, but was only fulfilled by Bene­ struction. An analysis o f the foundations,
dict’s vision that aimed both to impress and unearthed in 1979 during excavation of a park­
engage the public as it forcefully represented ing garage beneath the Boulevard Saint-
the Orders active and significant role in Chris­ Germain, concluded that the substructure grid
tian society.11 The new church also comple­ o f the entire church including the portal was
mented the Constitution Fulgens Sicut Stella, laid all at once, a sure sign o f confidence in the
published on 12 July 1335, in which Benedict successful completion of the project.16 Regular
established the primacy of this institution and carefully masoned foundations, 3.5—4.0 m
among Cistercian colleges, designating it as the wide and over 4.0 m deep, revealed a high lev­
obligatory destination of the most gifted stu­ el o f conception and execution by a remark­
dents. 12 ably well-organized workshop. Comparable
The two bulls sent out from Avignon not precision also appears in the surviving south
only offered contributors to the fabric an indul­ wall of the church, presently incorporated into
gence of one hundred days, but also invited the apartment buildings: a consistent 2.0 m thick
public to visit the church often, with special and composed of ashlar courses around 30 cm
dispensation awarded during the octaves o f the high.17*The execution of the foundations as a
Assumption of the Virgin and the feast of Saint single piece, the coherence o f the overall pro­
Bernard.13 Two months later, Queen Jeanne de portional scheme, and the uniformity o f the
Bourgogne laid the first stone o f the new masonry imply that the general outline o f the
church and on behalf o f the monarchy gave a church as well as details o f form and fabric were
donation to the fabric.14 Jeanne’s ceremonial determined by a full set o f plans.
and financial participation recalls the generos­ Thanks to the timely work o f Théodore
ity of her Capetian ancestors who had sup­ Vacquer in the late nineteenth century and the
ported numerous Cistercian projects around the incidental assistance o f the parking structure in

10. For the early history o f the college and its architec­ 15. For the energetic patronage o f Blanche o f Castille
ture, see Philippe Dautrey, “Croissance et adaptation chez and Louis IX. consult Anselme Dinner, Saint Louis et Citeanx
les Cisterciens au triezième siècle: Les Débuts du Collège (Paris, 1954); id., “Royaum ont et les Cisterciens sous Saint
des Bernardins de Paris”, Analecta Cistercicnsia, 32 (1976), Louis", in Le Siècle de Saint Louis (Paris, 1970), p. 275-80;
p. 122-215;and for the church, id., “L’église de l’ancien col­ R obert Branner, Saint Louis and the Court Style in Gothic
lège des Bernardins de Paris et son image”, in Mélanges à la Architecture (London, 1965), p. 31-39; Caroline Bruzelius
mémoire dn Père Anselme Dimier, ed. Benoît Chauvin, 3 vols “Cistercian High Gothic: T he Abbey Church o f Longpont
(Arbois. 1982-87), m, p. 497-514 (p. 498-99). and the Architecture o f the Cistercians in the Early Thir­
teenth C entury” , Analecta Cisterciensia, 35 (1979), p.3-204;
11. Dautrey (“L’église."p. 500-02) discusses the 1286 cam­
Terryl N. Kinder, “Blanche o f Castile and the Cistercians.
paign that is signalled by the levy o f a special tax within the
An Architectural Re-Evaluation o f Maubuisson Abbey”,
O rder for the chapel’s reconstruction.
Citeanx. 27 (1976), p. 161-88. In 1253 Louis IX’s brother.
12. Caroline Obert-Piketty, “Benoît XII et les collèges Alphonse de Poitiers, was recognized as the founder o f the
cisterciens du Languedoc”. Cahiers de Fanjeaux, 21 (1986), college (see Dautrey, “Croissance et adaptation”, p. 151). In
p. 139-50. 1247, he had established a rent o f 400 £ parisis on the prenoté
o f La Rochelle, as cited in Edgar Mareuse, “Com munica­
13. T he bull soliciting donations to the fabric was pub­ tion sur l’ancien couvent des Bernardins”, Commission du
lished by Daumet, Benoit XU, col. 262, no. 412. Visitors to Vieux Paris: Procès-verbal. 13 April 1918, p. 73.
the church were encouraged in the bull (ASV. Litt, patens.
Reg. Vat. 133, no. LXXII, fol. 18r) published by Daumet, 16. “R apport, par M. Michel Fleury, sur les fouilles
cols 261-62. no. 411. archéologiques en cours; Découverte de fondation de l’église
des Bernardins, boulevard Saint-Germain, face aux nos. 30
14. Benedict sent a letter o f thanks from Avignon to the et 32 (5e)”, Commission du Vieux Paris: Procès-verbal. 2 July
Q ueen on 4 July 1338 (“iv nonas julii anno quinto”): ASV. 1979, p. 10-12:Annie Blanc, Claude Lorenz, and Marc Viré,
Reg. Vac. 133, no. C X X X I. fol. 40, and Daumet. Benoit “O rigine des matériaux de l’ancien collège des Bernardins
XII, cols 292-93, no. 463. A docum ent in Paris (Archives à Paris”, in Pierre et métal dans le bâtiment au Moyen Age, ed.
nationales, MM 366, p. 57-60, acte no. 32, cited by Dautry, O dette Chapelot and Paul Benoit (Paris, 1985), p. 237-54
"L’église,” p. 502), records the royal gift o f 125 liares o f (P-242).
rent, rather than the 100 Hares m entioned in the papal let­
ter. 17. Ibid., p. 247.

Cistercians in the City .The Church of the Collège Saint-Bernard in Paris 225
 detail (Fig. 2).18 The BO m long basilica con­
tained thirteen bays partitioned into five seg­
ments, a central vessel with a single aisle, and
a suite o f rectangular chapels to either side
spanning 34.3 m. A polygonal apse that
described seven sides o f a dodecagon, flanked
by shallow rectangular chapels corresponding
to the aisles, composed the eastern termina­
tion. The contiguous sacristy, three bays long
_30n by two deep, joined the church to the monu­
mental student building to the south that
enclosed a cellar, refectory, and dormitory on
three levels.19Judging from plans of the com­
..2On
plex, the papal master may have used the bay
widths o f this thirteenth-century structure as
his starting point, for the two eastern chapels
. .lOn and staircase on the south side align with the
refectory aisles to fix the approximate lengths
o f the fourteenth-century bays. In the trans­
verse divisions o f the plan, there is a crescen­
lOn do o f space moving from the peripheral
chapels, 4.3 m deep, to the aisles, 5.75/5.8 m
across, and into the 10.7 m span of the nave.20
The resonance o f ground plan dimensions in
the elevation, discussed below, hints that an
underlying geometrical or proportional system
was in play, but one that was flexible enough
to coordinate the college’s main buildings and
to create an expansive harmony o f spaces with­
in the church itself.21
Crisp and concise, the plan of this church fits
well with the lucid functionality characteristic
o f Cistercian design.22 Although the most
salient aspect o f the plan, the absence o f a
Fig. 2. Collegiate Church o f Saint Bernard, plan, (redrawn after
transept, departs from the cruciform format fre­
Théodore Vacquer; Paris, BHVP, M S 252, p. 16)
quently applied to important houses, all o f its
features can be found in other churches of the
Order. For example, the polygonal apse flanked
the twentieth, the fourteenth-century ground by square chapels recalls the church of the near­
plan o f the church can be reconstructed in by womens’ abbey o f Saint-Antoine-des-

18. T he Papiers Parquer are housed in the Bibliothèque tw elfth-century church was incorporated into the late-
historique de la ville de Paris (hereafter BHVP), and invalu­ th irte en th -c en tu ry choir w hose plan was based on a
able notes, drawings, and photographs can be found in MSS geom etry o f squares. See Michael T. Davis, “T he C hoir
234, 235, and 252. Bay length, omitted by Vacquer, must o f the Abbey o f Altenberg: Cistercian Simplicity and Aris­
have been roughly 5.3/5.4 m. tocratic Iconography”, in Studies in Cistercian Art and Archi­
tecture, voi. it, ed. M eredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo, 1984),
19. For the student building, see Dautrey, “Croissance et
p. 132-33.
adaptation”, p. 160-98.
22. A ubert and de Maillé, L ’Architecture cistercienne, I,
20. Plan dimensions are taken from Vacquer s annotated
151-227; A ubert, "Existe-t-il une architecture cisterci­
drawing, Paris. BHVP. Papiers Vacquer. MS 235, D 35. fol.
enne?”, Cahiers de civilisation médiévale, 1 (1958), p. 153-58;
58r. Dimensions are calculated to the pier centres.
François Bucher. “Cistercian Architectural Purism”, Com­
21. A similar situation appears to have obtained at parative Studies in Society and History, 3 (1960), p. 89-105;
A ltenberg Abbey w here the south transept arm o f the and Kinder, Cistercian Europe, p. 161-72.

226 M ICH A EL T. DAVIS

Champs, while the basilican format without a monastic simplicity that he sought to articulate
transept appears at Ferrara in Italy in the 1170s in his own ambitious project in Paris.
and Marienwalde in Poland in the fourteenth Nevertheless, these models were carefully
century. However, as a package, Sainte-Marie adjusted to the specific architectural context of
and Saint-Bernard is unique in Cistercian the college, hinting either that the church plans
church architecture.23 In fact, the most com­ were drawn in Paris or created with detailed
pelling analogues are to be found in a small knowledge o f the site.26
group o f Dominican churches in southern Exactly one year after the pope set the con­
France. O f particular importance are Saint- struction project in motion, scandal rocked the
Maximin, whose construction debuted in 1295 workshop. In a blistering volley of letters sent
under the sponsorship o f Charles II of Anjou, out on 4 March 1339, Benedict accused the
and the Dominican convent in Avignon, rebuilt director o f the work, Bertrandus Auseti, a cler­
between 1310 and 1330 in the wake o f the ic of Mende, o f financial “fraud and mischief”.
papal court’s installation in the city.24 Like Saint- Two letters, addressed to Nicholas d’Ourscamp,
Bernard in Paris, both churches have apsed, prior of the college, and Raimond de Grand­
five-segment plans with no transept and each selve, bachelor in theology, outlined Bertrand’s
includes chapels to accommodate masses for the crimes, ordered the seizure o f the account
lay faithful.23 But there was more to recom­ books and goods, and enjoined them to find
mend these churches than mere functional suit­ the unfortunate embezzler, evidently still at
ability. Saint-Maximin, whose scale is nearly large. A third letter to the secular authorities in
identical to that o f Saint-Bernard, was con­ Paris requested that the fugitive be sent to
ceived as the spiritual epicentre of the Angevin Avignon to stand trial when he was finally cap­
kingdom in Provence; moreover, Benedict had tured.2' W hether or not Bertrand, a cleric, was
received the papal tiara on 8 January 1335 in the church’s designer, his responsibilities as
the newly refurbished Dominican church in director of the work would have included both
Avignon. Thus, from Benedict’s point o f view, management of the money and oversight o f the
these two edifices combined the elite status and architectural activity at the building site.28*

23. Based on comparison with the plans collected in M .- crated Building Contract o f 1340”, Art Bulletin. 67 (1985),
Anselme Dimier, Rccctiil de plans d'églises cisterciennes, 2 vols p. 67-95.
and supplement (Grignan. 1949 and 1967).
27. ASV, Reg. Vat. 134, nos XLV, XLV1, XLVII. fols
24. Bernard Montagnes, Architecture dominicaine en Provence 15-16. Bertrand’s crimes are described thusly:“C um autem
(Paris, 1979). p. 41-55: id.. “La Basilique de la Madeleine à dilect(us) filius Bertrandus auseti cl(er)icus mimaten(sis)
Saint-Maximin”, Congrès archéologique de France, 143 (1985), di(o)c(es)e ad dirigendum opus pred(i)c(tu)m et in eo
p. 238-53;Christian Freigang, "Kathedralen als Mendikan­ d(i)c(t)as pecunias util(ite)r et fidel(ite)r dispensandum p(er)
tenkirchen: Z u r politischen Ikonographie der Sakralar­ eande(m) cameram deputat(is) multas et div(er)sas fraudes
chitektur unter Karl I., Karl 11. und R obert dem Weisen”, et milicias no(n) par(um) previditiates et nocivas camere ac
in Medien der Macht: Kunst zur Zeit derAnjous in Italien. Akten op(er)i supradictis sicut displicenter nimis intelleximus
der internationalen Tagung im Liebighaus - Museum Alter com(m)iserit p(er) q(u)as no(n)nullas sum(m)as pecuniar(um)
Plastik Frankfurt/M ain 1997, cd. T. Michalsky (Berlin. hui(usmo)di sibi et quibusdam aliis suis complicibus fraud­
2001). p. 33-60. See also Richard A. Sundt, “The Church­ ulenter et malicióse in sue saluis anime periculum dicitur
es o f the Dominican Order in Languedoc, 1216 to ca. 1550” applicasse.” The contents o f no. XLV are summarized briefly
(unpublished doctoral thesis, T he University o f Wisconsin- by E. M üntz, “ Le Collège des Bernardins et les artistes
Madison, 1981), p.212—16, 289-93, w ho connects the rare parisiens d u XIVe siècle". Mémoires de la société de l'histoire de
basilican plans o f the D ominican houses at Le Puy and Paris et de l’Île-de-France. 26 (1899), p. 196—210 (p. 199).
Nîmes with the sphere o f Provence and Avignon.
28. Organizational analogies between the projects o f
25. Dautrey, "L’église”, p. 502-03, has recognized the Benedict XII, those o f Urban V in Montpellier and Mar­
similarity o f this nave to mendicant order architecture. By seilles, and Clem ent V i’s at Chaise-Dieu have been noted
the end o f the seventeenth century, 6600 masses were said by Frédérique-Anne Costantini, “L’abbatiale Saint-Robert
annually in the church. de la Chaise-Dieu au XIVe siècle: Un chantier de la papauté
d’Avignon”, in Du projet au chantier, ed. O dette Chapelot
26. The design o f Saint-Maclou, R ouen may offer a com­
(Paris, 2001), p. 59-68: also Philippe Dautrey, "L’espace des
parable situation. Pierre R obin seems to have stayed in the
comptes de construction des Bernardins de Paris”, Flistoire
city only long enough to complete a series o f drawings for
et mesure, 9 (1994). p. 67—89. For more on Chaise-Dieu, see
the church. See Linda E. Neagley, Disciplined Exuberance:The
Frédérique-A nne Costantini, “ Les Artistes de la Chaise-
Parish Church of Saint-Maclou and Late Gothic Architecture in
Dieu (1344-1352) d’après l’étude de la comptabilité pont-
Rouen (University Park. PA, 1998). p. 10-12; also Franklin
ficiale”, Revue de l ’art, 110 (1995), p. 44—55.
Toker. “Gothic Architecture by Rem ote Control: An Illus—

Cistercians in the City.The Church of the Collège Saint-Bernard in Paris 227

 Building at Full Speed: The Elevation

Ten days after Bertrand Auseti was exposed and

fired, on the Ides of March (15 March), Bene­
dict XII named Pons de Madieiras, a conversus
at the monastery of Boulbonne where the Pope
had spent his youth, as the head of the works
(operario operis).29 The ledgers he kept, written
in Occitan, are organized by categories —
chalk, wood, rope, plaster, shovels, iron — assid­
uously noting the date, the name o f the sup­
plier, quantity, and price. The punctilious Pope
would find no irregularities under Pons’s watch­
ful administration. However, the twenty-seven
folios o f the Vatican register are a fragment of
a larger whole. Payroll records that would reveal
the composition o f the workshop and stone
accounts are missing. Listed expenditures, cov­
ering the three years between March 1339 and
April 1342, total less than 1400 livres or less than
ten percent o f the money received by the fab­
ric agency during that period. Presumably the
lion’s share of papal funds must have been used
for workers’ salaries and masonry.30 Neverthe­
less, the terse comments appended to the pur­ Fig. 3. Jean-Philippe Sarazin, ruins o f the Collegiate Church
chase entries that explain the purpose or use of o f Saint-Bernard, ca. 1785 (Paris. B.n.F., Estampes, collection
the materials allow us to follow the construc­ Destailleur Ve 53 d, t.II, no. 251, fol. 32). (Bibliothèque
tion from month to month. nationale de France)
The church that began to take shape in 1338
offered a calculated contrast o f opulence and
sobriety. From the exterior, its 26 m height, the Sainte-Chapelle, and the royal palace wore
dominating the eastern corner of the Left Bank, comparable architectural crowns.-’2
immediately established its prominence on the If the exterior o f Saint-Bernards church was
Paris skyline (Fig. 1). Moving closer, the tall ves­ all about public display and a formal rhetoric
sel stayed by flying buttresses and embellished of status, the interior elevation spoke a language
by four-light windows further defined its ele­ that was in keeping with Cistercian traditions
vated rank.31*Elaborate traceried gables above and values (Fig. 3). Conceived according to
the chapel windows, visible even over the 5 m design principles familiar to the Order, the body
machicolated walls that surrounded the college, o f the church was arranged in two equal sec­
placed it among the most elite buildings in the tions, composed o f an arcade carried by slim
city, for only the Cathedral o f Notre-Dame, cylindrical columns and a clerestory, that con-

29. ASV. Reg. Vat. 134, no. CVII, fol. 28v. ified that there were four lights in the chapels measuring
67.5 cm, 73.5 cm, 73.5 cm, and 67.5 cm. In MS 252 (p. 16)
30. T he first entry o f Introitus et Exitus (18. fol. 941)
he further noted that the eastern chapels flanking the apse
records a chalk purchase on 24 O ctober 1339. Stone
and the windows at the ends o f the aisles contained triplet
accounts would certainly have filled the preceding, lost pages.
tracery designs.
31. There has been some confusion about the num ber o f
32. Mareuse (“ L’ancien couvent”, p. 74) mentions the
lights in the chapel windows. Abbé Alphonse-Exupère
machicolated walls. For instances o f decorative gables in
Daniel (Notice sur les mines et le Collège des Bernardins de Paris
Paris and their restriction to buildings o f the highest rank,
[Paris, 1886], p. 6), proposed a triple lancet pattern that is
see M ichael T. Davis, “ Splendor and Peril: T h e C athe­
also found in a section o f the church drawn by Albert Lenoir:
dral o f Paris, 12 9 0 -1 3 5 0 ” . Art Bulletin. 80 (1998), p.
Paris, Musée Carnavelet, Topo PC 087 F. Théodore Vac-
51-58.
quer in his notes (Paris, BHVP, MS 234, p. 75 and 79) spec-

228 M ICH A EL T. DAVIS

Fig. 4. Tlwodore Vacquer, Collegiate Church o f Saint-Bernard, Fig. 5. Théodore Vacquer, Collegiate Church o f Saint-Bernard,
plan and base o f nane pier. (Paris, BHVP, M S 234, p. 53; plan o f aisle pier between chapels. (Paris, BHVP, M S 234, p.
author photo) 52; author photo)

eluded in die spectacular glazed lantern o f the leaves at the angles of the nave piers’ octagonal
apse.33 Dimensions of the ground plan were plinths, the exquisitely scaled details added sub­
projected up into the superstructure whose tle notes o f luxury to the interior (Fig. 4). Pert
major divisions were regulated by a lucid sys­ filleted shafts, set off by cavettos and divided
tem of proportions apparently based on squares into groups o f three by the sharp corners o f the
and root-2 relationships.34 Although not quite buttress walls, composed the aisle piers (Fig. 5).
the simple “workshop of prayer” of twelfth- The resulting interplay o f dark, light, and lin­
century examples such as Fontenay, quadratic ear accents that contrast vividly to the smooth
planning, columns, and the absence o f a trifo­ curving surfaces o f the nave columns recalls the
rium encoded genetic traits of Cistercian archi­ similar effects achieved in the choir o f Nar­
tecture into the structure. bonne Cathedral. Likewise, the sharpened
While sculptural decoration was limited to spherical forms o f the clerestory tracery, if the
restrained foliate capitals, and beastie heads and Marot engraving o f the church is accurate, also

33. Based on a measured Vacquer drawing o f the east­ 34. For example, the chapel windows were placed about
ernmost chapel on the south side (Paris, BHVP. MS 234. 5.06 m above the floor, exactly the depth o f the chapel
p. 70), the height o f the capitals was 9.27 m and the height measured to the wall and including the aisle piers. The
o f the vaults o f the chapels and aisles was about 13.0/13.1 height o f the pier capitals multiplied by the square root o f
m. As drawn and measured by Vacquer on p. 53 and 58, the 2 yields the height o f the aisles (and chapels), and, at 26
columns o f the nave were 1.08 m in diameter and were set m, the main vessel was twice the height o f the aisles
on an octagonal base that, in turn, rested on a square plinth (dimensions from Vacquer drawings. Paris, BHVP, MS 234,
1.5 m per side. T heir capitals were also placed at 9.27 m. p. 58, 70, 75).

Cistercians in the City: The Church of the Collège Saint-Bernard in Paris 229
 set against the reticulated grills o f the windows
and the wiry trellis o f shafts and ribs. In this,
Saint-Bernard anticipates the architectural ideas
o f Clement V is chapel in the Palais-Neuf at
Avignon built a few years later by the Parisian
master Jean de Louvres.36
However useful the classification o f the
genealogy and links o f the constituent elements
of the Saint-Bernard plan and elevation — Cis­
tercian tradition, recent Dominican projects,
southern French cathedrals, Avignon — its
impact transcended the accretion of individual
parts. The architecture o f the church consti­
tuted a complex but coherent semantic system
in which the appearance of the whole, embody­
ing the qualities o f perfection, richness, and dis­
cipline, made visually manifest the “content”
o f the church and the intent o f its patron.37
Turning to the next chapter of construction,
by the first week o f April 1339 Pons de
Madieiras had arrived in Paris and was busy
buying building supplies. On Friday, 9 April,
Symon Grapeli was paid 13 livres for two hun­
Fig. 6. Théodore Vacquer, Collegiate Church o f Saint Bernard,
dred pieces o f lumber “for the work o f mak­
chapel, detail o f window jamb. (Paris, BHVP, M S 234, p. 82;
ing the arches”, and the next day, 10 April, Pons
disbursed 34 sous for three different kinds of
author photo)
rope necessary for the arches and the
“engine”.38 The eastern half o f the church’s
ground floor must have been forested in scaf­
resembled the high windows o f the western folding as construction of the arches continued
choir bays of Saint-Just, probably installed in through the spring and summer and into the
the 1320s (Fig. I).35 One of the most telling fall. Meanwhile Pons bought iron for the arma­
details can be seen in framing the chapel lights tures o f the windows and door hinges as well
with deep scoops outlined by fragile shafts set as steel for the workers’ hammers.39 Between
on tiny flared bases and faceted plinths (Fig. 6). April and June, the lifting device, complete with
Here, the designer revealed the muscular power a wheel, was fashioned of wood, iron, rope, and
of the mural armature o f the structure that is nails in preparation for hoisting building mate-

35. For Narbonne, see Christian Freigang, Imitare Eccle­ ing o f lum ber purchases beginning on fol. 96r grades the
sias Nobiles: Die Kathedralen von Narbonne,Toulouse und Rodes w ood by size: “Los pagamens que enseguo son fags dels
und die Nordfranzösischc Rayonnantgotik im Languedoc (Worms, cabiros e del grans fusts e de la autras fustas contengudas en
1992), p. 105-08. los pagamens que eron necessarias p(er) la obra de s. b(er)nat
fags p(er) fraire pons de madieiras.” “Fusts" would appear to
36. Alain Girard. “Les Constructions pontificales et l'ar­
refer to large timbers, “fustas” to somewhat smaller beams,
chitecture religieuse du Langedoc rhodanien". Cahiers de and “cabiros” , literally translated as chevrons or rafters, might
Fanjeaux, 26 (1991). p. 367-84 (p. 377-81 for the relation
best be understood as scantling. T he rope account begins
o f the architecture o f Benedict X I1 to that o f his successor.
on fol. 103v: “ Los pagamens que se enseguo sont de la cor­
Clement VI): also Françoise Robin. Midi Gothique (Paris,
das necessarias p(er) los arcamens o estaegas p(er) la obra de
1999). p. 16—18 and 95-134 for the papacy and palace in
s. b(er)nat et de las cordas necessarias p(er) lengienh e p(er)
Avignon.
linhas.”
37. Freigang, “ Kathedrale als M endikantenkichen”. p.
39. ASV. Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. I I5r: "Lan M C C -
33-34.
C X X X IX forai) filitz los pagamens que se enseguo p(er)
38. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol 96r: “lo venres a fraire pons de madieiras del fere e del acier [...] p(er) far la
ix jorns de abril: A Symon grapeli p(er) iic (200) cabiros ad ferradura de la veirieiras e los gons de las portas p(er) aceirar
obs de far los arcamens p(er) la obra [...] xiii yj.” T he head­ los martels del obrieiz.”

230 M ICH A EL T. DAVIS

rials into the upper levels o f the structure. By 6 Accaiuoli bankers to the fabric o f Saint-
July 1339, centring for the chapel vaults was Bernard.43
being nailed together.40 Finally, a supply of plas­ The ground floor o f the eastern half o f the
ter was laid in to make tracing floors for draw­ church rose quickly since entries appear in Feb­
ings required by the work and for “the vaults ruary, March, and April 1340 for large boards
of the great nave, the chapels, and the aisles” .41 (“grotes cabiros”) to support the chapel arches
W hile the pace o f work slowed between and ribs, large timbers (“fusts”) to make centring,
November 1339 and March 1340, it never and lumber to “make the strong arches”.44*Vault-
stopped completely; in December, Jacques ing began in the chapels in March and centring
Lenginhaire supplied two long beams for was installed in the nave.43 During the summer
unloading cargoes o f stone from the boats arriv­ and fall, more chapels were vaulted and the iron
ing from Saint Loup and Vernon, and a provi­ armatures assembled into the windows. The key­
sional wall was erected to close off the choir.42 stone was hoisted into place in the “cap de la
As construction geared up again in the spring glieia” — in late August as part of the vaulting of
of 1340, Benedict opened the papal coffers to the apse.46 The roof structure, with laths nailed
the project. In March, the Pope directed more to the timber frame and covered by tile, was com­
than 22,000 gold florins or over 14,000 livres pleted between August and November.47 The year
from his treasury and from revenues collected ended with raising the centring for the flying but­
as far afield as Poland, Tuscany, and the arch­ tresses in November, suggesting that the cleresto­
dioceses o f R ouen and Sens, through his ry wall of the eastern bays of the nave had reached

40. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fo!. 117v: “lo mars cabiros p(er) metre en lone a las capelas p(er) sostener los
vi jorns de juill: It(em) costero 1 milhier de clavéis reforssatz arcame(n)s xv s” : fol. 98v: “lo sabre a xv jorns abril, it(em)
ad obs de clavelar las sindrias p(er) volurre las capelas xiii s." al digjeh(an) p(er) xx grotes cabiros p(er) metre en lo lone
de la capelas p(er) far forts arcamens (...] lx s”; “ It(em) cos­
41. ASV. Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 11 l r: “Piastre.
tero los digs cccxl cabiros el viii cabiros gresses p(er) metre
Lan mil C C C X X X IX foron faitz p(er) fraire pons de
en las capelas els iii fusts p(er) far las sindrias de port de greva
madieiras los pagamens que se enseguo de piastre p(er) far
entro a s. b(er)nat viii s” ; fol. 99r: “lo sabte xxix jo ras de
los sols out sont faitz los trags necesaris p(er) la obra e p(er)
Abril. It(em) alui meteis [Jeh(an) polamlanh] p(er) xi cabiros
far sindrias a las voûtas ala gran nau coma alas capelas et
p(er) metre entraneiz de las capelas p(er) far forez escafalx
alas petitas naus.” There are repeated entries in the 14th-
o arcamens [...] xxxiii s.”
and 15'h-century fabric accounts o f Troyes Cathedral for
laying plaster floors for drawings. See Stephen Murray. 45. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 117v, in the iron
BuildingTroyes Cathedral:Ttie Late Gothic Campaigns (Bloom­ accounts: “lolhus xiiii jorns de mars (1340). “it(em) cous-
ington, IN. 1987), p. 56. 60, 138. 142, 153, 161, 165, tero iiii cambas grossas de naguier ad obs de far las sindrias
180-81. a la nau mager ad obs de far las voûtas de la capelas xxv s.”
42. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 97r: “lo mars 46. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 100r: “lo dimenge
xiiii jo rn s de decembre. A Jacques lenginhaire p(er) dos a xx jorns de Aost. A Jeh(an) champion p(er) iii grotes fustz
fusts loncx ad obs de far planeas alas naus que venían de s. de Ione cascus de vi tezas ad obs de metre sus al cap de la
lop e de vernon que portavan la peira e p(er) descargar la glieia p(er) far fortz arcamens p(er) metre la clau de! dig cap
dicha peira xxiiii s.”; and for the provisional closing wall, et p(er) far la vouta vi s liv d.” On the same day, one reads
fol. I l l ': “lo dimenge a xxiii jorns de decembre. Al dig on fol. 118v: “ It(em) p(er) una cavilha de ferr p(er) metre
O din gigno p(er) 1 m ueg e mieg de piastre p(er) far 1 m ur en 1 engien am que foron montatz los fustz al cap de la glieia
10 qual sete(n) am lo cap de la glieia p(er) la equant lo dig p(er) far escargas p(er) voutar e p(er) metre la clau la qual
m ur non era fait venia da(m)pnatge a la dicha obra [. . .] pesa iiii livras ii s.”
xxii s vi d.”
47. ASV. Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 118v: “lo sabte
43. The financial documents were published by Daumet. xxviii jorns de octobre. It(em) coustero iii milhieiz (3000)
Benoît XII, col. 436, nos 711,712;Jean-M arie Vidal, Benoit de clavéis ad obs de clavelar las latas sus al cap de la glieia
X II (1334-42), Lettres Commîmes analysés d ’après les registres [ ...] viii s”; and “ It(em) a P. Luilier p(er) cubrir lo dig cap
dits d’Avignon et du Vatican, 3 vols (Paris, 1903-11), il, col. de glieia de teula e de m ontar sus lo dig cap xxxii s viii d.”
302. no. 8291 (22 April 1340); and by Jean-M arie Vidal and Entries concerning the roof in the lum ber account on fol.
Guillaume M ollat. Benoit X II (1334—42): Lettres closes et 100r read: “lo sabte a xi jorns de nove(m)bre. It(em) p(er)
patentes intéressant pays autres que la France, in fascicules (Paris. xv pessas de fusta ad obs de cubrir e far cub(er)tura al cap
1913-50), 4'h fascicule, col. 21, no. 2708 (7 March 1340), de la glieia de Ione cascuna de ii tezas L s” ; “ It(em) ajeh(an)
cols 28-30, nos 2743, 2744, 2746 (25 March 1340). Sum­ champion p(er) xl cabiros de Ione de ii tezas e mieia. Et de
maries o f the documents are provided by Müntz, “Le Col­ xxv cabiros de Ione de iiii tezas p(er) far cub(er)tura al dig
lège des Bernardins”, p. 198-200, 204-07. cap de glieia C s” ; and “ It(em) a Jeh(an) de Beum on p(er)
viiic e iiiixx (880) latas ad obs de la dicha cub(er)tura [. ..]
44. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 97r: "lolhus xxvi-
xxxix s. xi d."
11 jorns de febrier. It(em) ajeh(an) morlet p(er) xvi grotes

Cistercians in the City.The Church of the Collège Saint-Bernard iti Paris 231
 its filli height.48 Then work moved inside to focus Construction resumed its breakneck speed in
on building the columns of the main vessel and March 1341. From March to June, centring
plastering the chapel vaults during December.49 then vaults were erected in the chapels followed
At least some of the labour force stayed busy by the aisles (“las petits naus”) from April
during the winter months of 1341. In January, through October.53 Ten large beams were set
thirty-two sacks o f plaster were purchased to across the nave (“la gran nau”) in August and
cover the footings and bases of the “round pil­ September in order to make the strong arches
lars”, that is, the columns o f the nave.30 Then on and to support a sturdy scaffolding in prepara­
25 February, Thomas Lengles was paid for “three tion for the task o f vaulting that was no doubt
iron anchors to be placed in the body of the piers scheduled for the spring o f 1342.34 This is con­
of the chapels and the round pillars and each of firmed by the assembly o f lifting engines, one
the anchors has one ring that is outside the body with a wheel, in November. During the same
and in that ring one tie rod o f iron is placed that month, four cartloads of thatch were bought to
will hold the round piers”.51 Similar systems of cover the aisle vaults through the winter, indi­
chains appear with increasing frequency during cating that the roof had not yet been closed.33
the thirteenth century as masons reduced the By the end of 1341, three and a half yean after
stone mass of the structure and designed increas­ Queen Jeanne laid the first stone, the foundation
ingly elaborate screens of tracery. However, it is platform of the whole church had been completed
unclear whether this iron armature was intend­ and the eastern half of the structure rose to its full
ed only as provisional reinforcement, removed height. But had construction been pushed too far
once the building had settled, as in the nave of too fast? Scaffolding of long boards (5.5 toises or
Reims Cathedral, or conceived as an integral and 10.7 m) was built around the nave columns, a “big
permanent component of the structure, as at and long” beam was purchased to hold up the key­
Saint-Nazaire, Carcassonne.32 None o f the stones of the aisles, and by mid-November 1341,
atmospheric views o f the interior of the church the aisle piers were “in danger of breaking” and
depicts these iron rods (Fig. 3). were propped up by provisional buttresses.36

48. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 100r: “lo sabte a pion p(er) iii fustz p(er) far sindrias a las petitas naus xi s. iiii
xi jorns de nove(m)bre. AJeh(an) polamlangp(er) doas pes- d”; and for plaster, fol. 1 l2 r: “lo dimenge a xxvi jorns de
sas de fusta de iii tezas dellonc ad obs de far sindrias als arcx Aost. Al dig odin gigno p(er) lxx sacx de piastre p(er) far
botans vii s.” sindrias a las petitas naus p(er) voutar de peira [...] lxx s.”
49. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 119r for stone for 54. ASV. Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol.l00v:“lo dimenge
the piers o f the nave:“Iolhus xxv jorns de decembre. A Jeh(an) a xxvi jorns de Aost. A Jeh(an) beumon de greva p(er) dos
au lovre p(er) 1 carreot ad obs de portar las grans peiras dels grans fusts p(er) metre entrevere de la gran nau p(er) far fortz
pilars redons et los grans cartiere de peira [...] lx s.” arcamens x and “lo sabte a xx jorns de octob(re). A
50. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 112r:“lo dimenge jeh(an) champion p(er) vi grans fustz p(er) metre entravers
xi jorns de febrier. A O din Gigno p(er) xxxii sacx de pias­ de la gran nau ad obs de far fortz escafals [...] XXX j T . ”
tre ad obs de cubrir las sotzbassas e la bassas dels pilars redons 55. ASV. Imroitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 10T':“lo dimenge
[...] xxi s iiii d.” a xviiijorns de novembre. It(em) al digjeh(an) [Maurelet] p(er)
XXX cabiros p(er) cubrir las crosieiras q(uas) crosvoutas de las
51. ASV. Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 119r: “lo dimenge
a xxv jorns de febrier. Al dig Thomas p(er) iii grapas de ferr petitas naus q(uas) no(n) plognes desus viii v s”: “It(em) a
las quals se meton en las cargas dels pilars de las capelas en las ph(ilipp)ot dupin p(er) iii carretadas de chaume o de rescolh
(dais written above) pilars redons en cascun de las grapas ha p(er) cubrir las voûtas de las peritas naus [...] xl s. vi d.” Anoth­
1 anel lo qual demora fora de las cargas en lo qual anel se er six cartloads o f thatch were bought on 2 December.
metra 1 tiran de ferr que tenra los pilars redons e pesan cent 56. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 100v: “lo dimenge
xii livras [...] Ivi s.” The anchors were sealed into the mason­ a iiii jorns de nove(m)bre. lt(em) al digjeh(an) [Quartot]
ry with lead as detailed in a 16 September 1341 purchase (fol. p(er) XXX loncx cabiros p(er) far escafals als pilars redos de
120v). Entries for iron anchors and rods (“grapas” and “tirans”) v tezas e mieia de lone xiiii ¿ v s”; “ It(em) p(er) autre fust
continue through October (fols 119r—120v). gran e lone p(er) sostener las claus de las peritas naus xlix s.”
52. See the article “chaînage” by Eugène-Emmanuel Vio- T he dire state o f the piers is mentioned on fol. 101v: "lo
llet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire raisonné de ¡’architecture française du dimenge a xxiii jorns de decembre. It(em) p(er) v grossas
X f au XVIe siècle, 10 vols (Paris, 1854-68), il, p. 396-404 (p. pessas de fusta ad obs de fermar los pilars que eroen perilh
402); also Pierre Benoit, “ Métal et construction en France decaser xiii The props to the piers are listed in the plas­
au Moyen Age”, in Pierre et métal, ed. Chapelot and Benoit, ter entries o f November and December 1341, fol. 112v: “lo
p. 359-67 ( p . 361, 364-65). dimenge a xviii jorns de novembre. A Odin gigno p(er) viii
sacx de piastre ad obs de metre [...] de las contra fichas p(er)
53. ASV, Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 100v presents a arretener los pilars de las petitas naus aquels que estaño en
typical entry: “lo sabte xxi jo rn de Abril. A jeh(an) cham- perilh [...] ix s iiii d.”

232 M ICH A EL T. DAVIS

Evidently these emergency measures saved the tee­ abrupt halt. The apse, its pair of flanking chapels,
tering stone armature from ruin since the choir and the eastern five bays o f the nave had been
survived the next four centuries without further finished but eight bays to the west remained
mishap. unbuilt. R ather than continue the church,
Benedict X II’s generous funding was obvi­ another alumnus o f the college, Cardinal Guil­
ously a key factor behind the astounding pace laume Curti, focused his attention and gen­
o f construction, but the orchestration o f simul­ erosity on the college buildings, completing the
taneous work at all levels o f the elevation can sacristy whose vault keystones bear his arms.5859
only have been achieved by a large, organized A final effort saw the addition o f four bays
workforce fed by a reliable network o f pro­ between 1510 and 1514. In the seventeenth
curement and supply. Masonry production century the O rder turned its back on the
appears to have been highly rationalized as tem­ church, which slowly fell into disrepair and was
plates (“molles”) were made and sent to the converted into a cattle market in the 1770s
quarries for cutting stone to the required size.3' before being swept away in 1859 by Hauss-
Bertrand Auseti, in spite of his financial mis­ mann’s new boulevards and apartment blocks.60
deeds, and Pons de Madieiras knew what they
were doing. The precision o f Pons’s entries, the The Church and the City
detail o f his terminology, and his familiarity
with building material specifications — witness If the Vatican registers do not include the
the distinction in types and lengths o f timber masons, carpenters, glaziers, and labourers from
or of rope — reveal his professional expertise. the Saint-Bernard workshop, they afford a rare
Moreover, his designation as “operario operis window onto the external connections to the
ecclesie” points to an active, practical role in the commercial world that made the church possi­
construction, in contrast to the exclusively fis­ ble. Pons de Madieiras bought goods and ser­
cal responsibilities o f Jean Courtoys, “scriptori vices from approximately seventy different
Papae et superintendenti fabricae Ecclesie Sanc­ individuals. O f these, three were women: two,
ti Bernardi Parisiensis”, the man who handled Jehana and Maria, were in the rope and cord
the enormous sums o f money as they arrived trade; Agnes de Peiraleia is found in a single
from the papal treasury or the Accaiuoli banks.38 payment on 11 November 1340 for 17 muids
It is also worth noting that the workshop 9 setiers (nearly 2500 bushels) of lime. Most of
appears to have been open seven days a week the vendors specialized in a single product or
— witness the frequent entries made on Sun­ trade, although three, Mathi Audoart, Peire
day (“dimenge”) — and, despite a seasonal ebb Fermi, and P. Ducarroge, furnished both mats
in the winter, twelve months a year. or lattices (“cledas”) and “guatos” (withies or
Despite its auspicious beginning and all the branches) for making the arches or ribs, while
advantages o f its patronage, professional orga­ Jehan le Bouchier added rope to this product
nization, and resources, the construction of line, and Jehan Hubi de Moret supplied both
Saint-Bernard’s church foundered. Benedict lime and withies.61 By far, the widest network
died on 24 April 1342, just as the lifting engine o f vendors was involved in the procuring of
was being completed, and work came to an wood. Twenty names are listed in the records,

57. ASV, Introitus et Exitus, 181 no. fol. 100v: “lo sabte ti Bernardi Parisius”; and Daumet, Benoît X II, col. 436, no.
x x ijorn de Abril. lt(em) p(er) 1 cent de latas p(er) far molles 711. for Jean Courtoys.
p(er) portar a las peirieiras v s” ; “lo sabte a v jorns de mai
59. T he arms o f Cardinal C urti are m entioned by
[...] p(er) mieg cent de latas p(er) far molles a la peiras ii s
Mareuse, “L’ancien couvent”, p. 75; and Dautrey, “L’église”,
viii d.” O n 14 August 1339, fol. 117v, 200 nails were pur­
p. 503.
chased to make false templates (“los molles falsses”). Refer­
ences to templates, including those being sent to the quarry, 60. Mareuse, “ L’ancien couvent” , p. 74; and Dautrey,
appear frequently in the accounts o f Troyes Cathedral. See “L'église”, p. 505-14 recount the decline o f the church.
Murray. BuildingTroyes Cathedral, p.65. 83, 89. 147, 171-72.
174, 176. At Troyes, “false templates” (“faulx moles”) were 61. T he use o f “guatos” as hoops or lashes is suggested in
portable patterns made o f paper. an entry o f 18 April 1339, fol. 110r: “A Nicholas la buscha
[ ...] p(er) dos cens guatos ad obs de tortoirar (to wind or
58. Consult Müntz, “Le Collège des Bernardins”, p. 207. wrap) los digs arcamens de las cordas am que sont liatz [...]
for the designation o f Pons as “operario operis ecclesie sanc- ii s. viii d.”

Cistercians in the C ity -.Tite Church o f the Collège Saint-Bernard in Paris 233
 although two, Jehan de Champienh and Jehan dozen.Thus, even chough the project was backed
Polamlang, captured over half of the business. by the deep pockets of the papal treasury, the cost
The other men appear at times o f intense of building material was rising at a ten to thirty
demand, providing long roof and scaffolding percent rate each year.66 The director of the fab­
beams that may have been in shorter supply — ric may have played the competitive market to
reminiscent of Abbot Suger scouring the forests maximize construction funds and to avoid any
for tall straight trees for Saint-Denis.62 hint of the mismanagement that had doomed his
For most materials, Pons found a primary predecessor, Bertrand Auseti.
supplier, such as Thomas Lengles who pro­ As he reimagined RievauLx, Peter Fergusson
duced most of the iron for the church project recognized that the success of the abbey and its
between June 1340 and March 1342.63 Thomas architectural fortunes were tied at once to a world
entered the 1339 accounts as a wage earner of economic reality with its fisheries, granges,
paid daily for overseeing the forge.64 His salary and industrial buildings, as well as to the choic­
o f 18 deniers, plus 14 deniers for his assistant es and actions of individuals such as Aelred.67 In
Pier le Fabre, placed him in the middle o f the much the same way, the elegant columns and fil­
artisanal wage scale, below a mason or roofer, igree gables of the church of the Collège Saint-
but above their assistants.65 After working for Bernard lead to the iron forges of the Place
fifty-three days from August to October 1339, Maubert, to Avignon, and to the banks of Flo­
Thomas disappeared for eight months return­ rence. The accounts that document its dramatic,
ing in June 1340 as the manufacturer o f iron if short, story of construction take us behind the
bars for the windows, cramps for the piers, and scenes to reveal the logistical magic, the organi­
iron rods. These pieces likely would have been zational machinery, and the importance of the
standardized and were produced in quantity — fourteenth-century building industry in which
Thomas delivered eighty-eight iron bars each large-scale project supported hundreds of
weighing about 1600 livres for the windows workers and their families.68 Featuring a diverse
between June 1340 and January 1341 — so it cast of characters, they also present an architec­
was efficient practice to stay with the same reli­ tural history composed o f episodes o f proud
able source. ambition, astute planning, labour, and greed. If
Yet Pons de Madieiras occasionally shifted ven­ the new chui'ch o f Saint-Bernard manifested
dors. For example, Jehan Hubi de Moret acted as Benedict XII’s vision of the greatness of his col­
the sole source o f lime from December 1339 until lege and the Cistercian Order, that image was
August 1340 when Jehan Raynoart replaced him made real by the stone carver, the plaster suppli­
as the supplier. In at least one case, comparative er, and the carter, by Thomas Lengles, Agnes Per-
shopping may have triggered the change. Jehana alieia, and Symon Grapeli no less than by Pons
la Cordieiera enjoyed a monopoly on rope pur­ de Madieiras and the Pope himself.
chases in 1339. Her price? Twenty sous a dozen.
Abruptly, in February 1341, Pons turned to Jehan M ount Holyoke College
le Bouchier who sold the goods at 16 sous per South Hadley, Massachusetts

62. Suger recounts his hunt for beams in De Consesecra- wages o f Parisian artisans in the late Middle Ages.
tione, in Abbot Suger: On the Abbey Church ofSt-Denis and its
66. Price inflation o f building materials is illustrated by the
Art Treasures, ed. Erwin Panofsky and Gerda Panofsky-
rise in plaster from 6 deniers in 1339 to 7 deniers by Sep­
Soergel (Princeton, NJ, 19792). p.94—97.
tember 1340, and 10 deniers in March 1342. Lime rose from
63. Metal purchases are contained in accounts labelled “fere” 24 sous per muid in October 1339 to 38 sous in July 1340.
and “ferramenta” that run from ASV, Introitus et Exitus no.
67. Fergusson and Harrison, Riemulx Abbey, p.37—43 and
181. fol. 115r to fol. 12lr. “ Fere” includes the payments to the
p. 123-30 for the unusual adjacency o f the Abbot’s residence
forge and raw iron; “ferramenta” lists expenses for finished
and the infirmary explained by Aelred’s delicate health.
products such as hinges, nails, anchors, and tie rods.
68. Geremek (Le Salariat, p. 13-25) notes that there were
64. ASV. Introitus et Exitus no. 181, fol. 115r:“lolhus segon
5000 tax-paying artisans out o f the 15,000 individuals assessed
jorn de Aost. lo dig fraire pons pres la fargua e las fes gou-
in the late-13,h-century tax rolls. At the beginning o f the 14'1'
vernar a Thomas lengles al qual donava p(er) cascuna jorna­
century, there were some 400 artisans associated with the build­
da xviii d et a P. fabre al qual donava p(er) cascun jorn xiiii d.”
ing trades, such as masons, carpenters, rooters, and mortarers,
65. Consult Bronislaw Geremek, Le Salariar dans l'arti­ resident in the city. This census may not include the army ot
sanat parisien aux XIIIe—XVe siècles (Paris. 1962), p. 85-95, for semi-skilled labour required in construction.

234 M ICH A EL T. DAVIS

 From Flanders to Scotland:
The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey
in the Fifteenth Century
THOM AS CO OM A N S

n 7 October 1441, the magistrate of by Octave Delepierre (1802—79), one o f the

O Bruges recorded in the register o f civ­

il sentences an agreement between
representatives o f the abbey o f Melrose and a
very first antiquarians to rediscover the medieval
past of Bruges and Flanders in the early 1830s.2
Despite a promising start to a career as archivist
carpenter from Bruges.1 Many years earlier, the and head o f the town library o f Bruges, he
abbey had entrusted Master Cornelius van moved to London in 1843 where he became
Aeltre with the task of constructing new choir secretary o f the Belgian Legation and, in 1849,
stalls after the fashion of the stalls o f two oth­ the Consul General for Belgium in London.3
er Cistercian abbey churches in Flanders: Ten As a member o f the Society o f Antiquaries of
Duinen and Ter Doest. Owing to a combina­ London, Delepierre again published the docu­
tion of circumstances, the carpenter was forced ment on the stalls o f Melrose in Archaeologia,4
to interrupt his work, and this caused a conflict and thirteen years later did the same yet again
with the abbey that was waiting for its new fur­ for the Philobiblion Societyà His intention, clear­
nishings. Thanks to the agreement o f 1441, ly, was to reveal the existence of a Flemish mas­
however, it was now possible for things to move terpiece in a British abbey that had achieved
once again, and the stalls would be completed fame abroad thanks to the popular writings of
in Bruges, transferred to Scotland, and installed Sir Walter Scott. But more generally, Delepierre
in due course in the church o f Melrose Abbey. was convinced that all the documentary evi­
Since the stalls were destroyed and no other dence pertaining to the nature o f medieval
archival information about them appears to Flemish art (at that time Flemish was still syn­
have survived, the agreement o f 1441 is our onymous with Belgian) deserved to be edited.
only source for a most unusual historic and The young nation had, after all, been founded
artistic link between Flanders and Scotland. The on a prestigious past in which the art industry
document in question was first edited in 1841 had played a major role. It is hardly surprising,

t. Bruges. Stadsarchief. Stadscartularium 11, fol. 297r v. 4. "Letter from M. Octave Delepierre, Secretary o f the
Belgian Legation, Honorary F.S.A., to Sir Henry Ellis, Sec­
2. Octave Delepierre. "Stalles de l'abbaye de Melrose, faits
retary, communicating a D ocum ent preserved among the
à Bruges” , Annales de la Société de l’Émulation pour l’histoire et
Records o f West Flanders, relating to the carved Stalls of
les antiquités de la Flandre-Occidentale, 3 (1841), p. 402—10.
Melrose Abbey C hurch”. Archaeologia, 31 (1846), p. 346—49.
3. Lori Van Biervliet, “Joseph Octave Delepierre,
5. Octave Delepierre, “L’abbaye de Melrose et les ouvri­
1802—1879, Brugs historicus, publicist en bibliofiel.
ers Flamands", Bibliographical and Historical Miscellanies of the
Biografische schets, m et een overzicht van zijn briefsvisse-
Philobiblion Society, 5 (1858—59), p. 2-22.
ling en bibliografie”, Handelingen van het Genootschap van
“Société d'Émulation” te Brugge, i 18 (1981), p. 173—291.

From Flanders to Scotland.The Choir Stalls o f Melrose A bbey 235

 therefore, that Delepierre’s discovery should be
mentioned, both in England and Belgium, in
the literature on choir stalls in general6 and
Melrose in particular.7
Why, then, do we need a new study o f the
Melrose stalls? There are two main reasons. First,
Delepierre’s editions did not mention the ori­
gin of the original document. Tracing the orig­
inal in the archives o f the city o f Bruges and
comparing it with Delepierre’s edition has
proved extremely useful, and a new edition of
the document is given in the appendix to this
essay. In addition, it is now possible to place the
affair o f the Melrose choir stalls in a new his­
torical perspective thanks to a better knowledge
of the historical and economic context, the
identification o f the main actors, and a new
interest in late medieval Cistercian art and archi­
tecture. And, last but not least, this unusual link
between the Low Countries and the British
Isles seemed to be an ideal contribution for a
Uber amicorum in honour o f Peter Fergusson.8

The Affair of the Stalls o f Melrose

Fig. I . Illumination o f monks in stallsfront the Psalter o f Henry
The document of 7 October 1441 is an agree­ VI, ca. 1430. (London, British Librar)’, Cotton M S, Domit­
ment passed before the magistrate o f Bruges, ian A .X V II,fo l. I22v)
acting as an arbitration committee. It is worth
noting that the act is written in Latin with a
Flemish abstract, whereas the great majority of
the acts entered in the register of civil sentences zen of Bruges and master of the art o f carpen­
o f the city are in Flemish. The reason is simply try. Many years earlier, the latter had contract­
that Latin was the only common language for ed to supply certain stalls and to erect them in
all parties and witnesses in this international the abbey church o f Melrose, the said stalls
affair. It is not impossible, therefore, that the being fashioned after those in the choir o f the
text was composed by a monk either o f Ten abbey church o f Ten D uinen (Dttnis) in
Duinen or of Ter Doest. Flanders, with carving similar to that on the
The document opens with a preamble which stalls in the abbey church of Ter Doest (Titosan)
introduces the parties in the dispute. On the in Lissewege near Bruges. A contract (conventio)
one hand we have John Crawfort, a monk of had been signed between the two parties. John
Melrose who is representing his abbot (who, at Crawfort had paid the whole o f the stipulated
that time, was abbot Richard [1440-43], price, but Master Cornelius had not delivered
though his name does not appear in the act), the work and was therefore called to account
and William Carebis, a Scottish merchant; on for the delay in completing his commission
the other, we have Cornelius van Aeltre, citi- (Fig- 1).

6. Francis Bond, Wood Carvings in English Churches, voi. 1, 7. “Melrose Abbey” , in The Royal Commission on the
Stalls and Tabernacle Work (London. 1910), p. 68—70; Louis Ancient Monuments of Scotland: Inventory of the Ancient and His­
Maeterlinck, Les Stalles et lesfaiseurs de stalles en Belgique (Brus­ torical Monuments o f Roxburghshire, vol. il ([n.p.], 1956). p.
sels, 1910);Jan Karel Steppe, Maurits Smeyers, and J. Lauw- 265-91 (p. 272). Also in the numerous editions by J. S.
erys, Wereld van vroomheid en satire: Laal-gotische koorbanken in Richardson and Marguerite Wood, Melrose Abbey (London.
Viaanderen (Kasterlee, 1973), p. 30, 36-37; Dorothy Kraus 1932), p. 9 ;and the revised reprint editiom j. S. Richardson,
and Henry Kraus, 77;c Hidden World of Misericords (New York, M arguerite Wood, and Chris J. Tabraham, Melrose Abbey
1975), p. 172: Richard Fawcett, Scottish Medieval Churches. (Edinburgh. 1995), p. 6—7 (with an appreciable artists
Architecture and Furnishings (Stroud, 2002), p. 283-88. impression o f the choir and stalls).

236 THOMAS COOMANS

 Master Cornelius does not contest the terms Cornelius”, the mediators succeeded in com­
of the contract, nor does he deny that he has ing to an agreement, which was then ratified
indeed been paid; but in the second part of the by the magistrate.
document he explains why he was forced to First o f all, according to this agreement, the
interrupt his work. He adduces four main rea­ representatives o f Melrose would pay four
sons: financial, technical, social, and economic. Flanders pounds to the guardian o f the Grey
The first reason is a devaluation of the currency Friars o f Bruges. This was a compensation for
in Flanders, which resulted in his having to pay the extended use o f the convent’s refectory as
his worker’s and buy his materials with new mon­ storage space for the uncompleted stalls.
ey, whereas Melrose had paid him with old mon­ Secondly, they would put aside a sum of two
ey. As his second reason, Master Cornelius Flanders pounds for the transfer o f the stalls, in
explains that, having examined the substructure their present condition, from the refectory of
o f the stalls of Ten Duinen, he found that they the Grey Friars in Bruges to the harbour o f
were too weak, and therefore decided to make Sluis and for loading the said stalls onto an
the foundations of the Melrose stalls more sta­ appropriate ship. Thirdly, Melrose would assist
ble and solid. He hoped to be rewarded for his poor Master Cornelius, together with his wife
professional decision and to be granted supple­ and children, with the sum o f two Flanders
mentary funds to allow for the extra costs. The pounds and persuade him to accompany the
third reason — the social reason — is the result stalls to Scotland. Melrose would provide Master
of a rebellion by the common people of Bruges, Cornelius and his assistant carver with a reli­
during which his workmen had deserted him able and free safe conduct so that they might
and he himself had suffered heavy losses. There come to Melrose, complete the stalls and assem­
was also a famine that weakened his economic ble them there, and then return home.
basis to the point that even his wife and children Furthermore, Melrose would guarantee that the
became too heavy a charge on him. W ithout two Flemings would not be insulted, harassed,
help, he would not be able to complete the work. or detained in Scotland in the name o f the
We shall see in a moment that Master Cornelius abbey. W hen the work was finished, the repre­
had not exaggerated the situation and that all his sentatives of Melrose would intercede with the
excuses can be confirmed historically. Abbot and the community — though without
Two ecclesiastics offered to mediate the con­ guarantee o f success — on behalf o f Master
flict: the Abbot of Ter Doest, who at that time Cornelius so that he and his carver might be
was Jacob Schaep (though he is not named in compensated for the damages and interest they
the act),9 and Master Johannes Cranach from had incurred in the course o f their commis­
the diocese o f Brixen in Tyrol.10 Together with sion. The two Flemings would be accompanied
the deputies of the magistrate of Bruges, they from Sluis to Melrose by the monk John
discussed the matter with the two contending Crawfort; and once at the abbey, they would
parties in order to find a solution and arrange complete and assemble the work with the help
for completion o f the work. “Taking into o f craftsmen chosen and paid for by Melrose.
account the reasons they had to consider, as well In order to ensure adherence to the terms of
as the great poverty and good will o f Master this agreement, Master Cornelius, together

8. It is a pleasure to express my gratitude to the K A D O C - Roger De Ganck and Nicolas Huyghebaerc, “Abbaye de
Research and Documentation Center for Religion, Culture and Ter Doest à Lissewege”, in Monasticon beige. 5/2: Province dc
Society, at the Katholieke Université« Leuven, and in par­ Flandre-Occidentale, vol. Il (Liège, 1966), p. 317-51 (p. 344).
ticular to Prof. D r Jan De Maeyer, director o f the center,
10. Brichiniensis is the Latin nam e o f Brixen, today
for having made this research possible in 2003.1 also would
Bressanone in Italy. Johannes Cranach never was bishop
like to offer my sincere thanks to Dr David Bell, who kind­
(as per O. Delepierre) but was dominus and magister from
ly agreed to read the text and improve my English, as well
the diocese o f Brixen. H e was probably from the same
as to D r François de Callataÿ, D r Allons Dewitte, D r James
intellectual milieu as the famous Nicolas o f Cusa, who was
France, D r N oël G eirnaert, M r Steve Kemp, D r Terryl
cardinal o f Brixen from 1450 to 1464. Cranach is suppos­
Kinder, and D r Rowan Watson for their interest and assis­
edly derived from the town o f Kronach in the Franken­
tance in the course o f my research.
wald, like the famous painter Lucas Cranach (1472—1553),
9. Jacob Schaep from Bruges, form er m onk o f Ten whose son, anotherjohannes Cranach (1509—37). also was
Duinen, prior and later Abbot o f Ter Doest (1427-59). See a painter.

From Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 237

 with a certain Jan Mulaert acting as his guar­ and perhaps his grandfather, who were also
antor, would personally bind themselves before named Cornelius and were also master carpen­
the magistrates of the city. Otherwise, if Master ters.12 They were, in fact, some o f the most
Cornelius had cause to complain, the magis­ important carpenter-contractors in Bruges
trates would require compensation from the between ca. 1360 and ca. 1440.13 Cornelius the
abbey. At the very least, the representatives of elder, a man with capital, was regularly chosen
the abbey would be obliged to pay all expens­ as the master carpenter o f the city (siede meester)
es and ordinary costs for the food and travel of and seems to have specialized in public works
Master Cornelius and his assistant from Sluis to such as constructing bridges and sluices. He also
Melrose and back again. worked on the fortifications o f the city, where
In fact, the only obligation for Master he kept the canons (ribaudes) in good repair. On
Cornelius is that he come to Melrose and com­ several occasions, he was dean (dekaan) of the
plete his work there. He receives a guarantee powerful guild of carpenters; he was also deputy
that he will be treated well, assisted, looked mayor (schepen) o f Bruges in 1382-83, and,
after, and paid. Melrose will pay any other costs when old, he bore the title of lock-keeper of
and compensation to all the other people the town o f Damme (speyhoudere van Damme).14
involved in the affair. One gets the impression He lived in a house at the southern edge o f the
that the craftsman was sick or old, and that the town, close to the Great Beguinage, in a neigh­
patron would at all costs like to see him begin bourhood called “the vineyard” .13 Cornelius
work again as soon as possible and have the sit­ the elder had a personal seal.16 W hen he mar­
uation back under control. And after discussing ried the daughter o f the master smith Jacob
the sorry state o f Bruges at that time, it will be Braderycx in 1396, he received a silver-gilt
easier to understand both the decisions o f the tankard from the city in gratitude for his ser­
Melrose Chapter as well as Master Cornelius’s vices.17 We may therefore presume that his son
severe depression. was born shortly before 1400.
Cornelius the younger does not appear to
On the Flemish Side have risen to the same eminence as his father.
He is only mentioned once — in 1431 — as
The document under discussion here describes dean o f the guild o f carpenters,18 and, as we
Cornelius van Aeltre as a citizen of Bruges (opp­ shall see, his business was affected by the deep
idanum, in Flemish a poorter) and as a master car­ economic and political crisis that occurred in
penter (arris carpentarie magistrum). His name Bruges in the late 1430s. But if it is certain that
appears in several sources,11 but he cannot this period o f major recession was wholly
always be clearly distinguished from his father unfavourable to public works, we know hard-

11. U nder several forms: Cornelius, Cornelis, or C or- 14. Certainly from 1413 to 1416 (see Gilliodts-Van Seve-
nelisse, van Aeltre or Haeltre. T he village o f Aalter. which ren. Inventaire ... Bruges, IV, p .214, and v, p .31 l).T h e func­
today lies in the province o f Oost-Vlaanderen, is located 22 tion o f lock-keeper o f Damme was reserved for a carpenter
kms south-east o f Bruges, halfway between Bruges and o f Bruges (see A rthur Van de Velde, De ambachten van de
Gent. His name appears in several sources: Louis Gilliodts- timmerlieden en de ichrijmverkers, te Brugge, huit wetten, lutu
Van Severen. Inventaire des archives de la ville de Bruges: Inven­ geschillert en huit gewrochten van de X U ' tot de X I X e ccuw [Gent,
taire des chartes, 1e série: treizième au seizième siècle, vols n -v 1909], p. 30).
(Bruges, 1873—76), passim: Jean-Pierre Sosson. Les Travaux
15. “tote der stede huus bi den wiingaerde, daer Cornelis
publics de la ville de Bruges X I V e —x I *' siècles: Les matériaux. Les
van Aeltre w oend”: m ention in the city accounts for
hommes. Collection Histoire Pro Civitate, series in-8° 48
1411-12 (see Gilliodts-Van Severen, Inventaire ... Bruges, iv.
(Brussels, 1977), passim; André Vandewalle, Brugse ambach-
p. 104). In fact, the wijngacrde was not a vineyard at all, but
ten in documenten: De schoenmakers, timmerlieden en schrijn-
a low -lying marsh (meers) (see J. Noterdaem e, “Waine-
tverkers ( 14de—ISdc eeuu'), Bruges geschiedbronnen, 16
brugge”, Bickorf: Westvlaams archie/ voor Gcschiedenis, Oud-
(Bruges, 1985), p. 89-90.
heidkunde en Folklore, 54 [1953], p. 62-66 [p. 64-65]).
12. A docum ent o f 1370-71 (ed. Sosson. Les Travaux
16. W ith the inscription s. c.ORXirus. i >i,v.¡ a i s l ¡Tim, pre­
publics, p. 165, n. 25, also p. 259) mentions an annuity given
served in a docum ent dated 1397 (see Gilliodts-Van Seve­
by the city to the carpenters Cornelius van Aeltre junior
ren, Inventaire ... Bruges, HI, p.356).
and senior. Given the date, it is most improbable that the
younger was the Cornelius working on the stalls o f Mel­ 17. Ibid., ill, p. 375.
rose in 1441.
18. Vandewalle. Brugse ambachten in documenten, p. 90.
13. Sosson, Les Travaux publics, p. 183.

238 THOMAS CO OM ANS

ly anything about private enterprises. In this our purpose, however, the date of the Duke’s
respect, then, the affair of the Melrose stalls is ordinance allows us to date the initial contract
o f particular interest. for the stalls o f Melrose to shortly before
The first argument used by Master Cornelius October 1433. This, as we shall see, is a very
to justify his suspension of the work on the stalls important piece o f information.
was that the initial contract was made just before A second and even more decisive circum­
there was a change o f currency in Flanders stance invoked by Cornelius van Aeltre was the
(paulo ante mutationem monete Flandrie factum rebellion o f Bruges against the Duke and the
fuisse). In an ordinance of 15 O ctober 1433, ensuing social disorder (populi commotio in dicta
Philip the Bold, duke o f Burgundy, had creat­ uilla Brupensi). Philip the Bold was cunning: he
ed a uniform coinage for the various princi­ did not besiege Bruges with his army, but orga­
palities recently brought together under his nized an economic blockade of the city.21 As a
authority. Thus, the hitherto independent result, not only did the numerous foreign mer­
coinages of the four countries (vier lander) — chants abandon the town, but many o f the
Flanders, Brabant, Holland, and Hainault, plus unemployed craftsmen also moved away. This
Namur — came to an end.19 The ordinance was also the case with Cornelius’s collaborators,
was ratified in Flanders on 1 July 1434. As a who departed from Bruges with their salaries,
consequence, paying for the timber with the leaving the work uncompleted and the master
new money, as well as paying the salaries o f his alone in charge o f his wife and children. For
craftsman, was a financial disaster for Cornelius the poor master carpenter, bankruptcy seemed
since Melrose had paid him with old money. inevitable. W hen the city finally capitulated in
This change o f currency marked an impor­ January 1438, Philip the Bold was uncompro­
tant stage in the autocratic monetary policy of mising and severe; and if this was not enough,
the Duke.20 In previous years, he had devalued the famine of the previous year — which had
the gold and silver currency o f the Low been caused by the war and a poor harvest —
Countries with the intention of strengthening was immediately followed by an epidemic of
international commerce and attracting foreign plague in 1438—39.22 The result was that Bruges
gold. But relations with England deteriorated lost between a quarter and a third o f its popu­
since the English Parliament refused to deval- lation in just a few years.23 An illustration of
ue and protected its investment by requiring the the grim situation for the craftsman in Bruges
Flemings to pay cash for the wool they came in this time of deep recession is provided by the
to buy. The introduction o f the new currency guild o f carpenters: in November 1438 the
in 1433 was an attempt at revaluation, but it members decided to sell their guild-house in
was an attempt that caused two problems: the order to pay their debts.24
first was the problem of the availability of met­ W ithout money, collaborators, or hope be­
al in the Low Countries, and the second was cause o f the blockade of the city, Cornelius van
the unfortunate impact on the flow of foreign Aeltre stopped working on the Melrose stalls
currency, from the Rhine area to Britain. For between the years 1436 and 1438. The work

19. Peter Spuff'ord. Monetary Problems and Policies in the Bur­ Assemblées d’États / Standen en Landen, 101 (Heule, 1997),
gundian Netherlands 1433-1496 (Leiden, 1970). p. 1—12; Peter p. 1-381.
Spufford. "Coinage. Taxation and the Estates General of the
22. W illem P. Blockmans, “T he Social and Economic
Burgundian Netherlands”, in Anciens Pays et Assemblées d’E­
Effects o f Plague in the Low Countries 1349-1500”, Renue
tats / Standen en Landen. 40 (Brussels, 1966), p. 61—88 (p. 74).
Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire, 58 (1980), p. 833-63 (p. 856).
20. Willem P. Blocknians, "La Participation des sujets fla­
23. The population fell to 22,000-28,000, dropping from
mands à la politique m onétaire des ducs de Bourgogne
30,000-37,000 or 35,000-41,000. For a discussion o f the
(1384-1500)”. Renne Belge de Numismatique et de Sigillogra­
problems in estimating the population o f Bruges at this time,
phie, 119 (1973), p. 103-33 (p. 121—25); J. A. Van H outte
see Dumolyn, De Brugse opstand. p. 270—72.
and R aym ond Van Uytven, “Financien” , in Algemene
Geschiedenis der Nederlanden. vol. IV, Middcleeuwcn, ed. Anton 24. Marc Ryckaert, "A m bachtshuizen te Brugge: De
Gerardus Weiler and Walter Prevenier (Haarlem, 1980), huizen van de timmerlieden, de metselaars, de tegeldekkers
p. 112-27 (p. 120). en de kapel van de smeden” , in Tentoonstelling: Op en om de
bouuanerf.Am bachtswescn, oud gcrcedschap. ed. W. P. Dezutter
21. O n the revolt and its consequences, see Jan Dumolyn,
and M. Goetinck (Bruges, 1975), p. 37-57 (p. 54).
"D e Brugse opstand van 1436-1438”, in Anciens Pays et

From Flanders to Scotland:The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 239

 had been progressing well but was not yet fin­ — today the Koningin Astridpark — was creat­
ished, and the incomplete (but very bulky) stalls ed on the site in 1850.
were stored in the refectory of the convent of But why was it a carpenter and not a joiner
the Grey Friars in Bruges, waiting for better who was asked to make the stalls? Carpenters
times. This was not merely a matter o f conve­ were one of the principal guilds in the medieval
nience, for the Franciscan friars {fratres minores) building industry, and in the area o f wood con­
had close relations with the carpenters. From at struction, the carpenters were much more pow­
least 1369 the church of the friars had housed erful than the sawyers, “woodbreakers”
the chapel o f the guild, which was dedicated (houtbrekers), and joiners. Carpenters had exclu­
to Saint Louis.2:>Thus, by agreeing to store the sive rights for building wooden houses, and also
stalls in the convent, the guardian o f the com­ for all carpentry, doorways, sluices, and bridges,
munity, probably Johannes de Fine (d. 1447),26 as well as stairs, windows, and all other built-in
was o f great assistance to a friend in need. But furnishings. In the fifteenth century, however,
we must not forget that the mendicant convents as a result of a fire prevention policy in the cities
not only played an important role in the reli­ and the promotion o f masonry instead o f
gious life of the medieval city, they were also wooden structures, the carpenters lost a part of
closely involved with its social and economic the market. And when they tried to capture
life. O ther groups besides the carpenters also new markets to the detriment of the joiners,
had their chapels in the church o f the there was endless tension between the two pro­
Franciscans o f Bruges, notably the Guild o f fessions. Both sought a monopoly in certain
Saint Sebastian, the merchants o f the Spanish areas o f construction, and in Bruges the city
“nations” of Castile and Biscaille, the Fraternity magistrate settled the controversy on 5 July
of O ur Lady of the Dry Tree, and other pro­ 1455 in a document called the Keure der tim-
fessional guilds such as the plumbers, the join­ merlieden.27 The two main criteria for allocat­
ers, and the mattress-weavers. O n certain ing work to the carpenters were, firstly, that the
occasions, these groups used parts of the con­ constructions should be immoveable and, sec­
vent for professional purposes: the refectory for ondly, that they should be assembled using
meetings and the galleries o f the cloister for the pegged joints; the use o f glue was reserved for
exhibition and sale o f works o f art during the the joiners. These criteria, we might add, were
annual trade fairs. We can therefore understand not peculiar to Bruges, but seem to have been
that since the stalls were stored in the mendi­ applied throughout the Low Countries and
cants’ refectory for five or six years {per multos probably elsewhere.28 Since stalls were intend­
annos), the Franciscans were eager for a com­ ed to be fixed benches and obviously immove­
promise solution between Cornelius van Aeltre able, there was no doubt that, even before 1455,
and Melrose Abbey. As it was, the Franciscans their construction was a matter for the carpen­
asked for a rent of four pounds (quatror libras ters.29 The document of 1441 is precise on this
grossorum) for their services. We might add that point: it describes the task as “designing, mak­
no buildings o f the convent of the Grey Friars ing, and finishing the fixed benches or stalls”
survive in Bruges today; after the suppression {componendis,fabricandis, et pefidendis certis sedilibus
o f the community in 1796, all the buildings sine stallis). The master carpenter therefore had
were demolished and a public botanical garden overall responsibility for the work from its

25. Van de Velde, Dc ambachten van dc timmerlieden en dc 27. Ed. Van de Velde, Dc ambachten van dc timmerlieden en
schrijmverkcrs, p. 55-58; Walter Simons, “Aantekeningen bij de schrijmverkcrs, p. 66-69.
de xivde-eeuwse geschiedenis van de timmerliedenbroe-
28. Attested in Ghent and Malines, but also in other coun­
derschap in de Brugse franciscanenkerk". Brags Ommcland.
tries (e.g. Geneva).
25.3 (1985), p. 155^-60.
29. T he Keure o f 1455 m entions the benches for the
26. Sebald Van Ruysevelt, “D e franciskaanse kerken. De
stichtingen van de dertiende eeuw: 11. Brugge”. Franciscana: priests (sedilia) but not the stalls, perhaps because it was obvi­
ous that they were immoveable: “ Item ne gheene hooghe
Bijdragen tor de geschiedenis van dc Minderbroeders in de Nieder­
landen, 29 (1974), p.29-39 (p. 37); Archangelus Houbaert, stoelen in kerken daer de priesters, dijaken ende subdijak-
en ghecostumeert zijn te zittene neffens den outhare.” M en­
“Minderbroederskloosters in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden.
Kloosterlexicon: 12. Brugge”, Franciscana: ..., 32 (1977), tioned in Van de Velde, De ambachten van de timmerlieden en
p. 119-27. de schríjniverkers. p. 67.

24 0 THOMAS COOM ANS

Fig. 2. Melrose Abbey, view o f the mins from the north-west, 2003. (author)

inception to final assembly and decoration. It were finally installed during the short abbacy
is, however, important to note that in the doc­ o f Richard, that is to say, just before the reign
ument o f 1441 an anonymous craftsman is o f the brilliant Abbot Andrew H unter
mentioned three times as an assistant to Master (1444-65).
Cornelius. He is called a formiscissor— that is A dramatic episode in the history of Melrose
to say a “carver o f stalls” {forma, forme, orfourme was the almost complete destruction o f the
is another term used to designate stalls) — and abbey on 10 August 1385, when it was burned
his business was to assist Master Cornelius dur­ by Richard II o f England in his campaign
ing his trip from Bruges to Scotland and help against the Scots. Over the following decades
him in placing the stalls in the choir of Melrose. the abbey would be rebuilt on a new architec­
tural plan enriched with exceptional sculptur­
On the Scottish Side al decoration. Construction o f the new church
— whose magnificent ruins survive today —
Since we know that the stalls were ordered (Fig. 2) took more than a century, from about
shortly before October 1433, it is possible to 1390 until about 1505, and even then it
identify the patron as being Abbot John Fogo remained incomplete (Fig. 3). The existing
(1425-34). After a long interregnum, which architectural studies o f the church define sev­
happened to coincide with the economic cri­ eral building phases.30 The first began behind
sis in Bruges, the process o f completion o f the the ruined transept of the previous church with
stalls was reactivated in O ctober 1441 under construction o f the presbytery and its magnif­
Abbot Richard (1440-43). He is the dominus icent window in the perpendicular style, the
abbatis monasterii de Melros who is mentioned in flanking chapels and central bay between them,
the new agreement. We can easily imagine how as well as the eastern piers o f the transept. This
important it was for a new abbot to have the phase is commonly dated to the late fourteenth
monks’ choir of his church completed as quick­ century. The second phase, dated to the first
ly as possible in order to strengthen the spiri­ quarter o f the fifteenth century, consisted of
tual life o f his community. He sent John the completion o f both arms o f the transept
Crawfort — one o f the monks who had signed and the first three bays o f the nave, including
the initial contract — together with the Scottish the pulpitum and the splendid gable o f the
merchant William Carebis to Bruges. The stalls south transept. The third phase, dated to the

30. “Melrose Abbey”, no. 567; J. Curie, “Some Notes Scottish Abbeys and Priories (Historic Scotland) (London, 1994),
Upon the Abbey o f Melrose and Town”, Historical Bcnvick- p. 78-81 ; id. and Richard Oram. Melrose Abbey (Stroud. 2004).
sliirc Nature Club, 29 (1935—37), p. 29-50; Richard Fawcett,

From Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 241

 Pig. 3. Melrose Abbey, plan o f the church, (author, after Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments o f Scotland, 1956)

second quarter o f the fifteenth century, was a that only the three eastern bays o f the nave and
continuation of the second, that is to say, con­ the pulpitum had been completed by that time.
struction o f the aisles on both sides o f the This part o f the church cannot, therefore, be
monks’ choir, the first southern chapels o f the dated to the first quarter of the fifteenth centu­
nave and the vaults o f the presbytery, and the ry, nor can it be attributed to the French mas­
eastern chapels of the transept. The fourth phase ter mason John Morow. Both the name and the
consisted of vaulting the nave and the south­ career of John Morow are known, thanks to two
ern chapels of the nave and, eventually, the con­ rare Gothic inscriptions on the western side of
struction o f the crossing tower. Thanks to the the south transept.31 Neither, unfortunately, is
presence o f the arms o f Abbot Hunter on the dated, but from their location we may suggest
boss o f a vault, this phase may be dated to the that these epigraphic sources probably concern
years around 1450. Construction then seems to only the elegant southern transept gable and the
have ceased until the abbacy o f William stairs to the bell tower. A more accurate relative
Turnbull (1503-07), who built the last three chronology of the building phases might be pos­
southern chapels o f the nave. sible from a detailed examination of the mason­
There is need, however, for a new architec­ ry, the different rose-yellow tints o f the
tural and archaeological study o f the abbey sandstone, and, above all, meticulous recording
church. The succession of the five phases, which o f the numerous masons’ marks.
is based on stylistic evidence, appears to be cor­ Observations and measurements of the three
rect, but their dates are too approximate. Since eastern bays of the nave provide a certain amount
we now know that the stalls for the choir were of information on the layout of the monks’ choir
ordered shortly before October 1433, it follows (Fig. 7A). The western end is marked by the pul­

31.John M orvo or Morow (from the French Jean M ore­ ley, o f Nithsdale and Galloway. 1 pray to God and Mary
au?). First inscription: ¡lohn Morow sum tyjm callit / ¡was I both and sweet Saint John to keep this holy church from
and born] in Parysse / [certanly and had] in kepyng / ¡al mason h arm ”). Second inscription: [sa ye/compas] gays / evym
werk] of Saínan / [droys ye hyc kjyrk of Glas / [gw Melros aboute [s] va / [trovili/ / an[d[ / lavt[e sail] do bvt divte be
and] Paslay of / [Nyddysdayll and of] Galway / ¡I pray to God balde to ye bende q° / lohne Morvo (‘'As the compass goes
and Mar]i bathe / [& swete sanct lohne to kepe / this Italy kyrk evenly about, so truth and loyalty shall do w ithout doubt.
fra sitatile/ (“ I was once called John Morow. was born in Look to the end quoth John M orow ”). Edition and trans­
Paris and had in keeping all the mason w ork o f Saint lation from Richardson, W ood, and Tabraham, Melrose
Andrews, the high church o f Glasgow, Melrose and Pais­ Abbey, p. 12.

242 THOMAS COOMANS

Fig. 4. Melrose Abbey, south-west crossing pier, 2003. Fig. 5. Melrose Abbey, second southern pillar o f the nave show­
The corner of the base marks the eastern end o f the stalls, (author) ing remains o f the screen and traces o f the hammered corbel,
2003. (author)

pitum which is aligned with the columns galleries. When a new parish church was dedi­
between the third and the fourth bays of the cated at the other end o f the village in 1810, the
nave. The eastern end is delineated by a corner former abbey church was finally abandoned.
in the base of the western crossing pier, imme­ Thanks to material evidence in situ,32 it is pos­
diately adjacent to the central shaft (Fig. 4).This sible to determine the exact size of the monastic
important detail can only be seen at the south­ choir, that is to say, the precise place where the
west pier o f the crossing since the northern part stalls were situated. The length of 16.67 m is pro­
of the nave underwent major alterations in 1618. vided by the distance between the pulpitum and
After the Dissolution, the abbey church, which a corner of the base of the south-west crossing
was still partially in ruins, was reused by the pier, while the width of 8.39 m is given by the
parish, and a new church was constructed in the foundations of the screen walls — intended to
three first bays of the nave. A new western facade accommodate the backs of the stalls — between
was built above the pulpitum, and the side walls the choir and the aisles. The monks’ choir there­
between the rows of arcade pillars were destroyed fore had a surface of about 140 m2 and did not
in order to open up the screened-off area of the extend into the crossing. The masonry of the pul­
former choir to the aisles. An arcade, carried on pitum and that of the screen walls are integrated
four massive masonry piers, was erected against with the piers, thereby exhibiting a perfect uni­
the northern side in order to support a plain ty of conception and execution (Fig. 5). Normally
stone barrel vault, which affected the clerestory the screen walls would be built against the pillars
windows. The interior was fitted with wooden or were simply formed by wooden partitions

32. Laser measurements were made bv the author, 12 July

2003.

Front Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 243

 Fig. 6. Melrose Abbey, pulpitum screen from the west, 2 0 0 3 .(author)

which could easily be adapted to the stalls. At southern piers (Fig. 5). The inner shafts of the
Tin tern, for example, remains of a similar screen piers spring from these corbels 2.51 meters
wall system of the late thirteenth century can be above floor level, thus allowing room for the
seen, but there the pulpitum screen was an inde­ stalls. Unfortunately, these corbels have been
pendent and later construction.33 hammered away, probably during the work of
The pulpitum of Melrose is a massive wall, 1618; but it is not impossible that the alteration
1.69 m thick and 3.33 m (11 ft) in height (Fig. might have taken place in the 1440’s, when
6). It is pierced by a central passageway with Master Cornelius assembled the stalls in the
jamb shafts and a depressed arch. The passage­ choir and had to make adjustments both the
way, 1.70 m wide, is covered by a fine tierceron wooden furniture and to its stone frame.
vault with four floral bosses surrounding a cen­
tral boss with a carved face o f the Christ. On What D id the Stalls Look Like?
the north side o f the passage, a door opens onto
a stair which is built into the thickness o f the The document of 1441 is not a contract but an
wall and which once led to the loft o f the pul­ act o f agreement in which the stalls are not
pitum. In seems probable that this loft was a described in detail. We have, in fact, only two
wooden platform somewhat wider than the general descriptions of the stalls, though both
wall, with a decorated balustrade. The pulpi­ are of the greatest interest. Firstly, the stalls were
tum of Melrose, therefore, was a very basic type said to be similar to those in the choir o f the
w ithout rich screen arcades,34 and the only abbey of Ten Duinen (ad instar et similitudinem
remaining decoration — apart from the bosses stallorum in choro ecclesie seu monasterii de Dunis
o f the vault — is some fine scrollwork on the in Flandrie situatorum); and secondly, the carv­
cornice and the arch o f the doorway on the ing o f the stalls was reported to be the same as
western side. Because the back o f the western that o f the seats in the choir of the abbey of Ter
stalls abutted the eastern wall o f the pulpitum, Doest (cum scissura tali quam habent sedilia situa­
this side of the pulpitum is not decorated. ta in choro ecclesie de Thosan iuxta Brugis).
A final clue to the size o f the stalls is provid­ Unfortunately, neither the stalls of Melrose nor
ed by traces of corbels on the second and third those of Ten Duinen nor of Ter Doest have sur-

33. Stuart A. Harrison, Richard K. Morris, and David 34. A similar pulpitum can be seen in the former con­
Robinson, “A Fourteenth-Century Pulpitum Screen at Tin- vent o f Ter Apel (Netherlands, province o f Groningen). It
tern Abbey, Monmouthshire”, AntiquariesJournal, 78 (1998), is dated to about 1500 and still has its platform and
p. 177-268. balustrade.

244 THOMAS COOMANS

vived, and the only thing we know is that at canons. In conformity with a secular tradition,
Melrose Master Cornelius used better (and the stalls were invariably arranged in two sets:
therefore more expensive) wood and made the one on the north side, the other on the south.
substructure o f the stalls more solid than they Both comprised an upper or back row and a
were at Ten Duinen. lower or front row. In the fifteenth century, the
The historical sources for Ten Duinen and Ter front or lower stalls had no desk for service
Doest do not mention the stalls o f the church, books (Fig. 1). The community was therefore
despite the fact that the authors of these sources divided in two for the responses during the
paid much attention to the building history of Psalms. The abbot sat on the first seat o f the
the abbeys. Adrien de But, a monk of Ten south or right-hand choir, facing the prior
Duinen, began to write the chronicle o f his who sat on the first seat o f the north or left-
abbey around 1480. If the stalls — in which he hand choir.38 Every monk had his own place
daily sat — had been recent, it is probable that in accordance with his seniority, just as in the
he would have mentioned them. Pierre de Foro chapter house and refectory: the oldest monks
(1418-42), who was Abbot of Ten Duinen at sat closest to the abbot while the novices sat
the time of the affair of the Melrose stalls, is said in the lower row. Since we know the total
to have enriched the abbey church, but no details length o f the stalls o f Melrose (16.67 m from
are provided as to how he enriched it.33 It seems the pulpitum to the corner o f the crossing
probable, therefore, that the stalls of Ten Duinen pier), it is possible to make an approximate cal­
already existed in 1262 when the church was culation o f the num ber o f seats (Fig. 7B).
consecrated, though Adrien de But tells us that Given the most common width o f a single seat
Abbot Willelmus de Hulst (1305-24) made new (64—70 cm from the middle o f each arm),39
choir seats for the priests (sediliaque nova mini­ and taking into consideration the traditional
strorum altaris fecit).3536 As to Ter Doest, we have arrangement of choir stalls, we might suggest
no chronicle of the abbey, and the surviving his­ that there were about fifty seats on each side,
torical documents provide no information on that is, a total o f some hundred seats. But this
the stalls and choir benches.37 But since the stalls does not, o f course, mean that the communi­
o f Melrose were said to be a combination of ty o f Melrose comprised a hundred monks at
those of Ten Duinen and Ter Doest, we may the time the stalls were built.
infer that the two Flemish abbeys had somewhat Comparison with other medieval stalls in
different choir furnishings. Cistercian churches is, unfortunately, very lim­
In short, the documentary sources do not tell ited, for nearly all were destroyed or replaced.
us what the stalls of Melrose looked like. How There are a number o f reasons for this. First of
many monks did they seat? How were they dec­ all, the whole community used the stalls seven
orated? What kind of carving was on the mis­ times every day for the offices, and, after sev­
ericords? What sort of cresting appeared on the eral centuries, they had undergone inevitable
backs of the stalls? It is impossible to answer wear and tear, especially the seats with the mis­
these questions, but comparison with other fif­ ericords, which could be raised and lowered.
teenth-century stalls suggests certain general Secondly, since the stalls in a church are one of
aspects of the design. the most obvious symbols o f the spiritual life
Stalls have always been the essential furni­ of a community of monks, brothers, or canons,
ture for the choral liturgy o f monks and they tended to receive special attention when

35. “ M ultum dilectus ecclesiam de Dunis divitiis et hon­ 38. Les “Ecclesiastica officia”cisterciens du Xlf'"c siècle, ed.and
ore plurimum amplificavit”: [F. van de Putte], Cronica abba­ crans. Danièle Choisselet and Placide Vernet. La D ocu­
llini monasterii ile Dunis per fratrem Aiiriaiitnn But, Recueil de mentation cistercienne, 22 (Reiningue. 1989), chs 110:1
chroniques, chartes et autres documents concernant l’his­ and 111:1.
toire et les antiquités de la Flandre-Occidentale, 1 (Bruges.
1839), p. 20. 39. André Jacob Roubo. “Des stalles, de leur construc­
tion. formes, proportions et décoration”, in L'art du menuisi­
36. Ibid., p. 18. er (Paris, 1769; facsimile edn. Paris, 1977), p. 217-29, pis
74—80: “la largeur des stalles doit être, en la prenant du milieu
37. Carolus D e Visch, Bibliotheca scriptorum sacri ordinis de chaque museau de vingt-deux pouces au moins, et de
cisterciensis (Cologne. 1656), p. 326-28; D e Ganck and
vingt-cinq au plus” (p. 217). Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-
H uyghebaert. "Abbaye de Ter D oest à Lissewege” ,
Duc, "Stalle", in Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecturefrançaise
p. 317-51.
du AT' au x v f siècle, vol. vtu (Paris, 1875), p. 461-74 (p. 463).

From Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 245

 Fig. 7. Melrose Abbey church, three
eastern boys o f the nave:
(A) plan o f the present stale,
(B) reconstruction o f the monks’
choir, (author, 2003)

oh i, l , l 3m

a monastic church was vandalized. But the con­ the secular liturgical tradition and contempo­
struction of new stalls was certainly o f great sig­ rary style. The great Gothic ensembles in
nificance for a community. In order to chant English cathedrals, the Baroque stalls o f abbeys
one’s praises to the Lord during the day and in the countries of the Counter-Reformation,
night offices, one must feel physically and men­ and the nineteenth-century stalls o f the
tally well, both as an individual on one’s own Catholic Revival, are all magnificent examples
seat and as a member of one’s community. By of this evolution. And where they are preserved,
refurbishing the monks’ choir, therefore, a new the contracts for stalls show how carefully and
environment was created for communal prayer. in what detail the iconography and stylistic
All changes in design and style are expressions details were defined by the patrons.40*Indeed,
o f community identity, as well as a synthesis of it seems to have been common practice for

40. For example, the contract between the chapter and Dame de l’Assomption du Vigan: L’histoire de sa construc­
the carpenter Jacques Moynié for the stalls o f the collegiate tion et son im portance pour l’architecture gothique du
church o f Vigan (France, Lot), 10 D ecem ber 1488; see Quercy”, in Congrès archéologique de France, 147e session, 1989,
Christian Freigang, “L’ancienne église collégiale N otre- Quercy (Paris, 1993), p. 515-42 (p. 539-40).

246 THOMAS COOMANS

Fig. 8. Maulbronn Abbey, stalls from the east, 1992. (author)

patrons to use existing stalls as models for new nunneries of Wienhausen {ca. 1280), Isenhagen,
ones,41 and, in some exceptional cases, dummy and La Maigrauge (both dating from the four­
stalls were constructed in situ and shown to the teenth century). Focusing on the ensembles
patron for his approval.42 from the mid-fifteenth century, considerable
Occasionally parts o f Cistercian stalls have differences in size and decoration are immedi­
been preserved out of their original context — ately apparent. The stalls o f Hauterive belong
sometimes they have been reused in other to a clearly defined group from the duchy of
churches43 — but complete medieval ensem­ Savoie;44*there are fifty-two seats, and the back
bles are rare. There are examples, however, from o f the upper row is decorated with poly-
the abbeys of Kappel (ca. 1280-1300), chromed figures o f saints and prophets form­
Maulbronn {ca. 1450), Pelplin {ca. 1450), Loc- ing a credo cycle, topped by rich late gothic
Dieu {ca. 1450), Hauterive (1472—86), and canopies. The stalls o f Maulbronn have ninety-
Zinna (fifteenth century, but only the ends of two seats, and although there is no figurative
the desks survive), as well as the stalls o f the decoration on the back, there are beautiful

41. For example, in 1414 the chapter o f Geneva ordered being put in place by Master William Herland and his men,
new stalls from a joiner in Brussels and asked him to make and six carpenters were employed “putting up various pan­
them similar to the stalls o f the Franciscans in Rom ans els for the teredos o f the stalls to show and demonstrate to
(France, Drôme) which date from the 1380s; see Corinne the Treasurer and others o f the Kings Council the form and
Charles, Stalles sculptées du .W' siècle: Genève et le duché de fashion o f the said stalls”: see L. F. Salzman, Building in Eng­
Savoie (Paris, 1999), p. 77—80. O ther examples are cited in land Down to 1540: A Documentary History (Oxford, 2nd
Steppe, Smeyers, and Lauwerys, Wereid van vroomheîd en issue, 1992), p. 7-8.
satire, p. 32—36.
43. For example, Loccum (13t]l c., late Romanesque); La
42. An example o f such a body taking an appropriate C our-D ieu (14th c., now in the parish church ofjargeau);
interest in work for which they were financially responsi­ Notre-Dame-du-Val (four seats from the 15th c., now in the
ble occurs in 1352, when the royal chapel o f Saint Stephen, parish church o f Mériel).
at Westminster, was being completed. The carved stalls were
44. Charles, Stalles sculptées du .Vi * siècle, p. 160.

From Flanders to ScotlandtTlie Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 247

 Fig. 9. Bruges, Sint-Salvator Cathedral, stalls on the northern side o f the choirs, 1951. (IRPA-K IK , Brussels, B. 128780)

scenes carved on the front of the four rows fac­ during the fifteenth century and the first half
ing the sanctuary (Fig. 8).The stalls of Loc-Dieu o f the sixteenth.46 Specialized carpenters from
(now in the chapel o f the Black Penitents in Flanders and Brabant received commissions
Villefranche-de-Rouergue) have forty-two from other countries as well as from England.
seats o f which the misericords are decorated But the finest Flemish stalls, with their satirical
with a variety of foliage, but not with figures. misericords, date from the late fifteenth centu­
There is, in fact, no evidence whatever for a ry and the early sixteenth,47*which is later than
specifically Cistercian design or decoration for the stalls o f Melrose. The only fifteenth-centu­
late medieval furniture in general45 and stalls in ry stalls preserved in Flanders are those o f the
particular. form er collegiate church (now cathedral) o f
There is, then, no doubt that the stalls o f Sint-Salvator in Bruges (Fig. 9). These stalls can­
Melrose belonged to the “ Flemish school” of not be dated precisely, but the choir for which
furniture, which was justly famous for its stalls they were made is known to have been com-

45. For example, Thomas Coomans, “Le Pupitre de la 47. Sittard, St-Pieter (ca. 1425); Zaltbommel, St-M arti-
salle du chapitre de Soleilmont et l’abbesse Jeanne de Traze- nus (ca. 1425); s-Hertogenbosch, St-Jan (1427 and 1458);
gnies (vers 1500)”, Citeatix, 52 (2001), p. 367-84. Leuven. St-Pieter (1438—42); Breda, O .-L.-Vrouw (ca. 1445
and ca. 1525); Hastière (1463): Diest, St-Sulpitius (ca.
46. There is extensive literature on late medieval Flem­
1480—91); Venlo, St-Maartens (late 15th c.); Oirschot. St-
ish (i.e., from the Low Countries) stalls and misericords.
Petrus (1508-11, destroyed 1944); Bolsward, Martinikerk
Besides monographic studies, see comparative work by D.
(ca. 1505); Ter Apel (ca. 1500); Aarschot, O.-L.-Vrouw (r<j.
Bierens de Haan, Hci houtsnijwerk in Nederland tijdens de
1510-ta. 1525); Haarlem. St-Bavo (1512); Amsterdam, O ude
Cotieh en de Renaissance (’s-Gravenhage, 1921), p. 41-58;
Kerk (early 16th c.): W alcourt. N otre-D am e (ca. 1520);
Joseph de Borchgrave d’Altena, “Notes pour servir à l'é­
Fosses-la-Ville, St-Feuillen (1524); Leuven, O.-L.-Vrouw
tude des stalles en Belgique”, Annales de la Société royale
(1530) and St-Gertrudis (1527-33); Hoogstraten, St-Katha-
d'Archéologie de Bruxelles, 41 (1937), p. 231-58; Steppe,
rina (15th c. and 1532-48).
Smeyers, and Lauwerys, Wereld van vrootnheid en satire.

248 THOMAS COOMANS

pleted in 1414.48 The pulpitum was ordered the men had a chapel dedicated to Saint Andrew
same year, and we may presume that the stalls in the parish church o f Saint Gilles. Scottish
were ordered at the same time. A date o f about business was important and specialized in the
1430 can be proposed based on style. The top wool trade, skins, and leather. Because o f their
o f the back was transformed in 1478 when a facilities and financial advantages, the city o f
chapter of the prestigious Order o f the Golden Bruges succeeded in 1359 in attracting Scottish
Fleece was held in the choir.49 The original part merchants, whose main warehouses (stapelplaats)
consists of two sets of two rows apiece with a on the continent had, until that date, been
total o f forty-eight seats. All the misericords are located in Zeeland. Bruges therefore became
decorated with figurative scenes, while the the best market for wool from Scotland (also
backs and the ends o f the desks have a system­ from England) in the Low Countries, a region
atic decoration of blind tracery. The stalls of particularly active in the textile industry. The
Melrose and Sint-Salvator in Bruges obviously Scots maintained their principle warehouse in
belong to the same artistic milieu, but that is Bruges until 1498.
not enough to establish that they were similar. The abbey of Melrose was one o f the most
They had been ordered by different patrons, important wool producers o f the Borders and
and we know that the Abbot o f Melrose had exported wool to the markets o f Bruges. The
chosen the stalls o f the abbeys o f Ten Duinen trade route from Berwick-on-Tweed to Bruges,
and Ter Doest as model, and not those o f Sint- along the coasts of Northumberland, Yorkshire,
Salvator in Bruges. East Anglia, and Kent, across the Channel to
Sluis and Damme, was intensively used. The
Why Did Melrose Order the Stalls from Bruges? ship that carried Master Cornelius and the stalls
from Sluis to Berwick-on-Tweed had certain­
We have left the most important question for ly carried wool from Berwick-on-Tweed to
the last: why did Melrose ordered the stalls from Sluis. The Abbot o f Melrose landed in Bruges
Bruges and not from Britain? How did Melrose when he came to the continent to attend the
know of the stalls of Ten Duinen and Ter Doest, General Chapter at Citeaux or to attend to the
and therefore choose them as models? The abbey s business. Once there, he would certainly
sources are too limited for a definitive answer, have met the Abbots o f Ten Duinen and its sis­
but if we take into consideration the historical ter-house Ter Doest (Ten Duinen, like Melrose,
context and economic relations between also belonged to the filiation of Clairvaux), and
Scotland and Flanders in the fifteenth century, he would undoubtedly have visited both abbeys
it is possible to suggest certain specific Cistercian and probably one or more o f the houses they
links. possessed in Bruges. It is not surprising, there­
There was an important Scottish communi­ fore, that the Abbot o f Melrose decided to
ty in Bruges in the fifteenth century.50 It was order his stalls in Bruges and chose the choir
quite separate from the English community and furniture o f Ten Duinen and Ter Doest as his
comprised two distinct groups living in differ­ model.
ent quarters o f the town. One the one hand, There were also close financial and econom­
the Scottish merchants formed a “nation”, and ic relations between the two Flemish abbeys
their chapel, founded in 1366 and dedicated to and certain of their Cistercian sisters in Britain.
Saint Ninian, was located in the church o f the Ten Duinen was involved in the British wool
Carmelites. The English nation had a chapel trade, and the abbey had received a parcel o f
dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket in the same land in the parish o f Eastchurch on the Isle of
church. O n the other hand, the Scottish crafts­ Sheppey (Kent) from Richard I in 1194. The

48. Steppe, Smeyers, and Lauwerys, Werdet van vroomheid ed coats-of-arms o f all the members o f the chapter. The
en satire, p. 57-92: de Borchgrave cTAltena, “N otes pour stalls were enlarged in 1608, repaired in 1727, adapted in
servir à l’étude des stalles en Belgique", p. 231-58: Nadine 1834 and again in the 1920s.
Debergh, Koorgestoelten in West-Vlaanderen, O udheden in
West- en Frans-Viaanderen, 3 (Tielt. 1982), p. 19—22. 50. Joseph Marechal. “D uizendjaarB ritse aanwezigheid
te Brugge”, in his Europeese aanwezigheid tc Brugge: Dc vreemde
49. T he cresting, w hich probably was comprised o f a kolonies (xilde—x tA e eettw), Vlaamse Historische Studies. 3
series o f canopies, was then replaced by panels with paint- (Bruges. 1985), p. 13-27 (p. 17-21).

From Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 249

 area was admirably located at the mouths o f the Abbot of Melrose, and that the said Abbot had
rivers Thames and Swale, and Ten Duinen entrusted it to a Scottish merchant to deliver it
made great use of it until 1315 when owner­ to the Abbot of Ten Duinen.33 It is clear, there­
ship was transferred to the abbey o f Boxley.31 fore, that within the Cistercian network, the
Ten Duinen also had its own fleet o f ships, and abbeys o f Ten Duinen and Melrose had very
an admonishment from the General Chapter in close connections.
1190 indicates that the fleet was sometimes used Under normal circumstances, Master Cor­
— and used profitably — as a small merchant nelius would certainly have completed the stalls
navy.52 on time and the abbey of Melrose would have
In the fifteenth century Bruges was the most been happy with a masterpiece from Bruges, the
important financial and trading centre north of artistic capital north of the Alps.56 It was pure
the Alps, and the Abbots of Ten Duinen and Ter chance that this commission coincided with the
Doest played an important role in financing the most dramatic years of the fifteenth century for
Cistercian Order. In the course of the fourteenth Bruges. Due to the combination o f an economic
century, the annual market of Bruges had grad­ crisis, a change in currency, a revolt, a plague,
ually become the centre for the collection o f and a famine, it was impossible for the carpen­
the contributions of all Cistercian abbeys to the ter to complete his work. History tends to for­
General Chapter. Thanks to the links between get — or to overlook — these years of crisis and
Ten Duinen and the offices of certain Italian cultivates the impression that life in the city of
bankers in Bruges, the money collected by Ten art, finance, and trade was as serene as the atmos­
Duinen could easily be transferred to Cîteaux. phere of the paintings of Jan Van Eyck. In 1441
We know that Jacob Schaep, abbot of Ter Doest (which, incidentally, was also the year of Jan Van
from 1427 to 1459 and a witness in the business Eyck’s death in Bruges), things improved and a
of the Melrose stalls, was very active as middle­ new agreement was concluded between the two
man in financial transactions between the parties. Thanks to this unique source — the act
General Chapter and remote abbeys such as of agreement o f 1441 — we know that the links
those in Scotland.53 After him, Johannes Crabbe, between Melrose and the Flemish abbeys of Ten
abbot of Ten Duinen from 1457 to 1488, took Duinen and Ter Doest were not only econom­
over the responsibility for the banking between ic and financial, but also artistic.
all the English and Scottish Cistercian abbeys
and the General Chapter.54*A document dated KADOC
1476 tells us that the annual contribution o f all Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
the Scottish abbeys had been collected by the Leuven, Belgium

51 .J. De Cuyper, “De Abdij van de D uinen en Engeland scltappelijk en htltureel centrimi van de Duinenabdij en de Wesi-
gedurende de xiic, XIIIe en XIVe eeuw ”, Annales de la Société hoek, 20 (1990). p. 135-42 (p. 139 and n. 34). '
d ’Étmtlation dc Bruges, 88 (1951), p. 97—115; Claire Van
54. Ibid., p. 135-42.The author quotes from several docu­
Nerom. “La Donation d’Eastcliurch à l’abbaye des Dunes
ments in Lettersfrom the English Abbots to the Chapter at Cîteaux,
par le roi Richard C œ ur de Lion: Chroniques et chartes”,
1442-1521, ed. C. H.Talbot (London, 1967). For the gener­
Cîteaux, 34 (1983). p. 20-52.
al context o f Ten Duinen, see Thomas Eric Schockaert, De
52. Statnta, 1190, 44: Nattes de Duitis non deferant aliena abten der cistercien:erabdij Onze-Lieve- Vrouw-ten-Duinen te Kok-
onera pro pretio. See Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cister­ sijde (1107—1627): Oivrsicht van vijf eeuwen eb en vloed in een
cian General Chapter, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell. Cîteaux: Stu­ monastieke gcmeeuschap (Koksijde. 2003), p. 285-86.
dia et Documenta, 12 (Brecht. 2002), p. 207.
55. D ocum ent dated 29 December 1476 (Dijon, Arch,
53. A. O.Johnsen and Peter King, The Tax Book of the Cis­ dép. du C ôte d ’O r, 11H20) quoted in G eirnaert, “Abt
tercian Order (Oslo, 1979), and a bill dated Bruges, 10 O cto­ Johannes Crabbe”, p. 139.
ber 1448 (Troyes, Archives départmentales de Aube, 3 H 148)
56. For a recent synthesis o f 1S'^-c. art in the Low C oun­
edited in N oël G eirnaert, “Abt Johannes Crabbe
tries, see Christian H eck. Anna Bergmans, Thom as
(1457-1488): van economisch herstel tot bankiersactiviteiten
Coomans, et al.. L'art flamand et hollandais: Le siècle des Pri­
op Europees niveau” , De Duinen: Bulletin nan het weten-
mitifs, 1380-1520 (Paris. 2003).

250 THOMAS COOMANS

A PPE N D IX

7 October 1441 [Bruges] fabricandis et perficiendis certis sedilibus sive

stallis, et in dicto monasterio de Melros eri­
Agreement between representatives of the gendis, ad instar et similitudinem stallorum in
abbey o f Melrose and Cornelius van Aeltre, choro ecclesie seu monasterii de Dunis in
master carpenter of Bruges, for the completion Flandria situatorum, cum scissura tali quam
of the choir stalls and their transfer to Scotland. habent sedilia situata in choro ecclesie de
Thosan iuxta Brugis, prout de hoc apprehen­
Original lost. Copy o f the late fifteenth centu­ dere dicebant per litteras conventionis super
ry, Groenboek A (1405-1458), Bruges, hoc confectas, et quod dictus Cornelius de
Stadsarchief, Stadscartularium 11, fol. 297r-v. salario suo convento ad ipso domino Johanne
Edited in: Octave Delepierre, “Stalles de l’ab­ ad plenum fuerat persolutus, et propterea cum
baye de Melrose, faits à Bruges”, Annales de la instantia requirebant quatenus dictum opus
Société de l'Émulation pour l’histoire et les antiqui­ suum perfectum expensis suis perficeret et in
tés de la Flandre-Occidentale, 3 (1841), p. 402-10; choro dicte ecclesie de Melros erigeret cum
“Letter from M. Octave Delepierre, Secretary effectu, iuxta formam questionis ante dicte;
o f the Belgian Legation, Honorary F.S.A., to supra quod dictus Cornelius respondit,
Sir Henry Ellis, Secretary, communicating a recognoscens conventionem et pactum de dic­
D ocument preserved among the Records of tis stallis perficiendis et erigendis cum dicto
West Flanders, relating to the carved Stalls of domino Johanne fecisse, verum ab alia parte
Melrose Abbey C hurch”, Archaeologia, 31 asserebat conventionem ipsam paulo ante
(1846), p. 346-49; Octave Delepierre, “L’abbaye mutationem monete Flandrie factam fuisse, et
de Melrose et les ouvriers Flamands”, eam quam recepit pecuniam in veteri moneta
Bibliographical and Historical Miscellanies of the seu ad eius estimationem in nova solutam
Philobiblion-Society, 5 (1858-59), p. 15-22. fuisse, quod pro emptione lignorum congeriem
The following text is a new edition. quam predicto operi aptam comparavit et
operariorum suorum mercedem diurnum in
Van zeker kerck stoelen anghenomen te mae- nova et forti moneta persolvere coactus fuit, et
ckene by een poortre van Brugghe om eene propterea quia fundamentum stallorum eccle­
kercke in Schotlandt naer tfatsoen vande stoe­ sie de Dunis, ad quorum instar opus predic-
len vanden clooster van Duine ende Doest tum confici debebat, minus firmum sed debile
[Concerning some church seats that a citizen pro tanto opere videbatur, ipse Cornelius sta­
o f Bruges agreed to make for a church in bilius et firmius fundamentum ultra formam
Scotland, modelled after the seats in the con­ conventionis sue pro utilitate ipsius operis com­
vents o f Ten Duinen and Ter Doest]. posuit, sub spe condecentis recompensationis
de hoc in fine operis recipiende, qua de causa
Cum questio et controversia orte fuissent in ligna grossiora et multo cariora pro ipso opere
pleno scabinatu Brugensi per et inter religio­ adaptavit. Dixit preterea predictus Cornelius,
sum virum dominum Johannem Crawfort, dum dictum opus per aliqua tempora fuisset
religiosum monasterii de Melros in Scotia, et inceptum, populi commotio in dicta villa
Willelmum Carebis, mercatorem Scotum, Brugensi oriri cepit quo accidit ut operarii sui
procuratores in hac parte reverendi in Christo quorum adiutorio opus ipsum conficiebatur,
patris et domini, domini abbatis et conventus et quos de eorum labore et mercede per­
predicti monasterii de Melros ex una parte, et solverat, recedentes ab opere ipsum dese­
C ornelium de Aeltre, oppidanum ville ruerunt, mercedem suam quam receperant
Brugensis, artis carpentarie magistrum ex altera asportantes. Et quod dictis mediis ipse C or­
parte, dicendum et proponendum predictis nelius nedum pecuniis ipsis receptis, verum eti­
procuratoribus et signant dicto domino Johanni am facultatibus suis lapsus et fere ad penuriam
quod temporibus iam diu elapsis, idem domi­ destitutus, et uxore liberisque, gravatus, ipsum
nus Johannes pactum iniit et conventionem opus quoquomodo perficere non valet, nisi sibi
fecit cum dicto Cornelio pro componendis, favorabiliter succurretur; operam suam per-

From Flanders to Scotland: The Choir Stalls of Melrose Abbey 251

 sonalem presto et paratam pro perfectione Cornelio et eius formiscissori bonum et
ipsius operis exibendam et offerendam. liberum salvum conductum, libere se transfe­
Cumque pro concordandis et pacificandis par­ rendi in dicto monasterio, ibidem opus predic-
tibus auditis reverendi in Christo patres / / tum perficiendi et erigendi, et, ipso opere
[297v] et domini, magister Johannes Cranach perfecto et erecto, iterum redeundi, absque hoc
Brichiniensis episcopatus et abbas dicti monas­ quod occasione quacumque predicami monas­
terii de Thosan, unacum certis deputatis dicti terium aut eius nomine poterit in Scotia vexari,
scabinatus Brugensis, se intromisissent, et cum molestari, seu detineri; et quia sub ipsius salvi-
ipsis partibus tractatum supra perfectione ipsius conductus protectione, necnon spe certa, quod
operis habuissent, et certa media pro bono pacis post ipsius operis perfectionem sibi fiet conde-
et concordie, et ne dictum opus imperfectum cens compensatio de suis dampnis et interesse,
et desertum manet, admonuissent. Hinc est pro qua dicti procuratores intercedere et preces
quod ante dictis considerationibus et opinio­ fundere apud dictum dominum abbatem de
nibus dictorum reverendorum in Christo Melros et eius conventum, citra tamen obliga­
patrum et deputatorum predicó scabinatus, et tionem aliquam, tenebuntur, predictus
consideratis rationibus certis que considerari Cornelius cum suo formiscissore ab hinc
debebant et maxime paupertate et bona vol­ recedet versus Slusam, et dicto loco Slusensi
untate predicó Cornelii, per dictum scabina- cum dicto domino Johanne versus dictum
tum ordinatum et appunctuatum est ut infra: monasterium de Melros se transferet, ibidem
Primo videlicet quod dicti procuratores per­ que dictum opus perficiet, et eriget ut decebit,
solvent gardiano conventus fratrum minorum auxilio tamen operariorum sibi ad hoc ex parte
Brugensium in quorum refectorio predicami et expensis monasterii eiusdem deputandorum;
opus per multos annos locatum steterat, et eius et ad hoc faciendum cum effectu, predictus
occasione fratres ipsius eo uti non poterant Cornelius necnon Johannis Mulaert eius plegius
ratione locagii ipsius operis, quatuor libras et fideiussor, se coram dicto scabinatu perso­
grossorum. naliter obligaverunt, sub penis si destructis in
Item, quod dicti procuratores pro transferendo ipso Cornelio committentur, quod absit per
ipso opere in eo statu quo nunc est, de dicto ipsum scabinatum pro dampnis et interesse dic­
conventu fratrum m inorum usque in villam ti monasterii declarandis; et quod dicti procu­
Slusensum, et ibidem in navi ad hoc parata ratores tenebuntur ministrare et solvere predicto
ponendo, tradent ex exponent duas libras Cornelio et eius formiscissori expensas ordi­
grossorum. narias de dicto loco Slusensi usque ad dictum
Item, quod ad succurrendum penurie dicti monasterium, et quando ibidem fuerint et opus
Cornelii, uxoris et filiorum eiusdem et ad se predicami compleverint; et iterum, opere com­
parandum et disponendum cum dicto opere pleto, de dicto monasterio usque dictum locuni
versus Scotiam transfretandum, tradent et sol­ Slusensem, ita quod conductionem navium
vent predicto Cornelio adhuc duas libras quibus conducerentur et reducerentur, necnon
grossorum. expensas victus eorum aut aliis ordinariis nihil
Item, quod predicti procuratores dicto nomine exponere seu solvere tenebuntur. Actum de vii.
procuratorio dabunt et concedent predicto mensis octobris, anno Domini m.cccc°.xli°.

252 THOMAS COOMANS

 A Bell-founders Pit at the
Cistercian Abbey of Grosbot (Charente)
M ARK H O R T O N

mong the many regulations of the Cis­ heavily burnt, left unmistakable archaeological

A tercians were specific rules governing

the use of bells, which were limited to
two and which could not exceed 500 pounds
traces. From the British Isles alone there are
some forty-five known sites, mostly from
churches or from within abbey precincts, but
in weight.1In this essay in honour o f Peter Fer- also a few from urban foundries.3 In the case of
gusson — who first pointed out the link the Cistercians, however, these casting pits are
between the Cistercian rules on the use o f bells much less common — because o f the limited
and the absence of architectural features such use o f bells — and so the chances o f discovery
as central towers and belfries2 — I wish to pre­ are very much lower.4 From the British Isles
sent to him a new and rare discovery of a bell- only two sites have evidence for bell founding,
founders pit in our excavations at the Cistercian Tintern Abbey and Kirkstall Abbey, both o f
abbey o f Notre-Dame de Grosbot (Charente, which employ the old-fashioned lost-wax
France), where a large bell was cast around method described by Theophilus in his famous
1300. treatise De Diversis Artibus.5 The evidence from
The founding of bells within ecclesiastical or Grosbot adds to our knowledge o f Cistercian
monastic precincts is now well reported, espe­ industrial activity and bell making in continental
cially as casting pits, which were often deep and Europe.

1. Terry] N. Kinder. Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Con­ Bryant, and Carolyn Heighway, “A Tenth-Century Bell-pit
templation (Grand Rapids, MI, 2002), p. 57. and Bell-mould from St Oswald’s Priory, Gloucester”,
Medieval Archaeology, 37 (1993), p. 224—36;Justine Bayley and
2. Peter Fergusson, “Early Cistercian Churches in York­ Julian D. Richards, “Medieval Founding”, in The Bedeut
shire and the Problem o f the Cistercian Crossing Tower”, Foundry, ed. Julian D. Richards, T he Archaeology o f York,
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 29 (1970), p. 10.3 (York. 1993). p. 186—203: Walter Janssen. “Ein mitte­
211-21, esp.p. 219. ' lalterliche Metallgießerei in Bonn-Schw arzrheindorf”,
3. Justine Bayley (pers. comm.). Discussions o f the tech­ Beitrage zurArchäologics des Rheinlandes, 27 (1987), p. 135-236;
nology o f medieval bell founding from archaeological exca­ Stuart Blaylock, “Bell and Cauldron Founding in Exeter”,
vations include Alan H. Graham. “Excavations in the Nave Journal of the Historical Metallurgy Society, 30.2 (1996), p.72-82.
o f the Parish Church o f Sydling St Nicholas, Dorset”, Pro­
4. Holly B. Duncan and Stuart Wrathmell, “Bell Moulds
ceedings of the Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society,
from Kirkstall Abbey, West Yorkshire”, Journal of the Histor­
104 (1983), p. 127-36: Alex Down, Chichester Excavations,
ical Metallurgy Society, 20.1 (1986), p. 33-35; Paul Courtney,
vol. in (Chichester. 1978). p. 164—70;J. Patrick Green, Nor­
“Excavations in the O u ter Precinct o f T intern Abbey”,
ton Priory (Cambridge. 1989), p. 118—22; Russell M. Davies Medieval Archaeology, 33 (1989), p. 99-143.
and Peter J. Ovenden, “Bell-founding in Winchester in the
Tenth to T hirteenth C enturies”, in M artin Biddle et al.. 5. Theophilus. On Diverse Arts, introd.and trans, by John
Object and Economy in Medieval Winchester. Winchester Stud­ G. H aw thorne and Cyril S. Smith (New York. 1979). p.
ies. 7 (Oxford, 1990), p. 101—22; Justine Bayley, Richard 167-76.

A Bell-founders Pit at the Cistercian Abbey of Grosbot 253

 Grosbot Abbey — History and Archaeology The main conventual buildings survive in rea­
sonable condition, although much altered from
The well-preserved bell-founders pit was dis­ their twelfth-century form, and have recently
covered in 2001 and fully excavated in 2002. It been restored as a private residence. The abbey
was located within a hall-like building that was church is roofless, but it stands nearly up to vault
built around 1300 to the east o f the east range level in most places. The focus of the archaeo­
and which survived until the early seventeenth logical investigations has been to the east of the
century when it was completely demolished conventual buildings, where a resistivity survey
and the area turned into gardens. indicated surviving foundations below the
The abbey is located approximately 35 km ground surface. An area 26 m by 25 m (85 ft 4
south-east of Angoulême, in an area o f west­ in. by 82 ft 1 in.) was excavated between 1996
ern France that remains heavily wooded; and 2002, revealing a complex sequence o f
indeed, the place-name probably derived from occupation.9
the French gros bois or large wood or forest, and The earliest building found in the excavation
was the name that came to be adopted by the was a large free-standing buttressed (and prob­
Cistercians. An earlier foundation on the site ably vaulted) two-cell structure that was
was known as Fontvive after the substantial designed for the burial of high status individu­
spring that is located to the west of the con­ als in either stone sarcophagi or purpose-built
ventual buildings, but the Cistercians dropped tombs. Further burials occurred outside the
this name after their acquisition o f the site. A building, using either stone tombs, sarcophagi,
nineteenth-century source gives 975 as the or earth burials. Skeletons o f males, females,
foundation date, but the primary authority for and children were found in this area. The evi­
this is unknown; however in the earlier twelfth dence would favour a date for this mausoleum
century donations to the abbey suggest that it during Cistercian occupation o f the site (i.e.,
was under Augustinian control.6 The transfer post-1166) although it could be earlier. It is like­
o f the abbey into the Cistercian Order, as a ly to have contained the remains o f the lay
daughter house of Obazine, took place between benefactors o f the abbey, the Marthon family.
1155 and 1166; the formal acceptance in 11667 This building was, however, completely dis­
may represent the completion o f the church mantled around 1300, and its north wall was
and abbey buildings. Some use may have been used as the foundation o f the south wall of a
made o f the earlier Augustinian buildings, and hall-like building measuring internally 18.5 m
traces o f an earlier phase o f building survive in by 6.4 m (60 ft 9 in. by 21 ft) and probably
the south transept of the church and east clois­ entered from the east. The function of this hall
ter range. The abbey survived until its sale in remains unclear; its location would suggest that
1791,8 although monastic life was almost cer­ it was the monk’s infirmary, although there were
tainly disrupted during the Hundred Years War neither diagnostic features nor artefacts to con­
and the Wars o f Religion. In 1632, a detailed firm this identification. An alternative function
survey was made o f the derelict buildings, and might have been as a guest hall, although this
there is good documentation for the subsequent would have been unusual to the east o f the
restoration under the authority o f a com­ abbey buildings. The hall was internally divid­
mendatory abbot, a status it retained until the ed into two halves by a wooden partition, with
French Revolution. After the Revolution, the a different sequence o f floor levels on either
abbey become a farm and the church fell into side. A single construction level o f mortar and
disrepair. plaster was found across most o f the building,

6. François Vigier de la Pile, Histoire de l'Angoumois (Paris, 7. Leopoldus Janauschek, Originum Cistcrciensium (Vien­
1846; repr. Marseille, 1978). p. 17: David N.Bell, “An Eigh­ na, 1877; repr. Brussels, 1997). p. 155.
teenth-C entury Book-List from the Abbey o f G rosbof
Citeaux, 48 (1997). p. 339-70 (p. 339); Martine Larigaud- 8. Larigauderie-Beijeaud. “Grosbot". p. 89—90.
erie-Beijeaud, "Abbaye cistercienne Notre-Dam e de Gros­ 9 .1 am very grateful to the owners o f the abbey. Jonathan
bot. Charente: Recueil de Textes (1121—1791)”, Bulletin Clowes and Anne Evans, for permission and much assis­
pour k sauvegarde et l’étude du patrimoine religieux de la Char­ tance in the excavations. Financial support was provided by
ente, 8 (1998) p. 1—93 (p. 5-6). the University o f Bristol and Association des Archéologues
de Poitou-Charentes.

254 MA RK H O R T O N
 Plan of Hall

drain cutting
through walls

Fig. 1. Grosbot Abbey (Charcute, France), plan o f excavated hall showing location o f the bell pit. (author)

but this was then covered by a plaster floor to (when the hall must have completely burnt
the west and the sand bedding for a tile floor down) might have occurred during the H un­
to the east. The plaster floor showed traces of dred Years War in the later fourteenth century
an intense fire and the collapse o f timber and when this part of France suffered badly; docu­
masonry blocks onto it. The plaster floor was mented damage to Grosbot is detailed in a let­
covered later by the sand bedding for a tile floor ter from the king to the abbey in 1376, which
as in the eastern half. gives a possible terminus ante quern for the bell
The bell-founders pit was found within the
hall, in a roughly central position (Fig. 1). It lay
across the middle partition, and therefore pre­
dated it. Heat from the bell pit had however Bell-founders Pit
affected the mortar and construction spreads on
the floor. O ur conclusion was that the bell- The pit was excavated in its entirety (Fig. 2). It
founders pit was placed within an empty build­ was an oblong in shape with a slight taper, 3.05
ing, before it had been fitted out for use. It m long and 1.1m wide (10 ft by 3 ft 7 in.), with
would seem to have been a convenient space, vertical sides and rounded ends. At its east end,
sheltered from the wind and rain, in which the two steps had been cut into the clay to gain access
delicate operation of casting could be under­ to the pit, the bottom o f which was 1.2 m (3 ft
taken. Archaeological evidence from the site 11 in.) below the contemporary floor level. The
suggests that the hall was built around 1300. casting area was located at the west end and here
While a C l 4 date has not yet been obtained the sides of the pit were scorched red from the
from charcoal found in the pit, ceramic finds heat; the scorching extended back some 1.4 m
included part of a glazed Saintonge-ware bowl (4 ft 7 in.) from the end. The fill of the pit con­
with applique and stamped decoration dating tained pieces o f broken bell mound, charcoal,
to the late thirteenth or early fourteenth cen­ some bronze metal waste, in a mixed clay, which
tury. The intense burning on the plaster floor10 was redeposited subsoil. It would seem that the

10. Larigauderie-Beijeaud, “ Grosbot”, p.39-40.

A Bell-founders Pit at the Cistercian Abbey of Grosbot 255

 Fig. 2. Grosboi Abbey, bell-founders pir. (author) Fig. 3. Grosbot Abbey, detail o f bell-founders pit showing base
rim o f the bell mould, (author)

pit had been dug out and the soil replaced imme­ burnt limestone and which ran directly under­
diately after the casring process had been com­ neath the remains of the bell mound. There was
pleted. No trace was found of the furnace where evidence for internal firing within the flue. The
the molten metal would have been prepared. centre o f the mould was hollowed out so that
Remains of the base rim of the bell mould sur­ flue gases could pass upwards into the centre of
vived intact in the bottom of the pit (Fig. 3). It the core of the mould. Between 0.07 m and 0.25
was fired black and flared upwards. The outside m (2.8 and 9.8 in.) separated the outer edge of
face of the surviving mould had the imprints of the mould and the side of the bell pit.
the fingers that shaped the clay. The ring had an
internal diameter of between 0.7 m and 0.74 m
(27.6 and 29.1 in.), suggesting that the bell was Bell-Making Techniques
not exactly true, but would have had an external
rim diameter o f a little less than 0.7 m (27.6 in.). The late thirteenth to early fourteenth century
We do not know much about its shape — the is an important transitional period in bell mak­
mould fragments were too broken to reconstruct ing, from the earlier “lost-wax” process described
it — but the depth of the pit from the base of by Theophilus (ca. 1110—40) to the more
the mould to the floor level was 0.96 m (37 in.). advanced use of loam models and stickle boards
The base ring rested on a narrow flue, 0.24 m described by Biringuccio in 1540." The latter
(9.5 in.) wide, which was made up of slabs of method continues largely unchanged today.112

11. Theophilus, On Diverse Ans, p. 167—76; Vannoccio 12. George Elphick. The Craft of the Bellfounder (Chich­
Biringuccio, Pirotechnico, ed. Cyril S. Smith and Martha T. ester. 1988); Trevor S. Jennings. Bellfounding. (Princes Ris-
Gnudi (New York, 1942), p. 260-77, 453—55. borough, 1988).

256 MA RK H O R T O N
 The technique described by Theophilus has These changes, which seem to have been
been confirmed through the excavation o f bell introduced in the thirteenth century, were
pits from late Saxon sites in England, including needed because the increased size o f the bells
St Oswalds Priory, Gloucester, and Old Min­ now being cast made it very difficult to lower
ster, Winchester.13 The mould for these bells the completed mould into the pit. The shape
was prepared around a central spindle. The core o f the bell was also changing at this time, and
was built up using clay, and turned to achieve this may have influenced the development of
the required shape. The bell was then patterned the new technique. Pre-thirteenth century bells
using wax or tallow over the core. The outer were “long-waisted” (i.e., narrower and high­
cope was made up of clay placed over the wax, er than modern bells) with flat sound bows.13
and the spindle removed. Part of the core may Later bells are wider, with developed sound
have been taken out to reduce the weight of bows and generally thicker metal, and this could
the mould, and to avoid cracking the bell as it be more easily achieved using loam patterns.
cooled. The mould was then placed upright, Later bells also had better harmonics which
and the mouldings for the canons and argent could be predicted more closely before casting.
that provide the attachments to suspend the bell It seems, however, that the shifts in techniques
were added to the top of the pattern. The whole and bell shapes were complex and not neces­
structure was bound in iron straps and careful­ sarily related. Lost-wax casting o f some small
ly lowered into the bell pit. The clay mould was bells continued until at least the fifteenth cen­
dried out by a fire that was lit in the pit for tury,16 while long-waisted bells were being
approximately twenty-four hours; this proce­ made in the stickle-and-loam technique in the
dure also melted the wax, which could be col­ early thirteenth century.17*
lected through drain holes in the base o f the Attempts have been made to identify which
mould (examples were found at St Oswald’s). o f these techniques were employed from the
The pit was then partly backfilled to support archaeological remains o f bell-founding pits as
the fragile mould. The bronze was prepared in well as the associated moulding materials. Traces
crucibles, heated in a small furnace on the sur­ o f wax residues have been identified at W in­
face, and poured through the “gate” at the top chester and Chichester,!S and the imprint of
of the mould. The bell had to be recovered from the spindle o f a stickle board was found below
the mould while it was still hot, or the core the base of the mould in a foundry in Exeter.19
removed, because when the bell cooled the core In the majority of cases, however, details o f the
might crack it as it retracted. The Biringuccio manufacture can only be indirectly inferred. For
technique included shaping the bell mould ver­ example, at Winchester it was argued that the
tically in the actual pit, using a stickle board that mould fragments that were heavily reduced (i.e.,
was rotated around the stationary mould. The black) were more likely to have been fired with
bell pattern was made in loam rather than wax, the cope attached to the pattern and mould.20
and during the drying process, the cope was At N orton Priory it was thought that a stickle
lifted up to recover the loam and to assist dry­ board was used to shape the pattern made from
ing, and then later lowered into place.14* loam, because wooden wedges were found

13. Bayley, Bryant, and Heighway, “St Oswald’s P rio ­ 15. Elphick, Bellfottnder, p. 9—30;John Harvey provides a
ry, Gloucester” ; Davies and O venden, “ Bell-founding in good example o f a mid-13th-century “long-waisted” bell
W inchester”. For w ider discussion o f the lost-wax tech­ with a flat sound bow in Medieval Craftsmen (London, 1975),
nique, see Claude Blair and John Blair, "C opper Alloys” fig. 159.
in English Medieval industries, ed. John Blair and Nigel
Ramsey (London, 1991), p. 81-106 (p. 89-93); R onald 16. Duncan and Wrathmell, "Bell Moulds from Kirkstall
Abbey” , p. 33-34.
F. Tylecote, A History of Metallurgy (London, 19922), p.
85-86: Elphick. Bellfottnder. p. 50—52; Louis F. Salzmann. 17. Green, Norton Priory, p. 118.
English Industries o f the Middle Ages (O xford. 1923-). p.
146-48. 18. Davies and Ovenden, “Bell-founding in Winches­
ter”, p. 114; Down, Chichester Excavations, ill, p. 168-69.
14. Biringuccio, Piroteclwico. p.260-77, 453-55; Elph­
ick, Bellfottnder, p. 52; Davies and O venden, “ Bell-found­ 19. Blaylock. “Bell and Cauldron Founding in Exeter”,
ing in W inchester” , p. 101-02; A rthur A. Hughes, “ Bell p. 75-76. '
Founding”, Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 9 (1930), 20. Davies and Ovenden, “Bell-founding in Winches­
p. 36-45. ter”, p. 115-19.

A Bell-founders Pit at the Cistercian Abbey of Grosbot 257

 which, it was assumed, separated the cope from gap between mould and pit it must have been
the core.21 At Sydling St Nicholas, the mould difficult for the hot gases to circulate during the
fragments were carefully made to allow reassem­ drying process.
bly, suggesting that the cope was lifted off dur­ O ne element o f particular note about the
ing the drying process.22 Grosbot pit is the square cut in the centre of
It seems likely that the Grosbot bell was made the surviving base ring, with sides o f 210 mm
using the lost-wax process. The base ring that (8.3 in.). This may be the imprint of the spin­
survives seems to represent a layer of clay that dle around which the core was built. This spin­
encased both the cope and the core, acting as dle was described by Theophilus as a tapering
an additional support for the bell mould as it piece o f wood, square in section, but which
was lowered into place. A similar arrangement was rounded where it was attached to the
has been found at the Cistercian abbey o f Kirk- lathe.2627 The square cut gives the size o f the
stall, where a much smaller bell was cast in the thicker end of the spindle for the first time, but
fifteenth century using this technique.23 Here also indicates that the core may not have been
it was argued that the lost-wax process was used, hollowed out prior to casting.
as it was impossible to lift off the cope after it There were insufficient pieces o f bell mould
had been formed. At Kirkstall and Grosbot it is to calculate the profile o f the bell, and its size
unclear where the wax ran out during the fir­ can only be deduced from the remains in situ.
ing of the mould, although it could have been The internal diameter o f the base ring was 0.74
channelled into the central hollow and into the m (29 in.) at its widest. This would have encased
flue. A similar base ring to that from Grosbot the cope as well as the core, suggesting an exter­
was also found in a fourteenth-century bell pit nal diameter of 0.68 m (26.8 in.). If the bell had
at Chichester, and scientific analysis identified the proportions o f a modern bell then it would
wax residues in the mould.24 have weighed approximately 420 pounds and
Another possible indicator for the use o f the would have measured 0.54 m (21 in.) between
lost-wax process is the closeness o f the mould rim and crown.28 If its proportions were clos­
to the sides o f the pit, making it impossible to er to the N orton Priory bell (which dates to
rotate a stickle board around the core. At W in­ the early thirteenth century, and whose profile
chester, where the loam-and-stickle technique was accurately reconstructed from the mould
was used, it was assumed that the diameter of fragments) then it would have been around 0.65
the bell was half that o f the pit in which it rest­ m (25.6 in.) high, or including the canon and
ed.25 At Norton, where this technique was also argent, 0.79 m (31.1 in.). Given the depth of
deduced, the cast bell was 0.82 m (32.3 in.) in the bell pit, this would have given 160 mm (6
diameter (reconstructed from fragments o f bell in.) for the gate at the top o f the mould, so as
mould) and the pit 1.65 m (65 in.).2f>At Gros­ to be flush with the floor. Figure 4 shows a sec­
bot, however, at the narrowest point, there is a tion through the bell pit, with the reconstruct­
gap o f only 70 mm (3 in.) between mould and ed N orton Priory bell mould29 scaled to the
pit, so the mould must have been lowered, com­ dimensions o f the slightly smaller Grosbot bell
plete, into the pit. Even so, with such a small placed within it. It is a very close fit.

21. Green, Norton Priory, p. 120. M ould from N orton Priory. Cheshire”. Conservator, 5
(1981), p. 20-21.
22. Graham. "Sydling St Nicholas”, p. 135.
27. This archaeological evidence supports the transla­
23. T he small bell from Tim ern may also have been cast
tion in Theophilus, On Diverse Arts, p. 168, and recon­
using the lost-wax m ethod although the evidence is less
structed in fig. 21. T heophilus, Dc Diversis Artibus, p.
clear (Courtney. “Tintern Abbey”, p. 119-21). As at Kirk­
150-51 is less clear.
stall, it dates to the 15th century.
28. T he size and weights o f m odern bells produced by
24. Down, Chichester Excavations, in, p. 166-69.
the W hitechapel bell foundry are published on the web­
25. Davies and Ovenden, “Bell-founding in Winches­ site; www.whitechapelbellfoundry.co.uk. These are simi­
ter”. p. 121. lar to the weights given in J. R . Nichols, Bells thro' the Ages:
The Founders Craft and Ringer’s Art (London. 1936). p. 28.
26. Green, Norton Priory, p. 120; Barry Johnson, "Exca­
vation o f the Bell Founding Pit and Restoration o f a Bell 29. Green. Norton Priory, fig. 65.

258 MARK H O R T O N
 levels

natura1

natural clay

O
Scale metre

Fig. 4. Section through the Grosbot bell pit, showing the reconstructed Norton Priory bell mould (see note 29) scaled to the dimen­
sions o f the Grosbot bell placed within it. (author)

Weights and the Use o f Bells at Grosbot lay brothers working in outlying areas. The
statute of 1157 limited the weight of this bell
It is difficult to be certain o f the weight of bells to 500 pounds.33 In 1202, it was decided that
cast in pits from the archaeological evidence 500 pounds would be the total weight allowed
alone, as it was dependant upon numerous fac­ for the two bells, and the regulations set out
tors including the thickness o f the metal, pro­ when each should be rung. As the noia was small­
portions of the bell, thickness of the sound bow, er than the campana, this may not have had much
and size o f the canons. Modern scales can give practical impact. Significantly, 500 pounds is
an indication, and it is likely that the extra about the limit for casting a bell using the lost-
weight gained in the height o f long-waisted wax method. It would appear that the supposed
bells was offset by the thinner metal o f the cast­ ceremonial excesses of the Cluniacs, described
ing and a thinner sound bow.30 The Grosbot by the Cistercian monk Idung of Prüfening in
bell would have weighed around 420 pounds the mid-1150’s — which included bells that
on the modern scale, although its longer pro­ were so heavy that those ringing them ruptured
portions might have given a weight closer to themselves — was exaggerated.34 Cistercian bells
450-500 pounds.31 seem, however, to have been generally small. A
Cistercian legislation allowed for two bells, fifteenth-century bell from Obazine has a rim
the itola and the campana?2 The noia was a small diameter of 43.5 cm (17 in.), and likely weighs
hand bell, controlled by the prior and used in around 120 pounds;33 it was probably large
the refectory and cloister. The campana was sus­ enough for a bell tower. There is also a bell of
pended in a belfry in the church or in a sepa­ similar size from Grosbot itself; it hangs in the
rate bell tower (that had to be made o f wood), church of Saint-Paul (near Chazelles), with an
and was used to communicate with monks and inscription dating it to 1552.jñ

30. Alan Hughes o f the Whitechapel bell foundry (pers. the British Isles, ed. Christopher N orton and David Park
comm.). (Cambridge, 1986), p.315-93 (p.328-29).
31. T he N orton Priory bell was recast in 1977, using the 34. R obert B. C. Huygens, “Le M oine Idung et ses deux
mould fragments as a guide. O n the modern scale it would ouvrages”. Studi Medievali. 3rd ser., 13 (1972). p. 291—470
have weighed around 700 lbs. although its estimated weight (p. 389).
is (probably erroneous) 750 kg; Green, Norton Priory, p. 119,
35. Bernadette Barrière, Moines en Limousin: L ’aventure
fig. 69. There are no published weights for surviving early
bells. cistercienne (Limoges, 1998), p. 61.

32. Kinder, Cistercian Europe, p. 57. 36. Anne Evans (pers. comm.). The local tradition is that
at the French Revolution, a cart was loaded with various
33. Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cistercian General bells from the abbey and taken to La Rochfoucault. This
Chapter, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Citeaux: Studia et D oc­ bell was appropriated on route and placed in the church,
umenta, 12 (Brecht, 2002), p. 71: “Campanae nostri ordi­ where it still hangs in the bell tower. T he inscription on the
nis non excedant pondus quingentarum librarum, ita ut unus bell reads “P O U R N O S T R E DAME DE G RO BO S LAN
pulsetur tantum et numquam simul pulsent duo” (1157. no. MIL Ve L ET II” . T he inventory o f 1791, however, men­
10); Christopher N orton. “Table o f Cistercian Legislation tions only une petite cloche in the abbey church: Larigaud-
on Art and Architecture”, in Cistercian Art and Architecture in erie-Beijeaud, “Grosbot”, p. 89.

A Bell-founders Pit at the Cistercian Abbey of Grosbot 259

 There is a belfry at the west end o f the nave small and ineffective when, as ample archae­
o f Grosbots church. While this wall has been ological evidence demonstrates, the abbey
rebuilt on a number o f occasions, it is proba­ expanded its agricultural and industrial activ­
ble that the belfry is part o f the original fabric ities into the surrounding forest. But it is also
o f 07. 1160. Its width is 0.5 m (20 in.) allowing interesting that the desire for better-tuned bells
for a bell with a rim diameter o f around 0.4 m coincided with this same period. The size of
(15.7 in.) and a weight of around 105 pounds. bell that they chose to make was close to the
Its location suggests that it may have served as limit that could be achieved through the (by
the campana from the early years o f the now old-fashioned) lost-wax casting method.
monastery. The abbey church also had a central But make it they did while respecting the rules;
tower that could have housed a much larger the community at Grosbot had a new bell to
bell. Unfortunately much of this tower has col­ bring in the fourteenth century, and we — at
lapsed so we cannot locate fittings or framings the beginning of the twenty-first — can cel­
for a bell with any certainty, although this is the ebrate its manufacture with the remains o f the
likely location for the bell that was cast in our m om ent o f its fabrication, even though the
bell pit. bell itself has long since been consigned to the
melting pot.
We can speculate why the monks o f Grosbot
required a new and much larger bell around Department o f Archaeology
1300. It may have been that the original cam­ University of Bristol
pana, in its western bell turret, became too UK

260 MA RK H O R T O N
Zakin — Colour Piale i. Agony in the Garden, ca. 1520,from the cloister o f Mariawald Abbey, Cleveland Mitsamt o f Art. (acc.
1940.540; Gift o f S. Livingston Mather, Constance Mather Bishop, Philip R. Mather, Katherine Hoyt Cross, and Katherine
Mather McLean in accordance with the wishes o f Samuel Mather)
 Stained Glass Panels from M ariaw ald Abbey
in the Cleveland M useum o f A rt

H ELEN ZA K IN

wo stained glass windows in the Cleve­ Countries and in areas near Cologne.-’ Through

T land Museum o f Art show the Kiss of

Judas (Fig. 1) and the Agony in the Gar­
den (Fig. 2; colourplate 1) from the cloister of
the Cistercian abbey of Mariawald.1They were
Camp, Mariawald belonged to the filiation of
M orim ond.4
The parish priest in the nearby village o f
Heimbach had petitioned the abbey o f Bot-
purchased in the early twentieth century by a tenbroich to establish the abbey of Mariawald.
Cleveland industrialist and given to the muse­ The hill on which Mariawald stands, the Ker-
um by his heirs. The purposes of this essay are meter, was a popular destination for pilgrims
to discuss aspects o f the style and iconography who came to see a fifteenth-century wooden
o f the panels in Cleveland and to speculate Pietà installed there by a hermit. Evidently the
about the viewers who looked at them. The parish priest in Heimbach wanted an abbey on
thesis is that in the sixteenth century, Mariawald the Kermeter to attend to the needs of the pil­
Abbey functioned as a pilgrimage site, a thesis grims and to safeguard the statue. The abbey
that Peter Fergusson anticipated in relation to buildings are on the north side of the church
the tomb o f William at Rievaulx. and were actually under construction by 1483.
Mariawald lies in the Eifel, an area along the The north and west galleries o f the cloister were
Rhine south-west o f Cologne. The official date built first, then the east gallery, and finally the
o f the foundation is 4 April I486.2 The prior south gallery, which was not finished until the
and first monks to inhabit Mariawald came from middle o f the sixteenth century.3 The Dukes of
Bottenbroich, a foundation of Camp, which Jülich-Berg, as well as other members of the
was itself at the centre of the Congregation of local aristocracy, clergy, and bourgeoisie
Sibculo, founded in the fifteenth century. The financed the architecture and the stained glass
Congregation of Sibculo represented a reform which once filled windows in the cloister as
movement among Cistercian abbeys in the Low well as windows in the church itself.6

1. Stained Glass before 1700 in American Collections: Mid­ 4. M arie-Anselme Dimier, “ Liste alphabétique des
western and Western States, Corpus Vitrearum Checklist III, ed. monastères de la filiation de M orim ond’’, Analecta Cister-
and introd. Madeline H. Caviness and Jane Hayward. Stud­ ciensis, 14 (1958), p. 112-16 (p. 113).
ies in the History o f Art. 28 (Washington. 1989). p. 212;
Virginia Ragù in and Helen Zakin, Stained Class before 1700 5. Mariawald: Geschichte eines Klosters, p. 15-27, 266—70,
f ig . 2 .
in the Collection of the Midwest States, Corpus Vitrearum,
United States o f America, 7.2 (London. 2001), p. 170-78. 6. P. Cyrillus Goerke, “Das Zisterzienserkloster M ari-
2. Mariawald: Geschichte eines Klosters (Heimbach. 1962), p. 24. avvald in seiner Geschichte und seiner Bedeutung ftir die
Eifel” . Annales des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein. 121
3. For the Congregation o f Sibculo. see Louis J. Lekai, The (1931). p. 144—51 (p. 148-50).
Cistercians: Ideals and Reality (Kent, O H , 1977), p. 113-16.

Stained Glass Panels from Mariawald Abbey in the Cleveland Museum of Art
 Fig. 1. Kiss o f Judas, ca. 1520,from the cloister o f Mariawald Fig. 2. Agony in the Garden, ca. 1520, from the cloister o f
Abbey, Cleveland Museum of Art. (acc. 1940.341; Gijt o f S. Mariawald Abbey, Cleveland Museum o f Art. (acc. 1940.340;
Livingston Mather, Constance Mather Bishop, Philip R . Math­ Gift qfS. Livingston Mather, Constance Mather Bishop, Philip
er, Katherine Hoyt Cross, and Katherine Mather McLean in R . Mather, Katherine H oyt Cross, and Katherine Mather
accordance with the wishes o f Samuel Mather) McLean in accordance with the wishes o f Samuel Mather)

Approximately half of the openings in the clois­ windows from the Mariawald cloister were for­
ter were once glazed, but none of the panels tuitously discovered at Ashridge in 1908 by Niko­
remain in their original location.The stained glass laus Reinartz, although at first he was not able to
windows that once decorated Mariawald were differentiate the Mariawald glass from that once
taken out during the Napoleonic era when the belonging to the nearby Premonstratensian abbey
Rhineland was secularized. In about 1800 they of Steinfeld, also installed at Ashridge, and which
were shipped to Norfolk by John Christopher he attributed to one Gerhart Remsich.9 The
Hampp, a merchant then living in Norwich who Ashridge glass was sold at auction in 1928 and
purchased stained glass in Germany and France many of the panels subsequently entered the Vic­
and brought it back to Britain to sell to English toria and Albert Museum in London.10 Anoth­
collectors/ Much of this glass was installed in the er panel from the Mariawald cloister, probably
neo-Gothic chapel built between 1808 and 1820 from a Passion series, is also known.11
by James Wyatt and his nephew Sir Jeffry In an important series o f articles, Bernard
Wyatville as part of Ashridge House in Hert­ Rackham discussed the panels from the clois­
fordshire, seat of the Earls o f Bridgewater.8 The ter o f Mariawald Abbey in London,12 and

7. Mary B. Shepard, ‘“ O u r Fine Gothic Magnificence’: 10. Catalogue o f the Magnificent Sixteenth Century Stained
T he N ineteenth-C entury Chapel at Costessey Hall (N or­ Glass Windows from the Chapel at Ashridge, Herts. The Proper­
folk) and its Medieval Glazing "Journal of the Society of Archi­ ty of a Gentleman (sale cat., Sotheby & Co., 12 July), Lon­
tectural Historians, 54 (1995), p. 186-207;Jean Lafond, “ Le don, 1928.
Commerce des vitraux étrangers anciens en Angleterre au
XVIIIe et au XIXe siècle". Revue des Sociétés Savantes de Haute-
11. William Cole. “ A H itherto U nrecorded Panel o f
Normandie, 20 (1960), p. 5—16. Stained Glass from the Abbey o f Mariawald”, Journal of the
British Society o f Master Glass-Painters, 17.2 (1981—82). p.
8. Nikolaus Pevsner, Hertfordshire, T he Buildings o f Eng­ 21-24.
land (London, 1953). p. 158-60.
12. Bernard Rackham, "The Mariawald-Ashridge Glass”.
9. Nikolaus Reinartz, “Remsich. Gerhart”, in Allgemeines Burlington Magazine, 85 (1944). p. 266-73; id., “T he Mari­
Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegen­ awald-Ashridge Glass - II". Burlington Magazine, 86 (1945),
wart, ed. U lrich T hiem e and Felix Becker (Leipzig, p. 90-94; and id., “T he Ashridge Stained Glass” , Journal of
1907-50), xxviii, p. 152. the British Archaeological Association, 10 (1945—47), p. 1-22.

262 HELEN ZAKIN

Fio. 3.Joab Stabbing Amasti, ca. 1520,from the cloister o f Mari­
awald Abbey, Victoria and Albert Museum, (acc. C. 209-1928;
V&A Picture Library)

Hilary Wayment has commented on the glaz­

ing o f the Mariawald church.13 A thorough­
going reconstruction o f the program o f the
church and the cloister remains, however, a
Fig. 4. Kiss o f Judas, Albrecht Durer, 1508, Cleveland Muse­
desideratum.14*
um o f Art. (acc. 1 9 2 1 .1163; Gift o f the Print Club o f Cleve­
In 1969, Father M. Conrad [Kalka], a monk of
land)
Mariawald, presented his theoretical description
of the abbey’s cloister program.13 He acknowl­
edged his reliance on the work of Josef and Willi
Kurthen, who had published the definitive essay According to Fr Conrad, the Mariawald clois­
on the early-sixteenth-century cloister panels from ter housed a program ornamenting the west and
the nearby Premonstratensian abbey of Steinfeld. north galleries. The panels were presumably
Like most of the glass from Mariawald, most of arranged chronologically, from south to north
the glass from Steinfeld is now in Britain. Yet the along the west gallery and from west to east
Kurthens had had at their disposal two detailed along the north gallery. The narrative windows
descriptions of the subjects presented in the Ste­ illustrated the life o f Christ in three segments,
infeld glass, one dating from the seventeenth cen­ with the Nativity scenes in the west gallery,
tury and the other from the eighteenth.16 beginning at the south end opposite a short hall

13. Hilary Wayment. King’s College Chapel Cambridge:The Archaeological Society, 49 (1927), p. 301—31 (p. 309-12, pis
Side-Chapel Glass (Cambridge, 1988), p.45—52. III and IVa).
14. See David J. King, “T he Steinfeld Cloister Glazing”, 15. M. Conrad [Kalka], "Z u r Geschichte der alten Glas­
Gesta. 37 (1998), p. 201-10 (p. 209, n. 8): Hermann O idt- gemälde aus dem Kreuzgang von Kloster M ariawald”,
mann, Die rheinischen Glasmalereien vom 12. bis sum 16. Heimatkalender des Landkreises Schleiden. 19 (1969), p. 95—102.
Jahrhundert (Düsseldorf, 1929), il. p. 430—33; Dundas Har­
ford, "O n the East W indow o f St. Stephens Church. N or­ 16. Josef Kurthen and Willi Kurthen, “D er Kreuzgang
wich". No folk Archaeology. 15 (1940). p.335—45. Additional der Abtei Steinfeld und sein ehemaliger Bildfenster­
panels from the church and the cloister o f Mariawald are in schmuck”, in Die Glasmalereien aus dem Steinfelder Kreus-
the east window o f the Lord Mayors Chapel, Bristol. See g,ang, ed. Wilhelm Neuss (M. Gladbach, 1955). p. 47—282
G. McN. Rushforth. “T he Painted Glass in tire Lord Mayor s (P- 78).
Chapel. Bristol”, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire

Stained Glass Panels front Mariawald Abbey in the Cleveland Museum of Art 263
 Fig. 5. Raphael, Charge to Peter,
1515—1516, Victoria and Albert
Museum. (Royal Loan 3,
Victoria and Albert M useum /The
Royal Collection)

that led into the cloister. This entryway, which border is on that side; likewise, the Agony in the
was opposite the porter’s lodge, lay on an Garden (Fig. 2) must have been on the right.
east—west axis and traversed the west range of There are no borders along the inner edges of
the claustral building. The scenes in the north the composition because these two panels were
gallery depicted the teaching and miracles o f meant to be seen as an entity, with the soldiers
Christ together with the corresponding types from the Agony in the Garden spilling over into
from the Old Testament. The windows in the the scene of the Kiss of Judas.
east gallery would have illustrated the narrative The panel representing the Agony in the Gar­
o f the Passion.1718 den, now in Cleveland, shows Christ kneeling
Father Conrad, who was unaware o f the exis­ to face right. There is a cup on top o f the cliff
tence of the panels in Cleveland, suggested that before him, but not an angel. Jesus in the Kiss
windows illustrating the Kiss of Judas (Fig. 1) of Judas reaches to heal the ear o f Malchus. A
and Agony in the Garden (or Christ in the Garden grisaille figure of St Lawrence holding his grill
of Gethsamene) (Fig. 2) had once been in the bay is inside the trompe Foeil architectural niche
at the north end o f the east gallery of the clois­ on the left; a grisaille of St Apollonia, holding
ter at Mariawald. He theorized that the panel a tooth in a pair of tongs, stands inside the niche
showing Joab Stabbing Amasa (Fig. 3), which is on the right.
now in London, would fit above the Kiss of The images o f the Mariawald glass are
Judas.18 If the model o f Steinfeld, as recon­ dependent on various models. There are for­
structed by Kurthern, had been followed, one mal and iconographie similarities between the
would expect to find a panel showing Daniel at Kiss of Judas by Albrecht Dürer, dated 1508
Prayer above the Agony in the Garden, but the (Fig. 4), and the same subject in Cleveland,
corresponding panel from Mariawald is lost, as dated about 1520, especially the presence of
is the one from Steinfeld.19 the rope and the design o f Judas’s head. Some
In reconstructing the Cleveland panels in ref­ o f the decorative motifs in the architectonic
erence to the Mariawald cloister architecture, frame also appear in D ürers prints, such as the
it is clear that the the Kiss of Judas (Fig. 1) had shell-like niche20 (which may be seen on the
to be on the left, because its architectonic glass Triumphal Arch o f 151521) and the bucrania (in

17. See the plan in Conrad, “Z ur Geschichte der alten 20. The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer, ed. Willi Kurth
Glasgemälde”, p. 100-02. (New York. 1963), figs 274-75.
18. Ibid., p. 99. 21. Giulia Bartrum et ah, Albrecht Durer and his Legacy:
The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist (London, 2002), p.
19. Kurthen and Kurthen, “D er Kreuzgang der Abtei
194. no. 139.
Steinfeld", p. 153.

264 HELEN ZAKIN

a drawing and then a w oodcut dated ca.
- 'jrtmm-nm-mnjhtafixrfn\
1513-1722). -püw b»nir crio cuoüjccòuìjni
The pose o f Christ, as he extends his arm, Fúuitq^tiwucrh.iluMooí ttfrcñ
cr ÎUT.buuutnupui wcfcí
\turrfractj i+ Giuwrifpct
resembles that o f Christ in Raphael’s coloured ipmaicrtVloiicu uueuptfe*
crerT'-jiÜftTimVtwKO ÜC*
drawing illustrating the theme of the Charge to aiuu cmtuaUuQ
Peter (Fig. 5). Raphael’s image was intended to
be reversed, since it was made as a cartoon for
one in a set o f tapestries produced in Antwerp
for the Sistine Chapel. Raphael’s cartoons were
in the north no later than 1518, and their influ­
ence on the painters o f that period was wide­
spread. Specific features o f the Cleveland
windows resemble the imagery found on Jan
Joest’s Kalkar Altarpiece of 1505—08. The pose
o f the soldier facing left in the Agony in the Gar­
den at Cleveland is close to that o f the soldier
to the right o f Judas and Christ in the Kiss of
Judas at Kalkar.23 Both stand in an exaggerated
contrapposto with flexed left legs.
One of the iconographical peculiarities of the
trír^bofebnfeGumrc
Mariawald programme is the scene showing the 6s stagnans
Agony in the Garden. The subject is well known
and was indeed popular in the late fifteenth and
early sixteenth centuries.24 Yet this is not the usual
cattnirgatt
scene in the standard typological references. In Fig. 6. Biblia Pauperum, ca. 1460, Boston Public Library /Rare
this spot, the Biblia Pauperum (Fig. 6) and the Specu­ Books Department.
lum humanae salvationis both show three of Christ’s (Q. 403.96, Courtesy o f the Trustees) fol. 20
persecutors falling down on the Mount of Olives
as recorded in John 18. 4—6.23 Thus Rackham’s
conclusion that the Biblia Pauperum was the stan­ ed that this programme was a typological one.
dard printed model for the Mariawald typologi­ Thus it would include both Old and New Tes­
cal programme is not entirely accurate.2526 tament subjects. Lymant’s proposal has not been
The glazed cloisters o f abbeys within the universally accepted because there are two sev­
Cologne diocese present a variant o f the system enteenth-century descriptions o f the Charter-
used in the Biblia Pauperum and the Speculum. house glass stating that windows from this cloister
Instead of — or in addition to — the Fall of the showed Old Testament subjects. O n the other
Persecutors of Christ, typological programmes in hand, there are no known fifteenth- or sixteenth-
the Cologne region depicted the Agony in the century cloister glazing programs that illustrated
Garden. My first example is a fragment showing Old Testament themes exclusively. In order to
the three apostles John, Peter, and James. On the explain the seventeenth-century comments,
basis o f style this window has been associated Lymant suggested that the New Testament win­
with the glass from the small cloister in the Char­ dows had been destroyed by the time the descrip­
terhouse in Cologne.27 Brigitte Lymant suggest- tions were written.28

22. Ibid., p. 190-91. nos 131-32. 1984), p. 174.

23. Gert von der Osten and Horst Vey, Painting and Sculp­ 26. Rackham , “T he Mariawald-Ashridge Glass”, p.
ture in Germany and the Netherlands 1500-1600 (Har- 269-70.
mondsworth. 1969), fig. 131.
27. Die Kölner Kartause um 1500: Eine Reise in usere Ver­
24. Larry Silver, “The Influence o f Anxiety: T he Agony gangenheit, ed. R ita Wagner and U lrich Bock (Cologne.
in the Garden as Artistic Them e in the Era o f Dürer”, um?ni '1991), p. 179, no. 510.
45.5 (1997), p. 420-29.
28. Brigitte Lymant, Die Glasmalereien des Schnütgen-Muse-
25. Adrian Wilson and Joyce Lancaster Wilson. A Medieval ums (Cologne. 1982), p. 114-15.
Mirror: Speculum humanae salvationis 1324—1500 (Berkeley,

Stained Glass Panels from Mariawald Abbey in the Cleveland Museum of Art 265
 n frçu ^ u i- Iib-rçu rn -ç s y? hll°SWnçtftl», narrative scenes and four prophets to be set
m t r 'i.
rp¿onb vîiccpoîuiiinr wof r
“& fíin ú nnnlrato aborrì»? j within an architectonic frame complete with
in m th ir C m ît-Vo n*.cu ítuo 1
Crrrttlmfc alíoqrfrtranC
rtnÜcíT rvlüòin .CJouliqm
texts, some o f which were written on scrolls
M o K aiinqbftrm- obiirr and some as if on the plane o f the page (Figs
fvjyWJt' tlttliui riuuryiu «S
nfc ornilol<\c rt* íróif _
Tjjyo u u m ao rnfeQjcóu 6, 7). Each page — that is, each verso and recto
— in the fifteenth-century woodcut version of
/ \)0W0JJíUUÍ rJ^auu the Biblia Pauperum contained one New Testa­
ípnmi^
vvwnuMiw rn rrr? ment subject and two Old Testament subjects.
In the case o f the page on which the Kiss of
Judas is shown, the Old Testament scenes
include Joab Stabbing Abner on the left and
Tryphon Betraying Jonathan on the right. The
architectural format o f the Mariawald cloister
offered different possibilities. Each bay contains
a window consisting o f two lancets crowned
with tracery. The tracery was filled with
prophets, the upper registers with Old Testa­
ment Scenes, the middle registers with New
Testament scenes, and the lowest registers with
iCÜloifcuiÿûiiittüOflbI Hp LnCrrbs trrrréUmíLfi
panels depicting the patrons.30
Jjuin>uu2itjîui^lieîî: I gft I x ex€£Éf\íc^
Following the linguistic model, one can see
the Christological scenes at Mariawald as
a íTjiòitor lúe
depicting a horizontal, biographical stream and
Fig. 7. Biblia Pauperum, ca. 1460, Boston Public Library/Rare the typological scenes as vertical, visual
Books Department. (Q.403.96, Courtesy of theTnistees)fol. 21 metaphors. The events arranged vertically
expand the meaning o f the horizontal narra­
tive, thus enriching the windows as a focus of
The glazing programme o f the abbey of St meditation. The pairs o f Jesus/Judas and
Cecilia in Cologne also included a panel depict­ Jo ab /Amasa are tied together allegorically.31
ing the Agony in the Garden. This glass dates to Specific elements derived from the two events
about 1475 and is now installed at the top o f a establish the connection. O n the one hand,
window in the north aisle o f Cologne Cathe­ there is the element o f betrayal following a
dral along with elements from other Passion friendly greeting; on the other, that o f the
scenes from the St Cecilia cloister. On the basis betrayed who is carrying out a foreordained
o f an early-nineteenth-century inventory, Her­ plan. This implicit chronology is analogous to
bert Rode attributed these fragments — and a a concept o f typology that would conceive of
number o f panels now in the Sacraments the New Testament events as the fulfilment of
Chapel — to the abbey o f St Cecilia.29 The the Old Testament ones. The New Testament
reconstruction o f the Mariawald programme scenes show the completion o f a divine scheme
that includes the Agony in the Garden and the which is prefigured in the Old Testament.
Kiss of Judas is credible, as is the eighteenth-cen­ There are no stained glass borders along the
tury description of the Steinfeld program which inner edges of the two compositions in Cleve­
specifically mentions these subjects. land (Figs 1, 2) because the person who con­
We have seen that the Mariawald windows ceptualized this program wanted these two
differ from the Biblia Pauperum in respect to the panels to be seen as a single entity: the Kiss of
subjects chosen. It is important to note that the Judas as a continuation of the Agony in the Gar­
Mariawald windows also differ conceptually. den. The stone mullion in between connected
The Biblia Pauperum format allowed for three them, providing a spatial benchmark repre-

29. H erbert Rode, Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien des 31.Jonathan Culler, Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Lin­
Kölner Domes (Berlin, 1974). p. 152 and pl. 191. guistics, and the Study of Literature (Ithaca. NY. 1975), p.
180-81.
30. Conrad. “Z ur Geschichte der alten Glasgemälde”, p.
99 and 102.

2 6 6 H E L E N Z A K IN
 read as a continuous narrative with its neigh­
bour, but rather as a typological partner with
the window below it. Since they illustrate con­
tinuous narrative combined with typology, the
panels now in Cleveland and London are
unique within the Mariawald cycle.
Perhaps not surprisingly, women are depict­
ed among the donors o f the Mariawald clois­
ter glass (Fig. 8). It seems likely that whatever
the rules concerning clausura may have been in
the Cistercian O rder in the twelfth century,
those statutes were disobeyed as often as they
were obeyed by the early sixteenth century. The
Abbot o f Bottenbroich, the mother house of
Mariawald, stated in a visitation report (1509)
that the prior of Mariawald was obliged to keep
the entrances to the monks’ choir and the clois­
ter closed so that women could not enter these
Fig. 8. Female donor and patron saint, 1519, from the cloister areas.34 Clearly women were present not only
o f Mariawald Abbey,Victoria and Albert Musami, (acc. C .2 4 I- in the church at Mariawald but also in the clois­
1928; V&A Picture Library) ter at that time. The status of Mariawald as a pil­
grimage church is almost certainly relevant in
this context. Fergusson has drawn attention to
the crowds of pilgrims who congregated in the
senting the foreground plane behind which the cloister at Rievaulx in the twelfth and thirteenth
figures stand. The stained glass borders along centuries to pay their respects at the tomb of
the outer edges emerge from behind the stone William, who was buried in front o f the chap­
jambs, just as a stage curtain slides from behind ter house.33 Likewise a mixed population of the
a proscenium arch. Thus the glass borders pious, lay and clerical, male and female, visited
encapsulate the figures within the landscape so Mariawald in the sixteenth century. The abbey
the scenes can be envisioned as though they served a number o f different purposes. The
were happening in the middle of the cloister. vision o f the hermit who first installed the Pièta
The glass frame provides the image field for on the Kermeter in the mid-fifteenth century
the New Testament panels in Cleveland32 and would have been more than amply fulfilled.
functions on a different level o f reality than the
figurai image itself.33 The scene of Joab and Art Department
Amasa (Fig. 3) is framed on both sides with State University o f New York
glazed columns because it is not supposed to be Oswego, NY 13126

32. Lew Andrews, Story and Space in Renaissance Art: The tercian O rd er”, English Historical Review, 44 (1929), p.
Rebirth of Continuous Narratine (Cambridge, 1995), p. 123. 379—80; Letters from the English Abbots to the Chapter at
Citeaux, 1442-1521, ed. C. H. Talbot (London, 1967), p.
33. Sven Sandström, Levels of Unreality (Uppsala. 1963).
263-64.
p. 91.
35. Peter Fergusson and Stuart Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey:
34. Ernst Wackenroder, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises
Community, Architecture, Memory (New Haven, 1999). p.
Schleiden (Düsseldorf, 19S2), p. 383. See also Rose Graham,
166-67.
“T he Great Schism and the English Monasteries o f the Cis-

Stained Glass Panels from Mariawald Abbey in the Cleveland Museum of Art 267
 De laudibus Virginis M atris: The Untold Story
of a Standing Infant Jesus, a Venerating Monk
and a Movable Madonna from Dargun Abbey
C H R IS T IN E K R A TZK E

uch has been said about the Cister­ especially from the beginning o f the thirteenth

M cians’ devotion to Mary.1Sermons by

St Bernard and others on the subject
are famous, and as early as ca. 1136/37 the
century.4 It is therefore not surprising that works
o f art depicting the m other o f Jesus - who
became patroness o f the Order in 1281 - can
Order followed the example of Molesme and be found in Cistercian monasteries everywhere.
Cîteaux in dedicating their abbeys to the Vir­ Indeed, an inventory o f paintings, manuscript
gin.2 Her increasing importance for the Order and book illustrations, seals, enamels, engrav­
is mirrored in the constantly growing number ings, metalwork, ivories, and sculptures in every
of liturgical ceremonies dedicated exclusively medium from the Middle Ages to the present
to her.-5 Mary — the principal intercessor as would be so prohibitively extensive as to deter
well as model o f diligent motherhood and par­ even the most adventuresome team o f cata­
adigm o f chastity, virginity, virtue, humility, loguers from such an undertaking.
obedience, and piety in the Middle Ages — was Annegret Laabs has recendy pointed out that
at least as important to the monks and nuns of the first known statue o f Mary in a Cistercian
the reform order as she was to the tradition in church was a small ivory sculpture in the Abbey
wider Christendom. o f Zwettl in Lower Austria. Now lost, this
As the Virgin became more and more impor­ sculpture is m entioned only in a historic
tant to the Cistercians, she played an increas­ description; it was viewed on feast days from
ingly prominent role in the world o f images, the middle o f the thirteenth century.5 The old-

1. T he literature is vast. For a recent overview, see La menwria 1250-1430, Studien zur internationalen Architek­
Vierge dans la tradition cistercienne: 54' session de la Société tur- und Kunstgeschichte, 8 (Petersberg, 2000), p. 84-92;
Française d’Étttdes Mariales, Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Orval, 1998. Louis J. Lekai. The Cistercians: Ideals and Reality (Kent, O H ,
ed.Jean Longère (Paris, 1999). 19892), p. 256; Maria Signori, “Totius ordinis nostri patrona et
advocata: Maria als Haus- und Ordensheilige der Zis­
2. This was fixed by the statutes in the Prima collectio of terzienser” , in Maria in der Welt: Marienverehrung im Kontext
the Capitula; Narrative and LegislativeTextsfrom Early Cîteaux, der Sozialgeschichte, ed. Claudia Opitz and Hedwig R öcke­
ed. Chrysogonus Waddell. Cîteaux: Studia et Documenta, lein, Clio Lucernensis, 2 (Zürich. 1993). p. 253-73 (p.
9 (Brecht, 1999). Stat. XVIII (p. 320, 332-33) and Stat. IX 254-56). For the Office o f the Virgin (Horæ S. Mariæ), see
(p. 408-09). Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cistercian General Chapter.
3. N orbert Mussbacher, “Die Marienverehrung der Cis- ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, Cîteaux: Studia et Documenta,
tercienser”, in Die Cistercicnscr: Geschichte, Geist, Kunst, cd. 12 (Brecht. 2002), M on 1157/1, p. 67; 1194/1. p. 281;
Ambrosius Schneider, Adam W ienand, Wolfgang Bickel, “ 1157”/1 , p. 572; Lao 48, p. 640; Isi 99, p. 722; Isi 107, p.
and Ernst Coester (Cologne. 19863), p. 151-68. 723; Isi 99. p. 772; 99, p. 722.

4. Annegret Laabs, Malerei und Plastik im Zistcrzienseror- 5. This paragraph follows Laabs, Malerei und Plastik, p.
den: Zum Bildgebrauch zwischen sakralem Zeremoniell und Stifter- 84-86.

De laudibus Virginis Matris 269

 est extant statues of the Madonna are from the into the Clairvaux filiation and the jurisdiction
abbeys of Pforte in Saxony-Anhalt (ca. 1250) of the diocese o f Kammin. Esrum and Dober­
and Walkenried in Lower-Saxony (ca. 1260). an subsequently argued over the paternity of
W ritten sources prove that by the end o f the Dargun until the General Chapter settled the
thirteenth century an increased number of matter in 1258.
objects for liturgical use or veneration were After the dissolution o f Dargun in 1552, the
being made for Cistercian convents. It is worth abbey was transformed into a country residence
noting that until 1316 the statuta decreed that for the Dukes of Mecklenburgh-Güstrow. The
only an image of Christ was allowed in church­ former monastic church served as an oratory for
es of the Order; nothing was said about images the newly built château which was erected on
o f the Virgin Mary.6 the foundations of the destroyed cloister build­
It may seem at first glance that there is noth­ ings.8 The ruined remains of the whole build­
ing left to say on the subject of Mary and the ing complex — including guesthouse, home
Cistercians, but in fact a great number o f art grange, and gate-house with its chapel — are
historical questions remain. Recent articles and preserved as listed monuments since 1979.
books have begun to shed light on the differ­ More than six hundred surviving medieval
ent Cistercian arts, especially since many works charters from Dargun bear witness to various
are only known locally. From time to time one aspects of the abbeys history.9 Most o f the
is lucky enough to find “treasures” which have medieval furnishings have unfortunately been lost.
gone unnoticed by the larger public; such is the Only a few liturgical objects are known: a bowl,
case with the following examples from Dargun two chalices, and four patens mentioned in early-
Abbey. sixteenth-century written sources; a photograph
of a Gothic chalice as well as nineteenth-centu­
Dargun Abbey ry descriptions of another chalice in the same
style with a paten; and a new reconstruction of
The Cistercian monastery of Dargun was first the late Gothic program of stained glass windows
founded in 1172 in Mecklenburgh-West round out the brief list.10*A few other works from
Pomerania (diocese o f Schwerin) as a daughter Dargun concerning the adoration of Mary may
house of Esrum Abbey on Sealand in Denmark, be added, and it is our intention to discuss them
in the M orimond filiation, but the foundation here as a tribute to Peter Fergusson.
was abandoned at the end o f the century.7 In
1209 it was re-established at the same site by A Mary Altar in the Church o f Dargun Abbey
monks from Doberan Abbey, which had been
founded in 1171 as the first Cistercian house in The foundation date o f Dargun Abbey, 25 June
Mecklenburgh; Dargun was therefore brought 1172, was recorded in several medieval chron-

6. See Bernard Lucet, La Codification cistercienne de 1202 8. Christine Kratzke, Kloster und Schloß Dargun in Meck­
cl son évolution ultérieure. B ibliotheca cisterciensis, 2 lenburg- Vorpommern: Baugeschichte der Kloster-Schloß-Anlage
(R om e, 1964), Dist. 1.6. p. 29-30; C hristopher N orton, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der mittelalterlichen Bauteile
“Table o f Cistercian Legislation on A rt and A rchitec­ (Dargun, 1995); ead., “ T he Abbey o f Dargun: R ecent
ture” , in Cistercian Art and Architecture in the British Isles. Research Including a Geophysical Project”, in Constructing
ed. C hristo p h er N o rto n and David Park (C am bridge, the Buildings Past: Cours international de perfectionnement sur le
1986), p. 315-93 (p. 384: Codification o f 1289 Dist. III. rôle de l’etude architecturale préalable dans la restauration d’édi­
1; p. 388: Codification o f 1316, Dist. 111. 1); Statuta Capit­ fices historiques, Centre pour la Conservation R. Lemaire, Facul­
ulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis ah Anno 1116 ad teit Toegepaste Wetenschappett, K. U. Leuven, Leuven,
Annum 1786, ed.Joseph-M arie Canivez, 8 vols (Leuven, 2 8 .0 5 —01.06.1996, ed. Krista D e jo n g h e and Koen Van
1933-41). Balen (Leuven, 2002), p. 185-89.

7. Christine Kratzke. Das Zisterzienserkloster Dargun in 9. Hansjürgen Brachmann, Elzbieta Foster, Christine
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Studien zur Bau- und Kunst­ Kratzke. and Heike Reim ann, Das Zisterzienserkloster Dar­
geschichte, Studien zur internationalen A rchitektur- und gun im Stammesgebiet der Zirzipanen: Ein interdisziplinärer
Kunstgeschichte, 25 (Petersberg, 2004), p. 38-42;Jürgen Beitrag zur Erforschung mittelalterlicher Siedlungsprozesse in der
Petersohn, Der südliche Ostseeraum im kirchlich-politischen Germania Slavica, Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur
Kräftespiel des Reichs, Polens und Dänemarks vom 10. bis 13. des östlichen Mitteleuropa, 17 (Stuttgart, 2003).
Jahrhundert, Mission-Kirchenorganisation-Kultpolitik, O st-
tnitteleuropa in Vergangenheit und G egenw art, 17 10. Kratzke, Das Zisterzienserkloster Dargun, p. 330-41.
(Cologne, 1979), p. 452. 383-90.

270 C HR ISTIN E KRATZKE

ides and charters." Shortly after the founda­
tion o f the abbey, an altar in honour o f the Vir­
gin Mary was dedicated in the first chapel of
the new monastery. The document mention­
ing this oratory is dated 30 November 1173, a
charter confirming the dedication o f the abbey
by Bishop Beino of Schwerin, a former monk
of the Cistercian abbey of Amelungsborn in
Lower Saxony which was Doberans mother
house.12 This charter provides precise informa­
tion concerning properties owned by Dargun
at that time, including this altar in the first
chapel to be consecrated in the diocese of
Schwerin, in the territory of the pagan Circi- Fio. I. Seal impression, Dargun Abbey, 30January 1337. (pri­
pani, a Slavonic tribe: ante collection)

Factum namque est in nostra presentia, quod

dominus Kazimarus Diminensium et Pomera-
norum uenerabilis princeps, dum altare in hon­ then spread to a wider public via distribution
ore beate et intermerate dei genitricis semper o f the charters which were written, signed, and
virginis Marie in prima capellula in Dargon sealed within those abbeys.
consecraremus, quod et primum consecratum The wax seal impression o f Dargun is pre­
est in tota Circipen.13 served with a charter dated 30 January 1337
(Fig. I).13 The enthroned Madonna is sheltered
It was also stated that any service held at this altar by a tabernacle positioned in the centre o f the
must be ad dei honorem et gloriose semper uirginis round seal, while ornamental details, such as
Marie et sanctissimi confessoris domini Benedicti. tiny pearls and tracery forms, provide a tapes­
try-like background. The m otif is surrounded
The Seal o f Dargun by the inscription SIC ILLVM C O N V E N T V S
D A R G V N E N C IS in Gothic majuscules. An
The monastery seal from Dargun Abbey dates uncial M on the right side has been interpret­
from the first half of the fourteenth century and ed by the well-known Mecklenburgian histo­
it depicts Mary, as was the general practise in rian Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch (1801-83)
the Cistercian Order since being fixed by the as a reference to Morimond, on the grounds
statutes in 1335.14*There is a twofold aspect in that several Cistercian abbeys in northern Ger­
such a choice. O n the one hand, the depiction many had the letters M. O. R. 5. inscribed on
o f Mary on the seal’s matrix and subsequent their seals in the Middle Ages.16 Since Dargun,
impressions expressed the Cistercians’ devotion however, after 1209 and especially after the
to her, while on the other hand her image was paternity agreement between Esrum and

11. Ellen Jorgensen, Annales Daiiici Medii Æ vi (Copen­ Die Kunst- und Geschichtsdenkmäler des Grossherzogthums
hagen, 1920), r, 43 and li, 145 (Annales Colbazienses, 1, 715, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 1 (Schwerin. 1896; 18982), p. 535.
1716; Annales Essenbecenses, II, p. 145); see also Mecklen­
burgisches Urkundenbuch, vols i-xxv [hereafter MUB] (Schwe­ 14. Statut 1335.2 in Statuta, ed.Canivez, in. p. 411 ; Muss­
rin, 1863-1936 [vols I—XXvA] and Leipzig, 1977 [voi. bacher. “Die Marienverehrung”, p. 163;Laabs, Malerei und
x.xvB]) {MUB. I. no. 104, 2655); Angel Manrique, Cister- Plastik, p. 84.
ciensinin sen Uerins Ecclesiasticorum Annalium a Condito Cis- 15. MUB, ix, no. 5472. The seal measures 7 cm in diam­
tercio. 4 vols (Burgos, 1642-59), ii , p. 504, 536-37; compare eter and is archived in the Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin
with MUB, I, no. 104. (MUB. IX. 57742. and Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin, Bestand
2 .22-10/6 Domamalamt Dargun-G noien-Neukalen, DA
12. Gert Haendler, "B erno". in Biographisches Lexikon für Dargun. Rep. 92e, no. 2128). A first short description was
Mecklenburg, vol. I, ed. Sabine Pettke (Rostock, 1995). p. given by Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch, “Das Siegel des
27—31 ; Mussbacher, “ Die M arienverehrung”, p. 151-68. Klosters Dargun", Jahrbücher des Vereins für Meklenburgischc
Geschichte und Alterthumskunde. 27 (1862). p. 244—45.
13. M U B, I, no. 111 (see also MUB, I, no. 114 and II, no.
777); Friedrich Schlie. Die Amtsgerichtsbezirke Rostock, Rib- 16. Ibid., p. 245; M UB, ix, no. 5742; see commentary on
nits, Sülze-Marlow. Tessin, Laage, Gnoien, Dargun, Neukalen, the charter.

De laudibus Virginis Matris 271

 Doberan in 1258, had no direct connection to acteristics o f this image. But the most interest­
M orimond, it seems more likely that M was ing feature is that the Child is not seated but
meant as an abbreviation for Maria. upright, a miniaturized adult standing straight
The abbeys o f Doberan (1337), Neukloster and strong. This choice of pose prefigures Jesus
(1231), and Ivenack (1385) in Mecklenburgh in his later position as an adult, as does the pal­
also had seals bearing an image of M ary,17 lium he wears, suggesting additional promises
whereas those from the Cistercian nunneries of o f the Logos of God.20
Holy Cross in the Hanseatic town of Rostock Early roots of this special type of Virgin and
(1309) and Rühn, between Schwerin and Ros­ Child can be found in the Romanesque peri­
tock (ca. 1370), show the Crucifixion. The od, such as the sculpted Madonna enthroned
monks’ seal from Eldena (Hilda) in West o f Jouy-en-Josas (France, Yvelines) where the
Pomerania carries an image of the Lamb of God infant Jesus stands in front o f his mother on the
with the flag o f victory (1345).18 hands o f two kneeling angels.21 The Madonna
The depiction of the Virgin and Child is one with standing Child gained popularity in the
o f the most popular in medieval art. O n Dar- regions around Cologne and the lower Rhine
gun’s seal the crowned Madonna in her float­ in the first half of the fourteenth century as well
ing dress is seated on a throne holding the child as in Scandinavia,22*and, as we shall soon see,
with her left arm. The image o f the enthroned this type was also popular with the Cistercians.
Madonna has its roots in the idea o f the M oth­ Among the many sculptures from this peri­
er of God as the Throne o f Wisdom (sedes sapi­ od are some fine examples in wood o f the Vir­
entiae) which developed in the Romanesque gin with a standing Jesus: the Madonna o f
and early Gothic period and became a com­ Füssenich in Cologne Cathedral (ca. 1270/80),
mon fourteenth-century type.19 as well as two sculptures now exhibited in the
O ne o f the most common representations of Schniitgen Museum in Cologne — one of
the Virgin in the High and late Middle Ages unknown provenance dating to ca. 1280, the
was to show her enthroned with the infant Jesus other a small Madonna from the choir stalls of
in turn seated on her lap, supported by her the Stiftskirche in Wassenberg (North R hine-
shoulder and held by her left arm. On the seal Westphalia, ca. 1290—1300).2j Another wood­
o f Dargun Abbey, however, the infant stands en Madonna of the same type, from an altar of
on his mothers lap, his left arm reaching for her the Premonstratensian nunnery o f Altenberg
face whilst she holds a book in her right hand. (N orth Rhine-Westphalia), is now in the
The nimbed Jesus is dressed in a long plain shirt, Liebighaus in Frankfurt-am-Main; other exam­
a typical garment for the Christ child until the ples may be seen in the Westfälisches Lan­
mid-fourteenth century. The visual and physi­ desmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in
cal contact between mother and child, and the Münster (ca. 1300/20).24 The fourteenth-cen­
interaction between them, are important char­ tury Madonna o f Wertheim in the Stiftskirche

17. For Doberan, see MUB. ix, no. 5768, 5769; for N eu- region around Cologne and to Alexandra Fried (Universi­
kloster, MUB. I, no. 387 and IV, table 7, no. 32; for Ivenack. ty o f Leister). Aron Andersson, “Schwedische Sitzmadon­
MUB. XX. no. 11719. nen aus der Zeit um 1300” , in Festschrift Hans R. Halmloser
zum 60. Geburtstag 1959. ed. Ellen J.Beer et al. (Basel, 1961),
18. For Rostock, see MUB. v. no. 3332; for Riihn, MUB. p. 113-24; Gertrud Schiller. Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst,
XVI, no. 10123; for Eldena, MUB, x, no. 6509. vol. IV.2, Maria (Gütersloh, 1980), p. 188.
19. See Hannelore Sachs, Ernst Badstiibner, and Helga 23. Anton Legner, "Anmerkungen zu einer Chronologie
N eum ann, Erklärendes Wörterbuch zur christlichen Kunst der gotischen Skulptur des 13. und 14.Jahrhunderts im Rhein-
(Leipzig, [n.d.]). p. 251. Maas-Gebict", in Rhein und Maas: Kunst und Kultur 8 0 0 -1400.
20. See entry "M aria” in Lexikon der christlichen Ikonogra­ vol. U. Berichte, Beiträge und Forschungen zum Thetnenkreis der
phie, voi. in, ed. Engelbert Kirschbauin et al. (Rome, 1994), Ausstellung und des Katalogs, ed. Anton Legner (Cologne, 1973).
p. 154—210; R enate Wedl-Bruognolo. "M agier”, in Maricn- p. 445-56 (p. 450, 451, 453, illus 13. 16. 19/20). ”
lexikon, voi. iv, ed. Rem igius Bäumer and Leo Scheffczyk 24. T he Altenberg sculpture, while made earlier, was set
(St Ottilien. 1992). p. 229-35 (p. 234). into an altar in 1334. Hans Belting, Bild und Kult: Eine
21. Illustrated in R ené Laurentin and Raymond Oursel. Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst (M unich,
Romanische Madonnen (Würzburg, 1989), illus. 45 and p.97. 19912), p. 500, 502, illus. 273; Géza Jászai. Gotische Skulp­
turen 1300-1450. Bildhefte des Westfalischen Landesmuse­
22. With gratitude to Prof. Uwe Albrecht (University of ums für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte. 29 (Münster, 1990),
Kiel) w ho drew my attention to relevant sculptures in the p. 8, cat. no. 1.

272 C H R ISTIN E KRATZKE

 p y yy r r p y p y W » rrrv v

Fig. 3. Stained glass window, Wettingen Abbey, ca. 1280/1300.

(Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi)

x n i c m m tt
ttuatentXMevríli
/ /
o centuries, possibly even a link to the writings
o f Birgitta o f Sweden (1302/03-73) who was
»tatwtu* Im ita to well acquainted with the Cistercian Order.2526
Three o f the oldest examples o f this type in
Fig. 2. Virgin with standing Christ Child, manuscript illumi­ a Cistercian context include a book illumina­
nation from an Alsatian Brctdary, ca. 1250-1300, Stadtbib­ tion in a breviary from the Alsace region dat­
liothek M ainz, M S I 436, fol. 451'. (Stadtbibliothek Mainz) ing from the second half o f the thirteenth
century (Fig. 2) and two stained glass windows,
one from the cloister o f Wettingen Abbey in
in Wertheim-am-Main (Baden-Württemberg) the diocese o f Konstanz dating ca. 1280/1300
and a painting of a Madonna with a standing (Fig. 3), the second from Stift Lilienfeld in lower
Child by Lippo Memini (ca. 1290 —after 1347) Austria (ca. 1330).27 This type o f Madonna may
from the Lindenau Museum in Altenburg also be found in two scholastic codices written
(Thuringia) can be added to this list.23 in the 1340s.28 But still more intriguing is the
The question here is whether the represen­ fact that a Madonna with a standing Child
tation of the Madonna with the standing infant Christ was portrayed in a lead sketch from the
Jesus originated in the region of the lower second quarter o f the fourteenth century on an
Rhine, or if there is a Cistercian prototype older parchment.
which has lain undiscovered up to this time. There are also two wooden Gothic sculptures,
Recent research has shown that there are close one in the Cistercian abbey of la Merci-Dieu
connections between this type and the Cister­ (France, Sarthe),29 the other in Maulbronn
cian O rder in the thirteenth and fourteenth Abbey (Baden-Wiirtemberg), dating from ca.

25. Some late Gothic and early Renaissance paintings also 28. Oxford, Bodleian Library. MS Laud Mise. 281, fol.
helped to established the “tradition”; for illustrations, see l r;MS Laud Mise. 562, fol l r. MS Laud Mise. 569, fol. 132r;
M artin Lechner. “M arienverehrung” , in Handbuch der Nigel F Palmer, Zisterzienser und ihre Bücher: Die mittelalter­
Marienkunde, vol. il, ed. WolfgangBeinert and Heinrich Petri liche Bibliotheksgeschichte von Kloster Eberbach im Rheingau unter
(Regensburg, 19972), p. 139—40; Wedl-Bruognolo, “Magi­ besonderer Berücksichtigung der in Oxford und London aulbe­
er”, p. 234. Further photographs can be found in the data­ wahrten Handschriften (Regensburg, 1998), p. 217. 219. 220.
base o f the Fotoarchiv Marburg. 222—23, illus. nos 156—58.
26. Wedl-Bruognolo, “Magier", p. 234.
27. Stadtbibliothek Mainz. Hs I 436, fol. 45v: James 29. Illustrated in Michel Niaussat and Frère Thomas, Sur
France, The Cistercians in Medieval Art (Stroud, 1998). p. les chemins de Citeaux: Moines Cisterciens en terre de France
135-37, colour illus. 15. (Rennes, 2000), p. 121.

De laudibus Virginis Matris 273

 Fig. 5. Seal impression, Esrum Abbey, 1347. (Tage Ludvigsen,
Kobenhaun Rigsarkivet)

Fig. 4. Virgin until standing Christ Child, irood, Maulbronn Abbey

church, ca. 1300. (post card, Landesbildstelle Wurtemberg)
number o f such seals used by Cistercian abbeys
from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries
in France, England, Denmark, Bohemia, and
1300 (Fig. 4). This type is rare in northern Ger­ Poland (here used in the so-called “kölnischen
many, the only example being a wooden sculp­ Klöster”).31 Prominent examples from the first
ture of unknown provenance from ca. 1300/20, half o f the fourteenth century include those
the so-called Mecklenburgian Madonna, in the from Himmerod Abbey south o f Cologne in
Saint Anne Museum in Lübeck.30 the Eiffel, Eberbach in the Rheingau, and
The link with the Cistercian Order becomes Esrum in Denmark (1347), the latter showing
more evident if the imagerv o f seals is taken Mary as O ur Lady o f Mercy with a standing
into consideration. Many Cistercian seals show infant Jesus who helps to hold his mother’s cloak
Mary as either the Regina Coeli, the Seat of while she holds him (Fig. 5). This type o f Vir­
Wisdom, Mary Eleusa, or the Madonna Mis­ gin Protectrix was commonly used by the Cis­
ericordia, and among these seals a great num­ tercians from around 1320, no doubt influenced
ber show Mary with a standing Christ Child. by the Dialogus miraculorum o f Caesarius of
Preliminary research has brought to light a large Heisterbach from a century earlier.32

30. Corpus der mittelalterlichen Holzskulptur in Schleswig- Ambrosius Schneider, “Kolonisation im O sten”, in Die Cis-
Holstein. vol. I, Hansestadt Lübeck, St Atmen-Museum, cd. Uwe tcrcienser, ed. Schneider, Wienand, Bickel, and Coester, p.
Albrecht, Jörg Rosenfeld, and Christiane Saumweber (Kiel. 70-96 (illus. p. 77, 80); Dana Stehlíková, “Cistercian Seals
2004), cat. no. 7. p. 33-36. in Bohemia and Moravia from 1220 to 1520”, Ctteaux, 47
(1996), p. 329-42.
31. Pierre Bony, “An Introduction to the Study o f Cis­
tercian Seals: T he Virgin as Mediatrix, then Protectrix on 32. Caesarius von Heisterbach, Dialogus miraculorum, ed.
the Seals o f Cistercian Abbeys", in Studies in Cistercian Art Joseph Strange (Cologne, 1851; repr. London, 1966), dia­
and Architecture, voi. Ml, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo, logue I. VII; France, Cistercians in Medierai Art, p. 125-27;
1987), p. 201—40:T. A. Heslop, “Cistercian Seals in England Mussbacher, "Die Marienverehrung” , p. 163, 165; Signori,
and Wales”, in Cistercian Art, ed. N orton and Park. p. 266-83; “Totius ordinis”, p. 258—61.

274 C HR ISTIN E KRATZKE

Fig. 6. The Madonna and Monk relief from Dargnn Abbey, nom in the parish church o f Räcknitz, fourth quarter o f theffteenth
century, (author)

I would like to suggest here that the image of

the Virgin with a standing Christ Child origi­
nated in the context of the writings of Caesar-
ius of Heisterbach and spread to the Rhein region
via — or in connection with — Himmerod
Abbey. Such connections are not difficult to imag­
ine. Himmerod had strong ties with Cologne in
the Middle Ages; the Cistercians owned several
houses in the city, not only Himmerod itself, but
its daughter houses Eberbach and Heisterbach,
the latter’s daughter abbey Marienstatt, as well as Fig. 7. The Madonna and Monk Group from Dargnn Abbey,
Kamp and Altenberg.33 Furthermore three Cis- detail o f a relief with a beast, (author)

33. Gerd Steinwascher, Die Zisterzienserstadthöfe in Köln cienser und die Colonia Sacra”, in Die Cistercienser, ed. Schnei­
(Bergisch Gladbach, 1981); Adam Wienand. "D ie Cister- der, Wienand, Bickel, and Coester, p. 558—80.

De laudibus Virginis Matris 275

 tercian nunneries — Mariengarten, Sion, and point with fine chalk plaster, indicating a sec­
Saint Apern — were founded in the town whilst ondary use for the reliefs; that is, they must have
twelve others were erected nearby. been placed somewhere else before being set
into the choir pillar.35 The figures had been
Madonna and Monk Relief carefully over-painted on several occasions, the
Madonna showing five layers o f pigment and
The contact and affection between Mary and the monk three. Both reliefs were covered with
her son m entioned above is vividly expressed a glazed ground of iron oxide, then white chalk
in an extraordinary work o f medieval crafts­ priming followed by a layer o f red with black
manship called the Madonna and M onk relief contours for the faces and white for Mary’s eyes.
(Madonna-Mönch-Gruppe) (Fig. 6).This group The standing Virgin wears a crown of lilies
consists o f two relief figures in terracotta, a and a veil, while her dress cascades in long deep
standing Virgin and C hild and a kneeling folds with one characteristic ear-shaped crease.
m onk, accompanied by a smaller terracotta Her high rounded forehead is typical o f wood­
band in three pieces decorated w ith three en sculptures from Mecklenburgh in the Goth­
composite animals and a scenic m otif (Fig. 7). ic period.36 The infant Jesus is shown as a
The ensemble appears to date from the last miniature adult, wearing a plain long shirt and
quarter o f the fifteenth century. Its original holding a dove in his left hand and an apple in
placement in the abbey is not known, but at his right; he sits on his m other’s hip and is held
some later date (perhaps between the end of by her left arm. A tonsured monk dressed in a
the fifteenth century and the dissolution o f cowl kneels on Mary’s left side, his hands fold­
the abbey in 1552?) it was attached to one of ed in prayer, in adoration o f the Virgin and
the pillars in the choir o f the abbey church. Child.
In the 1980s the relief was mounted on the The Madonna and Monk relief was discussed
wall above an altar in the local medieval parish in the literature for the first time as late as 1841
church o f R öcknitz (today part o f the town by G. C. F. Lisch as one o f the antiquities from
o f Dargun), where it may still be seenA4 The Dargun Abbey. Friedrich Schlie, in his 1896
Madonna is composed o f six individual sec­ inventory o f monuments, suggested that the
tions made in sunken relief and measuring a work was late Gothic in style; he dated it to the
total o f 105 by 43.5 cm, while the monk con­ fifteenth century but said it was reminiscent of
sists o f three sections in low relief measuring thirteenth-century work.37 It was not men­
63 by 37 cm. Four smaller sections in high tioned again until the 1930s when the art his­
relief depicting beasts and a scenic m otif (ca. torian Wolfgang John Müller (1913-92) studied
10 by 28, 10 by 14 cm) were placed below the group and dated it to ca. 1330.38 Differing
these two figures. dates for the ensemble were given by Hans
The ensemble was restored once in the nine­ Wentzel, Ursel Schönrock, and Andreas Thi­
teenth century, and again in 1981/82 when the eth, the interval ranging from ca. 1330 to ca.
restorer, Andreas Thieth, took the terracotta 1400.39 A new stylistic analysis of the relief sug­
reliefs back to their original medieval colours. gests that the ensemble was made in the second
The report of this latter restoration mentions half o f the fifteenth century, probably the later
that the figures had been covered over at some decades. The reliefs below might be slightly ear-

34. In the Middle Ages Röcknitz was an independent 38. Georg Christian Friedrich Lisch. “Das Schloß und
village near the abbey; the church is now Lutheran. die Kirche zu Dargun” .Jahrbücher des Vereinsfür Mcklenbur-
gische Geschichte undAlterthumskuiuie, 6 (1841). p. 89-100 (p.
35. Archive o f the Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege Meck­
99); Wolfgang John Müller, “Mittelalterliche Backsteinor­
lenburg-Vorpommern Schwerin, Objektakte Dargun. report
namentik in Mecklenburg (1250-1350)” (unpublished doc­
o f the restoration “Dargun - Terrakottarelief” by Andreas
toral thesis. University o f Rostock, 1939/48), p.37-38, 43,
Thieth [1982| (subsequently cited as LD-M/V, Objektakte
48.
Dargun), p. 2. 4, 5.
39. LD-M/V, Objektakte Dargun, p. 1; Schönrock. “ Die
36. Ursel Schönrock, “Die Plastik in Mecklenburg von
Plastik in Mecklenburg” , p. 69-71; Hans Wentzel, Lübeck­
1250-1350” (unpublished doctoral thesis, H um boldt U ni­
er Plastik bis zur Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1938), p.
versity o f Berlin, 1952), p. 70.
145-46.
37. Schlie, Die Amtsgerichtsbezirke, p. 556.

276 CHR ISTIN E KRATZKE

lier — toward the middle o f the fifteenth cen­ burg, and Orneta in Poland, consoles with faces
tury — as their style is similar to individual dec­ from the Cistercian abbey o f Hude in Lower-
orated bricks on two pillars in the transept, as Saxony, the parish churches of Saint George in
well as to friezes on the pier bases in the choir the Hanseatic town o f Wismar, and St Peter
o f the abbey church that were erected between and Paul in Szczecin on the River Oder, as well
ca. 1425 and 1479.40 The archaic design of the as two figures and one relief from Saxony in
terracotta figures and decorative band harkens the church o f St Paul in Leipzig. But few other
back to the fourteenth century. medieval terracotta reliefs o f southern Baltic
The figure o f the kneeling monk is impor­ origin can be compared directly with the Dar­
tant for the classification of this relief, even if gun group: a console from the Franciscan
it is not known whether he was the donor or monastery o f Saint John the Evangelist in
simply meant to represent the community pray­ Szczecin (ca. 1300), the terracotta Madonna
ing before the Virgin. The relief matches the from Tartu in Estonia from the third quarter of
criteria o f a devotional image which is created the fourteenth century, a mounted knight from
to provoke emotion in the viewer; but it does the Castle o f Bierzglowo (ca. 1300), a Gothic
not seem to have been an epitaph as an inscrip­ vault boss from the castle o f the Teutonic
tion and image of the donor are missing. Hence Knights in Malbork (now in the Malbork Cas­
I would describe it as a Memorialadorationsbild, tle Museum), and Gothic figures from the
an image of memorial devotion. churches o f St Nicholas in Grudzi^dz and
When the ensemble was placed on one o f the Grzywno (near Chelmza) in medieval Prussia.41
pillars in the choir o f the church, probably in Sources for work in this medium can also be
the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, it found in the large fourteenth-century Madon­
would o f course have been accessible to the na with polychrome mosaics which once dec­
monks, but presumably only visible from a dis­ orated the eastern facade o f the chapel of the
tance to lay brothers and visitors. This is curi­ High Masters o f the Order of Teutonic Knights
ous, as it would seem that the ensemble was in Malbork Castle.42 It is possible that knowl­
created to serve the whole o f the convent for edge of the technique needed to produce works
contemplation, reflection, and adoration, of art in terracotta was transmitted to Dargun
although local devotional practice — such as a via its daughter house, the abbey of Bukowo
particular hour or day for special devotion when Morskie (Bukow) in Pomerania.43*
the whole community gathered closer — can­ The depiction o f the Madonna with a wor­
not be ruled out. shipper — whether donor, monk, or nun —
The Madonna and Monk relief from Dargun was popular in the Cistercian Order in other
is an unparalleled work, especially considering media as well, but the m otif is not exclusive to
its production in a surrogate material for stone. them. This representation was popular during
Since about 1200, terracotta reliefs and tiles had the whole o f the Middle Ages, and there are
been produced in Denmark, northern Ger­ Cistercian examples: a stained glass window
many, and Poland, where in the Middle Ages from Wettingen Abbey (Fig. 3), another from
brick was one of the most important building the nunnery o f Heiligkreuztal in Baden-
materials. Examples from different centuries Wiirtenberg, a sandstone relief with two kneel­
include the reliefs from the parish churches o f ing figures placed high above the rose window
Altenkirchen and Steffenshagen in Mecklen­ in the gable o f the eastern choir wall of the Cis­
burg-West Pomerania, Wittstock in Branden­ tercian nunnery o f Fröndenberg in Westphalia,

40. Kratzke, Das Zisterzienserkloster Dargun, p. 145-50, 42. Maciej Kilarski, Mozaikowa Figura Malborkskiej Madon-
302-08, 334-36. ny: Fakty, legendy, interpretacje (Malbork, 1993). The figure in
the Malbork chapel can be compared with one formerly
41. Figures in the churches probably originate in the cas­
decorating the Frombork Dome.
tles o f the Deutsche Orden (Teutonic Knights) in GrudzLdz
and Unislaw (Tomasz Torbus, Die Konvemburgen im Deutschor­ 43. Tadeusz Jurkowlaniec, Gotycka rezczba architektonicz-
densland Preussen, Schriften des Bundesinstituts tur ostdeutsche na w Prusach, Studia z Historii Sztuki, 42 (Wroclaw, 1989),
Kultur und Geschichte, 11 [Munich. 1998], p. 320-21. 363. p. 265.
365, 407, 434, 466-67, 697 and ill. 224. 269).

De laudibus Virginis Matris 277

 and a smaller group carved in a capital in the there is some grain of truth in the story; as is well
eastern cloister gallery o f Eberbach in the dio­ known, many automates were constructed in the
cese o f Mainz.44 Middle Ages. The question is whether Dargun
actually once had such a movable figure, or if the
A Movable Mary “historic description” is a purely anticlerical tale.
The following passages, in which similar descrip­
A most intriguing sculpture from Dargun, now tions o f known figures will be presented, are
unfortunately lost, was described in an early- intended to lend support to the hypothesis that
seventeenth-century source. The story concerns a movable Mary did once exist at Dargun and,
an image of Mary on the high altar of the abbey indeed, played out her role in the church.
church which, it is said, had the power to The reformer M artin Luther (1483-1546),
prophesy. In the year 1610, the historian like Latomus, made a statement about such
Latomus (d. 1613/14) described and com­ images o f Mary which could be manipulated
mented on the oratory decor after relating a to “show” the viewers current state o f grace.
story about the movable figure o f a Slavonic In a discourse o f 1552 to the elector Johann
idol named Rabal which was used as an oracle Friedrich I o f Saxony (1503-54), Luther
in a cell in front o f the old town church in described just such an image:
R öbel (Mecklenburgh). His lines regarding
Dargun are as follows: Das habe ich gesehen, nämlich Maria mit ihrem
Kinde. Wenn ein Reicher dahin ist kommen, und
Inmassen auch die Papisten im Closter Dargun dafür gebetet, so hat sich das Kind zur Mutter
gleichen Betrug getrieben, und daselbst im hohen gewandt, als wollt es den Sünder nicht ansehen,
altar ein Marienbild dergestalt mit Schranben drüm sollt er Fürbitte und Hülfe bei der Mutter
[Schrauben] zugerichtet haben, daß es sich nach Maria suchen. Hat er aber viel ins Kloster ver­
der grosse und kleine des Opffers bewegen und heißen, so hat sichs zu ihm wieder gewandt; hat er
wenden müssen. Dan so das Opffer gros, hat aber noch mehr verheißen, so hat sich das Kind
Maria dem milden geber das Angesicht gezeigt, freundlich erzeigt und mit ausgestrackten Arm ein
wahrs aber klein, hat sie sich umbgewendet, und Creuz über ihn gemacht. Es ist aber hohl gewest
ihm den rugken zugekehret. wie nuhn diese innwendig, und mit Schlossen und Schnüren also
bewegung des Marienbildes zu Dargun, durch zugericht. Dahinter ist allzeit ein Schalk gewest,
lautern betrug der Papisten geschehen ist, also ist der die Schnurre hat gezogen, und die Leute vexirt
auch kein zweiffel, sie werden auch den Rabal und betrogen, daß sie ihm sein Liedlin haben
zu Röbel, die einfeldgen damit zu betriegen, mit müssen singen. Wollten aber die Pfaffen, daß sich
verborgenen Schrauben bewogen und das Kindlein sollte gegen einem ungnädig erzeigen,
umbgewendet haben. “Gott” sei lob, daß er uns so kehrets einem gar den Rücken zu.4546*
aus solcher Blindheit gerettet hat.43
Another mobile figure, this time from St John’s
This description illustrates the ability o f the Abbey in the Hanseatic town of Stralsund, was
Dargun figure to be manipulated by a person mentioned by the Franciscan monk Lamberto
who was o f course not meant to be seen by the Slagghert (d. after 1533) in the Chronicon Coeno­
worshipper. The operator was able to move the bii Ribenicensis. In a description of the iconoclasm
figure forward and backward to express “Mary’s” which took place in the monastery church dur­
positive or negative judgement on the viewer. ing the sixteenth-century reformation, he men­
This antipapal source must be interpreted with tioned a wooden sculpture of Mary which was
caution, but one might nevertheless imagine able to “speak”. It is said that the figure was used

44. Illustrated in France, Cistercians in Medieval Art, p. 167. 46. Q uoted from Klaus Schreiner, Maria, Jungfrau, Mut­
illus. 113 and in Schneider, Die Zisterzienser, p. 161-62. ter, Herrscherin (M unich, 1996) p. 282. Luther was not
opposed to a deep devotion to Mary, as he expressed in 1533
45. Bernhardi Latomi, “Wismariensis Megapolitani in a commentary on the Magnificat (Luke 1.46—55): “Crea­
Genealochronicon Megapolitanum O m nisÆvi [... 1610]”,
tura Maria non potest satis laudari” (Martin Luther. Werke.
in Monumenta Inedita Rerum Germanicarum P R Æ C IP U E Kritische Gesamtausgabe,Tischreden, voi. I [Weimar, 1912; repr.
Cimbricarum et Megapolensium [. . .], vols l—iv, ed. Ernestus
Graz, 1967], p. 219, no. 494).
Joachimus de Westphalen (Leipzig, 1739-45). iv, cois 1-594
(col.234).Kratzke, Das Zisterzienserkloster Dargun, p. 332-34.

278 CHR ISTIN E KRATZKE

as a Maria ad compassionem and as an oracle, that the sixteenth century.50 In addition are the so-
its decoradon was robbed, and that it was behead­ called Schreinmadonnen which could be opened.
ed before the torso was burned: They had been produced north o f the Alps
since the fourteenth century, although their ori­
Marien bilde tho der medelidinghe hebbe se gins lay in France around 1200; their construc­
berowet vnn wech ghenamen alle er ghesmucke tion is similar to the O ur Lady o f Mercy type.31
vnn deine bilde dat hout afgheslagen vnn The so-called “Miracle Man” mechanisms, dis­
entwey gheklouet, den rump des bilden dro­ played in the Florence baptistery as early as
gar se un den krvech vnn vorbrenden ene 1333, allowed figures’ arms to move.52*Promi­
sprekende Marie do nu mirakel lat tho seen vste nent examples include the crucifix o f the Holy
du ockkonst vorbarnen, alsulke honslage worde Sepulchre o f Esztergom in Bohemia which
vnde ander mer spotteske rede hebben se hat belonged to the parish church o f Hronsky
auer de bilde de se vorbranden.47 Benadik (ca. 1480/90) and the Miracle Man
from the parish church o f Döbeln in Saxony
Mechanically animated figures, like the ones (ca. 1510).33 Changes in the Easter liturgy and
described above, are known to have existed in the Descent from the Cross plays had given rise
the Middle Ages. One o f the oldest is the cock to such mobile figures of Christ from the mid­
which was drawn by Villard de Honnecourt ca. dle o f the fourteenth century. O ther simpler
1230/35 in his famous Album of building plans types o f late medieval Christ figures were sim­
and patterns. Automatons were used in various ply hauled up through the so-called “hole of
ways such as in turret-clocks produced since heaven” (Himmelsloch) into the church vaults to
around 1300.48 The astronomical Clock o f the represent the Imago ascensionis on Ascension
Three Kings in Strasbourg Cathedral (1352/54) Day.54 Noteworthy as well are small movable
and the so-called “Saint George group” from figures dating from ca. 1520,33 as well as chan­
the early sixteenth century in the Roskilde deliers composed o f movable angels with little
Dome belong to this type.49 A figure o f Mary bells, and nearly life-size wooden donkeys bear­
with a mechanism to point to her right breast ing a figure of Christ for Palm Sunday proces­
was even built by the artist Erasmus Grasser (ca. sions, such as the southern German example in
1450 —after 1526) for the complex clock of the the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
Frauenkirche in Munich at the beginning o f (1500-20) and that in Bebenhausen Abbey in

47. Q uoted from Carl Ferdinand Fabricius. “Bruchstück 53. Catalogue text by Frank Schmidt in Zeit und Ewigkeit.
aus der deutschen Chronik des Fräulein-Klosters St Clarens- 128 Tage in St. Marienstern, ed.Judith Oexle. Markus Bauer,
Ordens zu Ribbenitz von Lambrecht Slagghert Franciscaner and Marius Winzeler (Halle a. d. Saale?, 1998), p. 132, cat.
Lesemeister, aus Stralsund”, Jahrbücher des Vereins für Meck­ no. 2.50 (with illus.); Taubert. “Mittelalterliche Kruzifixe”,
lenburgische Geschichte und Alterthumskunde, 3 (1838), p. p. 43-44, 49.
96-140 (p. 118).
54. Hans-Joachim Krause, “Imago ascensionis und Him­
48. Lexikon der Kunst, vols i - v (Leipzig. 1987—94), I, p. 360. melloch: Z um Bild-Gebrauch in der spätmittelalterlichen
Liturgie”, in Skulptur des Mittelalters: Funktion und Gestalt,
49. Catalogue text by Roland Recht, Die Parier und der
ed. Friedrich Möbius and Ernst Schubert (Weimar, 1987),
Schöne Stil. 1350-1400: Europäische Kunst unter den Luxem­
p. 281-353 (p. 281-84); Taubert, “ Mittelalterliche Kruzi­
burgern. vols I—Ui, ed. Anton Legner (Cologne, 1978), III, 94.
fixe” , p. 44—48; Johannes Tripps. Das handelnde Bildwerk in
illus. 66.
der Gotik: Forschungen su den Bedeutungsschichten und der Funk­
50. Schreiner, Maria, p. 183—85 (with illus.). tion des Kirchengebäudes und seiner Ausstattung in der Hoch- und
Spätgotik (Berlin, 1998), p. 121—28.The connection between
51. Gudrun Radler, Die Schreinmadonna “ Vierge Onorante” medieval plays and medieval art should also be considered;
von den bernhardinischen Anfängen bis zur Frauenmystik im see Bengt Stolt, Medieval Plays in Sweden: Christian Drama
Dcutschordensland mit beschreibendem Katalog. Frankfurter Fun­ Refected in Ecclesiastical Art, Scripta ecclesiologica minora, 4
damente der Kunstgeschichte, 6 (Frankfurt, 1990), p. 7. 12, (Skellefteâ, 1999).
29, 48-49.
55. See small figures by Meister J. P. in the Grassi-Muse-
52. Gesine Taubert, “ M ittelalterliche Kruzifixe mit um für Kunst und Gewerbe in Leipzig and the Museum
schwenkbaren Armen: Ein Beitrag zur Verwendung von fur Kunst und Gew erbe der Hansestadt H am burg; also
Bildwerken in der Liturgie”, in Farbige Skulpturen: Bedeu­ sketches by Albrecht Dürer from 1527/28 (London. British
tung, Fassung, Restaurierung, ed. Johannes Taubert et al. Museum) and ca. 1520/28 (Dresden. Sächsische Landes­
(Munich, 1978), p. 38-50 (p. 38). bibliothek). See Sabine Epple. Die Leipziger Gliederpuppe.
Meister I. P. (zugeschrieben). Salzburg (?), um 1520, ed. Gras­
si Museum Leipzig (Leipzig, [n.d.J).

De laudibus Virginis Matris 279

 the diocese of Konstanz.36 Weeping pietas ( Ves­ Conclusion
perbilder]) are part of this genre, and the three
Magi from an Adoration Group, dating before Mary’s double role as human woman and divine
1489 and now in The Cloisters Museum in intercessor — and the depiction o f this binary
New York, might also be mentioned, especial­ role in various types o f imagery — played an
ly as they are from the Cistercian women’s abbey important role for Cistercians in the Middle
o f Lichtental (Baden-Württemberg). Ages. To see Mary as a vehicle for the divine
As these examples amply demonstrate, it was not only theoretical, but was thus expressed
would certainly have been technically possible in her images and statues, an aspect that is all
to create a movable Mary for Dargun in the late the more important when one remembers that
Gothic period. The theological context for such to see and to feel were vital means o f practis­
figures was provided by the mystical literature ing faith in the High and late Middle Ages. This
of the time, not to mention the many oppor­ is expressed in diverse works of medieval crafts­
tunities for amplifying liturgical feasts with manship: sculptures in wood and stone, stained
quasi-theatrical presentations. There are many glass windows, manuscript illumination, seals,
stories about images of Mary which were said and numerous others. The many surviving
to work miracles, including the writings of the medieval images o f Mary bear witness to her
Cistercians’own Caesarius of Heisterbach who importance and to the love and devotion the
reported vivid representations o f the M other of monks and nuns expressed to and for her.
God in his Dialogus miraculorum. There are the The works of art used at Dargun Abbey as
stories about a devil and a painter arguing about vehicles for the adoration of Mary shed a micro-
the beauty of the Virgin, or a nun being attract­ cosmic light on one Cistercian abbey in Meck-
ed to a cleric; Mary solved both dilemmas: she lenburgh-West Pomerania within the large
held the painter tight — he was being pushed variety o f works depicting the M other of Jesus.
by the devil and in danger o f falling off the scaf­ The colourful medieval culture and specialized
folding — and saved the nun from greater sins craftsmanship of the time is mirrored in the seal
by giving her a slap in the face.37 Even Bernard of the abbey, the Madonna and Monk relief,
of Clairvaux is said to have had a vision o f Mary and the likelihood o f a movable figure o f the
greeting him in 1146.5758*These stories point to Virgin. At one end of the chronological spec­
M ary’s position as principal intercessor who trum, the traditional adoration o f Mary prac­
could dispense mercy as well, a position well tised by Cistercians is expressed at Dargun in
illustrated in the writings of the Dominican 1173 in the consecration of the first chapel with
Archbishop and collector o f legends, Jacobus an altar to the Virgin. The seal o f 1357 shows
of Voragine (ca. 1230-98).39 The power attrib­ the enthroned Virgin and standing Christ
uted to the movable Mary o f Dargun would Child, a type popular within the Order in the
have been shown when she moved forward or late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that
backward; with the help of course o f an oper­ may have originated in a Cistercian context. At
ator to manipulate the statue physically (as well the other end of the chronological spectrum,
as manipulating the kneeling sinner psycho­ in the fourth quarter o f the fifteenth century
logically), Mary served as a vehicle for the late in the life o f the abbey, the Madonna and
divine. In this respect the comments o f Lato­ M onk relief in terracotta is a most unusual
mus and Luther, and their antipapal interpre­ work, not only for its technique but also for the
tation, may be read as information of another style o f the figures which consciously imitates
kind. earlier models. The possibility o f a mobile fig-

56. For Vesperbilder, see Schlie, Die Amtsgerichtsbezirke, p. 58. Q uoted from Mussbacher, “Die M arienverehrung”,
29: Tripps, Das handelnde Bildwerk, p. 159-73 (p. 167 and p. 154;Jean Leclercq, "Saint Bernard et la dévotion médié­
illus 18, 1 9 a ,b ,and c). Examples are known from San Felice vale envers Marie”, Remie d’ascétique et de mystique, 30 (1954),
in Piazza in Florence and from the Church o f St Mary in p. 361-75; Henri Barré, “Saint Bernard, docteur marial”,
Rostock. in Saint Bernard théologien: Actes du congres de Dijon 15—19
septembre 1953, Analecta Sancti Ordinis Cisterciensis. 9
57. Schreiner, Maria, p. 273-74; Caesarius von Heister-
(Rome, 1954), p. 92-113.
bach, Dialogus miraculorum dialogue VII, V ili; see also Egid
Beitz, Caesarius non Heisterbach und die bildende Kunst (Augs­ 59. Schreiner, Maria, p. 161-62.
burg, 1926). p. 41.

280 C H R IST IN E KRATZKE

ure o f Mary, suggested in an early modern tercian abbeys is still in its infancy, it is to be
chronicle, can be seen within the rich and imag­ hoped that more discoveries will soon be made,
inative history o f automatons that illustrates the providing a fuller picture o f the evolution of
popularity o f such figures in the Middle Ages. devotional and liturgical images through the
De laudibus Virginis Matris is the title o f four centuries o f Cistercian life.
homilies by St Bernard on Luke 1. 26—38, and
this phrase is mirrored in the material creation Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum
o f the works o f art from Dargun Abbey dis­ Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas
cussed here.60 There are doubtless many more an der Universität Leipzig
unknown medieval treasures still hidden in Luppenstr. 1 B
other Cistercian abbeys, museums, or archives. 04177 Leipzig
As scholarly research on the furnishings o f Cis­ Germany

60. Sancii Bernardi Opera Omnia, ed.Jean Leclerq, Charles

H. Talbot, and H enri M. Rocháis, vols i-viii (Rom e,
1957-77), IV, p. 13-58.

De laudibus Virginis Matris 281

 Fingerprinting Stone from Saint-Remi in Reims*
DANIELLE V. JO H N S O N
w ith the assistance o f L O R E H O LM ES

wo museums in the United States — the the facilities o f the Brookhaven National Lab­

T Philadelphia Museum o f Art and the

Pitcairn collection o f the Glencairn
Museum in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania — house
several capitals attributed by stylistic analysis to
oratory to apply neutron activation analysis to
samples o f different types o f limestone.2 At the
Laboratory, the samples were bombarded with
neutrons to produce radioactive isotopes o f
the chapter house or cloister o f the former twenty or more trace elements present in lime­
abbey church o f Saint-Remi in Reims that stone in varying amounts. Each element was
dates from the second quarter o f the twelfth identified and quantified by the energy and the
century.1These attributions could be confirmed amount of gamma radiation it emitted as its iso­
if the composition of the stone corresponded topes returned to a more stable form. The results
to limestone known to have been used for the o f this analysis establish each stone’s “finger­
sculpture o f the abbey. Therefore, in 1994 and print”, which allows the stone to be identified
1995, samples were taken from capitals and bases as surely as our own fingerprints identify us.
in the chapter house and from sculpture in the
collections of the Musée Saint-Remi in Reims Sculpture from the Mid-Twelfth-Century Abbey
for analysis by means of neutron activation in of Saint-Remi
order to establish a reference group to which
the composition of the capitals in the two In order to place Saint-Remi in its historical
American museums could be compared. context, a brief overview from its foundation
The database and the comparisons were ini­ to the twelfth century follows.
tiated and validated by a pilot study first carried Remigius (Saint Remi) — the Bishop of
out in 1977 by two scientists then at The Met­ Reims who baptized Clovis, the early Merovin­
ropolitan Museum of Art in New York, using gian king — was buried in a chapel outside the

* T he author would like to thank Brett Bostock, Annie the museum, has extended the research in this area. C o n ­
Blanc, Pamela Z. Blum, Marc Bouxin, William Clark, Lore cerning the Glencairn capitals, one o f them (09.SP. 10,
Hohnes, Stephen Morley, Amy Merserve, Anne Prache, and Fig. 13 below) was purchased by R aym ond Pitcairn from
Dean Walker for their cooperation, photographs, and edi­ the Parisian dealer, Georges D em otte, w ho stated in a
torial comments. In addition. I would like to note how much letter dated 23 February 1923 that it came from Saint-
Peter Fergusson’s friendship and scholarly input has meant R em i.
to me.
2. Pieter Meyers and Lambertus van Zelst, “Neutron Acti­
1. Walter Cairn associated the capitals in the Philadel­ vation Analysis o f Limestone Objects: A Pilot Study”,
phia M useum w ith S aint-R em i (“ R om anesque Sculp­ Radiochimica Acta, 24 (1977). p. 197-204. Seven articles treat­
ture in American Collections XVI: T he Academy o f the ing various aspects o f this project appeared in Gesta, 32.1
N ew C hurch. Bryn A then, Pa.” , Cesta, 14.2 [1977], p. (1994), p. 3-59. Additional publications are listed in the bib­
69-79): more recently E. Diskant, curatorial associate at liography on the web site www.MedievalArt.org/limestone.

Fingerprinting Stone from Saint-Remi in Reims 283

 Fig. 1. Abbey of Saint-Remi, Reims, piati o f 1670. (Paris, Archives nationales: Plans, Marne, N III, 3 (20), courtesy o f the Insti­
tut d ’Art, Université de Paris-IV Sorbonne, reproduced with permission).

Rom an walls on the site of the present church Between 1130 and 1145, the choir o f this
o f Saint-Remi. During the eighth century, the church was redecorated. The chapter house and
regular clergy was replaced by a community of galleries o f the cloister were also rebuilt during
Benedictine monks; it thus became a monastic the second quarter o f the twelfth century, well
church. A Carolingian church constructed ca. before the demolition and reconstruction of the
825 under Archbishop Hincmar replaced the west facade of the eleventh-century church and
Merovingian church. R econstruction o f the choir during the abbacy o f Pierre de Celle
Carolingian church was in turn begun in 1010 (1162—81 ). Unfortunately no documentation
under Abbot Airard. During the second quar­ exists that gives a precise date of either chapter
ter of the eleventh century, Airard’s church was house or cloister galleries.3
partly demolished and a new one was built that The Benedictine monks o f Saint-Maur, who
incorporated the long nave flanked by aisles had reformed the abbey between 1627 and
from the preceding church, its wide transept 1635, demolished the twelfth-century cloister
w ith apsidal chapels, and its deep apse. This at the end o f the seventeenth century and built
church was dedicated in 1049. another in its place. Several other buildings in

3. John Bony, French Gothic Architecture of the 12'1' & 13,h Prache, Saint-Remi de Reims (Geneva, 1978); ead., “Saint-
Centuries (Berkeley, 1983), p. 136,147, 163, Ì 68-69. 337-38; Rem i de Reim s” , Congrès archéologique. 135e session, Cham­
D om Hourlier, “Le Monastère de Saint-Remi de Reims et pagne, 1977, p. 109—21; Jean-Pierre Ravaux, “ L'Eglise de
ses abords au Moyen Âge'", Bulletin de la société d ’agriculture, Saint-Remi de Reims au xiemc siècle", Bulletin archéologique
commerce, science et arts du départment de la Marne, 1960-61, du comité des travaux, historie et science, 8 (1972), p. 51—98;
p. 37-56; Dieter Kimpel and R obert Suckale, L ’Architecture Willibald Sauerländer. Gothic Sculpture in France 1140-1270
gothique en France, 1130-1270 (Paris, 1990), p. 180-93; Anne (London, 1972), p. 2 and 395.

284 D AN I E LL E V. J O H N S O N wi t h the assistance o f L O R E H O L M E S

Fig. 2. Saint-Rani, Reims, capital of chapter house, (author) Fig. 3. Saint-Remi, Reims, capital o f chapter house, (author)

Fig. 4. Saint-Remi, Reims, capital of chapter house, (author) Fig. 5. Saint-Remi, Reims, capital o f chapter house, (author)

the abbatial complex were also rebuilt or struc­ The variety o f foliate and figurative motifs
turally altered at this time. A late-seventeenth- decorating these forty-six capitals underscores
century engraving shows the abbatial complex the richness and refinement o f the decor o f
as it was before the restoration (Fig. I).4 the m id-tw elfth-century abbey. Notable
The ground level of the chapter house, before among the motifs are thick arum and palmette
reconstruction of the cloister by the Maurists, leaves with branches frequently interlaced and
was considerably lower than that of the clois­ bonded by pearled rings (for example, Fig. 2);
ter. In order to correct this problem, the chap­ heads, set at the angles, from whose mouths
ter house was dismantled and its ground level or ears emerge multilobed leaves (Fig. 3); foli­
raised. It was then rebuilt, concealing the ated vines enveloping the basket o f the capi­
twelfth- and thirteenth-century capitals and tal, their leaves enfolding small heads (Fig. 4);
arches o f the north wall behind an applied and various types o f harpies (Fig. 5). Samples
masonry wall. The existence of these hidden for neutron activation analysis were taken from
sculptural elements came to light in 1953. A sixteen capitals.
major restoration following this discovery Seven sculptural elements attributed to Saint-
revealed that capitals from the mid-twelfth cen­ Rem i — now on display in the Musée Saint-
tury had been incorporated into the chapter Remi — further underscore the richness of the
house.3 mid-twelfth"century abbey. These include a sin-

4. Paris, Archives nationales. Plans, N 111. Marne 3 (20). 5. Marc Bouxin, Les Chapiteaux de la salle capitulaire de
l ’abbaye de Saint-Remi de Reims (Reims. 1976).

Fingerprinting Stone front Saint-Remi in Reims 285

 Fig. 6. Capital, Musée Saint-Remi, Reims, (author) Fig. 7. Capital, Musée Saint-Remi, Reims, (author)

Fig. 9. Capital, Philadelphia Museum o f A rt (acc. no. 1945-

25-40). (Philadelphia Museum o f Art)

Quadruple Capitals in the Philadelphia Muse­

um o f Art

Four quadruple capitals in the Philadelphia

Museum o f A rt bear striking stylistic affini­
ties with the sculpture from Saint-Remi. The
overall treatment o f the foliated vines and leaf
motifs, and the masks that mark the angles of
the capitals, is indeed very similar. O n the first
Fig. 8. Column, Musée Saint-Remi, Reims, (author) capital (Fig. 9), foliated vines applied to the
basket term inate in small heads, similar to
those on the double capital o f the Saint-Remi
chapter house (Fig. 4). The treatment o f the
gle capital (Fig. 6), two double capitals (Fig. 7), leaves punctuating the lower and upper zones
and a quadruple column (Fig. 8) from the clois­ o f the Philadelphia capital may be compared
ter, the lower part of the funerary monument with that o f the leaves set in the central axis
of Louis IV d’Outremer (d. 954), as well as two o f the upper register o f the double capital
fragments from the twelfth-century tomb of from the cloister now in the Musée Saint-
Archbishop Hincmar (d. 882). Samples from Rem i (Fig. 7).
these were also analyzed by neutron activation On the second quadruple capital (Fig. 10),
analysis. The results show that their stone close­ carved heads set on the angles spout thick vines
ly resembles that o f the Saint-Remi capitals, that frame a palmette leaf. This is similar to the
and they are therefore included in the Saint- motif seen on two capitals from the Saint-Remi
Rem i reference group. chapter house (Fig. 3), although the sculptural

286 D AN I E LL E V. J O H N S O N wi t h the assistance o f L O R E H O L M E S

Fig. 10. Capital, Philadelphia Museum of A rt (acc. no. 1945- Fig. 11. Capital, Philadelphia Museum o f A rt (acc. no. 1945-
39). (Philadelphia Museum o f Art) 25-38). (Philadelphia Museum o f Art)

Fig. 12. Capital, Philadelphia Museum o f A rt (acc. no. 1945-

25-3 7). (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

treatment of the leaves of the Philadelphia cap­

ital is somewhat different from that of the Saint-
Rem i capitals.
Although differing somewhat in their artic­
ulation, the multilobed leaves folding back on
themselves in the lower and upper register of Fig. 13. Capital, Glencairn Museum, Pitcairn collection, (acc.
the third Philadelphia capital (Fig. 11, on the no. 0 9 .SPIO ), (author)
left) may be compared with those o f the sin­
gle capital (Fig. 6) and the quadruple column
(Fig. 8) in the collection o f the Musée Saint- Capitals from the Glencairn Museum
Remi.
Finally, even though no comparison can be Three o f the five capitals in the Pitcairn col­
made with a specific Saint-Remi capital, the lection of the Glencairn Museum believed to
overall structure of the fourth Philadelphia cap­ come from Saint-Remi are decorated with foli­
ital (Fig. 12) recalls that o f another double cap­ ate patterns, and the two others are embellished
ital from the cloister in the Museé Saint-Remi, with figures. Three o f the four faces of the first
on which thick palmette leaves set at the angles capital display a complex interlace o f vines and
frame more finely defined palmettes in the cen­ foliate motifs banded by decorated rings (Fig.
tral axis o f the capital. 13).The palmette set in the lower zone is framed

Fingerprinting Stone from Saint-R em i in Reim s 287

 Fig. 14. Capital, Glencairn Museum, Pitcairn collection (acc.
no. 09.SP .11). (author)

by stems that depart from its base, turn upward Fig. 15. Capital, Glencairn Museum, Pitcairn collection (acc.
in the form o f an “S”, and terminate at each no. 09.SP.14). (author)
angle in an elaborate leaf pattern. This arrange­
ment, as well as the treatment of the thick vines,
recalls those of the quadruple column from the bears a close resemblance to those of the harpies
cloister (Fig. 8).The long leaves emerging from on the capital in the chapter house.
the central palmette to wrap the stems resem­ O n the fourth Glencairn foliate capital, masks
ble those on the fragment o f Hincmar’s tomb are set at the angles. From their mouths fall foli­
as well as on numerous capitals from the chap­ ated vines that interlace and terminate in pal­
ter house (for example, Fig. 2). mette leaves wholly evocative o f those on
O n the second Glencairn capital (Fig. 14), several capitals in the chapter house.
the treatment of the slim vines of the palmette The fifth capital depicts the raising of Lazarus.
leaves that intertwine on the angles is compa­ No comparisons can be made with specific cap­
rable to that of the slender vines of the single itals from Saint-Remi.
and double capitals in the Musée Saint-Remi
(Figs. 7 and 8). Neutron Activation Analysis
O n the third Glencairn capital, three fanci­
ful figures are placed around the basket: a harpy Neutron activation analysis of the samples taken
(Fig. 15); a human-headed, four-legged crea­ at Saint-Remi and in the Musée Saint-Remi con­
ture with a tail that terminates in a pine cone firms that they form a coherent reference group.
enfolded in a leaf; and a third so badly damaged The calcium carbonate concentration of all sam­
that it cannot be identified. The treatment of ples is unusually low (approximately 55%), indi­
the harpy’s wings and breast feathers and the cating that the raw material for these sculptures
scales o f its tail is very similar to that o f a harpy came from the same stone formation.6
capital from the chapter house (Fig. 5), as is the Stone from the capitals in both American
carving of the scales on the four-legged figure’s museums shows the same low calcium carbon­
body. The prominence o f its eye and ears also ate concentration of dolmitic limestone as that

6. N A A Report, Lore Holmes, 12 April 1995.

288 D A N I E LL E V. J O H N S O N wi t h the assistance o f L O R E H O L M E S

 Reims: Abbey of SAINT-REMI

21 S c u lp tu re s f r o m A b b e y S ite (± c r)

C a p ito ls
i * 1 ] ( P h ila d e lp h ia M u s e u m o f A rt)

\cncn 1 \\ 1\
t \
a
Ta3
(0

OX
V 1
11
11 * J
A
o
Î
»
i
.

\
l\ 1 t
r \\ i
i
- ' i
\r M
¡
? \ 2 %
è i / \ A/ »

—,- - - - - 1—■—■— ■—
V / t \
oo 1
w
»

Rb Cs Sr Cr Mn Co Sc Lo Co Eu S m Yb Th Lu Hf Zr

Compo9itionol Variables

Fig. 16. Concentration o f Oxides — Comparisons o f Compositional Profiles o f 21 sculp­

tures from the abbey site with capitals from the Philadelphia Museum o f Art. (N A A
Report, 7 April 1995, L. Holmes)

Reims: Abbey of SAINT-REMI

Compositional Variables

Fig. 17. Concentration o f Oxides — Comparisons o f Compositional Profiles o f 2 5 sculp­

tures from the abbey site with capitals from the Glencairn Museum. (N A A Report, 11
March 1995, L. Holmes)

of the Saint-Remi reference group. Analysis also Rem i reference group”.7 The compositional
revealed that the trace element composition of profile of stone from the fourth capital (repre­
the stone from three of the four quadruple cap­ sented by triangles in Fig. 16) also falls within
itals in the Philadelphia Museum was consistent this group and can be assigned to the same source.
with “an origin in the same stone source as that The compositional profiles o f the five capi­
used to carve the sculptural elements of the Saint- tals from the Glencairn Museum tell a some-

7. N A A Report, Lore Holmes. 7 April 1995.

Fingerprinting Stone from Saint-R em i in Reim s 289

 what different story. While their calcium car­ phia Museum o f Art and the Glencairn Muse­
bonate concentrations are approximately the um. She observed that the capitals from the
same as those in both the Philadelphia Muse­ latter “sont d’un calcaire comparable à celui
um capitals and the Saint-Remi reference qui a été utilisé pour les chapiteaux de la salle
group, the trace elements are present in some­ capitulaire de Saint-Remi de Reims”.10 Third,
what higher concentrations (Fig. 17).s the highly convincing documentary and styl­
These five Glencairn capitals may neverthe­ istic evidence endorses the link between the
less be attributed to the abbey o f Saint-Remi Glencairn capitals and the sculpture from
for the following reasons. First, as noted by Saint-Rem i. Fourth, D em otte stated in his
both Lore Holmes and Annie Blanc (geolo­ 1923 letter that the harpy capital in the Glen­
gist, recently retired from the Centre de cairn Museum (Fig. 15) came from the abbey
Recherches des Monuments Historiques), the o f Saint-Rem i.11 Given these four factors, one
masons at Saint-R em i probably used stone may safely conclude that the capitals in the
from more than one quarry. The stone o f the Glencairn M useum came from the mid-
four Glencairn capitals could have come from twelfth-century abbey o f Saint-Remi.
the same Jurassic stone formation as that used
for the capitals in the Philadelphia Museum The confirmation that stone for the capitals
and the Saint-Remi reference group, but from in the collections o f the Philadelphia Museum
a different (nearby) quarry. The low calcium o f Art and the Glencairn Museum came from
carbonate concentration o f all the analysed the same or nearby quarries, and that they were
samples confirms the stone’s origin as Jurassic therefore once part o f the mid-twelfth-centu­
limestone. Second, the petrographic analysis ry monastic complex o f Saint-Remi, under­
by A. Blanc indicates that chalky white lime­ scores the importance of compositional analysis
stone was used for all capitals and imposts from in bringing together widely dispersed sculptural
the chapter house o f Saint-Remi as well as the elements, thus enlarging our knowledge of
sculpture in the Musée Saint-Remi, with two French medieval sculpture.
exceptions. Those two exceptions — an
impost from the chapter house and the frag­ Junior Year Abroad Program
ment o f a statue column now in the Musée Wells College
Saint-Remi — were shown by neutron acti­ Paris
vation analysis to have compositions that dif­
fered from the rest.89 In the fall o f 1994, A. Chemistry Department
Blanc completed her petrographic analysis of Brookhaven National Laboratory
the limestone when she visited the Philadel­ Upton, NY 11973

8. N A A Report, Lore Holmes, 11 March 1995. 10. Observations sur la pierre, Annie Blanc, 12 January 1995.
9. Because o f a thick layer o f whitewash that covers the 11. See note 1 above.
bases o f the chapter house colonnettes, Annie Blanc was
unable to distinguish the differences in the stone types.

290 D A N I E L L E V. J O H N S O N with the assistance o f L O R E H O L M E S

 Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on
the Reverse Façade o f Reims C athedral

D O N N A L. SA D LER

his essay concerns the power o f mem­ ed figures obeys some o f the same laws of thir­

T ory and how it shapes the future and the

past. And it is with alarming clarity that
I remember Peter Fergusson asking me (twen­
ty years ago!) to talk to his medieval art class at
teenth-century rhetoric and poetria noua revived
during the reign o f Louis IX and so masterful­
ly linked to the deployment o f biblical history
in the stained glass o f the Sainte-Chapelle by
Wellesley about my work on the reverse façade Alyce Jordan.2
of Reims cathedral. I was terribly nervous, still As we gaze at the verso o f the façade o f
in the throes of writing the dissertation, and I Reims Cathedral (Figs 1, 2) created ca. 1255,
gave an hour talk in twenty minutes flat. It was what are the visual coordinates it provides to
utterly incomprehensible, but Peter, w ithout aid the medieval audience in charting the course
missing a beat, looked at his watch and said, of the sculpted narrative? The unique disposi­
“well you have just enough time to give the talk tion o f niche figures surrounding the central
again.” His gracious spirit presided, as though and lateral doorways of the reverse façade has
countless other medievalists spoke faster than been linked to the function of the cathedral as
the speed o f light and then repeated their lec­ the coronation church for French kings.3 The
tures at the proper tempo. Such kindness cou­ glazed tympana and sculpted gables of the west­
pled with twinkling eyes is rarely rivalled. ern front initially signal the Janus-like nature of
the programme. The iconography o f the verso,
Recent scholarship in medieval art history and which underscores the ramifications o f good
narratology has demonstrated the rich cross­ and bad kingship, then forges the link between
fertilization between these two disciplines in the role of Reims as the theatre for coronations
the thirteenth century. The purpose of this essay and the carved primer which confronted the
is to consider the different narrative and visual newly anointed ruler as he left the cathedral to
strategies and how they are woven together on assume his terrestrial reign. Can we further pur­
the reverse façade of Reims Cathedral.1 It is my sue the formal properties of the verso program
contention that the phraseology o f the sculpt­ as evidence o f the intended purpose o f this

1. The topic o f this essay was first explored in a presen­ 2. See Alyce A. Jordan, Visualising Kingship in the Win­
tation at the 35th International Congress on Medieval Stud­ dows of the Sainte-Chapelle (Turnhout, 2002), p. 6-29.
ies at Kalamazoo, MI in May 2000 as “T he Reverse Façade
o f Reims Cathedral: Marriage o f Form and C ontent?’’ I 3. See D onna L. Sadler, “Lessons Fit for a King: T he
would like to thank Gerald Guest and Madeline Caviness Sculptural Program o f the Verso o f the West Façade o f
for their insightful comments on the material at that time. Reims Cathedral”, Arte Medievale, 2nd ser., 9.1 (1995). p.
49-68.
This work is part o f a larger study in progress that consid­
ers the reverse façade from numerous viewpoints, both for­
mal and iconographical.

Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on the Reverse Façade o f Reims Cathedral 291
 Fig. 1. Reims Cathedral, reverse façade, left side, ca. 1250. Fig. 2. Reims Cathedral, reverse façade, right side, ca. 1250.
(author) (author)

unprecedented sculptural cicerone? R ecent portal were viewed as symptoms of sculptural

studies by Lina Bolzoni, Peter Parshall, and exhaustion.6 Yet as the above scholars have
Mary Carruthers have suggested the important demonstrated, medieval exposition only gains
role that ancient treatises on memory played in from repetition and the use o f mnemonic
structuring meaning in visual programmes.4*It devices to underscore the meaning o f a visual
is my belief that we can trace many o f these programme. W hile one figure on the verso
principles in the creation of meaning on the admonishes (Fig. 3), another greets his fellow
verso of the west façade. statues, prophets brandish banderoles, and angels
The initial reception of the verso of Reims announce and bless in a series o f cameo appear­
was reticent praise for this experiment in dec­ ances; all the statues are insistently framed by
orating the wrong side of the façade.3 Similar­ bands o f lush foliage and held at bay by the ver­
ly, the repetitive poses and stock gestures of the tical and horizontal gridwork o f their niches.
fifty-two niche figures surrounding the central What is the effect of this miniaturist framework,

4. Lina Bolzoni, “T he Play o f Images: T he Arc o f M em ­ 5. Paul Frankl, Gothic Architecture, trans. Dieter Pevsner
ory from its Origins to the Seventeenth C entury”, in The (Baltimore, 1962), p. 110.
Enchanted Loom: Chapters in the History of Neuroscience, ed.
Pietro Corsi (Oxford, 1991), p. 18-26; Peter Parshall, "The 6. Jordan ( Visualizing Kingship, p. 9-14) noted that the stained
Art o f M emory and the Passion”, Art Bulletin, 81 (1999), glass of the nave of the Sainte-Chapelle has been dubbed repet­
p. 456—540; Mary Carruthers, Meditation, Rhetoric, and the itive and creatively bankrupt, however she demonstrates the
Making of Images, 400-1200 (Cambridge, 1998), p. 14—98, consciousness o f these narrative devices in her exploration of
- .'
221 68
Geoffrey o f VinsauFs Poetria nova composed ca. 1210 and wide­
ly know by the m id-13th century in Paris.

292 D O N N A L. S A D L E R
 Fig. 4. Ivory diptych with scenesfrom the Passion and Afterlife
o f Christ, ca. 1250-10, French, The Saint Louis A rt Muse­
Fig. 3. Reims Cathedral, reverse façade, right side, detail o f lower um, 183: 1928. (photo and permission courtesy o f the Saint
niche figures including John the Baptist warning Herod and Louis A rt Museum)
Herodias. (author)

ushered in by richly pleated drapery and this primer fit for a king. Even the formal tran­
crowned by a glazed triforium? Does it not sition from virtually freestanding figures in the
evoke an intricately carved ivory diptych? An first four rows to high relief figures in the upper
example from the later thirteenth century pro­ three tiers suggests the sculptor s desire to dimin­
duced in northern France reveals the mutual ish the effects of distance on the legibility of the
preciousness o f pseudo-architectural precision narrative. Prophecies punctuate the narrative, as
and courtly elegance (Fig. 4). Harvey Stahl seen, for example, in the symbolic Agnus Dei in
noted that the narrative flow of these devotional the fourth row; these images not only remind
objects may be quite consciously manipulated the worshipper that Christ is the Redeemer, but
by both the unusual placement of the subject they also double as a visual Greek chorus — say
and the repetition of striking poses and rhetor­ it three times and it’s true! The rather paren­
ical gestures.7 thetical gestures of the outer prophets in this row
But is the framework at Reims merely orna­ draw attention to the centrality of the prophe­
mental and external to the sculptural programme, cy that they physically buttress.
or is it essential to the carved dialogue that ensues Following the lead o f H om er and Cicero,
within? I would argue that this persuasive grid great medieval teachers such as Albertus Mag­
of foliage and trilobed niches foregrounds the nus and Thomas Aquinas relied on the stereo­
dialectic o f good and bad kingship and accen­ typing o f characters and the recourse to
tuates the prophetic, even pedagogical, tenor of formulas to create potent images.8*Even God

7. Harvey Stahl, “Narrative Structure and C ontent in 8. T he most succinct summary o f medieval memory and
Some Gothic Ivories o f the Life o f C hrist”, in Images in its ancient models may be found in Mary Carruthers, The
Ivories: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, ed. Peter Barnet Booh of Memory: A Study ofMemory in Medieval Culture (Cam­
(Princeton, 1997), p. 94—114. bridge, 1990), p. 16-79. For Albertus Magnus and Thomas
Aquinas, see ibid., p. 47—79.

Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on the Reverse Façade of Reims Cathedral 293
 Fig. 5. Reims Cathedral, reversefaçade, left side, ca. 1250, detail Fig. 6. Reims Cathedral, reversefaçade, detail o f innerjamb and
o f the lower rows, (author) lintel showing angel and Vandal to the left and Herodias and
Salome to the right, ca. 1250. (author)

in the Bible had to rely on images and para­ Though it would be impossible to undergo
bles; “for the wise man is the one strengthened a thorough excavation of meaning o f the
by the teachings of the past, is able to under­ reverse façade o f Reims, a few examples o f this
stand the present and take measures for the orchestration of sacred metaphor will demon­
future.”9 But the gesturing prophets and swag­ strate the programmer’s “interactive classroom
gering kings on the verso of Reims do not nec­ techniques” . The Annunciation to Joachim and
essarily reflect an already-written text, but Anna on the left o f the portal (Fig. 5) is coun­
rather produce a visual allegory utilizing a fun­ tered by John the Baptist’s prophecy of the axe
damental tenet o f medieval rhetorical theory, in the tree on the right. The former scene ben­
namely that forni generates meaning.l0 If gestures efits from a geographic shortcut in that the angel
are visible words, and if gestures are dynamic simultaneously informs both Mary’s parents of
symbolic acts, they may actually conflict with her future birth and glory. The once-barren
posture, which is a symbolic stilling o f action.11 couple receives the news with identically raised
How does the sculptural dialogue o f gesture hands, whereas above, in the Meeting at the
and pose on the verso create, if not reinforce, Golden Gate, Anna and Joachim have become
the royal rebus? more imposing in their status as senior, yet fer-

9. Bolzoni, “T he Play o f Images”, p. 20, citing Cicero in artists alike was recently demonstrated by Jordan, Visualis­
De Inventione w ho taught that memoria, intclligentia. and prov­ ing Kingship, p. 1—41.
identia are three parts o f tire virtue o f prudentia.
11. Augustine o f Hippo hints at this when he remarks
10. This was a universal premise in medieval rhetoric and “we do not speak o f the things themselves, but o f images
is summarized by William Ryding, Structure in Medieval Nar­ impressed from them on the mind and committed to mem­
rative (The Hague. 1971). p. 9—37. T hat such composition­ ory" (Carruthers, Booh of Memory, p. 293, n. 30). In a sense,
al devices were shared by 13th-century authors and visual all that we know is a mnemonic likeness, as the signs are
functional reminders.

294 D O N N A L. S A D L E R
 Fig. 7. Reims Cathedral, reverse
façade, left side, upper rows of niche
figures, ca. 1250. (author)

tile, citizens. The vertical linkage o f the couple stood as an object lesson in virtuous versus
on the left is countered by the asymmetry of nefarious conduct? The proximity o f the
John’s prophecy and warning to Herod and haughty statues of Herod and Herodias to the
Herodias (Fig. 3) on the right of the portal. The martyrdom of John the Baptist represented on
Baptist points obliquely to the figures above, as the interior lintel (Fig. 6) with the “second”
the two flanking prophets reiterate his message martyrdom of the Baptist, whose bones were
with unfurled scrolls. The mode of representa­ burned by order of Julian the Apostate, insin­
tion has switched from narrative to prophetic,12 uates the pedagogical intent of the program­
and we note that John the Baptist is aligned with mer. The fact that Herodias and Salome initiate
Abraham below. Christ referred to the impor­ both halves o f the martyrdom o f the Baptist —
tance of bringing forth a tree bearing good fruit, despite the chronological impossibility of this
“if you be the children o f Abraham, do the feat — imparts a rather grim view o f escaping
works o f Abraham” (John 8.39). It was the lin­ the stranglehold o f genealogy.
eage o f both virtue and blood that distinguished The presence on the inner trumeau o f the
the good kings o f Scripture as well as their local martyr Nicasius, a bishop decapitated on
Capetian successors. the threshold o f the fifth-century cathedral of
Above John’s “horticultural” prophecy we Reims, offers compelling proof o f the pro­
find the Baptist chastising Herod and Herodias grammer’s desire to forge the present with the
for their illicit union. The fruitful and righteous past.13 Two angels flank the headless saint and
behaviour o f Anna and Joachim is thrown into point down the nave to the site where his mar­
relief by the defiant, courtly postures of Hero­ tyrdom was commemorated in the thirteenth-
dias and Herod; how could this not be under­ century cathedral.14*By linking the sanctity of

12. T he vacillation in storytelling modes has been chart­ o f thorns. T im e has little to do with the tense o f the nar­
ed both in literary circles as well as in contem porary visu­ rative.
al strategies; medieval readers and viewers were
accustomed to profusely narrated scenes that could sud­ 14. The "rouelle de Saint Nicaise” was involved in a com­
denly becom e quite cryptic in tone. See James J. Murphy, memorative ceremony during several feast days o f the church
Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory calendar; for the location o f the marker and the ceremonies,
see William H. Hinkle, “The Portal o f the Saints o f Reims
from Saint Augustine to the Renaissance (Berkeley, 1974), p.
170-93. Cathedral: A Study in Medieval Iconography" (doctoral dis­
sertation, Columbia University, 1962), p. 74-75. For a dis­
13. For a similar strategy, see Jordan, Visualizing Kingship. cussion o f the ceremony involving the "rouelle de Saint
p.61-69. In the Sainte-Chapelle, the history o f the Capet­ Nicaise” , see Pierre Cocquault, Histoire de l’église, ville et
ian dynasty, particularly in the relics window, is conflated province de Reims (Reims, Bibliothèque municipale, MS
with Old Testament kingship and the quest for the crown 1609), voi. ili. fol. 26r.

Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on the Reverse Façade of Reims Cathedral 295
 includes the figure of Elizabeth who was not
present as Zacharias censed the altar (Luke
1.1 l).T h e programmer clearly wished to stress
the importance of Zacharias’s membership in
the priesthood o f Aaron, as well as to link the
fertility o f Elizabeth with the other miraculous
births and sacred women on the verso.
Zacharias was a priest of the family of Abia,
one o f the twenty-four branches o f priests
descended from Aaron (I Paralipomenon 24).
Because he is depicted in the midst o f censing
the altar when the angel o f the Lord appeared
to him, the priestly rank o f Zacharias is under­
scored, just as the altar table, chalice, and host
call attention to the role o f Melchisedek as a
“priest o f the Eternal order” . The spatial lux­
ury afforded this scene as it is doled out over
three niches engenders a ceremoniousness and
sense o f quiet revelation that is unique to
Reim s.15
Elizabeth’s cameo appearance in this scene
reminds the viewer o f her participation in this
miraculous conception. The role o f “supernat­
ural” fertility in this program unites Anna, the
Fig. 8. Reims Cathedral, reverse façade, right side, upper rows Virgin, Elizabeth, and (by implication) Sara in
o f niche figures, ca. 1250. (author) the archivolts on the inner north portal, and
drives an iconographie wedge between the fruits
of their respective wombs and that o f Herodias.
The bewitching Salome, the instrument of
the precursor of Christ, John the Baptist, to this Herodias’s evil scheme, is represented twice on
local martyr, the special status o f Reims was the lintel and is clearly the descendant of Eve.
enhanced. The looming lesson-book at the Does the theme o f righteous barren women
western end o f the nave o f Reims becomes espoused to righteous men who are ultimately
topographically charged, not only by the pres­ rewarded with fertility impart a more specific
ence of figures past and present, but also by the message to the queens and kings of France? The
echo o f their gestures and the resonance of their coronation of the queen began as a coda to her
prophecies. For example, why would Herod’s marriage, but in the thirteenth and fourteenth
order to Massacre the Innocents (Fig. 7) be centuries the king and queen were crowned
placed opposite the Annunciation to Zacharias together in Reim s.16 O ne o f the most impor­
(and Elizabeth) of the birth o f John the Bap­ tant aspects of the queen’s unction by the Arch­
tist (Fig. 8)? The latter scene is clearly out of bishop o f Reims was that it was thought to
chronological order, as the Baptist’s birth was confer not only royalty, but also fertility. And
sculpturally bypassed at Reims in order to focus the role o f the queen was above all to bear royal
on the preaching o f John; further, the scene offspring.17 N ot only was the act of royal unc-

15. Indeed, this formal quality has its literary equivalent V s ‘Coronation B ook'ijeanne de Bourbon and the ‘Ordo
in the amplificatio and expolitio advocated by Geoffrey o f Vin- ad reginam benedicendam’”, Viator, S (1977). p.255—309
saulf in his Poetria nova (see Jordan, Visualizing Kingship, p. (p. 268, n. 47).
11—13). T he repetition o f the Annunciation formula — in
the Annunciation to Joachim and Anna, the Meeting at the 17. The queen’s duties included acting as regent for the
Golden Gate, Herod’s command to Massacre the Innocents, absent king, care o f the poor, the pledge to fight heresy, and
the Warning to Herod and Herodias — all serve to rein­ to be a noble servant o f the church. See Richard A. Jack-
son, “The ‘Traité du sacre’ o f Jean Golein”, Proceedings of
force the didactic nature o f this program.
the American Philosophical Society, 113 (1969), p. 305-24 (p.
16. See Claire Richter Sherman, “T he Q ueen in Charles 319).

296 D O N N A L. S A D L E R
tion imbued with “extra-sacramental” powers, was performed in Reims would have further
but the paradigmatic prayers accompanying the narrowed the gap between past and present. The
coronation proper also exalted the joys o f vir­ lessons imparted to the ruler would find visual
tuous and fertile queens. The miraculous con­ echoes throughout the historiated verso of
ceptions that distinguished such biblical queens Reims. For example, Melchisedek’s offering of
as Sara and Rebecca were viewed as precursors bread and wine to Abraham and his fellow war­
o f the fertility that attended Anna, Elizabeth, riors from the book o f Genesis (14. 18-20)
and above all, the Virgin. Queen Clothilde, rep­ would at first seem to be independent of the
resented above in the glazed triforium, reasserts life and death o f John the Baptist that unfolds
the ideal o f the good Christian queen who, above this archetypal communion scene. Abra­
together with Clovis, righteously prevails over ham, clad as God’s warrior, receives God’s bless­
temporal affairs. The medieval queen also saw ing from the priest-king o f Salem, an act that
the negative model of queenship reflected in linked the role of Melchisedek to that o f John
Herodias, and the malevolent fruit o f the lat­ who baptized Christ.19 Both men acted as God’s
ter’s womb (Figs 2, 6). deputies and both acts were preludes to the
In the vertical alignment of Zacharias with sacraments that formed the basis o f the Eternal
John bearing the Agnus Dei and John baptizing Church.
Christ, the lineage o f father and son in their sac­ Indeed, the coronation ordo enables us to read
erdotal functions is underscored.18 The theme the verso as an alternation of prophecies and
o f lineage also rears its head in the horizontal pronouncements that weave together the lives
opposition of Herod the Great and Zacharias. o f the Old Testament prophets and kings with
Whereas the vertical linkage presents a heredi­ those of their New Testament descendants, and
ty carved of blood, virtue, and faith, the lineage the contemporary ecclesiastics and kings who
of Herod was one o f blood and bloodshed. In gazed upon this sculptural homily.20*As the king
a symmetry of evil, the father of John is slain by was anointed, his body became an object of
order of the father of Herod Antipas, just as the performance in the ceremony. The verso sculp­
latter ordered the murder o f the Baptist. The ture, working in concert with the coronation
fruit does not fall far from the tree. O n the verso ceremony, trains the “body politic” in the tenets
of Reims descendants from the royal family of o f sound governance. And it is not only the
David and priestly family o f Aaron are exalted body and mind o f the king, but also the body
to the rank of exemplars, while the evil deeds politic o f the Capetian order that takes shape
o f Herod and Herod Antipas vividly convey under this carved tutelage. The perpetual re­
their truncated ancestry. enactment o f Melchisedek’s blessing o f Abra­
Unlike a smaller devotional ivory altarpiece ham on the inner west wall would certainly
whose audience was relatively diminutive in underscore both the source o f the ruler’s power
social stature, the verso o f the façade of Reims and his submission to God’s will, expressed in
Cathedral addressed its message to the neophyte his raised hands joined in prayer.
ruler. How then do we “assess the outcome” of In the Baptism o f Christ on the verso o f the
royal learning? The coronation ceremony that façade, the various meanings o f this programme

18. Ernst Kitzinger points out that one iconographie Darstellung”, in Festshriftfü r Dietrich Schafer (Jena, 1915), p.
aspect o f the four prophets and the forerunner in niches in 1-5; M. Simon, “Melchisédech dans la polémique entre juifs
the drum o f the dom e (David, Solomon, Zacharias, and et chrétiens et dans la légende” . Revue d’histoire et de philoso­
John) may be their relationship as fathers and sons (“The phie religieuses, 17 (1937), p. 58-93; Edm und Leach,
Mosaics o f the Cappella Palatina in Palermo: An Essay on “Melchisedech and the Emperor: Icons o f Subversion and
the Choice and Arrangement o f Subjects”, in The Ari of O rthodoxy”, in Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Insti­
Byzantium and the Medieval West: Selected Studies [Bloom­ tutefor 1972 (London, 1973), p. 5-14; and Fred L. Florton.
ington. 1976], p.290-319 [p. 308, n. 108]). There are other The Melchisedek Tradition (Cambridge, 1976).
interesting parallels between the programme at Palermo and
that at Reims; most significantly, both convey how local 20. Much has been w ritten about the parallelism o f the
political-ecclesiastical events may be alluded to without step­ coronation ordines and the balance o f power between the
ping outside the pages o f the Bible. ecclesiastics and the kings o f France. For this m om ent in
history, see Jacques LeGoff, “A Coronation Program for the
19. The ramifications o f the encounter between Abra­ Age o f Saint Louis: T he O rdo o f 1250”, in Coronations:
ham and Melchisedek have been discussed in a num ber of Medieval and Early Modern Monarchic Ritual, ed.Janos M. Bak
sources. See Fritz Kern. “D er rex et sacerdos in bildlicher (Berkeley, 1990), p. 46-57.

Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on the Reverse Façade of Reims Cathedral 297
 seem to coalesce: the Baptism of Christ redeems the king’s coronation was dubbed his baptism
the martyrdom of the Innocents who were bap­ and Christ’s baptism was interpreted as his coro­
tized in blood on the left side o f the portal. Bap­ nation.24Just as John the Baptist was the instru­
tism was also the rite of passage for all Christians ment of God in the Baptism o f Christ, so the
who participate in the death and resurrection Archbishop o f Reims was his medieval m outh­
o f Christ through the re-enactm ent o f this piece in the consecration of French kings.
sacrament.21 In the vertical progression of scenes In the final scene, John’s disciples seek out
on the right, the Baptism is the culmination of Christ to ask if he is the one (Matthew 11.2-4).
John’s ministry as he witnesses the arrival o f the The vertical alignment of the baptized Christ
Messiah, just as Christ acknowledges that John and the ministering Christ, and that of the Pre­
was his precursor. Christ’s adherence to the let­ cursor and his emissary, underscores the didac­
ter of the Old Law contrasts markedly with the tic choreography o f this sequence of figures.
lawlessness of the two Herods and seems note­ Christ fulfils his destiny, just as the newly
worthy in light o f the contractual tone o f the anointed and crowned French king was to leave
interior sculpture. the Cathedral of Reims and assume the duties
But the Baptism also struck a more local o f his office. Echoes o f this kinship were found
chord. At the m om ent the spirit o f God in the coronation ceremony where, following
descended in the form of a dove to acknowl­ the king’s unction, he was draped in a royal
edge Christ as his beloved son, the Remois mantle placed so that his hands were in the same
would have thought of the miraculous appear­ position as those o f a priest in his chasuble. The
ance o f a dove with a vial o f holy oil to anoint gestures, words, and actions of the French king
Clovis in 496.22 N ot only was this scene depict­ found resonance in the sculptural programme
ed in the glazed triforium above, but it was also o f the verso o f the façade. The king, having
the national miracle that took place in Reims donned the royal mantle, exited the cathedral
that became synonymous with the unction of to begin his public life. The coronation cere­
French kings, and that secured the fate of Reims mony repeatedly urged the king to dress him­
as the coronation cathedral o f France. Again, self in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13.14).
the distance between past and present, between The king’s duty was to exercise the material
art and life, has narrowed. The unction admin­ sword in the service of the Church. Yet the same
istered to the ruler in Reims was in effect a king, through baptism and holy unction at
sacrament, for the chrism was the vehicle for Reims, eminently realized the image o f God.2-’’
conferring divine grace upon the ruler.23 Royal It was the ruler’s unction that enabled him to
anointing changed the status of the ruler and wield the sword with justice and to repel the
marked him in a real and metaphorical way as enemies of the kingdom with the aid of Christ.
Christ’s vicar on earth. It was not long before As the king gazed at the sculpture, he saw the
the liturgy reflected this blurring of distinctions: baptized Christ from whom his power stemmed

21. Sc T hom as Aquinas, Summae, III., Q. 69. Opera 23. Indeed, the anointing o f the Israelite kings by the
Omnia, vol. XIII, as cited in Eloise M. Angiola, “T he ‘Gates prophets was regarded as the prototype o f the Baptism o f
o f Paradise’ and the Florentine Baptistery", Art Bulletin. Christ, the anointment o f the Messiah. T he scenes o f unc­
60 (1978), p. 242-48 (p. 245): "Baptism indeed opens the tion of David and Solomon were the Old Testament episodes
gates o f the Kingdom o f Heaven to the baptized, to the most often invoked in the Middle Ages, and these scenes
extent that it incorporates him in the Passion o f Christ, were depicted in the carved archivolts that surround the rose
applying efficacy to man.” This idea is reflected through­ window o f the west facade o f Reims cathedral.
out the N ew Testament as seen for example in John 3. 5
and Ephesians 5. 26. 24. Ernst H. Kantorowicz, The King’s Two Bodies:A Study
in Medierai Political Theory (Princeton, 1957), p. 52, n. 22.
22. Jean-Jacques Chifflet noted that the Remois miracle This phenom enon is reflected in a num ber o f works o f art
may have been inspired by the dove suspended over an altar where the dove above Christ’s head bears a crown in his
as a reliquary, as well as the dove that starred as the Holy beak; for example, the latter m otif occurs on the gold box
Spirit in the biblical episodes o f the Miracle plays (De Ampul­ in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (6th century) and the
la Remensi [Antwerp, 1651], p. 70). In any case, the dove 10‘h-century Winchester Benedictional o f St Aethelwold.
from C hrist’s Baptism was an unmistakable symbol that
everyone would have recognized hovering above the bap­ 25. Yves M .J. Congar, “L’église et l'état sous la règne de
tismal font o f Clovis. See Marc Bloch, Les Rais thaumaturges: Saint Louis” , in Septième centenaire de la mort de Saint Lautis
Etude sur le caractère surnaturel attribué à la puissance royale par­ (Paris, 1976), p. 257—71. This christocentric model o f king-
ticulièrement en France et en Angleterre (Paris. 1961), p. 131-39. ship was underlined by Gilbert de Tournai in his designa­
tion o f the king as ministrum ecclesiae.

298 D O N N A L. S A D L E R
juxtaposed to the unjust Herod whose abuse of have reinforced the visual lessons of the interi­
power resulted in so much carved bloodshed. or programme, so that the king would not for­
Aquinas delineated a system of memory com­ get that his power stemmed from ecclesiastical
posed o f signs that declare or make manifest, sanction. In this way, the reverse façade of Reims
signs that recall, and signs that prophesy.26 The Cathedral modified the paradigm formulated by
tension created by the alternation of narration Strayer28 — the French king had become a type
and prophecy on the verso o f Reims is resolved of Christ and the Kingdom of France a type of
by the matrix of lush bands of foliage and pre­ the heavenly realm, but the Church was the
cious trilobed niches: meaning surfaces as the agent in this transformation. “He is truly king
rows of figures come into focus. If descriptive who directs himself, his thoughts, his words and
figures derive their energy from idealization, actions, according to the conduct of Christ.”29
excess, hyperbole, and overarching order,27 then In order to follow this royal ministry, to defend
the interior programme conforms to a mode of the Church and the frontiers of Christianity, as
medieval narratology in which the images are well as embody the virtues o f justice, piety,
vested with the power to promote memory and patience, charity and humility, the king must
offer spiritual sustenance. Yet the sculpture also adhere to this new “religion o f monarchy” .
articulates a dominant ideological position Indeed, the writing was on the wall.
regarding the interdependence of the ecclesias­
tical and royal powers. The recitation o f the Agnes Scott College
prayers for the coronation o f the king would Decatur, Georgia

26. This system is delineated by R obert Suckale, “Arma Seigel (Princeton, 1969), p. 3—16. O ne o f the most m em ­
Christi: Überlegungen zur Zeichenhaftigkeit Mittelalter­ orable quotes from this article was that by Friedrich Sieburg
licher Andachtsbilder", Stadel-Jahrbuch, 6 (1977). p. 188—91. who summarized the situation o f Louis IX and the Holy
Land by stating that “ God couldn’t get along w ithout
27. Michel Beaujour, “Some Paradoxes o f Description",
France”.
Yale Frendi Studies. 61 (1981), p. 27—59 (p. 42).
29.Jean Devisse, Hincmar, Archevêque de Reims 845-882
28. Joseph R.Strayer. “France:The Holy Land, the C ho­
(Geneva, 1975-76), II, p. 710, n. 219-22. In this definition
sen People, and the Most Christian King”, in Action and
Hincmar follows St Augustine, Isidore o f Seville, and Gre­
Conviction in Early Modern Europe, ed. T. K. Rabb and J. E.
gory the Great.

Predictions, Prophecies, Prose, and Poetry on the Reverse Façade of Reims Cathedral 299
 Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire:
Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour
JE N N IF E R S. A LE X A N D ER

ardney Abbey in Lincolnshire is a lit­ o f Ghent ca. 1087. The priory held the relics

B tle-know n form er monastery rarely

mentioned in the literature o f medieval
buildings, hardly surprising since the site is
o f St Oswald, king o f N orthum bria, until 909
when they were transferred to the Benedic­
tine abbey at Gloucester, but the rem em ­
not exposed and clearance after the Dissolu­ brance o f the saint was preserved in the
tion in 1538 matched that of most abbeys in refoundation dedication to St Peter, St Paul,
Lincolnshire in its thoroughness. Bardney was and St Oswald.3 There are a number o f unan­
fortunate; its excavation in the early twenti­ swered questions about the early history o f
eth century was w ritten up by Sir Harold the site; clearly the raids o f the mid-ninth cen­
Brakspear, and his account o f the buildings tury cannot have led to its abandonment since
and their architecture is detailed and thor­ the community continued to hold the relics
ough, allowing further analysis o f the site.1 o f St Oswald there for another fifty years. The
Peter Fergusson, w riting in 1975, refers to reference in the Abingdon manuscript o f the
Bardney as “showing many features that point Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to their removal in
to strong Cistercian influence” , and it is this 909 makes no m ention o f the fate o f the
aspect that this essay seeks to develop, partic­ monks. Bardney was not refounded in the late
ularly with reference to the Cistercian sites in tenth century, which may also suggest that it
Lincolnshire that are, in turn, equally little continued in operation through the late Saxon
know n.2 period. N o evidence for the earlier structures
Bardney was the largest monastic house in was reported on excavation, but the excava­
Lincolnshire and one o f the few Saxon foun­ tors do not seem to have examined the lower
dations to survive into the medieval period. levels. We therefore have no inform ation
It had been founded before 697, but was about the later Anglo-Saxon history o f Bard­
attacked by the Danes ca. 860 and was ney and do not know w hether the refounda­
refounded as a Benedictine priory by Gilbert tion in ca. 1087 was o f an active monastic

1. Harold Brakspear, “Bardney Abbey”, ArchaeologicalJour­ 2. Peter Fergusson. “T he South Transept Elevation o f
nal, 79 (1922), p. 1-92. A small section o f the western part Byland Abbey”, Journal of the British Archaeological Associa­
o f the nave was re-exposed in 1974 to assess its condition: tion, 3rd ser., 38 (1975), p. 155-76 (p. 164, n .2 ).T h e Cis­
East Midlands Archaeology Bulletin, 12 (1978), p. 29. The vicar tercian houses are Kirkstead. Louth Park, Revesby. and
o f Bardney, who conducted the excavation, also wrote an Vaudey, with Swineshead, founded as a Savigniac house and
account in the form o f a diary (Charles Edward Laing, converted in 1147.
“Excavations on the Site o f Bardney Abbey”, Associated
3. Victoria History of the County of Lincolnshire, vol. II (Lon­
Architectural Societies Reports and Papers, 32 [1919-20], p.
21-34). don, 1906), p. 97—104.

Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 301

 Fig. 1. Bardite)1Abbey, plan o f the church, (after Brakspear)

house with standing buildings.4 In 1115 it was to be 235 ft 6 in (77.26 m) long and measured
raised to abbey status and made independent 125 ft 6 in (41.17 m) across the transepts (inter­
of its mother house o f Charroux. Bardney was nal dimensions, as measured by Brakspear).
subject to the jurisdiction o f the Bishops of There were also considerable remains o f the
Lincoln. The abbey held considerable prop­ claustral buildings. The site was covered again
erty in the diocese and was valued at £ 3 6 6 in the 1930s and has not been re-excavated,
(net) in 1534. The house was dissolved in 1538 except to monitor its condition. Material from
and passed to the Tyrwhitt family who built the site is partly preserved in the parish church
a house over part o f the claustral range. This and partly taken into storage.
had disappeared by the early eighteenth cen­ The east end of the church had survived the
tury w hen the remains o f the abbey were least well but it was possible to determine that
described as scarcely visible. the abbey s choir was an aisled three-bay struc­
W hen excavated in the early years o f the ture from the Rom anesque period, with
twentieth century, the site was discovered to arcade piers having a round core with large
have survived surprisingly well; the plan o f the rectangular sections and semi-circular shafts
church was recovered, a large number of floor projecting on aisle and choir sides. These are
slabs remained, and masonry was standing to a compared by Bridget Cherry to the piers at
height o f between one and five feet (30 cm — Thorney (from before 1108) and Ely nave (ca.
1.52 m) in places (Fig. l).T he church was found 1110), offering a date around 1115 for their

4. Two Anglo-Saxon pieces o f stonework in Bardney Stocker. Lincolnshire, voi. v o f Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Sculp­
church are assumed to have come from the site; one. part ture [Oxford. 1999], p. 97—98). N either piece is architectural
o f a cross head, is late (probably from the eleventh centu­ however, and b rief references to other early finds from the
ry), while the other, the base for a cross-shaft, is much ear­ site are o f monumental stones, such as the “Saxon tom b"
lier (perhaps from the seventh) and was found in a reused reported from the west front o f the abbey church by Tom
context in the claustral buildings (Paul Everson and David Crowder, Bardney Abbey (Horncastle, 1925), p. 36.

302 J E N N I F E R S. A L E X A N D E R
construction.3 Although Brakspear found a after m.1109, had an unaisled presbytery that
square-ended presbytery extending one and a was square ended with buttresses o f 1 ft 6 ins
half bays beyond side aisles that were also (45.7 cm) thickness.9 The later twelfth-centu­
square-ended, he believed that this was a mod­ ry square east end o f St Cross, Winchester, has
ification to the original plan, which he recon­ buttresses o f about 2 ft 3 in (70 cm) project­
structed as three apses en echelon. Brakspear’s ing from the east wall.10 Although square east
interpretation assumed that Bardney followed ends are not commonly found in A nglo-N or­
other Benedictine churches in its east end plan man buildings, it is worth pointing out that
and — citing the examples of Durham and Ely — related to Bardney by the pier design
Peterborough — had aisles that were square — had square-ended choir aisles and a squared
externally but round on the inside. He might east end that R obert Willis interpreted as a
also have related Bardney to a non-Benedic­ change of plan during its construction.11 Bard­
tine but more local building, Lincoln Cathe­ ney also followed Ely in having solid walls
dral, where the east end had been revealed only between the choir aisles and the eastern
a few years before, in 1911, since it too had transept chapels, although again Brakspear
three apses en echelon with the aisles square- regarded these as a modification. It has to be
ended externally, and was also three bays long.6 considered that the original east end o f Bard­
Despite his assertions, Brakspear was unable ney was square, not apsed, and that the reason
to find any trace o f the three apses and (unpub­ why Brakspear was unable to find the apses
lished) photographs o f the site show how lit­ was that they had never been there. Further
tle o f the masonry at the east end had investigation o f this part o f the church, par­
survived.7 The British Archaeological Associ­ ticularly by examining the levels below those
ation, visiting in 1921, noted that the east end previously excavated, is needed in order to
o f the church had been “entirely demolished”, establish this part o f the plan.
the only remains being the outside walls that The western side of the crossing marks a
were 6 ft (1.83 m) thick.s Evidence for the change in the architecture from the Romanesque
apses is therefore mostly negative and relies on east end to an early Gothic phase, and it is here,
the interpretation o f anomalies in the east end and in the transepts, that the relationship
that are mostly o f a minor nature, Brakspear’s between Bardney and the Cistercian houses
text making no references to building breaks becomes apparent. The basic transept plan, of
or changes in the architecture. His principal an arcade opening into separate eastern chapels,
reason for rejecting the square east end seems with the terminal walls of greater thickness than
to be the projection o f the angle buttresses of the east walls (indicating their greater height),
1 ft 9 in (53.3 cm), presumably regarding them is that found in Cistercian churches. This is par­
as too large to have been from the original ticularly evident at Bardney in the north
build. However a second building in the East transept where, as at Ripon, the north wall of
Midlands under construction at this date, that the chapel is thinner than the terminal wall. In
does provide a model with a projecting square R ip o n s case this has been attributed to
east end, has similar sized buttresses. Southwell Cistercian influence and the same can be sug­
Minster, a building o f comparable size started gested for Bardney.12

5. Bridget Cherry, “Rom anesque Architecture in East­ Architecture and Industry, ed. Jennifer S. Alexander, British
ern England”, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Archaeological Association Conference Transactions, 21
131 (1978). p. 1-29 (p.' 22-23). (Leeds, 1998), p. 1-12.
6. John Bilson, “Plan o f the First Cathedral Church o f 10. Information kindly supplied by Prof. Yoshio Kusaba.
Lincoln”, Arcltaeologia, 62 (1911), p. 553-64.
11. Eric Fernie, “The Architecture and Sculpture o f Ely
7. “ Bardney Abbey Excavations”, album o f photographs Cathedral in the N orm an Period”, in A History o f Ely Cathe­
and letters. Lincoln City and C ounty M useum, acc. no. dral. ed. Peter Meadows and Nigel Ramsav (Woodbridge,
19.17. 2003), p. 94—111 (p. 96 n. 3).
8. “Proceedings o f the Congress at Lincoln”, journal of 12. Christopher Wilson, “The Cistercians as ‘missionar­
the British Archaeological Association, n.s., 27 (1921), p. 18—23. ies o f G othic’ in N orthern England”, in Cistercian Art and
Architecture in the British Isles, ed. Christopher N orton and
9. Peter Coffman. "The Romanesque East End o f South-
David Park (Cambridge, 1986), p.8 6 -1 1 6 (p. 99).
well Minster", in Southwell and Nottinghamshire: Medieval Art.

Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 303

 Fig. 2. Bardiìey Abbey, pier plans and transept capital, (after Brakspear)

A. N W crossing pier
B. South transept capital
C. South transept arcade pier
D. Nave piers, 2,3,4,5
E. Nave piers, 6,7,8
E Nave arcade west responds

304 J E N N I F E R S. A L E X A N D E R
 Fig. 3. Vaiidey Abbey, crossing pier.
(after Trollope)

Traces o f first-period, early-twelfth-century France, begun in the 1150s, where it is used

masonry were found in the west wall of the with a strange type o f clustered pier. D om -
south transept, but the main building period martin, together with Selincourt, employs ele­
seems to have been the third quarter o f the ments that represent an early form of pier and
twelfth century, with coursed piers made from capital type that were to be developed in build­
a cluster o f shafts used for the crossing pier, ings in the north of England and may have been
which has sixteen shafts and a stepped base, and part o f the “missing link” between the Cister­
for the transept piers (Fig. 2 A, C). These con­ cians in England and the houses o f the Order
sist of a bundle of twelve coursed shafts, with in northern France in the 1150s and 1160s.14
the shafts of three different sizes, and have more To find a local parallel, or source, for this pier
complex bases. One arcade pier and its responds type one needs to look at Vaudey, a Cistercian
to the south and east survived in the south monastery established after 1147 when monks
transept, together with the arcade respond from from Fountains, who had first settled at Castle
the north transept. The clustered, or “fascicu­ Bytham, moved to a new site nearby. The abbey
lated”, pier that was to become the main type attracted further endowments and sheep farm­
for northern buildings in the thirteenth centu­ ing brought prosperity in the thirteenth centu­
ry has been described by Peter Fergusson as ry, although by 1292 the abbot had to seek royal
occurring in an early Gothic form in northern protection to assuage creditors. Thereafter it
buildings, particularly those o f the Cistercians, declined and was suppressed in 1536. The site
after the middle o f the twelfth century, found is in the grounds o f Grimsthorpe Castle, and
at Fountains, Kirkstall, Byland, and Roche, for the rebuilding undertaken there in 1541 is
example, as well as at secular York and R ipon.13 widely assumed to have used stone from the
Bardney’s transept pier could be compared to abbey. Certainly by the eighteenth century the
the western nave piers at Kirkstall, from before buildings, apart from the gatehouse, had large­
1177, which are also of twelve shafts and have ly been demolished.15 The site has not been
shafts o f three different diameters, but for the fully excavated but it was quarried for stone to
shape o f the bases. Kirkstall s bases are square repair the church at Swinstead in 1851. Anti­
whereas at Bardney the pier base is stepped but quarian interest was aroused when the crossing
set radially beneath the minor lobes o f the pier piers were found and further excavation
and of the responds. This type of base has been revealed several smaller piers described as being
traced back to Dommartin, a Cistercian-influ­ from the nave and south transept, as well as the
enced Premonstratensian house in northern terminal wall o f the south transept.16 One pier,

13. Peter Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys 15. VCH Lines., II, p. 143-45: John Wild. The History of
in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton, 1984), p. 50. Castle Bytliani (Stamford, 1871), p. 114—15.
14. Ibid., p. 68. 16. Edward Richardson, “Vaudey”, in “ Proceedings at
Meetings May 2nd 1851". ArchaeologicalJournal. 8 (1851), p.
210—11. Gentleman’s Magazine, 1851 pt. 11, p. 154—57, 294.

Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 305

 for which there is a drawing made in 1889, they were angled but the triple shafts that pro­
closely resembles the crossing pier at Bardney vided the vault support on the west wall of both
in its size and in being o f sixteen shafts (Fig. 3). transepts were missing from the south transept,
The distance between the crossing piers was 25 and those in the north had lobed bases which
ft (7.62 m), the same as Bardney’s.1/ However, were attributed to a later period by Brakspear.
one part of the base is set radially, and while This would imply that the transept high vault
this section of the drawing looks awkward, with was not raised until the early thirteenth centu­
the shaft above shown distorted, it faithfully ry, when the eastern parts o f the nave were
reproduces the irregularity of the angles, one under construction. Confusingly Brakspear’s
obtuse and the other acute, that is found on the drawing o f the respond appears to show it cut
base to the transept pier at Bardney, and it is from the same block as the stepped base of the
therefore likely to be accurate. The use o f the side aisle respond. This is part o f the complex
diagonal base under only one shaft on the pier sequence o f construction of the nave that will
at Vaudey suggests that the building was not be considered further below.
fully rib-vaulted. Vaudey is of particular inter­ One capital with a diagonal abacus, record­
est since, as Peter Fergusson has shown, its build­ ed in the parish church in 1974, probably came
ings after the 1147 move were the work of from the transept vault springing. It is a water-
Adam of Meaux.18 Adam was a monk o f Foun­ leaf capital with the two leaf elements joined
tains who between 1133 and 1150 took charge by a strap and resembles the capital drawn by
o f building works at three sites in the diocese Brakspear that came from the transept, although
of Lincoln: Kirkstead, Woburn, and Vaudey. He the strap is thinner here (Fig. 2B). A pair of cap­
was clearly more than a monastic official respon­ itals of the same size with squared abaci, record­
sible for overseeing building works and has been ed at the same time, would fit above the north
considered to be the master mason at these sites, or south facing sections o f the transept pier.
described in the Meaux Chronicle as “ occu­ They too are waterleaf capitals but lack the con­
paretur et esset sollicitus” while at Vaudey in necting strap.20 The capitals are similar to the
1149.19 Roche transept vault capitals, and are also relat­
Several courses o f the south transept walling ed to others in early Cistercian buildings. Bard­
at Bardney were exposed, built of coursed rub­ ney has an extra tongue of foliage between the
ble with a plain elevation w ithout any wall leaves, a detail which is also found in the north
arcade or bench. The arcade and chapel transept capitals at Byland and in the cloister
responds, o f five and three shafts respectively, capitals at Kirkstall and has been dated to ca.
and the single shaft in the corner of the south 1170—75.21 Bardney also shares the use o f the
chapel demonstrate that a stone rib vault was heavy block beneath the abacus, without any
planned for the chapels with diagonal ribs sup­ chamfer or other moulding, with the Roche
ported on the angled shafts. The transept pier vault capitals; this can be related to the surviv­
and its respond also show that the main space ing single vault capital from Kirkstead transept
o f the transept was to be vaulted with a single which has a simpler type o f waterleaf (Fig. 4).
shaft supporting the diagonal rib in the corner Kirkstead is an unexcavated site only a few
of each transept. The bases for these remained; kilometres from Bardney that was founded as a

17. The drawing was published, w ithout comment, as the 20. T he worked stone collection from the abbey site was
frontispiece to an article on G rim sthorpe Castle and the divided between the City and County Museum in Lincoln
monuments in the church at EdenhannThe Bishop o f N ot­ and the parish church when the site was covered over in the
tingham [Edward Trollope], “ G rim sthorpe, and the 1930s. with some material also displayed in a museum in
Willoughby Monuments in Edenham Church". Associated Bardney. T he collection in the church was mostly removed
Architectural Societies Reports and Papers. 20 (1889-90), p. and buried at a farm nearby after 1974. Photographs o f the
19-21. collection from Bardney parish church are in the City and
County museum at Lincoln. A few sections o f stonework
18. Peter Fergusson, “T he First Architecture o f the Cis­
remain in the church, built in to the altar step o f the north
tercians in England and the Work o f Abbot Adam o f
aisle and displayed around the altar.
M eaux” , Journal of the British Archaeological Association. 136
(1983), p. 7 4 -8 6 .' 21. Peter Fergusson. “Roche Abbey: The Source and Date
o f the Eastern Remains”, Journal of the British Archaeological
19. Ibid., p. 84.
Association, 3rd ser.. 34 (1971). p. 30-42 (p. 35).

306 J E N N I F E R S. A L E X A N D E R
 Fig. 5. Bardney St Lawrence, moulded stone from Bardney
Abbey built into the altar step o f the north aisle altar, diagonal
rib section on right, (author)

piers may also have been derived from Kirk­

stead.24 From Stuart Harrison’s investigation of
the found stone at Kirkstead we now know that
there were clustered piers there, o f eight-lobed
Fig. 4. Kirkstead Abbey, transept capital, (author) form.25 These resemble some o f the Bardney
nave piers and will be considered below. Kirk­
stead also has the diagonal rib of the high vault
surviving; its profile differs from the Roche high
Cistercian house by Hugh Brito, lord o f Tat- vault type o f a roll between flanking hollows,
tershall, in 1139, and — together with Vaudey consisting instead of a three-quarter roll between
and Louth Park — was a daughter house of two sharply-pointed arrises. It closely resembles
Fountains. The original site proved unsuitable a section of diagonal rib in Bardney church (Fig.
and in 1187 a second site was granted by the son 5), and there are also larger versions o f this rib
o f the founder, close to their first one. As at with three rolls separated by arrises to be found
Vaudey, the thirteenth century was the period loose on the site o f the abbey as well as in the
o f the greatest financial stability, and close links parish church. Larger versions o f the same
were maintained during this period with anoth­ moulding at Bardney are probably the soffit
er of the Cistercian houses in Lincolnshire, mouldings of the arcade arches (Fig. 6, compare
Revesby; later periods were marked by eco­ Fig. 9G). These can be closely compared to the
nomic decline.22 The site has one corner o f the soffit mouldings recorded by Stuart Harrison at
south transept standing and aerial photographs Kirkstead, with the central roll keeled at Kirk­
show the outline o f the church and claustral stead and round at Bardney. The plan o f the
buildings. Kirksteads role in the development Bardney transepts, the use o f rib vaults for the
o f early Gothic has been discussed by Peter Fer- high vaults and chapel vaults, and the detailed
gusson: a three-storeyed elevation with a high connections between Bardney and the group of
rib vault reconstructed in the transept related to early Cistercian sites in Lincolnshire and York­
Roche s transept. The date o f 1187 marks the shire demonstrate Bardney s debt to those build­
completion o f the work there, rather than its ings. A date around 1170—75 would therefore
start.23 Christopher Wilson has proposed a date seem appropriate, and further investigation of
in the 1160s, or even the 1150s, for the start of the site may provide evidence that Bardney s ele­
work and has suggested that Bardney’s clustered vation also reflected Cistercian influence.

22. VC H Lines., II, p. 135-38. 24. Wilson, “Cistercians as ‘missionaries o f G othic’”, p.

108, n. 79.
23. Fergusson, “ Roche Abbey”, p. 38.
25. I am grateful to Stuart Harrison for sharing his
researches into the Lincolnshire Cistercian houses.

Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 307

 Fig. 6. Bardney Si Lawrence,
seaion o f soffit roll
from Bardney Abbey.
(author)

To turn now to Bardney s nave, Brakspear’s again above lobed bases. The eight-lobed piers
excavation found that the bay size o f the Goth­ are related to the piers reconstructed from frag­
ic nave had been determined in the ments at Kirkstead where piers with both keeled
Romanesque period, with the south aisle wall and round principal shafts were used, although
retained from the earlier building and the the Bardney piers have the later form with shafts
responds on the aisle walls used by the Gothic o f a similar size (Fig. 2E).
builder for his vault. This resulted in the nave The east end o f the nave seems to have had
bays being narrow, only about 14 ft (4.27 m) a complex building history, with three differ­
wide. In Brakspear s reading the nave east bay ent types o f respond bases used in the first two
dated from the end o f the twelfth century, with bays on the north side. The respond to the cross­
similar piers to the transept arcade, and the rest ing pier had a stepped base, the first pier respond
from the thirteenth century, built in two cam­ had the diagonal base of the south transept, and
paigns. The first thirteenth-century campaign the second and all subsequent pier responds had
started with the piers immediately west of the lobed bases. This may imply that there was some
nave altar that stood between the first nave piers indecision on the part o f the nave designer
(rather than the more usual second pair). Piers about the form o f the vault envisaged for the
two to five o f both arcades were constructed in nave aisle. Two vault intersections have been
this campaign, together with four bays o f the preserved, one from the aisle for a square vault
north aisle wall. Piers six to eight were added bay, and the other for a rectangular bay of the
in the second campaign together with the west high vault (Fig. 7). The rib profile is the same
front of the church and the last four bays o f the for both, consisting o f three rolls separated by
north aisle. This campaign was dated to the third sharp arrises, and is that drawn by Brakspear for
quarter of the thirteenth century. the nave vault. Further fragments o f these ribs
The change between the first and second piers are also in the parish church. Neither intersec­
is marked by the introduction o f keeled prin­ tion has a carved boss. The differences in the
cipals, although the twelve-shaft form is piers from those of the transept, with the excep­
retained, and by the use o f lobed bases (Fig. tion o f the eastern pier, may imply that the nave
2D). A new base moulding is also used with elevation was o f a different form but no
these piers and the shaft configuration is quite stonework from the elevation has yet been iden­
different, with the larger o f the minor shafts tified. Both claw chisel tooling and vertical tool­
supporting the arcade arches rather than flank­ ing can be found on rib sections o f identical
ing the vault shafts as in the transept. Part o f the profile and block size, and claw chisel is evident
base to pier five on the north side is visible on on pier five. The rib intersection has been tooled
site, together with sections of the shafts, includ­ smooth. The mix o f tooling types on very sim­
ing one keeled section. The three western piers ilar blocks suggests that the masons were using
are eight lobed with the cardinal shafts keeled, different tools during the same period, and this

308 J E N N I F E R S. A L E X A N D E R
 Fig. 8. Bardney Abbey, western arcade respond shafts, (author)

Bardney s west front is shown in the excava­

tion photographs standing to a height o f at least
5 ft (1.52 m) with considerable remains of the
three west portals. The facade clearly did not
Fia. 7. Bardney Si Lawrence, vault intersection from Bardney extend beyond the width o f the nave and aisles
Abbey, (author) and there were no towers; instead the facade
depended upon architectural enrichment for its
grandeur. One newel stair was found contained
within the thickness o f the central buttress on
evidence cannot be used for dating the nave, the south side, as at Roche. The portals were
but the presence o f the claw chisel in situ on highly ornamented with dogtooth behind free­
pier five does establish that the soffit mouldings standing shafts. The central portal jambs were
with claw chisel could also have been used there. o f six orders and the side portal jambs of three,
The nave arcade respond on the rear o f the with blind arcading o f shafts arranged across the
west front is o f a different profile to the arcade buttresses of the central section. A large num­
piers with a thin fillet to the main shafts and ber o f fragments of stiff-leaf foliage were recov­
ogee keels to the two minor ones (Figs 2F, 8). ered — probably coming from the west front
This type of moulding is found most commonly — including a small capital with two leaves
after the second quarter o f the thirteenth cen­ attached.28
tury.26 The respond capitals have the charac­ The facade was compared by Brakspear to the
teristic bell shape o f this period as well, under later west front of St Maty’s Abbey, York, which
moulded abaci (Fig. 9F). All the nave pier bases, was probably finished by 1294,29 although the
including those of the crossing piers, are of the facade there had only one portal. The west
waterholding type and the western respond base facades o f Kirkstead and Vaudey remain
is very similar to the base to pier five of the unknown, but the west front o f Louth Park
north arcade (Fig. 9A-E). The waterholding Abbey in north Lincolnshire was excavated in
base had been superseded by the roll and hol­ the nineteenth century. It was a three-portal
low moulding by the end of the thirteenth cen­ facade, with en délit shafts to the jambs o f the
tury27 and had been used throughout Lincoln doorways that were o f four orders to the cen­
Cathedral from the early Gothic construction tre portal and two orders to the side doors.
o f the choir to the building works of the 1280s. Keeled mouldings were used between the shafts

26. Richard K. Morris, "An English Glossar)’ o f Medieval 28. These fragments are amongst the collection that has
Mouldings: W ith an Introduction to Mouldings c. been reburied.
1040—1240”, Architectural History, 35 (1992), p. 1—17 (p. 8).
29. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, The
27. Richard K. M orris, “T he D evelopm ent o f Later City ofYork, Outside the City Walls East of the Ouse (London,
Gothic Mouldings in England c. 1250—1400 part II”, Archi­ 1975), p. 3-4.
tectural History, 22 (1979), p. 1—48 (p. 26).

Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 309

 Fig. 9. Bardney Abbey, moulding profles, (after Brakspear)
A. N W crossing pier base; B. S transept pier base; C. Nave per bases to piers 2,3,4,5: D. Nave pier bases to piers 6,7,8;
E. Nave W respond bases; E Nave W respond capitals; G. Nave vault rib.

which stood on waterholding bases. Although financial problems of the house. The documents
the excavator dated the west front to the early reveal that the thirteenth-century abbots only
years of the thirteenth century, the mouldings held the post for short periods and that there were
suggest a date ca. 1230 for the facade.30 The periods o f voidance between elections. Walter of
abbey’s chronicle reveals that Richard o f Dun­ Beimiworth was elected in 1241 but deposed two
ham, abbot from 1227 to 1246, was responsi­ years later; his successors, William of Hatton and
ble for completing the church towards the west, William of Torksey, were abbots for fourteen and
and the excavation reported a change in mason­ eight years respectively between 1244 and 1266,
ry at the west end of the nave that may have and these men probably oversaw the completion
been part o f this work. The west portals are of the church.32 The two abbots of the last quar­
most probably his work.31 Abbot Richard had ter o f the thirteenth century were clearly not
previously been at Kirkstead and may well have builders. The abbot at the centre of the dispute
retained links with the Witham valley abbeys in 1278, Peter of Barton, who had been elected
after his move north. in 1267, had been removed in 1276 but did not
It is significant that no tracery or window resign until 1280 and was clearly incapable of
mullions were reported from the church site, administering his abbey. It is equally certain that
indicating that the windows were most proba­ the next abbot, R obert o f Wainfleet (elected
bly lancets, and all the tracery fragments remain­ 1280, resigned 1318), who had spent the early
ing are from windows later than the late years of the fourteenth century in Rome cam­
thirteenth century, which must have come from paigning for his reinstatement as abbot after accu­
the claustral buildings. This, together with the sations of mismanagement, was not a builder.
mouldings evidence, suggests a date in the The inquisition o f 1317 which revealed the
decade 1240—50 for the completion of the nave extent o f his financial ineptitude catalogued a
and west front. long list of properties leased at rents that were far
There is one piece o f documentary evidence too low and farms left uncultivated. Woods at
that is related to the work of the nave. There was Stepping and Lusby that should have provided
a dispute between the abbot and the monks and timber to repair the abbey had been sold, and the
in 1278 parliament was petitioned to resolve the total damage was estimated at the immense sum

30. Edward Trollope, “T he Architectural Rem ains o f 31. Chronicon Abbatie de Parco Lude. ed. Edmund Venables,
Louth Park Abbey”, Associated Architectural Societies Reports Lincolnshire Record Society, 1 (Horncastle, 1891).
and Papers, 12 (1873-74). p. 22-26.
32. VCH Lines., II. p. 104.

310 J E N N I F E R S. A L E X A N D E R
o f nearly thirty thousand marks. Detailed elling in the thirteenth century, which Braks­
accounting of Abbot Wainfleet’s actions makes pear related to the resiting of the guest house
no reference to expenditure on building projects, and insertion o f the abbot’s lodging on its top
and his only recorded interest in building work floor.
lay outside his own monastery.33 The number of
monks had also fallen from thirty-two to four­ Bardney Abbey was the first o f the abbeys
teen during Wainfleet’s period of office. The thir­ built in the fertile Witham valley after the con­
teenth-century work on the church must quest and was the only one to have previously
therefore date from the first rather than the sec­ existed in the Saxon period. The east end o f its
ond half of the century. church was under construction during the first
The cloister seems to have been laid out on quarter o f the twelfth century, but by the time
the standard Benedictine plan with the frater the crossing and transepts were rising on the
occupying most of the south range and with a site a number of other Orders had moved into
considerable range of buildings to the west for the valley. By the third quarter o f the century
the cellarer and the abbot’s lodging. The shafts the Premonstratensians had established two
and capitals found on the cloister site indicat­ houses, at Barlings and Tupholme, there were
ed that its arcade dated from the Romanesque houses of Benedictine nuns at Stixwould and
period although repairs were made after a report Stainfield, and most importantly, two Cister­
of dilapidations in 1437-38.The chapterhouse cian houses had been founded from Fountains,
was dated to the first building period o f the at Vaudey and Kirkstead. Bardney’s transept
church (i.e, the early twelfth century), although builder was clearly aware of the new work at
there was no architectural sculpture found and Kirkstead and at houses in Yorkshire, particu­
the form of the vault was not disclosed. The larly Roche. The similarities between the
dorter undercroft to the south was found to mouldings used at Bardney and Kirkstead
have been remodelled in the end o f the thir­ strongly suggest that the same mason was
teenth century and had a centre row o f piers responsible for both buildings. It has now been
supporting a rib vault, with the diagonal ribs established that the clustered pier was intro­
moulded and the transverse ones chamfered. duced to the region by the monastic builders
The space was divided up by a series o f cross at Kirkstead and Bardney, and this represented
walls. An extra room had been added to the an opposition to the influence of Lincoln where
south end of the undercroft in the same peri­ en délit shafts continued to be used with coursed
od, presumably to support an enlarged dorter multi-shaft piers throughout the late twelfth and
above, and the reredorter beyond also showed thirteenth centuries. A visitor to the county in
signs o f work of this date. the middle o f the thirteenth century would
The south range consisted of a narrow pas­ have been struck by the marked difference
sage to the east, with the frater — which had between the cathedral at Lincoln, with its com­
no undercroft — occupying the rest o f the plex use o f pier alternation, its expanse of
range. Brakspear dated it to the twelfth centu­ Purbeck marble, and its highly developed multi­
ry, built immediately after the chapter house. rib vault schemes with elaborate bosses, and the
Although the building had been levelled after cool simplicity of the church at Bardney where
the reformation, the internal layout was revealed none o f these things are to be seen. Instead, a
in the excavation and the stone supports for the church in which a Cistercian monk would have
benches and tables recovered. Evidence for the felt at home had been built.
remodelling of the frater windows in the later
medieval period was also found. The cellarer’s University of Nottingham
range on the west side had evidence of remod­ UK

33. Wainfleet’s personal extravagance led him to donate sition o f 1317. see A. Welby. "Bardney Abbey Dilapidations,
a window, inscribed with his name, to York Minster nave 1317", Lincolnshire Notes and Queries, 20 (1929), p. 91-92.
clerestory, window N XXIV. For an account o f the inqui-

Bardney Abbey, Lincolnshire: Benedictine with a Cistercian Flavour 311

 The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches
of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux?*
JAM ES D ’EM IL IO

alicia was the first region of Iberia set­ belonged to the family of Clairvaux except for

G tled by Cistercians (Fig. 1), and the

establishment of monks from Clairvaux
at Sobrado in 1142 was followed by new foun­
Penamaior, a member o f the congregation of
Carracedo which was affiliated with Cîteaux
(ca. 1200-03).
dations at Meira (ca. 1151-54) and Melón (ca. These monasteries enjoyed the patronage of
1154).1 By the end o f the century, existing the Galician nobility.3 Some favoured individ­
communities at Montederramo (ca. 1155-63), ual houses which sheltered aging kin and guard­
Armenteira (ca. 1162), Oia (ca. 1185), and Oseira ed family tombs. Thus, the powerful Traba
had been directly affiliated to Clairvaux, and family were founders and benefactors o f Sobra­
the Galician monasteries soon created their own do where one of the founders, Vermudo Pérez,
daughter houses.2 W hen the expansion of the professed in his old age.4 C ount Alvaro
Order had ended, Galicia could claim thirteen Rodriguez o f Sarria and his wife, Sancha Fer­
communities for men and one for women; all nández, endowed Meira, and a document refers

* I am grateful for the generous support o f the George Compostela, 1981); Actas. Congreso Internacional sobre San
A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation, the National Bernardo e o Cister en Galicia e Portugal 17-20 Outubro 1991,
Endowment for the Humanities, the Graham Foundation 2 vols (Ourense, 1992); Actas. II Congreso Internacional sobre
for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Edilia and el Cister en Galicia y Portugal, Ourense 1998. 4 vols (Zamo­
François-Auguste de M ontêquin Senior Fellowship in Iber­ ra, 1999).
ian and Latin American Architecture awarded by the Soci­
ety o f Architectural Historians, and the Research Council 2. Portela Silva has argued for a late affiliation for Oseira
and College o f Arts and Sciences o f the University o f South (1184-91): La Colonización cisterciense, p. 49-52; for a date
Florida. I also acknowledge the kind collaboration o f dioce­ between 1148 and 1151 or earlier, see José Carlos Valle
san authorities, parish priests, monastic communities, and Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense en Galicia, 2 vols (La Coruña,
villagers. Finally, I am honoured to pay tribute to Peter Fer- 1982), i, p. 95-97; Miguel Rom ani. El monasterio cisterciense
gusson whose work on the Cistercians in England is an inspi­ de Santa Maria de Oseira (Ourense): estudio histórico
ration and a challenge for those o f us w ho toil in Iberian (1137-1310) (Santiago de Compostela, 1989), p. 11-20.
fields. The uncertainty clouding such dates is a sign that affilia­
tions were less clear-cut and, sometimes, more contested
1. For the Cistercians in Iberia, see José Carlos Valle Pérez, than later accounts might suggest.
“La Introducción de la orden del Cister en los reinos de
Castilla y León: Estado de la cuestión”, in La Introducción del 3. O n aristocratic patronage, see Simon Barton, TlteAris­
Cister en España y Portugal (Santa María de Bujedo, 1991), tocracy inTwelfth-Century León and Castile (Cambridge, 1997),
p. 133-61; Adeline Rucquoi, “Les Cisterciens dans le pénin­ p. 194-210. His biographical appendix (p. 225-307) on the
sule ibérique”, in Unanimité et diversité cisterciennes: Filiations 12‘’’-century counts is most useful.
—Réseaux - Relectures du XIIe au x v tf siècle. Actes du Quatrième 4. A docum ent o f 1161 and a genealogy in the 13th-cen-
Colloque International du C .E .R .C .O .R ., Dijon, 23—25 Sep­ tury cartulary mention his profession: Barton, Die Aristoc­
tembre 1998 (Saint-Étienne, 2000), p. 487-523. For the Cis­ racy, p. 320-22; Tumbos del Monasterio de Sobrado de los Monjes,
tercians in Galicia, see Erm elindo Portela Silva, La ed. Pilar Loscertales de G. de Valdeavellano, 2 vols (Madrid.
Colonización cisterciense en Galicia (1 142-1250) (Santiago de 1976), i,p . 385.

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 313
 GALICIA
Principal sites mentioned:
* CISTERCIAN HOUSES
+ CATHEDRALS
• Other sites

Figure 1. Galicia, showing Cistercian houses and principal sites named in the text.

to the funeral o f one of their sons, Vermudo nández, dispensed their patronage more wide­
Alvarez, majordomo o f King Ferdinand II, at ly. 6*The widowed countess’s gift to Melón in
the abbey in 1187.5 Others, like Fronilde Fer- 1158 is one o f the first references to the abbey,

5. M adrid, Archivo H istórico Nacional (henceforth scu Ueritts Ecclesiasticorum Annalium a Condito Cistcrcio, 4 vols
AHN), Clero, carp. 1128, no. 5. O n the patronage o f the (Lyon, 1642—59), ni. p. 28—29; Manuel Risco. España Sagra­
founders and their family, see Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cis­ da, vol. x u (Madrid, 1798), p. 32—33. For fuller versions o f
terciense, i, p. 153—54. the documents, see José Vicente Piñeiro y Cancio, Colec­
ción diplomática y memorias para la historia de la ciudad e Iglesia
6. Barton. The Aristocracy, p. 297, n. 3; Valle Pérez, La
de Lugo [. . ./, 5 vols, Lugo, Archivo de la Catedral, m, fols
Arquitectura cisterciense, I, p. 207. 245-46. For the affiliation
424r-4 2 6 v; and an undated parchment, probably o f the late
o f Ferreira de Pantón, see Angel Manrique, Cisterciensium
12th century, from Meira: A HN, Clero, carp. 1142, no. 7.

314 J A M E S D ’E M I L I O
and her donation to Armenteira in 1162 like­ late-twelfth-century Iberia. The noble founders
ly coincided with its affiliation to the Cister­ o f Sobrado and Meira had received those sites
cians. She also made a grant to Meira and, in from the crown, and their foundations won swift
1175, subjected her own nunnery o f Ferreira approval from King Alfonso VII.9 Oia and Melón
de Pantón to that house. lay near the disputed border with Portugal, and
Countess Fronilde had married Rodrigo charters were forged to portray Queen Teresa of
Pérez de Traba, a half-brother of the founders Portugal and her son, King Afonso Henriques,
of Sobrado, and such marriages wove networks as founders of the earliest community at M ont­
o f patronage that sustained Cistercian commu­ ederramo. 10The strategic importance of Melón
nities across Iberia. The family o f the founders led King Ferdinand II to grant at least eight priv­
o f Meira exemplifies this pattern. Countess ileges to the community.11
Aldonza Rodriguez, the sister of Count Alvaro, At the end o f the century, the gifts o f King
wed a Castilian count, Lope Diaz de Haro. 1 Alfonso IX to Cistercian houses across León
Widowed in 1170, the countess entered the coincided with his efforts to overcome papal
nunnery the couple had founded at Cañas in opposition, first, to his marriage to Princess
the Rioja, and subsequently made gifts to Meira Teresa of Portugal in 1191 and his participation
and to the Cistercian monastery of Sandoval — with the Almohades — in a coalition against
and nunnery o f Gradefes in León. Three o f her Castile, then to his incestuous union with
daughters would govern the Cistercian nun­ Princess Berenguela o f Castile in 1197. Between
neries o f Cañas, San Andrés de Arroyo, and 1191 and 1193, Meira, Melón, and Sobrado
Vileña. Their cousin, Count Rodrigo Alvarez received a total o f eight gifts from the King;
o f Sarria, supported his parents’ foundation at more were awarded to Cistercian houses in
Meira, and married Maria Ponce, a daughter of Galicia between July 1200 and February 1202
the founders of Sandoval. Together, they grant­ during the effort to persuade Pope Innocent III
ed an estate to Gradefes, and, once he orga­ to accept the Castilian marriage.12 This was the
nized the military Order o f Mountjoy, his wife context, too, for the entry o f Cîteaux into Gali­
joined the Cistercian nunnery her mother had cia, as the Leonese king countered the accep­
established at Carrizo and eventually became tance o f the Castilian royal nunnery o f Las
its abbess.8 Huelgas as a “special daughter” o f Cîteaux in
The local aristocracy were the foremost 1199 by urging the affiliation o f Carracedo and
patrons o f the Galician houses, but they also its ample congregation.13
profited from royal grants and privileges, par­ The Cistercians soon joined the highest eccle­
ticularly as the Leonese kings sought to ensure siastical circles o f Galicia. The Abbots of Sobra­
the loyalty o f their nobles and enlist Cistercian do and Melón met the papal legate, Cardinal
support in the complex political manoeuvring Hyacinth, in 1154, and the Cistercians quick­
that characterized the Christian kingdoms o f ly solicited papal privileges, setting an example

7. José M. Canal Sánchez-Pagín, “La Casa de Haro en 11. Ibid., I. p. 208-09.

León y Castilla de 1150 a 1250: Cuestiones histórico-
12. For the gifts, see Julio González, Alfonso IX, 2 vols
genealógicas en torno a cuatro nobles damas”, Archivos leone­
ses, 43 (1989), p. 55—96; Barton, The Aristocracy, p. 263. (M adrid, 1944), II, p. 74-75, 95-98, 1Ö2-03, 108-10,
198-99, 202-05. 208-12, 217-18. 220-21, 232-33. For
8. Alan J. Forey, “T he O rder o f M ountjoy”, Speculum. 46 papal relations with the Leonese king, see Richard Fletch­
(1971), p.250-66:José M. Canal Sánchez-Pagín, "El conde er. The Episcopate in the Kingdom of León in the Twelfth Cen­
don R odrigo Alvarez de Sarria, fundador de la orden mil­ tury (Oxford, 1978), p. 210—11, 218-20. O n the timing and
itar de M onte G audio”, Compostellanum, 28 (1983), p. aims o f the King’s patronage, see James D ’Emilio, “T he
373-97; Barton, The Aristocracy, p. 158-59, 290. Royal Convent o f Las Huelgas: Dynastic Politics, Religious
Reform and Artistic Change in Medieval Castile”, in Stud­
9. T he founders o f Sobrado acknowledge the Kings sup­
ies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, voi. V!. ed. Meredith P.
port and allude to the earlier gift in the foundation charter,
Lillich (in press).
published in Portela Silva, La Colonización cisterciense, p.
154-55. For the royal gift o f 1151 to C o u n t Alvaro 13. For the affiliation o f Carracedo, see Statuta Capitulo­
Rodríguez, see ibid., p. 157; the privilege Meira received rum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis ab Anno I TI 6 ad Annum
from King Alfonso VII in 1154 is in Manrique, Cistercicn- 1786. ed.Joseph-Marie Canivez, 8 vols (Leuven, 1933-41),
sium ... annalium, I. p.456. 10 I, p. 256 (1200: 41), p. 267 (1201: 21); Cartulario de Santa
Maria de Carracedo 992—¡500, ed. Martin Martinez Martinez,
10. For M ontederramo, Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cister­
vol. I, 992-1274 (Ponferrada, 1997), p. 148-54.
ciense, I, p. 189.

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 315
 for other Galician monasteries.14 Cistercian document of 1275, for example, describes a dis­
monasteries typically occupied the jurisdictional pute between Sobrado and the villagers of
wastelands near diocesan boundaries, and ini­ Cambás over the monks’ insistence that villagers
tially, most steered clear of the conflicts that had receive the sacraments and pay tithes and
pitted older monasteries against Galician sees as parochial dues at the new church the monks
a territorial episcopate consolidated its author­ had constructed.18 In a more ambitious venture
ity in the wake of the eleventh-century reforms. to populate the rugged mountains of north­
In fact, there is some evidence that the Cister­ eastern Galicia, Abbot Heymericus o f Meira
cians nurtured a broader movement o f monas­ issued eleven charters to groups o f settlers
tic reform, mediating conflicts for other between 1238 and 1262.19
communities and encouraging an aristocratic Early charters demonstrate that the monastic
piety that found expression in the success of the scriptoria pioneered the use o f the caroline
military Orders as well.15 script at a time when local parish priests and
The Cistercians entered fully into the reli­ village scribes still clung to the visigothic script.
gious life o f the Galician countryside, adapting That a knight would seek a liturgical book for
to entrenched traditions and introducing new a parish church in return for an estate he gave
ways. In a region where the proprietary church to Sobrado offers one tantalizing hint o f broad­
system remained strong, gifts to the Cistercians er patterns of activity.20 Through the foreign
included numerous parish churches and rights monks who dominated the early abbeys and the
o f patronage.16 The monks accepted these descendants of Muslim slaves who served them
arrangements, leasing shares of churches to lay­ as artisans and bailiffs, the Cistercian commu­
men and reaching agreements with them over nities brought a range o f new cultural practices
the appointment o f clerics.1' In other instances, to the Galician countryside.21
they founded churches that competed with Buildings, however, were the most visible —
existing parishes for tithes and burial rights. A and enduring — monuments o f the Cistercian

14. A private gift to Abbot Egidius and Sobrado, w ritten patrim onio de Osera: derechos sobre iglesias rurales
at Tui by Abbot Giraldus o f Melón, records the legate’s pres­ (1155—1306)”, in Actas. Congreso Internacional sobre San
ence: Tumbos del Monasterio de Sobrado, il, p. 80. Sobrado and Bernardo e o Cister, I, p. 167-88.
Meira received papal privileges in 1147 and 1161 respec­
tively: A HN, Clero, carp. 526, no. 14; carp. 1126, no. 10. 17. E.g.. a lease o f 1224 by Sobrado: Madrid. AHN. Clero,
carp. 538, no. 20.
The ancient monastery o f Samos won its first papal privi­
lege in 1175: A HN, Clero, carp. 1240, no. 15. For discus­ 18. Madrid, AHN, Clero, carp. 543, no. 16.
sion and a valuable list o f papal privileges given to Leonese
churches (1083-1210), see Richard Fletcher, "Las Iglesias 19. Emilio Sáez Sánchez, “Cartas de población del monas­
del reino de León y sus relaciones con Rom a en la alta edad terio de M eira”, Anuario de historia del derecho español, 14
media hasta el concilio IV de Letran de 1215”, in El Reino (1942-43), p. 500-19: Justiniano Rodríguez Fernández,
de León en la Alta Edad Media, voi. vi (León, 1994). p. 461—95 “ Grupo forai de Meira (Lugo)”, Archivos leoneses, 32 (1978),
(p. 476-80). p. 65-79.

15. Abbot Vitalis o f Meira witnessed an agreement over 20. “pro uno libro breuiario de totius anni circulo obti-
the distribution o f income between the Abbot and monks mo apreciatum in solidos .c. et perm anet in ecclesia Sancti
o f Samos in 1167: El Tumbo de San Julián de Samos (siglos lacobi de Karrazeda”: Madrid. AHN, Clero, carp. 530, no.
vnt—Xlt), ed. Manuel Lucas Alvarez (Santiago de Compostela. 8 (28.9.1177). “ Frater Pelagius magister de scriuania” was a
1986), p. 149-52. For the O rder o f Calatrava and the ties witness to an undated document (ca. 1229-33) o f Sobrado,
between the Cistercians and lesser military orders, see Joseph and "Frater Iohannes magister scriptorii" witnessed a doc­
F. O ’Callaghan, “T he Affiliation o f the O rder o f Calatrava um ent in 1225: Tumbos del Monasterio de Sobrado. I, p. 363;
with the Order o f Citeaux” , Analecta Cisterciensia, 15 (1959), II, p. 180.These references roughly coincide with the begin­
p. 161-93:16 (1960), p. 3-59, 255-92; Alan Forey, The Mil­ ning o f the compilation o f the cartulary at Sobrado.
itary Orders from the Twelfth to the Early Fourteenth Century 21. T he names o f early abbots — Egidius, Herbertus,
(Toronto, 1992). p. 170-73. with additional bibliography, p. Bernardus, and Henricus o f Sobrado; Vitalis, Nicholaus.
252-63. and Albertus o f Meira; Giraldus o f M elón — and other
16. For the proprietary church system in Galicia, see prominent monks indicate their foreign origins, particular­
James D ’Emilio, “ Los D ocum entos medievales com o ly in the 12th century. A list o f Muslim slaves acquired by
fuentes para el estudio de las parroquias e iglesias gallegas: Sobrado in the third quarter o f the 12th century includes
el distrito de M onte de Meda (Lugo)”, Cuadernos de estu­ many craftsmen, and in 1207 the villagers o f Aguada asked
dios gallegos. 43.108 (1996), p. 37-95 (p. 68-79). For the monks o f Oseira never to appoint a Saracen bailiff (maiori-
rights Oseira acquired over parish churches, see Maria de nus sarracenas) over them: Tumbos del Monasterio de Sobrado,
las Nieves Peiró Graner and María José Portela Silva, “El il, p. 129-31;Pórtela Silva. La Colonización cisterciense, p. 109.

316 JAMES D ’EMILIO

presence.22 From the third quarter of the twelfth dom of León and Santiago de Compostela held
century through the middle o f the thirteenth, a privileged position in that realm.26 N onethe­
large churches and extensive dependencies rose less, many rural craftsmen adhered to artistic
on a scale seldom seen in Galicia. Despite vocabularies drawn from early-twelfth-centu-
baroque reconstructions and losses resulting ry work at Santiago cathedral, sometimes medi­
from the secularization o f the nineteenth cen­ ated by the m id-century projects at the
tury, the early churches of Meira, Oseira, Oia, cathedrals o f Tui and Lugo. Boldly carved fig­
and Armenteira stand nearly intact, and the ures and foliage lent a rich plasticity to the cor­
choir of Melón is well preserved. In addition, bels o f the eaves and the capitals o f portals,
Xunqueira de Espadañedo and San Clodio offer shafted windows, and chancel arches. Well-
more traditional buildings constructed after affil­ rounded mouldings on bases and arches, billet­
iations with Galician abbeys. Finally, continu­ ed string courses and hood arches, the foliate
ing investigations have yielded modest remains sprays of imposts, and, less commonly, carved
o f the medieval churches at Sobrado, M onted- reliefs on tympana and metopes completed the
erramo, and Monfero and contributed to plau­ decoration o f these churches.
sible reconstructions o f their plans.22 Alongside the well-established traditions of
These projects had a pervasive effect on the Compostela and the Hispano-Languedocian
surrounding countryside, but no simple notion “school” to which it belonged, new artistic
of artistic influence does justice to the diversi­ vocabularies arrived in Galicia in the last third
ty and complexity of the dynamic exchanges o f the twelfth century. The completion o f San­
between the abbeys and rural churches.24 The tiago cathedral, the decoration o f its west porch
Cistercian buildings dwarfed most Galician and stone choir, and the building o f Ourense
churches. Consequently, builders o f typical cathedral introduced an architectural and sculp­
Galician parish churches with single-cell, wood- tural repertory that reflected current develop­
roofed naves and small vaulted chancels could ments in Burgundy and the Ile-de-France. This
hardlv embrace the architectural innovations
J
style, commonly associated with Master Mateo
introduced by the Cistercians. Middle-sized o f Compostela, included use o f rib vaults and
monastic buildings did offer some scope for such column statues, as well as capitals cloaked with
features. The rib-vaulted crossings at the lush acanthus and delicately carved figures,
monastery o f Breamo and the church o f the arched corbel tables profusely ornamented with
military Order o f Santiago at Vilar de Donas carved metopes and decorated soffits, saucer­
have been plausibly understood as reflections of shaped mouldings on bases, plinths with sunken
the crossing at Meira, but these are exception­ arcades, and a liberal display o f cusping. The
al cases.2"1Most often, it is in the spare decora­ characteristic acanthus leaves with drilled
tion o f Galician churches that responses to the grooves, beaded ribs, and deeply carved lobes
Cistercians can most profitably be considered. with frilled or spiked edges were quickly adapt­
Church construction increased sharply in ed for corbel tables, arches, imposts, and string
rural Galicia in the last third of the twelfth cen­ courses.
tury and the first quarter o f the next when the Cistercian builders shared a basic vocabulary
region formed part o f an independent king­ o f architectural elements and mouldings with

22. For Cistercian architecture in Galicia, see Valle Pérez. the 4th International Conference on Galician Studies, University
La Arquitectura cistcrciense; Arte de Cister ein Portugal e Cal­ of Oxford, 26 -2 8 September 1994. vol. U, Literature & Histo­
iza /Arte del Cístcr en Galicia y Portugal, ed. Jorge Rodrigues ry (Oxford. 1997). p. 547-72.
and Xosé Carlos Valle Pérez (Lisbon/La Coruña, 1998).
25. Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense, i, p. 173, 184,
23. For reconstruction o f the so-called Bernardine plan n. 226.
o f Clairvaux II at Sobrado, see Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura
26. For the Rom anesque churches o f Galicia and recent
cisterciense, i, p. 66—71; for Montederramo, see id., “Sobre
bibliography, see Ram ón Yzquierdo Perrin, Arte Medieval
los restos aparecidos recientemente en la iglesia de M ont­
(I). voi. x o f Galicia. Arte, ed. Francisco Rodríguez Iglesias
ederramo (Ourense)”, in Actas del II Coloquio Galaico-Min-
(La Coruña, 1995);R. Yzquierdo Perrín and Carmen Manso
hoto, Santiago de Compostela, 14-16 abril de 1984, 2 vols
Porto, Arte Medieval (2), vol. XI o f Galicia. Arte, ed. Rodríguez
(Santiago de Compostela, 1985), ii. p. 169-78.
Iglesias (La Coruña, 1995); El arte románico en Galicia y Por­
24. James D'Emilio, “T he Rom anesque Churches o f tugal/A arte románica em Portugal e Galiza, ed. Xosé Carlos
Galicia: T he Making o f a Provincial Art”, in Proceedings of Valle Pérez and Jorge Rodrigues (La Coruña, 2001).

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 317
 the Matean craftsmen, due to their own famil­ ed abbeys o f Sobrado and Meira in the north,
iarity with contemporary work in Burgundy and M elón and Oseira in the south. Each was
and the Ile-de-France, but they chose sculp­ established near diocesan boundaries, and in
tural forms more suited to their austerely dec­ each pair o f monasteries, the surviving archi­
orated buildings. Corbels repeated simple prows, tecture and decoration reveals the close col­
superposed planes, and geometric motifs. Some laboration o f their builders. The choir at
capitals lacked sculpture entirely or limited it to M elón has com m only been regarded as a
plain leaves that barely broke the profile o f the reduced version o f that at Oseira, and the two
basket. Interlacing ribbons and foliate sprays churches share distinctive foliate capitals and
accented other capitals, imposts, or hood arch­ ornam ent.27 At Sobrado, few traces remain of
es. Easily reproduced, such forms were adopt­ a church that adopted the Bernardine plan
ed throughout the Galician countryside, and and likely kept sculptural ornam ent to a min­
the taste they represented led rural craftsmen to imum. W hether there were connections with
rethink their approach to long-established prac­ the varied foliate capitals o f the earliest work
tices. in the eastern chapels at Meira can only be
Specific connections betw een Cistercian conjectured. O n several pieces at Sobrado,
abbeys and rural churches were determined, however, including some from the chapter-
partly, by the place o f individual abbeys in the house, the ribbons, pelleted stems, and sim­
artistic geography o f the region. M onteder- ple leaves tipped with balls and buds o f
ramo, Oia, and Armenteira made relatively various types resemble the decoration o f cap­
small contributions to local architecture, for itals o f the nave and portals in the second
each was geographically marginal. M onteder- campaign at Meira (Figs 2, 3). By the end of
ramo stood isolated in the mountains o f south­ the twelfth century, the two projects shared a
eastern Galicia. Oia faced the Atlantic, penned repertory o f ornam ent that would also be
between the ocean and thinly populated hills. employed in the remodelling o f the chapter-
Beyond them, the nearby cathedral o f Tui had house o f the newly affiliated house at Car-
furnished training and inspiration for builders racedo in the neighbouring region o f the
o f numerous village churches before the Cis­ Bierzo.28
tercians arrived. Its vigorously carved capitals In the large and sparsely settled parishes sur­
and abundant variety o f human and animal rounding Meira and Sobrado, there is little evi­
figures posed the stiffest challenge to the Cis­ dence of earlier Romanesque building, and in
tercian aesthetic. For its part, Armenteira had some districts the prevalence o f slate and schist
the smallest o f the churches o f the direct affil­ discouraged ashlar construction or sculptural
iates o f Clairvaux; its impact was also con­ decoration. W ith little competition from other
strained by its place on a peninsula in a district traditions, it is not surprising that several near­
o f the archdiocese of Santiago where crafts­ by churches offer relatively straightforward artis­
men familiar w ith the cathedral had been tic connections with the abbeys. The portal
active for a generation. An assessment o f capitals at Valonga, for example, match pieces
responses to these buildings is further compli­ at Meira, and, in the vicinity o f Sobrado, clus­
cated by the nearly complete rejection o f ters o f churches within twelve kilometres o f the
sculpture at Oia, the limited scale and deco­ abbey present variations on capitals with pal-
ration o f the church at Armenteira, and the mettes hanging from beaded stems that are
loss o f the medieval buildings at M onteder- interlaced, clasped, or knotted together (Figs 2,
ramo. 4).29 Such capitals recur at Veris, just nine kilo­
The most com plex and fruitful artistic metres south o f Monfero, a monastery which
exchanges involved the more centrally locat­ was affiliated to Sobrado at the beginning of

27. This view o f the relationship between Melón and o f the Monastery o f Carracedo”, in Studies in Cistercian Art
Oseira, proposed by Leopoldo Torres Baibas, is best laid out and Architecture, vol. V, ed. Meredith P. Lillich (Kalamazoo.
in Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense, I, p.210—12, 218-22. 1998), p. 159-85 (p. 173-78).
226-29.
29. These include the churches o f Dorm eá, Os Anxeles,
28. For the ties between Sobrado and the Cariacedo chap­ Cardie. Silvela, Rocha, and Anafreita.
terhouse, see José Carlos Valle Pérez, "T he Chapterhouse

318 JAMES D ’EMI LI O

Figure 2. Sau Pedro da Porra, capirai from Sobrado dos M anx­
es. (author)

Figure 3. Sla. Maria de Meira, south arcade o f nane, capital,

(author)

Figure 4. Sta. María de Silueta, chancel arch, north capital, Figure 5. San Antón de Mantaras, west portal, capitals, (author)
(author)

the thirteenth century.30 The medieval build­ hallmark capitals o f the eastern chapels at Meira
ings at Monfero were almost wholly replaced (Fig. 6): a piece o f northern French ancestry
in the baroque period, but the capitals at Veris with paired palmettes and clasped stems
are a clue to the role of craftsmen from Sobra­ (Fig. 7).31
do or Meira at the nearby site. Their work at Further away, displacement of craftsmen from
Monfero likely explains the lingering echo on the abbeys was more purposeful. Near the end
the doorway of the fourteenth-century chapel o f the twelfth century, Gutierre Rodríguez de
of San Antón de Mántaras (Fig. 5) of one of the Castro and his wife, Countess Elvira Osóriz,

30. For the affiliation o f Monfero, Manrique gave a date o f rio r de Arquitectura de A C oruña, Arquitectura Gótica en
1201, and the monastery’s earliest mention in the General Galicia. Los Templos: catálogo gráfico (Santiago de C o m ­
Chapters was in 1207: Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense, 1, postela, 1986). p. 122. Related work o f the second quar­
p. 84, n. 68. More recently. José Luis López Sangil, “Un prob­ ter o f the 12th century appears in the Ile-de-France in
lema resuelto: La Fundación del Monasterio de Santa Maria Saint-Lucien at Bury, Saint Pierre-Saint Paul at Villers-
de Monfero, los privilegios de Alfonso VII y su filiación al Saint-Paul, and related buildings: Maryse Bideault and
Cister”. Estudios Mindonienses, 13 (1997), p. 621—83. Claudine Lautier, Ile-de-France Gothique, vol. I. Les Églises
de la vallée de l'Oise et du Beaumsis (Paris, 1987). p. 110—26,
31. For San A ntón, see D epartam ento de R e p re ­
395-402.
sentación y Teoría Arquitectónicas, Escuela Técnica Supe­

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 319
 Figure 6. Sta. Marla de Mcira, eastern chapel, north transept,
capital, (author)

south arcade o f nave, capital, (author)

Figure 8. San Pedro Fis de Hospital de Indo, south side o f Figure 9. Sta. Maria de Meira, south portal, tympanum, (author)
apse, capital, (author)

gave the monastery o f San Fiz de Incio and splendid temple was evidently under construc­
other estates to the Hospitallers.32 This impor­ tion or contemplated, for the sanction imposed
tant grant specified that the Hospitallers’ pos­ a penalty o f two hundred gold pieces, ear­
sessions throughout Lemos, between the Lor marked for the works, if the Hospitallers
and Miño rivers, should be part o f one com- baulked at the agreement.33
mandery with Incio. The donors arranged to Incio lies more than sixty kilometres south of
be buried at the church and obliged the Hos­ Meira, but the scale and importance of the pro­
pitallers to maintain three priests there. A more ject demanded craftsmen trained at a major site.34*

32. Libro de Privilegios de la Orden de San Juan deJerusalén 33. “si fratres istud implere noluerint, parentes nostri
en Castilla y León (siglos xn—xy), ed. Carlos de Ayala Martínez habeant potestatem constringendi eos et pugniantur penam
(Madrid, 1995), p. 412—13. In the 15!h-century cartulary, ducentorum aureorum qui mittantur in opere ecclesie Santi
the charter is dated 1210 in the Spanish Era (1172 a d ) . Part Felicis de Unitio.”
o f the date is missing, since the presence o f C ount Gómez
and the naming o f King Alfonso o f León place it between 34. For a preliminary discussion o f the artistic links among
1188 and 1209 AD. Gutierre Rodríguez disappeared from Meira. Incio. Sarria, and local churches, see James D ’Emilio,
Leonese royal documents after 1194. making an earlier date “Rom anesque Architectural Sculpture in the Diocese o f
most likely, though the simplest am endment would change Lugo, East of the M iño” (unpublished doctoral thesis, Cour-
Era M C C X to Era M CCX L (1202 a d ) with a tittle. tauld Institute o f Art. University o f London, 1988), p.
291-331.

320 JAMES D ’EMILIO

 Figure 11. San Salvador de Sarria, north portal, tympanum,
(author)

withheld it from the austerely decorated abbey.j5

Its appearance on the hood arch and jambs of
the portal of Santa Mariña de Sarria confirms
the source, for Sarria had independent connec­
Figure 10. San Pedro Fiz de Hospital de Inch, apse, south­ tions with Meira, as evidenced by the Gothic
east respond capital, (author) church of San Salvador de Sarria.36 On the north
tympanum (Fig. 11), a crowned man in clerical
vestments stands between two candelabra derived
The role of craftsmen from Meira explains the from those at Meira. The distant work would
massive stepped buttresses. In addition, they repro­ hardly have inspired a sculptor in Sarria more
duced the capital with palmettes and clasped stems than a century later. Instead, he surely relied upon
from the eastern chapels at Meira (Figs 6, 8), trans­ a local version of the design, carved when rela­
ferred the candelabra of the south tympanum (Fig. tions between the counts of Sarria and Meira
9) to a capital (Fig. 10), and carved two respond were close in the late twelfth century.
capitals, loosely based on a type in the nave, with The founders o f Meira and their son, Count
grooved or pelleted ribbons and balls. A local Rodrigo Alvarez, held the county during the
workforce simplified the palmette and ribbon cap­ third quarter of the twelfth century.37 Count
itals at Incio and copied these versions at Samos, Rodrigo left León in 1173 and established the
Castro de Rei de Lemos, Cervela, and Friolfe. Order o f M ountjoy in 1175. The county or
More intriguing is the choice of chevron to tenancy o f Sarria was seldom listed in royal
hood the arch and line the jambs o f the west charters between 1181 and 1187, and only
portal at Incio. Chevron was rare in Galicia and occasionally assigned to Count Rodrigo s broth­
it seems plausible to credit its use at Incio to the er, Vermudo Alvarez, before his death in 1187.38*
foreign builders from Meira, even though they W ith the death o f Countess Sancha Fernández

35. An isolated use o f chevron at Bembibre — a church "Pórtico de Santa Marina de Sarria". Boletín de la Real Acad­
with an inscription o f 1191 — may indicate knowledge o f emia Gallega, 1 (1906). p. 188.
the work at Sarria or Incio, offering a clue to its date:
D ’Emilio, “Rom anesque Architectural Sculpture”, p. 37. Count Alvaro Rodríguez died between November 1166
208—16; id., “T he Rom anesque Churches”, p. 563. Else­ and 20 January 1167. Rodrigo Alvarez was titled Count o f Sar­
where in Iberia, wide use o f chevron among the Cister­ ria on 15 July 1167: Barton, The Aristocracy, p. 230, 290; Julio
cians (c.g., M oreruela, H uerta, San Andrés de Arroyo, González. Regesta de Fernando II (Madrid, 1943), p. 392-95.
Valdedios, and Gradefes), particularly in claustral depen­ 38. Vermudo Alvarez was described as “dominans in Sar­
dencies, led to its adoption in local churches. ria” in a royal charter o f 1181 and “tenente Sarria” in a pri­
36. Santa Marina was reconstructed between 1883 and vate docum ent o f 1187: José Luis M artín. Orígenes de la
1885. but descriptions and drawings record the chevron: Orden Militar de Santiago (1 1 7 0 -1195) (Barcelona, 1974), p.
Antonio López Ferreiro, Lecciones de arqueología sagrada (San­ 309—10; AHN. Clero, carp. 1325G, no. 24. He held Limia
tiago de Compostela, 1894), p. 68, 70; Angel del Castillo, (1185-87) and served as royal m ajordom o (1186-87):
González, Fernando II, p. 501, 504—15.

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches o f Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 321
 and the extinction o f the male line o f the given to Meira in 1175, and she surrendered
Counts o f Sarria in the 1180s, the county was her own shares in 1182.44*
eclipsed by other tenancies and passed to vari­ By choosing the Hospitallers as guardians of
ous nobles.39 Initially, Meira suffered as well: in their tombs, Gutierre Rodríguez and Count­
1184, King Ferdinand II responded to the ess Elvira were following their families’ well-
depredations of the local nobility by confirm­ established tradition o f patronage.43 In 1183,
ing the immunities and reserve of the abbey.40 the couple themselves had made a pact with the
Among the signatories o f the royal privilege Order, receiving two Leonese houses and seek­
was Gutierre Rodriguez de Castro, titled, sig­ ing burial in one o f their cemeteries.46 Their
nificantly, as “dominans in M onte Nigro et choice also mirrored a larger pattern, as Gali­
Sarra et Lemos” . He was only named as tenant cian nobles turned towards the military Orders
o f Sarria in two other royal diplomas, and he in the 1170s and 1180s. In 1178, Countess San­
occasionally appeared as tenant of neighbour­ cha Fernández, founder o f Meira, had pledged
ing Lemos (1182-85, 1194) where his descen­ to be buried in a Hospitallers’ house, and
dants held sway in the thirteenth century.41 Countess Fronilde Fernández, a longstanding
Gutierre Rodriguez consolidated his power in patron o f the Cistercians, made a gift to the
the district by acquiring properties once held Hospitallers as well.47
by the family o f the former counts, continuing The career o f C ount Gómez González de
their religious patronage, and, finally, setting up Traba, the leading nobleman in Galicia at the
his family pantheon at Indo.42 In fact, when end o f the century, typifies the close relations
Countess Sancha Fernández and her sons ceded among the Cistercians, military Orders, and
an estate in Lemos to Gutierre Rodriguez and Galician nobility.48 The count accumulated ten­
Countess Elvira in 1181, shortly before her ancies in the region, including the county of
death, she stipulated that he should be like a Sarria, in the 1180s and 1190s. In 1184, he fol­
good son to her and a brother to her sons.43 lowed the example o f his sister, Urraca
Gutierre Rodríguez made a gift to Meira in González, and her husband. C ount Froila
1186, and Countess Elvira, who had important Ramirez, with a large donation to the Hospi­
holdings in the district, joined in this patron­ tallers.49 He added gifts to Meira and Sobrado,
age: her family’s nunnery at Pantón had been mediated an agreement between Sobrado and

39. T he last known reference to the Countess is in 1181: ca del Monasterio de Santa María de Ferreira de Pantón, ed. José
Barton, The Aristocracy, p . 230, n. 3. For subsequent tenants Ignacio Fernández de Viana y Vieites (Lugo, 1994). p.25—26;
o f Sarria, see González, Alfonso IX, I, p . 358. AHN, Códices, 114B, foI.335r.
40. T he docum ent is published in González, Fernando II, 45. Carlos Barquero Goñi. “Los Hospitalarios y la nobleza
p. 325-27. castellano-leonesa (siglos x ii-x n i)”. Historia, Instituciones,
Documentos, 21 (1994). p. 13-40 (p. 23-28).
41. He was tenant o f Sarria in 1183 and January 1184:
Ibid., p. 323-25. 487, 493—94; for his tenancy o f Lemos, see 46. It is published in Santos García Larragueta, "La Orden
ibid., p. 188. 484-96, 500-01; González, Alfonso IX. I. p. de Sanjuan en la crisis del imperio hispánico del siglo xn”,
353-54; it, p. 131-32; Libro de Privilegios de la Orden de San Hispania, 12 (1952), p. 483-524 (p. 522-24).
Juan, p. 363-64: on his career and that o f his son, Fernán
Gutiérrez, and grandsons, Andrés and Esteban Fernández, 47. Countess Sancha: Libro de Privilegios de la Orden de San
Juan, p. 306-07. Countess Fronildes gift was confirmed by
see Eduardo Pardo de Guevara y Valdés, Los Señores de Cali­
her daughter in 1190: Carlos Barquero Goñi, “Los Hospi­
da: Tenentes y condes de Lentos en la edad media, 2 vols (La
Coruña. 2000), I. p. 96-122. talarios en el reino de León (siglos x a y xm)” , in El Reino
de León en la Alta Edad Media, vol. IX (León, 1997), p .
42. For his acquisition o f properties once held by C ount 219-634 (p. 560-61).
R odrigo Alvarez, see El Tumbo de San lidian de Samos, p.
428-29. 48. He held Sarria from 1189 to 1190 and 1192 to 1200:
Barton, The Aristocracy, p.254-55.
43. “Do uobis pro tali condicione que a mihi et ad filios
49. For the gifts o f C ount Froila Ramirez and Urraca
meos sedeatis quomodo bono filio a bona madre et a meos
filios quom odo bonos germanos per bona fide” : A H N , González in 1182, see Barquero Goñi, ‘Los Hospitalarios
Clero, carp. 1127, no. 14. en el reino de León', p. 550-52. C ount Froila made anoth­
er gift in 1184: AHN, Ordenes Militares/San Juan Castilla,
44. For the gift to Meira, see A H N , Codices, 114B carp. 574, no. 15. T he date o f the gift o f C ount Gómez may
(Tumbo de Meira), fol. 42r. For the cession o f Pantón, be read as 1184 or 1187: AHN, Ordenes Militares/San Juan
repeated with her daughter in 1197, see Colección Diplomáti- Castilla, legajo 89, no. 194.

322 JAMES D ’EMILIO

 ket and remain unadorned. These typically
Cistercian capitals confirm the debt to Meira
where such pieces were introduced at the east
end and dominated the nave.
Though popular elsewhere in Europe,
addorsed bicorporate lions are rare enough in
Galicia to warrant attributing their isolated
appearance at Incio and Sarria, like that of
chevron, to the foreign craftsmen o f Meira. A
local source may have encouraged adoption of
the motif: bicorporate lions were carved at San
Martin de Mondoñedo, an ancient monastery
Figure 12. San Salvador de Vilar de Sarria, chancel arch, sonili and the seat of the diocese o f Mondoñedo until
respond capital, (author) the twelfth century.32 Craftsmen from Meira
certainly had ties with Mondoñedo: the char­
acteristic palmette capitals o f the abbey were
the Hospitallers in 1186, and may have been reproduced in the new cathedral begun in the
instrumental in his sister’s settlement of a con­ early thirteenth century. It is possible, howev­
flict with Meira in 1189.30 er, that earlier ties between M ondoñedo and
If a web o f noble patronage brought crafts­ Incio suggested the use of the bicorporate lions.
men from Meira to Sarria and Incio in the The sculptors o f San Martín de M ondoñedo
last quarter of the twelfth century, the artis­ worked at the beginning o f the twelfth centu­
tic bonds that linked Meira, Sarria, the Hos­ ry when widely scattered projects in Galicia
pitallers’ church at Incio, and surrounding depended on itinerant craftsmen. They con­
churches cast light on how the Cistercians tributed to the decoration o f the church o f
reshaped local artistic traditions, and how Rebordáns in Tui, and the style o f a relief of
local craftsmen responded to their work. the crucifixion unearthed at Incio itself hints at
Addorsed bicorporate lions, for example, dec­ their participation in an earlier project there.33
orate two capitals at Incio and one on the The legacy o f their work in the district may
chancel arch o f San Salvador de Vilar de Sar­ well have supplied immediate models for the
ria (Fig. 12).51 The latter bears a broad rec­ bicorporate lions carved at Incio and Vilar de
tangular abacus with geometric decoration, Sarria two generations later, and their associa­
like several early capitals at Meira (Fig. 6). Fur­ tion with the most venerable monastic tradi­
ther, two capitals at Vilar de Sarria exhibit tions of Galicia would have recommended their
tall, superposed leaves that cling to the bas- acceptance.5354

50. “Comes dompnus G om et [. . .] hoc factum multum 54. T he Cistercians identified w ith the early medieval
laudauic et etiam iussit fieri propter pacem et concordiam eremitic traditions o f Galicia and Portugal: M aur C ocher­
utriusque ordinis” : Tumbos del Monasterio de Sobrado, r. p. il, “Le M onachism e hispanique des origines au XIIe siè­
245-46; the settlement between Urraca González and Meira cle” , in Etudes sur le monachisme en Espagne et au Portugal
is published in Barton. The Aristocracy, p.329-30. (Paris, 1966), p. 13—156 (p. 152-56); José M attoso,
“Eremitas portugueses no século x ii”, Lusitania Sacra. 9
51. The m otif recurred at Friolfe and Bande, and it per­
(1972), p. 1—40. Artistically, the abbeys adm itted some
sisted in Sarria, reappearing on the Gothic portal o f San Sal­
motifs, like discs w ith curved radii, com m on in the pre-
vador de Sarria alongside the tympanum derived from Meira.
Christian art o f Galicia: Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cister­
52. For San Martín de Mondoñedo, see Manuel Anto­ ciense, l, p. 134, n. 99, 111; II, pi. 134, 189, 333. It is
nio Castiñeiras González. “La actividad artística en la antigua notew orthy that the Abbots o f Oseira and Sobrado met
provincia de M ondoñedo: del preromànico al románico”, in 1179 at the latter’s grange at Temes (Tumbos del Monas­
Estudios Mindonicnscs, 15 (1999), p. 287—342. terio de Sobrado, II, p. 90-91), w here a church rebuilt in
the 9th century has preserved the carved lid o f an early
53. For San Bartolomé de Rebordáns and its links with Christian sarcophagus and significant sculpture o f the Late
M ondoñedo, see Isidro Gonzalo Bango Torviso, Arquitec­ A ntique period: H elm ut Schlunk, “ Los M onum entos
tura románica en Pontevedra (La Coruña, 1979), p. 232—35. paleocristianos de ‘G allaecia’, especialm ente los de la
For the relief from Incio, see D ’Emilio, “ Rom anesque provincia de Lugo” , in Actas del Coloquio Internacional sobre
Architectural Sculpture” , p. 95. 309. pi. 25. T he monastery el Bimilenario de Lugo (Lugo, 1977), p. 193-236 (p. 194—96,
at Incio had existed before 1003: El Tumbo de San Julian de 213-18).
Santos, p. 254—55.

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 323
 Figure 13. Sta. María de Ferreira de Pautou, south side o f apse, Figure 14. San Pedro Fis de Hospital de lucio, inner chancel
capital, (author) arch, north respond capital, (author)

This is necessarily speculative, but these crafts­ worked with those from Meira at Incio and Sar­
men did look critically at the contemporary ria. Among these smaller churches, those of
decoration o f churches in the Compostelan tra­ Friolfe and Cervela make ample use of tradi­
dition. The apse o f the nunnery o f Ferreira de tional billeted ornament on hood arches. Bil­
Pantón is one of the most lavishly carved mon­ leting was almost invisible at Incio, but its
uments of that tradition in Galicia.33 It was built discreet appearance on a plinth and two corbels
between 1158 and 1175 under the patronage demonstrates that craftsmen there could carve
o f Countess Fronilde Fernández who gave the the m otif with precision. In fact, its occurrence
nunnery to Meira in 1175.5556*Plans for a cross­ in such unorthodox settings highlights, by con­
ing tower were abandoned and the spare, sin­ trast, its absence from the expected places, sure­
gle-cell nave and simple west doorway must ly a result o f the careful scrutiny o f local artistic
have followed the acceptance o f Cistercian practices by the craftsmen from Meira who
norms. Countess Elvira Osóriz was one o f the oversaw the project.
lay proprietors of the convent, so it is no sur­ The example of Hospital de Incio is a telling
prise that the builders of her church at Incio one because it shows how patronage and the
reproduced the design of a capital used at Pan­ demands o f a large-scale project led foreign
tón (Fig. 13). Nonetheless, the craftsmen at craftsmen from Cistercian abbeys to travel con­
Incio bowed to Cistercian taste, devising a more siderable distances to execute and direct impor­
sober version of the capital with volutes pegged tant projects and share a new repertory o f
to the leaves below (Fig. 14).The unruly, sprawl­ decoration. The contribution of the Cistercians
ing leaves were tamed, and the undercutting went beyond the repetition of this or that motif
was reduced; the surface decoration of the leaves in local churches. At Incio, new forms like
was scrubbed clean, and their thick clasps chevron made their debut, older ones like the
thinned to threadlike strands. bicorporate lions were revived, and familiar ones
The pegged volute capital reappeared in sur­ like billets were deliberately excluded. Local
rounding churches with other pieces that craftsmen, in turn, transformed new motifs and
reflected the experiences of local craftsmen who tailored their own vocabularies to the instruc-

55. D ’Emilio, "Romanesque Architectural Sculpture”, p. 56. Countess Fronilde was widowed in 1158 (Barton, The
103-10; Ramón Yzquierdo Perrin. "La Iglesia del monasterio Aristocracy, p. 297), and a 17‘h-century historian recorded
cisterciense de Ferreira de Pantón”, in Actas. Congreso Interna­ her construction o f the convent in that year ("San Salvador
cional sobre San Bernardo e o Cister, II, p. 859-75. This will be de Ferreyra, fabrica de la Condesa doña Froyla Fernández
treated in more detail in a forthcoming study:James D'Emilio, por la Era de 1196" (1158 AO)): Antonio de Yepes, Crónica
"Widows and Communities: The Cistercian Nunneries of León general de la Orden de San Benito ¡. . .], 7 vols (Valladolid,
and their Architecture (1150-1250)”, in Studies in CistercianArt '1609-21). vu, p. 328.
and Architecture, voi. VII. ed. Meredith P. Lillich (forthcoming).

324 JAMES D ’EMILIO

Figure 15. Sta. María de Melón, east chapel o f ambulatory, Figure 16. San Vicente de Pombeiro, central apse, capital, (author)
chancel arch capital, (author)

tions o f the craftsmen from Meira. A degree of ly indebted to the abbey for its architectural
uncertainty must surround these examples, for ornament, but the proximity o f the site
we are looking beyond clear — and simple — accounts for this.57 More ambitious churches at
chains o f transmission o f individual motifs to Cameixa and Aguada owe their ties to Oseira
catch glimpses of the discussions and decisions to their status as nuclei o f the monastery’s
provoked by the new artistic vocabularies o f the estates, while the artistic relationships between
Cistercians and their novel approach to archi­ Oseira and the nunnery at Dozón are a sign of
tectural decoration. the tutelage that the monastery exercised over
The complex exchanges that took place at the nuns.58*More often local projects, like that
Incio were more commonplace in central Gali­ at Santo Estebo de Ribas de Miño, assembled
cia where the monasteries of Oseira and Melón craftsmen with diverse backgrounds and stim­
anchored a densely populated district that ulated creative exchanges.39
abounded in parish churches, convents, and Some examples highlight the complexities of
monasteries. Craftsmen familiar with the early the interactions between the abbeys and local
decoration at Santiago had been active here churches. At Melón (Fig. 15) and Oseira, clasped
since the middle of the twelfth century, and, by stems with small, turned leaves trace X patterns
the end o f the century, the rich sculpture of on each face o f a notable capital which recurs
Ourense cathedral enriched their artistic vocab­ in six churches (Fig. 16). These capitals are so
ulary and offered an alternative to Cistercian similar — and so limited in their use — that it
taste. In this environment, those churches that is plausible to attribute them to one itinerant
adhered closely to the artistic repertories o f craftsman.60 The buildings are geographically
Oseira or Melón generally had special connec­ dispersed, and although San Clodio and Xun-
tions with those sites. Eight kilometres from queira de Espadañedo were eventually affiliat­
Oseira, the church o f Asperelo is almost whol­ ed with the Cistercians, no simple pattern of

57. An inscription dates the start o f construction to 1225, Pérez, La Iglesia del monasterio de San Pedro de Vilanova de
but it is misleading to use the late date o f a m inor building, Dozón (Lalin, 1983).
so near to Oseira, to delay the date o f work at Oseira itself:
Bango Torviso, Arquitectura románica en Pontevedra, p. 100-02: 59. James D ’Emilio, “W orking Practices and the Lan­
Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense, I, p. 147-48, n. 433. guage o f Architectural Decoration in Rom anesque Galicia:
Santa Maria de Cam porram iro and its Sources”, Arte
58. Cameixa was a possession o f Oseira by 1155 and a Medievale, 2nd series. 10 (1996), p. 66-90.
grange by 1213; Aguada was a monastic reserve by 1211:
Colección diplomática do mosteiro cisterciense de Sta. Maria de 60. D ’Emilio, “T he Romanesque Churches”, p. 549-51 ;
Oseira (Ourense) (1025-1310), ed. Miguel Rom ani Martínez. José Carlos Valle Pérez, “Los Estudios sobre la implantación
2 vols (Santiago de Compostela, 1989), i, p.33-35, 147-48, de la O rden del Císter en España: El caso de Galicia.
155—56. For Oseira and Dozón, see Bango Torviso. Arqui­ Situación actual y perspectivas”. Museo de Pontevedra, 43
tectura románica en Pontevedra, p. 120-23; José Carlos Valle (1989), p. 129-40 (p. 138-39).

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 325
 Figure 18. Santiago deTaboada, outer chancel arch, north cap-
Figure 17. Sta. María de Oseira, ambulatory, south aisle, cap- ital. (author)
ital. (author)

patronage explains the artistic links. Pombeiro tered a local vocabulary o f forms. It is closely
was a Cluniae monastery, San Xoán de Riba- related to one (Fig. 18) in surrounding church­
davia a Hospitallers’ church, Ramirás a nun­ es that accompanies boldly carved figurai sculp­
nery, and Santa Mariña de Augas Santas a ture derived from the Compostelan tradition.62
pilgrimage site o f local importance. W hat does Evidently, a craftsman who worked in these
unite the six churches is their large scale. Five churches joined the project at Oseira. There, he
have three apses and an aisled nave, an unusu­ responded to the more stringent guidelines for
ally complex design in the Galician countryside. the church’s decoration by providing a stream­
These capitals always appear at the east end, in lined version o f a capital in his own repertory
the earliest part o f the church. They hint at the that was akin to the interlace and foliate capi­
role of a craftsman who supervised middle-sized tals that prevailed there. The full story o f these
buildings requiring skills that only experience dialogues is a rich and complex one that has yet
at a major site could offer. His intervention was to be told: a window decorated with arcading
crucial at the outset o f a project as he assem­ at Melón offers a fleeting glimpse o f the con­
bled a local workforce. Later, he could have tribution o f craftsmen from one o f the most
overseen several projects at once, travelling from diverse sculptural workshops o f central Galicia
one to another. whose hallmark was the eccentric decoration
This capital is only the most conspicuous and lavished upon the arches of portals, windows,
widely copied of several with clasped or inter­ and chancels.63
lacing stems at Oseira. Another (Fig. 17) recurs O ne can hardly conclude w ithout com­
several times in the choir there.61 It attests to menting on the most important concession that
the role of local craftsmen, and like some sculp­ the abbeys at Oseira and Melón are tradition­
ture at Incio, it shows how the Cistercians fil­ ally said to have made to local practice: their

61. Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense, li, pi. 224, 235, 62. There are good examples at Taboada, Maside, Tre-
244, 277. boedo, Ascureses, and Ferreira de Pantón.
63. Valle Pérez, La Arquitectura cisterciense, I, p. 225; II, pi. 693.

326 JAMES D ’EMILIO

choirs offer ambulatories with chapels radiat­ and uncontested relationship with Clairvaux. In
ing from alternate bays. The design is certainly comparison, the overall proportions o f the
unusual in Cistercian churches o f the late church at Oseira seem inflated, and oddly incon­
twelfth century, and it has been attributed to sistent with the fine proportions o f individual
the influence o f Compostela. The reality, how­ elements. The large blank wall above the hémi­
ever, is more complex. After all, the choir at cycle piers is jarring, and the corbelled supports
Compostela had been constructed by the start — often reduced to simple capitals — are awk­
of the twelfth century, yet the ambulatory with wardly mismatched with the vaults.
radiating chapels remained unique in the west­ If one concedes the priority o f the design of
ern kingdoms of Iberia for two generations.64 the choir at Melón, then, recognizing its thor­
Besides, the churches at Melón and Oseira are oughly foreign features, its rigid adherence to
so utterly foreign that one should hesitate before Cistercian norms, and its direct connections
ascribing such a fundamental aspect o f their with Clairvaux, one may ask whether the deci­
design to local practice. sion to construct an ambulatory was not loose­
The problem is only complicated by the gen­ ly based on the choir of Clairvaux III. Here, we
eral assumption that the smaller and sadly muti­ do well to recall Peter Fergusson's observations
lated choir at Melón depends on the larger one about the design of that choir with its series of
at Oseira. This has made it easier to postulate a ambulatory chapels enclosed in a single semi­
Compostelan model, for the church at Oseira is circular wall. He argued that “the overriding
relatively tolerant of local formulas that depart intention was to provide a fitting setting for
from the rigor o f the Cistercian aesthetic: Bernard's burial and, after canonization, for the
engaged columns ring the exterior o f the choir, elevation to the altars o f the Cistercians’ great­
many windows are shafted, and, occasionally, est figure” .65 The choir o f Clairvaux III is to
figured capitals appear. By contrast, the church be understood, then, as the effort of an Order
at Melón adheres more completely to the norms with “a distinct internationalist outlook” to
of Cistercian decoration, presents the more thor­ “make references to the past of Christian Antiq­
oughly foreign design and sculptural vocabulary, uity” and link “Bernard [...] with the apostolic
and achieves its more accomplished execution. age”.66 In this context, the creative modifica­
The acutely pointed arches, the refined propor­ tion of that design at Melón to quote the choir
tions of mouldings, the marked austerity o f the at Santiago would associate the Order's saint
carving and total exclusion of figurai decoration, with one o f the hobest shrines of Christendom,
the rejection o f shafted windows or engaged that o f the apostle Saint James.
columns on the exterior of the choir, and the
clearer correspondence between the well-han­ Department o f Humanities
dled corbelled supports and the ribs above them, and American Studies
all signal the kind of imported design one would University o f South Florida
expect in a Cistercian house that had an early Tampa, Florida

64. For the design o f ambulatories in late 12th-cen tu - Actas del Simposio en Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 29 a!
ry Iberia, see Isidro G. Bango Torviso, “ M onasterio de 3 1 de enero de 1998 (Santo D om ingo de la Calzada, 2000),
Santa Maria de M oreruela". in Studia Zamorensia (Anejos p. 11-150 (p. 85-103).
l):Arte Medieval en Zamora (Salamanca. 1988), p.6 1 —116
(p. 88-97); José Carlos Valle Pérez, “ Las Primeras C o n ­ 65. Peter Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys
in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton. 1984). p. 52—53. He
strucciones de la orden del Císter en el reino de León” ,
Arte Medievale, 2nd series, 8 (1994). p. 21-42 (p. 24-33); subsequently developed the argument in “Programmatic
Isidro Bango Torviso, “ La Cabecera de la catedral cal- Factors in the East Extension o f Clairvaux". Arte Medievale,
2nd series, 8 (1994), p. 87-101.
ceatense y la arquitectura hispana de su época” , in La
Cabecera de la Catedral calceatensc y elTardorrománico hispano. 66. Ibid., p. 93-98.

The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux? 327
 Cistercian Influence on the Abbey
o f the Paraclete?
Plotting D ata from the Paraclete Book
o f Burials, C ustom ary, and N ecrology*

C H R Y S O G O N U S W ADDELL

ost historians take for granted that the In fact, the organization of life at the Paraclete

M relationship between Peter Abælard,

father-founder of the monastery of the
Paraclete, and the Cistercians, in the vanguard of
was due much more to Heloise’s genius than to
Abælard’s initiatives,2 and Heloise was a magnifi­
cently free spirit. Drawing and coordinating mate­
monastic reform, were none too cordial. It comes rial from sources as varied as the Rule of Saint
as something of a surprise, then, to find that the Benedid, Cistercian legislation, and the writings of
Abbess Heloise s Paraclete Directory, Institutiones Abælard himself, Abbess Heloise succeeded in set­
nostrce, was based largely on Cistercian legislation ting monastic life on a firm basis not only at the
and that the Paraclete Divine Office, while draw­ Paraclete but at the five priories and one abbey
ing in part on liturgical compositions by Abælard, founded from the Paraclete between 1142 and
was perhaps as much as ninety percent Cistercian.1 1163 during the period of Heloise’s abbacy.3

* T he following abbreviations are used in the Notes: 1. See the editions o f liturgical and customary material
CLS = Cistercian Liturgy Series, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell from the Paraclete, all in the pro manuscripto CLS, and all
(Gethsemani Abbey, 1984- ). edited with commentary by Chrysogonus Waddell: The Par­
LS = Liber Sepulchorum, ed. A. Boutillier du Retail and Pierre aclete Statutes “Institutiones nostrae", CLS, 20 (1987); The Old
Piétresson de Saint-Aubin, Obituaires de la province de Sens, French Paraclete Ordinary and the Paraclete Breviary: Introduc­
vol. IV (Paris, 1923), p . 387-403. The edition by Charles tion and Commentary, CLS, 3 (1985); The Old French Para­
Lalore, Collection des principaux obituaries et confraternités du clete Ordinary: Edition, CLS, 4 (1985); The Paraclete Breviary,
diocèse de Troyes (Paris, 1882), p . 446-60, is unreliable. voi. iiiA -C , Edition, CLS, 5-7 (1983); Hymn Collectionsfrom
N P = Necrologium Paraclitense, ed. A. Boutillier du Retail the Paraclete, vol. I, Introduction and Commentary; vol. II, Edi­
and Pierre Piétresson de Saint-Aubin, Obituaires de la tion, CLS. 8 -9 (1989).
province de Sens, vol. IV (Paris, 1923), p . 404—30.
2. In his Historia calamitatum (ed.Jean M onfrin [Paris
O rd = Liber Ordinarius, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de
France, MS fr. 14410, fols 29r—117r; The Old French Par­ 1959], p. 100-01, lines 1304-45) Abælard himself admits
aclete Ordinary and the Paraclete Breviary, ed. with intro, and that, subsequently to the installation o f Heloise and her
commentary, CLS, 3 (introduction and commentary) and companions from Argenteuil on Paraclete property, he left
4 (edition) (Gethsemani Abbey, 1985). them to fend for themselves.
P L = Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed.Jacques- 3. Sainte-Madeleine-de-Trainel (Aube), 1142 at the latest; Le
Paul Migne, 178 (Paris, 1855). Pommeraye (Yonne), in or after 1147; Laval (Seine-et-Marne),
Twelfth-Century Statutes = Twelfth-Century Statutesfrom the before 1154; Noëfort (Seine-et-Marne), before 1157; Saint-Flav-
Cistercian General Chapter, ed. Chrysogonus Waddell, it (Aube), before 1157;Boran or Saint-Martin-aux-Nonnettes
Ctteaux: Studia et Documenta, 12 (Brecht, 2002). (Oise), before 6 April 1153. These priories and the one abbey
General note: Proper names are transcribed as found in the (Le Pommeraye) formed the Congrégation du Paraclet.
manuscripts, w ithout the accent marks proper to modern
usage.

Cisterdan Influence on the Abbey of the Paraclete? 329

 1. Altar o f the Holy Spirit
2. Altar o f St John the Baptist
3. Altar o f Our Lady
4. choir grille (precise placement uncertain)
5. nuns’ choir
6. stair to dorter
7. chapter room
8. cloister
9. vineyard
10. passageway
11. infirmary
12. storeroom
13. kitchen
14. refectory
15. fountain house?
16. burials outside north transept

Fig. 1. Tentative reconstruction o f a plan o f the Paraclete, based on the texts.

Burials are indicated by shading, (author)

I should not then have been as surprised as I tery where Heloise lived and died, but the more
was when, a number o f years ago, I began permanent set o f abbey buildings constructed
attempting — with the help of Paraclete sources not far from the site o f the original monastery
— to track down allusions to the material lay­ during the abbacy o f Heloise’s successor, the
out o f the abbey, and soon came to the con­ remarkable Abbess Mélisande (d. ca. 1202/03).4
clusion that any Cistercian monk or nun would The community probably moved into its new
have felt very much at home when visiting the quarters in 1194.5 The original wooden
Paraclete. Let me hasten to note, however, that monastery, which was the burial site o f Heloise
the sources permit us to trace the layout of the and the pioneer members o f the community,
monastery only partially, that is, principally the was referred to as Le Petit Moustier (the Little
oratory, the east cloister range, the south refec­ Monastery). It continued to serve for occasional
tory range, and the cloister garth, and that liturgical celebrations; but, located as it was in
archaeological investigations would o f course marshy terrain next to the Ardusson River, it
be necessary to determine in detail the precise gradually deteriorated and eventually disap­
plan. Further, the Paraclete with which we are peared. Its exact location is now a matter of
concerned is not the original wooden monas- conjecture.6

4. Tiie chronology o f the abbesses o f the Paraclete is con­ temporary huts and shacks on the banks o f the Ardusson,
fused in the extreme, and the various lists o f abbesses are the oratory was enlarged and. presumably, accommodations
irreconcilable. more practical than mere huts were provided for the stu­
dents. This is what Heloise and her companions found wait­
5. See the notice for Abbess Mélisande, PL, col. 1849, n.
ing for them upon their arrival som etim e before 28
II.
November 1131, date o f the foundation charter. T he con­
6. T he “ Petit M oustier” began with Abælard’s oratory struction o f their new home probably proceeded sporadi­
and a modest residence shared with a single cleric com ­ cally and w ithout a clearly defined master plan, according
panion. After the arrival o f numerous students who lived in to the needs o f the rapidly growing com munity and the
availability o f funds.

330 C H R Y S O G O N U S WADDELL
 As for Mélisande’s monastery, thanks to fires, General Layout o f the East Range
incursions of the English, Wars of Religion, and
the destruction o f the abbey in the aftermath of At First Vespers of St Michael (29 Sept.) a rather
the French Revolution, it has virtually disap­ exceptional rite took place: an incensation o f
peared apart from a few outbuildings and the some of the regular places of the monastery sim­
splendid chateau built for the grandes dames who ilar to the Cistercian sprinkling of the regular
were the last of the Paraclete abbesses. places in connection with the blessing of the holy
water before the Sunday Day Mass.10*The order
Sources o f places to be incensed hints at the general lay­
out of part of the east and south wings of the
Two manuscripts provide us with clues as to the cloister (Fig. 1): dortoir [. . .] anjermerie [. . .] celier
layout of much of Abbess Mélisande s Paraclete. [...] refroitour [...] chapistre. The route led first to
The first is an Old French Ordinary (Liber Ordi­ the second-storey dormitory by the night stairs
narius), a kind of liturgical directory, dating from located in the south n-ansept, then down the dor­
the last half o f the thirteenth century.7 The first mitory steps into the grand cloitre (the term used
section (fols 5—28) is a “book of burials”, which in the Ordinary for the east gallery of the clois­
provides us, under the calendar dates o f their ter), and from there through the passageway that
death or burial, the names and burial sites of led to the infirmary located in the same area it
community members, resident priests, and occupied in numerous Cistercian monasteries."
other persons attached to the monastery and The thurifer then re-entered the east cloister and
buried within. Excluded are lay brothers and went to the south wing where the storeroom (cel­
lay sisters, since they were buried outside the lier) was located conveniently close to the
monastery proper, and we have no information kitchen;12 it was but a short passage to the refec­
as to exactly where. This book o f burials was tory; and on the return trip to the oratory by way
constantly being updated as late as the seven­ of the cloister entrance into church, the thurifer
teenth century, and there are at least fifteen dif­ entered and incensed the chapter room. Missing
ferent hands which can be distinguished. The here (and elsewhere) is any reference to a clois­
last part o f the manuscript is an Order of Pro­ ter armarium for books, speaking room (audito­
cessions (fols 117—23), giving the incipits of the rium), community room, or calefactory such as
chants sung chiefly at the Sunday processions, one would expect to find in a Cistercian abbey.
a regular feature of the Paraclete liturgy.8 The
second manuscript is as recent as 1770.9 It is a General Layout o f the Oratory
necrology based on several sources and was
composed by a professional archivist charged Unlike many monasteries for women, the Par­
with putting the Paraclete archives in order in aclete had not only a high altar — here dedi­
1770. It is in Latin, but quotes Old French cated to the Holy Spirit — but two transept
sources, and was updated until the suppression chapels, the one to the left (north) being ded­
of the abbey in 1790. Included in this necrol­ icated to St John the Baptist,13 the one to the
ogy are the obits o f lay brothers, lay sisters, and right (south) being the Lady Chapel. The pres­
numerous persons attached to the monastery, ence o f three altars suggests the presence of
as well as patrons of the abbey and occasional more than a single chaplain at the Paraclete, and
members o f the Paraclete foundations. this is confirmed by the large number of priests

7. See above under Abbreviations (“O rd”). 11 .T he infirmary was part o f the main cloister complex,
not the case in many monasteries.
8. A few processions were independent o f the Sunday
liturgy. W ith relatively few exceptions, processions in hon­ 12. In the typical Cistercian monastery, the storeroom
our o f saints were celebrated only when their feasts fell on was generally located along the west wing, part o f the
a Sunday. ground floor o f the lay brothers’ building.
9. Troyes, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 2450. 13. The Baptist rather than the Evangelist, since the St
John the Baptist procession (24 June) included a station
10. At which point during Vespers this incensation took
before the St John chapel: see O rd (CLS. 3, p. 213; CLS, 4,
place is not stated in Ord. 89, lines 23-24 (CLS, 4. p. 89),
p. 61, lines 1-2).
nor by whom.

Cistercian Influence on the Abbey of the Paraclete? 331

 buried in the garth cemetery, east cloister, and ary by also the area in front o f the sanctuary. As
chapter room. Moreover, the Ordinary refers in Cistercian oratories, there were hanging
not just to a deacon at some o f the liturgies, lamps,18 one o f which almost certainly dangled
but also to a subdeacon,14 ministerial roles over the presbytery step. There is also mention
assigned priests in the absence of a real deacon of bells, o f which there were at least two.19
or subdeacon. References to the choir grille and In Cistercian practice, abbots were buried in
the grille door (“huis des prones”) are many, as the chapter room.20 N ot so at the Paraclete. At
well as to the two sides o f the nuns’ choir; there the time the Book o f Burials was written,
is even one reference to the stalls of the “demoi­ Heloise was still buried alongside Abælard in
selles” (girl boarders) who had occasional litur­ the crypt o f the Petit Moustier; but two of her
gical functions to perform.15 In addition there immediate successors, Mélisande and Marie,21
is a reference to the crowds in the refectory on were buried in the “euer aus prestes” , though
the feast of the Holy Innocents (28 Dec.), when it is impossible to say whether this meant inside
the children had their one day o f rule (or mis­ the presbytery or outside. Burial inside the pres­
rule) on this “Feast o f Children”, and when bytery should not be ruled out, since the four­
their parents and other relatives apparently teenth-century Alis (or Alipidis) de Barre was
shared in the midday meal.16 buried in the “euer as prestes devant la
pechinne”,22 that is to say, next to the piscina,
The Presbytery the recess in the wall to the right o f the altar
where the water used for the offertory lavabo
We know that the high altar was free standing, and the Communion ablutions was disposed of;
since — on the feast of the anniversary o f the and Abbess Hélisande de Barre, Alis’s successor
dedication of the church (9 Oct.) — the com­ and member o f the same family, was buried in
munity entered the sanctuary chanting the the same place.23 Another abbess from this fam­
antiphon Pax ceterna and processed around the ily, Katherine de Barre,24 was also buried in the
altar. ' 1 There is no explicit mention o f sanctu­ “euer aux prestes”, but whether inside or out­
ary sedilia or stalls for the priest and his minis­ side the presbytery is uncertain. O ther abbess­
ters, but the numerous references to the priests’ es were uniformly buried outside the
choir (“euer aus prestes”, “euer aus provoires”) presbytery: Abbess Jaque,23 for example, in front
clearly presuppose them. However, “priests’ o f the grille door (“les huis des prones”). But
choir” served to designate not only the sanctu­ from the m id-fourteenth century onwards,

14. O rd (CLS, 3, p. 282; CLS. 4. p. 83, line 18). in the retro-choir) and a maximum o f five (the two addi­
tional lamps being for the lay brethren and the guests). We
15. Ord (CLS, 3, p. 77-78; CLS, 4, p. 21. lines 11-12. do not know how many lamps there were at the Paraclete.
T he young ladies in the stalls chant the Mass gradual on the
First and Fourth Sundays o f Lent: “Le iour des brandons et 19. These are rung at the Gloria o f the Paschal Vigil, and
le iour de miquaresme doiuent chanter les damoiseles qui are referred to in the plural: “Et quant Fen dit et in terra pax,
sont en estai le R . de la messe.” At the Palm Sunday pro­ si doit l’en soner les sainz.” This departs from the Cistercian
cession three youngsters (“enfants”) sang the verse o f the practice which allowed o f the ringing o f only a single bell
responsory Omnis Ierra. Use o f the term enfants suggests a at a time, and no more than two bells were allowed (Twelfth-
category o f student boarders younger than the demoiselles; Century Statutes, p. 581, 1159/21).
and the reference to three such enfants suggests that the num­ 20. Twelfth-Century Statutes, p. 88, Anno 1180/5.
ber o f boarders could include at least three such youngsters.
The schoolgirls, designated by the term schola, also have a 21. T he list o f abbesses. PL, cols 1849—52, taken from
place in community processions according to Institutiones Gallia Christiana, ed. Denis de Sainte-Marthe et al., vol. X II
nostra’. See The Paraclete Statutes, CLS, 20, p. 12, ch. XI B, (Paris, 1770), p. 572—73, which in turn is taken from the
lines 25-26, and the detailed commentary, p. 148-50. editio princeps o f Abælard's works (Paris, 1616), and differs
in many respects from Dorn Charles Cajot s catalogue in the
16. O rd (CLS. 3, p. 188-89; CLS, 4, p. 50. lines 16-18). Paraclete Necrologium, fol. 48r~v. N o attempt can be made
here to sort out and resolve the numerous discrepancies.
17. CLS, 4, p. 93, lines 12—13: "et ua li couuanz chantant
Pax eterna ou euer au prouiores et entour Pautel”. 22. LS, 28 Feb.

18. These are m entioned in the prescriptions for the 23. LS. 8 Oct.
Paschal Vigil, O rd (CLS, 4, p. 29, lines 13-14: “doit on 24. LS, 29 O ct: NP. 28 O ct. She died ca. 1330.
estaindre les lampes” ; and p. 30, lines 2—3: “Et doiuent estre
les lampes estaintes”). Cistercian monasteries had a mini­ 25. Absent from the PL catalogue; n. 7 in the N P under
mum o f three lamps (over the presbytery step, in mid-choir. the date 9 Mar.

332 C H R Y S O G O N U S WADDELL
abbesses were buried either in front of the Lady a glass window in the St John chapel, but
Chapel (“devant Nostre Dame”)26 or inside it whether plain or grisaille or coloured glass we
(“en la chapelle N otre Dame”).27 Dame do not know. Guillaume de St Aubin was buried
Katherine de Courcelles (d. 1519) was a special next to it,33 suggesting that the St John altar,
case: she was abbess of Notre-Dame aux N on- like the Holy Spirit altar, may have been free­
nains at Troyes, but was also abbess of the Para­ standing. If the St John chapel had a window,
clete where she undertook major rebuilding this may have been the case as well for the Lady
projects; only her heart was buried in the Lady Chapel. There was also an aumbry or alcove in
Chapel.28 Héloïse’s successor but one, Ermen- the St John chapel, where the Blessed Sacra­
garde or Emmaniarz (d. ca. 1248), was yet anoth­ ment was reserved from the end o f the Holy
er special case: she was buried in the nuns’ Thursday Mass till the end o f the Paschal Vigil,
choir.29 The only non-abbess to be buried in when it was placed in a kind o f tabernacle or
the area in front o f the Lady Chapel was the “sepulchre” on the St John altar before being
sacristan (“thesauraria”) Gilleta de Noyen, transferred to its usual place (almost certainly
whose grave was near the grille entrance into in the sanctuary aumbry) after the seventh les­
the choir.30 son o f the Easter Night Office.34*
O n occasion the high mass was celebrated,
The St John Transept not at the high altar, but in the St John chapel
or the Lady Chapel. This may seem odd to us,
References to the door in the St John (north) but to the Paraclete community it probably
transept are many; it served as the entranceway made little difference, since they were cut off
for the faithful who came to assist at the Para­ from the sanctuary by a grille, presumably heav­
clete liturgy. At times they must have been ily draped.
numerous, as on Good Friday when the wood­ The St John transept was a veritable necrop­
en cross provided for their veneration had to be olis, chiefly of lay patrons who had secured right
placed, not in the St John chapel, but in front of burial at the Paraclete. At least two, perhaps
o f the sanctuary and the St Esprit altar, pre­ more tombs lay in the direction of the portal,
sumably because o f the crowded conditions in since Estienne de Vaux, a canon from Auxerre,
the St John transept;31 whereas the cross to be was buried in the last o f these.33 Marguerite
venerated by the less numerous persons in the Tabourate was buried in front o f the St John
service o f (or in some other way connected altar.36 The Necrologium notes that she was a nun
with) the monastery could be placed before the ad succurandum — that is, she had received the
Lady Chapel in the same transept.32 There was monastic habit on her deathbed — but profes-

26. LS, Charlotte de Coligny, d. 1533, 9 Mar.; Léonard ways: as hired help, as oblates, as pensioners, as individuals
de Turrenne, d. 1560, i Sept.;Jeanne II de la Borde, 5 Oct. who gave over their property in return for housing and board.
(LS) or 6 Oct. (NP):Jeanne I des Barres, 24 Dec. (LS) or 25 It would be hazardous to guess exactly which categories were
Dec. (NP). covered by the term “rendues” at a time when terminology
was not yet standardized, and when Paraclete usage did not
27. Agnès de la Borde, 20 May (LS) or 19 May (NP); necessarily coincide with contemporary usage elsewhere. We
Antoinette de Bonneval, d. 20 May 1547. note, too, that although the scribe uses the feminine form
28. NP, 9 July: “son coeur repose dans la chapelle de la o f the noun rendue, she (or he) is not always consistent as to
Sainte Vierge”. grammatical gender and number. If we take her strictly, she
would be referring to females exclusively. For details con­
29. LS, 29 Aug.: “gist em euer”; and PL Catalogue, col. cerning the various groups belonging to the monastic famil­
1849: “Jacet in choro.” ia, see Ursmer Berbère, La Familia dans les monastères bénédictins
du Moyen Âge ([n.p.], 1930).
30. LS, 9 June: “Gilleta de noyen thesauraria gist deuant
nostre dame a l’entrée du euer.” 33. LS. 1 May: “ Guillaume de saint a[ubin] gist endroit
la verriere de saint Iehan.”
31. Ord (CLS, 4, p. 27. lines 13-14: “et met en vne Croiz
deuant le saint esperit pour les genz dehors”). 34. O rd (CLS. 3, p. 100-01; CLS. 4, p. 25, lines 11-17).
32. /&/</., p. 27, Une 1 4 -2 8 , line 1: “Et deuant nostre dame 35. LS, 1 Mar.: “Estienne de vaux [NP adds: canonicus anti-
pour les rendues.” The scribe uses the term rendues, which, ssiodorensis] il git devant St iehan en la derniere tombe dever
depending on the context, admits o f various meanings. W ith­ la porte.”
out formally being members o f the community, persons
could be attached to a monastery in a number o f different 36. LS, 28 Jan.

Cistercian Influence on the Abbey of the Paraclete? 333

 sion in these circumstances did not suffice to sadly: “Die lui pardoient” (“ God forgive
allow her burial in the nuns’ cemetery. Still other him”).41
women who received the habit on their
deathbed were buried in the cloister, as we shall Chapter Room Burials
see. There was a series of at least four burials
extending from the right side o f the St John In Cistercian practice, the chapter room was the
chapel towards the presbytery, and two o f these customary burial place for abbots or abbesses.42
were tomb burials. From the many references At the Paraclete, however, a variety o f persons
in the sources to tombs, described variously as were buried there. O f the fifteen chapter room
“large”, “long”, “larger” or “smaller”, “sculpt­ entries, there is mention o f only six tombs.43
ed”, it is clear that the scribe is referring to a O ther burial sites may have been marked by
burial chamber or slab raised above the surface grave slabs or markers o f some sort, or perhaps
o f the floor. As to other burial sites, the texts even left unmarked. Bietrix du Plesle had the
do not tell us how they were identified, whether first tomb to the right,44 so presumably there
by grave slabs or markers o f some sort. It is per­ would have been at least a second tomb to the
haps surprising to find buried here in the St right. Agnes, dame de Marigny, had a large
John transept Isabiau, who was dame de tomb in the middle o f the chapter,45 and
Nogent, but also a nun Deo sacrata (that is, she Heloise de Trignel lay in a cracked tomb locat­
was a consecrated virgin). Normally, nuns of ed next to the column on the left.46 The chap­
the community were buried in the east cloister ter room therefore appears to have had two
gallery or in the garth cemetery. If Isabiau is columns, resulting in a rectangular room rather
buried here, this is surely because also buried than a square room with four columns. Indeed,
in the same row were Girard, lord of Nogent Adelaide, wife of Gamier, lay in the larger tomb
(Isabiau’s father?), and his son (Isabiau’s broth­ “between the two columns”47 — that is to say,
er?), the knightjehans.3/ There were also at least her tomb was larger than the adjacent cracked
three burials just outside the entrance to the St tomb o f Heloise de Trignel. A certain Kather­
John transept: the priest Pierre, the prioress ine was buried “between the two windows”
Isabiau de Grandchamp, and the knight Jehan (“ou milieu des II fenestres”), and “dever le
Fort. This was unconsecrated ground. The hap­ paver”.48 In the context, the “two windows”
less Pierre is designated by the term “gomier”: are almost certainly one of the pair of open­
that is to say, demon rum had got the best of ings on either side of the entrance; and the detail
him;38 we do not know what the circumstances that the grave site is next to the “paver” (liter­
were that necessitated the unfortunate prioress’s ally, “pavement”) suggests that only the inside
burial outside the nuns cemetery,39 or that area o f the chapter room floor was paved. An
required Jehan Fort to be buried in unhallowed otherwise unidentified Isabiau was buried in a
ground.40 Yet another excommunicate lay in tomb “contre la chaire”,49 that is, opposite the
unconsecrated ground: Simon de Villiers who abbess’s seat along the middle o f the east wall.
died, ironically, on the feast of the Holy Inno­ There is also a reference to the prioress’s seat to
cents (28 Dec. 1474) and was buried outside the the left, near which the priest Hato lies buried.50
apse near the Lady Chapel. The scribe adds, (Hato is the only male buried in chapter.) Pre-

37. LS, entries for 11 Oct., 8 Aug., 22 Aug. 43. LS, 6 Jan., 14 Mar., 11 May, 6 June, 9 Sept.; and NP,
13 Jan.
38. LS, 30 Dec.: “Pierre preste gomier gist a l’entree de
la porte saint Iehan dehors.” 44. LS, 6 Jan.
39. LS, 21 Sept. T he N P notes that Isabiau was a simple
45. LS. 13 Jan.
nun, and not one Deo sacrata, that is, she had not received
the consecration o f a virgin. 46. LS, 11 May.
40. LS, 21 Mar. Only the N P notes that Jehan is buried
outside (en dehors). 47. LS, 9 Sept.

41. LS, 28 Dec.: “Simone de Villiers trespassa le jo u r des 48. LS, 21 Mar.
Innocens en l’an mil 1111e LX et XIIII, et gist en bas coste
de l’esglise deuer notre dame. Die lui pardoient.” 49. LS, 6 June.

42. See Twelfth-Century Statures, p. 88, 1180/5. 50. LS, 3 Sept.

334 C H R Y S O G O N U S WADDELL
sumably, the subprioress’s seat was to the imme­ the Paraclete chantresses36 were buried at the
diate right of the abbess. There are a few refer­ entrance to the oratory from the cloister, one of
ences to burials near “le gros postei” (“the large them to the right “below the step”,57 thus pro­
portal”),51 suggesting that — as in numerous viding the information that the oratory was on
monasteries — the entrance to the chapter a higher level than the cloister quadrangle, per­
room must have been noteworthy for its dimen­ haps following the Cistercian custom of build­
sions. O f special interest is the reference to Isabi- ing the church on the highest ground of the site.
au, dame de Planei, who lies under the first Ten entries refer to the section of the cloister
tomb “hors de la range” (“out of line”).'52 This towards the kitchen,38 and of these entries four
implies that the burial sites were, for the most refer to tombs39 These references assure us that
part, arranged in orderly rows, with the sym­ the kitchen was located in the south wing above
metry broken only by a few grave sites. the refectory. Isabiau dou Plessie has a “grant
In brief, the Paraclete chapter room seems to tombe” beside the cloister entrance to the ceme­
have differed from the standard Cistercian chap­ tery.60 The entry for Marguerite dou Teil also
ter rooms only by the diversity o f persons describes a place near the “gros potei”,61 which
buried there and the varieties o f graves. tells us that the portal opening from the cloister
into the garth was a large one, perhaps larger in
Cloister Burial Sites comparison with other smaller portals opening
from the cloister quadrangle into the garth. There
Burials in the east cloister gallery were many and are eight other entries locating burial sites with
varied. Like the priest Gauchiers, Daria too was reference to this entrance from the cloister into
buried beneath the cloister statue of St the cemetery,62 and of these, five of them also
Thomas,33 but the location o f this statue is not refer to the portal as being “gros” .63 The entry
specified, nor is it known whether Thomas the for Marguerite dou Teil also tells us that she is
aposde or Thomas à Becket was represented. The buried “vers les rosiers”, the “rosiers” perhaps
prioress Jheanne de Paris lay in the cloister at the being an arcade ornamentation consisting of four
foot of the crucifix,34 but this is a fifteenth-cen­ foils (“quatre-feuilles”, “quarter foils”) or five
tury entry, and the crucifix may not have been foils (“cinque-feuilles”, “cinquefoils”), that is, a
there (near the cloister door to the oratory?) at conventionalized design suggesting a rose with
an earlier date. Marguerite de Cartula s grave site four or five petals. “Vers les rosiers” is just a way
next to Jehanne Raguier’s was in front o f the of saying that the grave sites thus described lie
Piéta.33 This statue would surely have been posi­ on the side of the cloister gallery next to the
tioned near the entrance to the oratory, since garth. At least eleven entries locate the cloister
when there is a Pietà in a cloister quadrangle, it burial sites with reference to these “rosiers”.64
seems traditionally to have been placed there. The burial place o f the priest Estiennes in an
But again, this entry is quite late (1562).Two of arcosolium or wall-niche was a distinctive

51. LS, Isabiau, 8 O ct.; Marguerite de Sessefontaine, 15 59. LS, 31 May, 9 O ct. (two entries), 3 Nov.
May.
60. LS, 18 Jan.: “ Isabiau dou plessie gist a la porte de
52. LS. 14 Mar. cloistre a la grant tombe.”

53. LS, 4 Feb.: “Daria gist ou grant cloistre desouz saint 61. LS, 22 Jan.: “Marguerite dou Teil gist au grand cloistre
Thomas.” vers les rosiers delez le gros potei et si n ’I a point de tombe.”

54. LS, 20 Apr.: “Jheanne de Paris prieuse gist en cloistre 62. LS, 16 M ar.;2 Apr.;6 May; 1, 15, 20 Sept.:3. 25 Nov.
aus piez dou crucifi.” 63. LS, 1,15, 20 Sept.; 3, 25 Nov.
55. LS, 24 Apr.: “ Marguerite de cartilla gist auprès de 64. LS. 22 Jan.; 17. 30 May; 19 June; 1 Sept.; 8, 9 Oct.;
iheane raguier deuant nostre dame de pitie au cloistre." 3, 5 (two entries), 25 Nov. T he term “rosières” might sug­
gest that the reference is to burial next to rose bushes, the
56. LS, Charlotte de Saint Julien, 24 Mar., and Helevis,
meaning o f the word in m odern French. This, however,
5 Aug.
could hardly be the case, since the gallery wall was located
57. LS, 5 Aug. — the entry for Helevis, w ho “gist en between these grave sites and the garth. Further, had there
cloistre au piez dou degre a destre” .58* been actual rose bushes in the garth, one would expect to
find at least a few references to graves next to or near the
58. LS. 26 Mar.; 31 May; 7. 13, 18 Sept.; 9 (two entries). rose bushes, such as we find {infra) for those next to the vine­
19 Oct.; 3 Nov.; 16 Dec. yard, or the door to the vineyard, or the trees.

Cistercian Influence on the Abbey of the Paraclete? 335

 enough architectural feature to serve as the point seven are mentioned,74 plus two prioresses from
of reference for four of the east gallery burial other monasteries.75 O f the six noble women,
sites.65 A certain Marguerite was buried at the three were “monaca ad succurrendum” ,
foot of Emmejart de Jutigny, about whom we women who received the monastic habit on
know only that she had a sculpted tomb (“une their deathbed.76 Unique was the case of Isabi­
tombe ouvrée”) somewhere in the cloister;66 au dou Plessie, a noble woman who retired to
and yet another Marguerite was buried at the the Paraclete and devoted herself as a familaris
foot of a “Monseigneur Thiébaut”, about whose to the service o f the community.77 Even more
tomb we know only that it was a large one on singular was one of two non-cleric males buried
the side of the “rosiers” .6/ Three other entries in the cloister, Raou de R osiers/8 whom the
are especially vague, referring only to burial in Necrology likewise identifies as a familiaris. The
the cloister.68 other male burial was that of Messire de Fogon
These references allow us, then, to identify or Foujon,79 who may have managed to obtain
the cloister entrance to the oratory, the large burial rights in the cloister because that is where
portal to the cemetery, the large portal to the his wife, Alix, dame de Foujon, was buried.80
chapter room, and the location of the kitchen. With at least thirty-nine burials in the east clois­
There were three different types of burial sites ter gallery, this wing o f the quadrangle must
in the east cloister gallery: a single arcosolium have been quite a necropolis and presupposes a
or niche-tomb; at least eight tombs, of which cloister o f ample proportions.
one was beneath the arcosolium,69 two more
on the side opposite it;70 and at least two tombs The Cemetery for Nuns and Priests
flanking either side o f the portal opening into
the cloister garth.71 O ther references to tombs This cemetery was located within the cloister
are too imprecise to be placed with any cer­ garth. Only two categories of monastery per­
tainty/2 though they evidently had to be situ­ sonnel were buried here: professed nuns of the
ated alongside one wall o f the cloister or the community, including a number of prioresses,
other so as not to hinder circulation. These ref­ and priests attached to the community. The
erences also allow us to distinguish between the dimensions o f the garth cemetery must have
categories o f personnel buried in the cloister: been considerable since there were no fewer
priests, of which four are identified; nuns of the than 227 persons buried here. References to
community,73 especially prioresses, of whom 110 of these burial sites are imprecise. The for-

65. LS, 14 Mar., 23 Sept., 21 Oct., 23 Nov. 74. LS. 19 Mar.; 2. 20 Apr.: 13 Sept.; 9 Oct.; 3 Nov.; 16
Dec.
66. See LS, 25 Apr., 19 Nov.
75. LS, 13 Sept., 25 Nov.
67. See LS. 23 Apr.. 8 Oct.
76. This information is supplied by the N P ;the LS entries
68. LS, Aveline de Nogent, 23 May; Marie, prieuse de are for 22 Jan., 31 May, 1 Sept.
Sedene, 13 Sept.; Ysable de Baudement, 17 Oct.
77. LS, 18 Jan. Isabiau’s status as afamiliaris is known from
69. LS, 14 Mar.: “ Isabiau dou Crochet: [. . .] souz une the NR A familiaris was a person not officially a member of
tom be deuers l’archet.” the community, but somehow connected with it as a patron
and benefactor or even as a resident in its service. T he term
70. LS, 23 Nov.: “Marie de Villemor [. . .] la premiere had a wide extension and by itself does not determine the
tombe deuers le prael de II qui sont ensamble deuant l’ar­ precise nature o f the familiaris with the community. For
chet.” U rsm er Berlière, the familia designated the ensemble o f
71. LS, 2 Apr.: “la premiere tombe a senestre”; 25 Nov.: laypersons attached to the service o f the monastery, either
“la premiere tombe endroit le gros postel”. “The first tom b” within it or at its dependencies (La Familia, p. 3), but in Cis­
implies that there was a second tomb, if not more. tercian usage (and at the Paraclete) the term included out­
side patrons and benefactors. The N P uses the term with
72. LS, 6 May: “la tom be qui est delez postiz”; 8 Oct.: respect to individuals from smart society, from whom the
“deuers les rosiers 1 large tom be”; 5 Nov. (two entries): “une Paraclete had received benefactions o f various kinds.
tom be qui est de pierre vers les rosiers” ; “une m enue
78. LS. 15 Sept.
tom be” ; 19 Nov. “une tombe ouvree” .
79. LS. 19 Oct.
73. N P identifies most o f these as being “D eo sacrata”,
that is, nuns w ho have received the consecration o f virgins; 80. LS, 13 Sept., with the Dame de Foujon’s personal
relatively few are designated simply as “monaca” . name supplied by the NP.

336 C H R Y S O G O N U S WADDELL
mula is always the same: So and so “gist ou were burial sites for nuns, we may infer that the
cimétière” (“lies in the cemetery”). Almost as priests’ section was probably adjacent to the
imprecise are another seventeen references to north cloister gallery. That the priests had their
burial sites “ou milieu dou cimétière” or “en own section is also clear from at least six refer­
mi cimétière” (“in the middle section o f the ences to burial sites “devers les prestes”
cem etery”).81 The Ordinal refers to a large (“towards or next to the priests”).86 Only one
cemetery cross before which there is a station tomb-burial is referred to, that o f Thiébauz de
during the Easter Octave procession which Somefontaine, whose tomb is described as being
begins at the Petit M ousder and ends in the a long one.87 There were, however, two priests
choir of the abbey church. This procession, buried elsewhere in the cemetery: Gieuberz
unique to the Paraclete, was a procession “pour (Jobert) lay in the large tomb next to an arcade
les morts” buried at the Petit Moustier and at pilaster towards the priests’ section;88 and
the abbey, and was almost certainly celebrated Forques (Fulk) was buried beneath the rain
on Low Sunday as being the first available Sun­ spout next to the “little room”, perhaps a ref­
day closest to the death-date of Master Peter erence to the fountain house opposite the refec­
Abælard, Tuesday within the Easter Octave, tory wing o f the cloister.89 As described above,
1142.82 Large cemetery crosses are standard, of priests were buried in church, in chapter, in the
course, but the Ordinal text does not allow us east cloister, and even in unconsecrated earth
to determine precisely where in the cemetery outside the St John transept. Still to be men­
the Paraclete cross was located. tioned, however, is the priest Heudes, buried
The cemetery was divided into sections inter­ next to the “maison neuve” (“new house)”90
sected by at least two pathways, one running which may have been a residence for the priests.
vertically from the entrance to the cemetery, The number of priests attached to the com­
the other intersecting it at right angles, thus munity and buried at the Paraclete is impres­
forming a Greek cross. There are at least eleven sively high — twenty-seven in the first hand in
references to burial sites “sur (sus, seur, vers) la the Book of Burials, covering a period o f less
voie”, that is, next to the path.83 Two further than ninety years; but there are only three priests
references refer to the horizontal pathway.84 in the second hand. This indicates a major
From this it appears that there were four quad­ demographic shift in Paraclete personnel in the
rants or plots for burials. fourteenth century; so it should not come as a
One o f these plots was reserved exclusively surprise when, in the Necrology, we find
for the twenty priests buried there, the formu­ among the numerous priest-entries references
la usually being “Thiébauz prestes gist ou to some nineteen Paraclete confessors hailing
cimètiere ou coignet”, literally, in the “cor­ from the outside.91
ner”.85 Since it is clear from other references The large portal opening from the cloister
that the plots adjacent to the east cloister wall into the cemetery is the point o f reference for

81. LS, 23 Jan.; 1, 6, 22, 28 Feb.; 3, 6, 21, 27, 30 Mar.; 86. LS, 1, 30 Jan.; 27 Feb.; 29 Apr.; 12 May; 27 Oct.
10, 13, 26 Apr.; 22 June; 1 Nov.; 24, 25 Dec.
87. LS, 21 Feb.: “Thiébauz de Somefontaine prestes gist
82. 21 April 1142. For copious details, see CLS. 3, p. ou cimetiere desouz I longue tombe.” Thiebauz’s nephew.
134-37. Gamier, also a priest, is buried alongside him, LS, 18 Aug.:
83. LS, 7, 8 Jan.; 9, 16, 17 Apr.; 6 May; 30 June; 25 July; “ G am ier de som efonteinne gist ou cimitiere delez son
24, 30 Oct.; 21 Dec. oncle.”

84. LS, 16 May: “Bietriz de Fontenai gist a Fareste dou 88. LS, 29 Apr.: “ Gieuberz prestes gist ou cimetiere souz
m ur de la voie [the pier or pilaster that supports the end o f la grosse tombe a Fareste dou mur devers les prestes.”
an arch].’’This means that the pathway is contiguous to one
o f the wings o f the cloister. And a 17 April entry refers to 89. LS, 6 Jan.: “ Forques prestes gist souz la goutiere delez
Clara, who is buried “ en la voie delez Fareste” , that is, on la petite sale.”
the pathway next to the arcade pilaster.
90. LS, 16 May.
85. There are three references to priests (LS, 24 and 30
Jan. and 5 May) w ho are buried simply “ou cimètiere”, but 91. NP, 1, 5, 15, 22 Jan.; 1, 19 Feb; 6, 15 (two entries),
we presume that these too were buried in the priests’ sec­ 27 Apr.; 24 May; 13 June; 29, 21 Aug.; 16, 20 Sept.; 1 Oct.;
tion. 2, 25 Dec.

Cistercian Influence on the Abbey of the Paraclete? 337

 fifteen burial sites of nuns, and several o f these where?103 More specific is Jacque d’Ausone’s
graves were tomb burials. A few tombs were dis­ burial site next to the arcade pilaster o f the wall
tinctive enough to serve as points of reference opposite the refectory.104 Fara was buried sim­
for neighbouring graves. For instance, Isabiau ilarly next to an arcade pilaster,105 although we
de Clofonteinne had a sculpted tomb located are not told which one; there is a Bietriz buried
simply “seur la voie” (“along the pathway”).92 “near the wall”, but we do not know which
Her sister was buried next to her;93 one of the wall;106 and the reference to one o f the many
many Marguerites was buried at the foot o f the Ysabel’s is equally vague: she lies in the middle
two Clofonteinne sisters;94 and six other nuns o f the cemetery towards the cloister — what­
were buried either next to them (“delez”) or ever the scribe means by “cloister” (cloître).107
nearby (“vers”).95 Similarly Perenelle de The entry for Marguerite de Luvregni is a
Breetes’s tomb is the third to the right some­ prelude to further important information about
where in the cemetery,96 perhaps towards the the cloister garth. Marguerite is buried in the
cloister portal at the entrance, since nowhere “coignet” already familiar to us, but, more pre­
else is there mention of as many as four tombs cisely, in a spot next to the vineyard.108 For there
in the same row. Her sister is buried next to her, is indeed a vineyard within the cloister quad­
and there are six further graves described as rangle, and there are three references to the
being next to the Breetes (Brestes, Breotes) sis­ vineyard gate or entrance, the “uis de la
ters.9' Aliz la Mote lies “au piez” , that is, in the vigne”.109 If there was a gate or entrance into
row beneath them, and Agnes de Vaus is buried the vineyard, there must have been a hedge or
next to Aliz (now spelled Aaliz de la Moute).98 fence of some sort separating the vineyard from
There are only a few further tomb burials men­ the rest o f the cemetery.
tioned: Emeline de Douteilli, whose tomb is Finally, we know that the cloister garth could
near to that o f the priest Gieuberz, beside a boast o f the presence o f a number o f trees,
north cloister arcade close to the priests’ sec­ though we do not know their precise location.
tion.99 Mahaut the Norman (in Champagne, There must have been a cluster o f several, since
anyone from N orm andy must have been six entries refer to burial sites simply near or
deemed a foreigner) has the second tomb “au under “the trees”.110 Another two entries have
coignet”, that is, the lower section to the their point o f reference simply as “the tree”,
right,100 while Helevis lies under a flat or low which perhaps refers to an isolated tree111 which
tom b,101 and Guie, like Perrenelle de Planoi, is one of the entries suggests must be adjacent to
buried in the same “coignet” .102 The tomb of a cloister wall.112 A further two entries refer to
the prioress Letois abuts the pathway, but burial sites between “the two trees” , thereby

92. LS, 24 Oct.: “Isabiau de Clofonteinne [.. .] seur la 101. Also LS, 4 Mar.: “ Helevis [...] soz I plate tombe.”
voie a I tom be maconee.”
102. LS. 8 Oct., 13 Dec.
93. LS, 30 June: “Aliz de Clofonteinne [...] delez sa suer
vers la voie.” 103. LS. 9 Apr.

94. LS, 8 Sept.: “Marguerite [...] au piez a ceus de C lo­ 104. LS. 4 Dec.
fonteinne.” 105. LS. 31 Mar.
95. LS, 15 Mar., 17 Mav, 25 July, 12 Aug., 19 O ct., 16 106. LS, 26 Sept.
Dec.
107. LS, 26 Mar.
96. LS, 14 Dec. LS spells her name “Breautes.”
108. LS, 10 Apr.: “ou coignet devers la vigne”.
97. LS. 11 Mar., 19 July (two entries), 10 Aug. (two
entries), 21 Aug. Yet another member o f the family, Gilè, 109. LS, 20 Apr., 12 May, 1 June.
is buried near the cloister portal, but to the left: 16 Mar.
110. LS, 25 March, “vers les aubres”; 17 May, “soz les
98. LS, 11 Mar. for both entries. aubres”; 8 June, “souz les aubres”; 16 Aug., “desoz les
aubres”; 5 Sept., “soz les aubres”; 11 Nov., “souz les aubres”.
99. LS, 29 Apr.: “ Gieuberz prestes gist ou cimitiere souz
la grosse tombe a fareste dou m ur deuers les prestes”; 1 Jan.: 111. LS, 12 Apr.: “desoz l’aubre” : 21 June, “desouz
“Emeline de douteilli gist ou cimitere a la seconde tombe l’aubre”.
par devers les presetes.”
112. T he LS, 21 June entry also says that the grave slab
100. LS, 4 Mar. The LS entry needs to be completed by is towards the wall, “desouz l’aubre a une plate pierre dev­
the N P entry under the same date. ers le m ur” .

338 C H R Y S O G O N U S WADDELL
suggesting two trees distinct from the previously women religious whose monasteries were utter­
mentioned cluster o f trees.113 ly ravaged and destroyed during the Wars of Reli­
All told, the references to cemetery burial gion; so we are at a disadvantage in finding
sites provides us with quite a bit o f information monasteries which could serve as points of com­
about the cloister quadrangle: arcading sur­ parison. Thirdly, our sources allow us to deduce
rounded the garth; a large cemetery cross and a general layout o f only part o f the church, the
perhaps a fountain house within the garth; two two transepts, the east cloister range, part of the
pathways crossing to create four quadrants; a refectory (south) wing, and the cloister garth.
special section for priests among the many Still, given the Cistercian sources drawn on by
graves; some kind of gate, with a hedge or fence Heloise for her monastic directory, Institutiones
separating a vineyard from the rest o f the ceme­ nostrœ, and the markedly Cistercian nature of the
tery; and a number o f trees.114 Paraclete Divine Office, it seems justifiable to
suggest, by way of a working hypothesis, the pos­
Conclusion sibility of Cistercian influence on the layout the
monastery built during the abbacy of Heloise’s
The layout of the Paraclete — such as we can successor, Abbess Mélisande. As to the confir­
reconstruct it — was remarkably “Cistercian”, mation or refutation o f the suggestions made
though with several important qualifications. here, that awaits the archaeologists.
Firsdy, no two Cistercian monasteries were exact­
ly alike. Secondly, we know far too little about Gethsemani Abbey
the layout of non-Cistercian monasteries in Bur­ Trappist, Kentucky 40051-6152
gundy and Champagne, especially of those of

113. LS, Emmanjarz. 9 Sept., and Gilè, 30 Sept., lie in Jan.; 14, 18 Mar.; 22 Apr., all in first hand. T he scribe dis­
the cemetery “entre les ii aubres”. continues use o f this terminology for the remaining months,
perhaps considering it unsatisfactory. Presumably the term
114. There are nine references to burial sites “par to t” or
means, not “everywhere”, but rather “somewhere or other”.
“par tout”: LS, 15 (two entries), 17 (two entries), 19, 31

Cistercian Influence on the Abbey ofl the Paraclete? 339

 ANNEX

The Burial Places of Peter Abælard and Heloise under scrutiny by the Paris censors on the occa­
sion o f the printing o f the editio princeps of his
The bodies of Abælard and Heloise underwent works in 1616.
a number of translations. For Abælard, who died It was in this context that that the remains
on 21 April 1142 at the Priory o f Saint-Mar­ o f the founders o f the Paraclete were removed
cel at Chalon-sur-Saône, the first translation from their place in the Paraclete oratory and
took place at Heloise s request and the initia­ transferred to a cavity beneath the high altar,
tive of Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny. In conveniently out o f the way and invisible to
a clandestine night-time operation, on 16 all. But not long after, the legend o f the star-
November 1143 or 1144, Peter’s body was crossed lovers began taking hold on popular
removed from its tomb and carried to the Par­ imagination, and there soon sprang up a veri­
aclete where it was laid to rest in the crypt of table flood o f tear-wrenching ballads, poems,
the Petit Moustier. Heloise joined him upon and dramas. Though the bodies remained in
her death in 1164. A Low Sunday community the cavity under the altar, a cenotaph o f dubi­
procession for the departed included a station ous orthodoxy and artistic merit — a statute
before their burial crypt. o f the Trinity — was erected in the rear o f
More than three centuries later, on 2 May choir. The popularity o f the two lovers now
1497, Abbess Catherine de Courcelles had the reigned supreme. Then came the Revolution.
two bodies removed and, with considerable The Paraclete community was scattered; the
pomp and circumstance, reburied in separate buildings were sold and gradually demolished;
tombs on either side of the choir next to the and in 1792 yet another translation o f the
grille, Abælard to the right, Heloise to the left. remains o f Peter and his Heloise took place,
Something o f a crisis in the history o f the Par­ this time to the parish church at nearby
aclete took place at the end o f the sixteenth N ogent-sur-Seine.
century, when Abbess Jeanne de Chabot turned In 1800 began a series o f verifications of the
Huguenot and took most o f the community relics, the distribution of several parcels of skele­
with her. In 1599 Abbess Jeanne’s successor, tal fragments, and, in 1817, after several halts at
Marie III de La Rochefoucauld, began the del­ various locations in Paris, the eventual and
icate process of the rehabilitation of the Para­ definitive reburial o f the founders o f the Para­
clete community. The characteristic liturgical clete in the cemetery o f Père Lachaise in Paris,
books o f the Paraclete, strongly marked by in an elaborately fashioned monument visited
Abælard’s creativity, were replaced by Roman annually by thousands o f devotees or the mere­
R ite books, and not a single m ention o f ly curious. Prior to this final burial, eight trans­
Abælard and Heloise was allowed into the Con­ lations o f the remains o f Abælard and seven
stitutions of the abbey printed in 1632. N or did translations of the remains of Heloise had taken
it help that Abælard’s orthodoxy was once again place. And now, Requiescant in pace.

340 C H R Y S O G O N U S WADDELL
 Cistercian Threads in the Fabric of Canterbury
and Salisbury Cathedrals*
V IR G IN IA JA N SEN

lthough Salisbury Cathedral has often among those responsible for church building,

A been considered as influenced by Cis­

tercian forms, rarely has evidence been
adduced for such an assertion. There are indeed
based on an assessment of the available mater­
ial set within a frame enlarged to encompass the
context of events, personalities, and building
some specific architectural features reminiscent traditions.
of Cistercian work in its restrained architecture, A full exposition o f the architecture cannot
but more significantly, various associations link­ be made here, but a few points will move the
ing Salisbury Cathedral to its metropolitan discussion forward.2 Whereas details of style still
church at Canterbury and to the Cistercians remain fairly elaborate at Salisbury Cathedral
supply a variety o f historical contexts in which — for it is an important cathedral and its chap­
to ponder any such use. They may help to estab­ ter the third largest in England — its architec­
lish an understanding o f potential architectur­ ture is less opulent than many other English
al interactions and transmission o f forms; they churches, such as Lincoln Cathedral; it is the
may also serve to elicit meanings that may be tone more than specific features that differen­
read in these physical monuments, opening up tiates its appearance (Figs 1,2). The architec­
a view to the thought processes o f the people ture o f the central vessel remains quite rich —
responsible for their design and construction.1 particularly in the triforium — but the cleresto­
Any interpretation represents only one o f sev­ ry is rather plain, the vaulting shafts are mini­
eral possible readings of the material. This arti­ mized, and the vault is simply quadripartite.
cle seeks to establish plausible relationships Moreover, in the aisles the vaulting shafts are

* With this contribution I am pleased to honour Profes­ book on the architecture patronized by King Henry III and
sor Peter Fergusson, whose scholarship has effectively linked his advisors; meanwhile for a more extended discussion o f
both history and material remains o f both Cistercian and the architecture, see Virginia Jansen, “ Lambeth Palace
other ecclesiastical building. I also wish to thank him for his Chapel, the Temple Choir, and Southern English Gothic
help to both my research and my academic career over many Architecture o f c. 1215-1240”, in England in the Thirteenth
years. I am grateful to the Research committees o f the Aca­ Century: Proceedings of the 1984 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. W.
demic Senate and Arts Division o f the University o f Cali­ M. O rm rod (Grantham, 1985), p. 95—99; ead., “Salisbury
fornia at Santa C ruz for grants that have supported the Cathedral and the Episcopal Style in the Early Thirteenth
background research on this topic. C entury”, in Medieval Art and Architecture at Salisbury, ed.
1. As a model, one might point to our honoured authors Laurence Keen and Thomas Cocke, British Archaeological
writing, e.g., in Peter Fergusson. Architecture o f Solitude: Cis­ Association Conference Transactions, 17 (Leeds, 1996), p.
tercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton, 1984), 32-39. In the latter volume, Peter Draper, "Salisbury Cathe­
p. 105. dral; Paradigm or Maverick?”, p. 21-31 (p. 22), referred to
“a conscious and subtle sense o f decorum [ ...] applied in
2. The larger context for the architecture and its com­ the choice o f architectural features” at Salisbury, but dis­
munities will be more thoroughly discussed in my current puted Cistercian influence “in any significant way”.

Cistercian Threads in the Fabric of Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals 341

 Fig. I. Salisbury Cathedral, 1220,
clwir and presbytery to east, (author)

reduced from three to one, and the dado wall Wells) — reflected a “reform” style, or better
arcade is omitted. Although the architecture at stated, a reform mode used by members o f the
Salisbury follows the work o f Canterbury English episcopacy led by and close to Arch­
Cathedral, its rhythms are more sober and reg­ bishop Stephen Langton (1207-28) and his
ular, even allowing for the virgin site o f Salis­ pupil, Bishop Richard Poore o f Salisbury
bury and the reused lower courses at (1217-28). This more austere mode may be
Canterbury (Fig. 3). The more uniform use of linked to several movements towards reform of
Purbeck marble also diminishes the variegated the Church in the late twelfth and early thir­
effects and layering of the other two cathedrals. teenth centuries, expressed in the publication
Previously I argued that this reticence — seen of synodal statutes, the social theology advanced
not only at Salisbury Cathedral but also at other especially at the University o f Paris, and the
related buildings (e.g., the archbishop s palace at two great Lateran councils o f the Church in
Canterbury, the chapel o f Lambeth palace, 1179 and 1215.3 Within this environment the
W inchester castle hall, the bishop’s palace at persona of Thomas Becket as the resolute leader

3 .T he bibliography is vast on these subjects, but see par­ Views of Peter the Chanter and his Circle, 2 vols (Princeton.
ticularly Councils and Synods with Other Documents Relating 1970); Raymonde Foreville, Latrati I, II, III et Latrati IV, His­
to the English Church, ed. F. M aurice Povvicke and Christo­ toire des conciles ocuméniques, 6 (Paris, 1965); and Phyl­
pher R. Cheney, 2 vols (Oxford, 1964), esp. vol. il, part 1; lis B. R oberts, Studies in the Serinons o f Stephen Langton
John W. Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants: The Social (Toronto, 1968).

342 V I R G I N I A JANSEN
 Fio. 2. Lincoln Cathedral, St
Hugh ’s choir, south elevation,
1192. (author)

of the English Church and his ensuing saint­

hood were viewed as a model of resistance to
interference with clerical liberty. Thus, there
are many strands o f reform ideas in the late
twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Cister­
cian practices form one thread that weaves
through the various groups who embraced Cis­
tercian ideals o f reform as well as the Order's
particular manner of living. The association is
true not only for the beliefs of the epoch but
also for its architecture.
Although the grisaille glazing that existed
throughout Salisbury Cathedral is often assumed
to indicate Cistercian influence, Richard Marks
has shown that it was commonly employed not
only in Cistercian buildings but also in the sec­
ular churches of the period.4 Thus, grisaille can­
not be seen simply as a Cistercian feature at
Salisbury, but given the relationships among the
archbishop, the Bishop o f Salisbury, and the
Cistercians, it may certainly be considered part
of the collective artistic background. Pace Marks,
I am trying to establish here a comprehensive
contextual environment for the expression of
Fig. 3. Canterbury Cathedral, presbytery and Trinity Chapel,
architectural forms. At times what was once
1175-84. (author, reproduced with the kind permission o f the
inspired by others returns to affect the original
Dean and Chapter)
group in another moment, another context,
creating a web of complex interactions among throughout (except for the coloured panels in
the various communities. The silver tonality of the eastern chapels), has a clarity reminiscent
Salisbury’s interior, due to the grisaille glass o f — if not inspired by — Cistercian luminos-

4 .Throughout Marks's publications, eg., “Cistercian Win­ tecture in the British Isles, ed. Christopher N orton and David
dow Glass in England and Wales", in Cistercian Art andArchi- Park (Cambridge, 1986), p. 211—27 (p.215-17).

Cistercian Threads in the Fabric o f Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals 343

 íty, a prominent quality o f Cistercian architec­
ture and surely a striking one to sensitive view­
ers such as Langton and Poore.3 M oulded
capitals, on the other hand, are more firmly
derived from Cistercian sources, at least in Eng­
land.
As a great church Salisbury Cathedral is sur­
prising in making intense use of moulded cap­
itals, not only in subordinate sections (as is the
case in the retrochoir o f Winchester Cathedral),
but throughout the building with few excep­
tions. Both Canterbury and Lincoln, on the
other hand, luxuriate in foliate capitals. The use
o f moulded capitals is not simply due to the
hardness of marble, because there are enough
foliate capitals carved in Purbeck to dispute that
idea.6 The abundant complicated arch mould­
Fig. 4. Canterbury Cathedral, Trinity Chapel crypt,
ings also dispel economic reasons for the
1 1 7 9 -8 4 . (author, reproduced with the hind permission o f
employment of moulded capitals. Their use
the Dean and Chapter)
seems intentional: they point not only to the
reform mode o f moderation and chasteness, but
also to a Cistercian connection, probably via
the model Canterbury. Moulded capitals appear bear the sign of the sacred to those who know
there in a special place: on columns in the crypt how to read the message.8 Marble itself reifies
o f the Trinity Chapel, standing as sentries to the heavenly richness so well emphasized in the
the east and west o f the original burial place of Trinity Chapel and amplified by its use in the
St Thomas Becket (Fig. 4).7 Appearing in the magnificent marble pavement, the varied mar­
subterranean modesty of a crypt, they may mark ble columns, and the jewel-coloured splendour
a conscious asceticism much like Becket’s. o f its windows.9*Given this architectural con­
W ith this association the use o f purified text one might have expected the eastern chapel
moulded capitals may take on an additional at Salisbury to have been dedicated to the Trin­
meaning perhaps surprising to us: at Salisbury ity, even though it served for the daily Lady-
moulded capitals in Purbeck marble seem to Mass and hence is popularly referred to as the

5. As Richard Marks wrote in “T he T hirteenth-C entu­ 2); see also Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude (p. 82 and 64)
ry Glazing o f Salisbury Cathedral”, in Medieval Art and Archi­ w ho m entioned earlier examples at Newcastle, Byland,
tecture at Salisbury, ed. Keen and Cocke, p. 106-20 (p. 111), and R oche abbeys. T he rib profile o f the Canterbury crypt
“much thought [was] given to its impact [of grisaille] on is similar to one at R oche and was later used at Beaulieu
the overall decorative scheme o f the building as well as on Abbey; Virginia Jansen, “Architectural Remains o f King
the clarity o f transmitted light”, although he denied a Cis­ Jo h n ’s Abbey, Beaulieu (Hampshire)”, in Studies in Cister­
tercian connection; see also n. 44, where he disagreed specif­ cian Art and Architecture, vol. II, ed. Meredith E Liilich (Kala­
ically with my position. Sarah Brown discussed the original mazoo, 1984), p. 76—114 (p. 84 and Fig. 10). T he drawing
location o f the glass fragments in Sumptuous and Richly by Jo h n A therton Bowen in Tim Tatton-B row n, Great
Adorn’d :The Decoration of Salisbury Cathedral (London, 1999), Cathedrals o f Britain (London, 1989), p. 81, made the site
p.8. o f the tom b brilliantly clear.
6. For example, the capitals o f the double columns at 8. In this regard, it is significant that the foliage carving
the entrance to the Canterbury crypt (Fig. 4) and capitals at Salisbury is found generally in the upper reaches o f the
in the retrochoir o f W inchester. In a Cistercian context cathedral: in the vaulting shaft capitals and the vaulting boss­
moulded capitals probably form a next stage after those es as well as in the capitals o f the eastern piers o f the east
w ith reduced foliage and plain bells. They obviously suit transept, the entry to the sanctuary. T he capitals on the
round abaci well. shrine-like Purbeck tom b o f Flubert Walter, bishop o f Sal­
isbury before being consecrated archbishop o f Canterbury,
7. Jean Bony discussed these capitals as Cistercian influ­
were also moulded.
enced, citing antecedents at Cistercian Furness and in
France (pers. comm, and in “ French Influences on the O ri­ 9. Too late to affect the architecture o f the rebuilding,
gins o f English G othic A rchitecture” , Journal of the War­ the Cistercian Baldwin was Archbishop o f Canterbury from
burg and Courtauld Institutes, 12 (1949), p. 1—15 (p. 11, n. 1185 to 1190.

344 V I R G I N I A J ANSEN
Lady Chapel; however, the whole cathedral itself those who could afford to found a monastery. It
is dedicated to the Virgin.10 should not be surprising then to see a Cistercian
If a few architectural elements hint at a frag­ impact on building at this rime, particularly given
mentary warp o f Cistercian associations, the the O rder’s renown for superior craft and its
more interesting question is why. Why would record as active builders. In regard to Canterbury
the metropolitanate of the most major Bene­ and Salisbury Cathedrals, however, the relation­
dictine monastic cathedral and the bishop of an ships are more specific and well documented.
important cathedral of secular canons in Eng­ W hen Archbishop Stephen Langton o f Can­
land want to embrace Cistercian forms and ideas terbury was in exile (1207-13) during the
in architecture at this time? interdict, he stayed, very consciously it seems,
Before the establishment o f the new mendi­ at Pontigny, where Thomas Becket had meant
cant orders, the Cistercians served as the most to spend his exile.12 During Langton’s univer­
prestigious model o f spiritual behaviour and sity years in Paris, the 1170s-1206, Thomas
devotion.11 Even after their extraordinary burst Becket was highly regarded as both saint and
o f early settlement, among British patrons many model o f clerical freedom from lay interfer­
prestigious foundations were founded in the late ence.13 In Paris Peter the Chanter, among oth­
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, e.g., King ers, cited him early on as a martyr, and the
Richard Es Bonport; his brother King Johns at biographer o f Pope Alexander III claimed that
Beaulieu; and even after the coming o f the fri­ the clergy and people in France had prompt­
ars, La Clarté Dieu and Netley founded by King ed his canonization.14 Langton’s fellow student
John’s trusted courtier, Peter des Roches, whom in Paris, Lotario dei Conti di Segni, who in
John made Bishop of Winchester; King Henry 1198 become Pope Innocent III, visited Beck-
Ill’s brother Richard of Cornwall’s Hailes; King et’s tomb at Canterbury in 1185 or 1186; it has
Edward Is Vale Royal, etc; and the Cistercian been supposed that Lotario might in fact have
nunnery Tarrant Keynes, founded by Bishop been at the Becket canonization in 1173,
Richard Poore, who later assigned its patronage which took place in his native Segni.13 Upon
to Queen Eleanor and which became one of the becoming Archbishop o f Canterbury, Lang­
richest Cistercian nunneries in England. Thus, ton, under attack from the king, took St
throughout the thirteenth century the Cister­ Thomas as a model for ecclesiastical autono­
cians were highly regarded, particularly among my and for suffering through political con-

10. The Trinity Chapel at Salisbury is one o f many east­ tercian connection may have been stronger in Langton’s
ern extensions which Peter Draper believes was stimulated mind for other reasons as well. Also in exile with Langton
by the Canterbury chapel; see his "T h e N ine Altars at were some o f his familia, including one o f Langton’s stew­
Durham and Fountains", in Medieval Art and Architecture at ards and the arts administrator par excellence, Elias o f Dere­
Durham Cathedral, ed. Nicola Coldstream and Peter Drap­ ham. w ho is often cited as “ the architect” o f Salisbury
er. British Archaeological Association Conference Transac­ Cathedral, but Elias was neither a mason nor a supervisor
tions, 3 (Leeds, 1980), p.74—86 (p.74). It is unclear whether documented at Salisbury when the cathedral had been begun
the Salisbury Trinity Chapel was meant to hold the body (Kathleen Major, “T he ‘Familia’ o f Archbishop Stephen
o f St Osmund, Salisbury’s founder-bishop, w hom Bishop Langton” , English Historical Review, 48 [1933], p.529-53 [p.
Poore was trying to get canonized. 530]); for Elias’s date at Salisbury, see English Episcopal Acta,
T he parish church in the new town o f Salisbury was ded­ ed.David M .Sm ith, in progress (London, 1980—), vol.xix,
icated to St Thomas o f Canterbury, but Tim Tatton-Brown Salisbury 1217-1228, ed. Brian R . Kemp (2000), p. 397.
(“T he Church o f St Thomas o f Canterbury. Salisbury”,
Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 90 13. F. Maurice Powicke, Stephen Langton (Oxford, 1928),
[1997J, p. 101-09 [p. 101-02]), found no solid evidence for passim.
a standing 13!l’-century church o f St Thomas. 14. Phyllis B. Roberts, “Langton on Becket: A N ew Look
11. This statement is not meant to diminish the signifi­ and a N ew Text”, Mediaeval Studies, 35 (1973), p.38-48 (p.
cance o f other reform orders such as the Augustinians and 42); Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, I, p. 257; Frank
Gilbertines, but the Cistercians were more widely espoused. Barlow, Thomas Becket (Berkeley, 1986: repr. 1990), p.269.
Roberts (Studies, p. 120) emphasized Paris as the locus of 15. Edward Peters, “Lotario dei Conti di Segni becomes
reform preaching in forming part o f the background for the Pope Innocent III: T he Man and the Pope”, in Pope Inno­
development o f the friars. cent III and his World, ed.John C. M oore (Aldershot, 1999),
12. Since Becket spent only two years at Pontigny and p. 3-24 (p. 10), where he stressed Innocent’s strong interest
four at the Benedictine abbey o f Sainte-Colombe, the Cis- in the cult o f Becket.

Cistercian Threads in the Fabric o f Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals 345

 flict.16 His counterseal depicted the martyr­ including his first confessor and chaplain; the
dom, while his words echoed those o f Beck- first cardinal he made was Gerard of Pontigny;
et as archbishop.1/ For example, Langton styled and he often used Cistercians as emissaries.21
his acta with the words minister humilis besnn- He restored the monastery o f St M artin in
ning in ca. 1220, the time o f St Thomas’s trans­ Viterbo, adding it to the filiation o f Pontigny.
lation, a designation not used by archbishops He even changed the papal household garb to
other than Becket.18 And, in an immense cel­ white wool.22 For himself he substituted white
ebration, Langton finally translated the remains wool and lambskin for opulent papal clothing
of St Thomas from the crypt where he was as well as wood and glass vessels for ones o f sil­
interred after his martyrdom to a glorious, ver and gold, which he felt would help to elim­
sumptuous shrine in the new Trinity Chapel inate superfluity and encourage modesty in his
above, whereas the Archbishop’s own tomb clergy.23 Just such words were used in canons
remained remarkably self-effacing.19 16, 17, and 62 o f the fourth Lateran Council
Innocent not only shared many of the same o f 1215.24 “Superfluity” and “modesty” are two
years in Paris with Master Stephen Langton, words that occur frequently in Cistercian texts,
but in 1206 made him a cardinal and then in not only pertaining to behaviour but also
1207 consecrated him archbishop. Clearly they applied to visual culture; St Bernard’s famous
knew each other well, and their ideas about the Apologia against the “superfluous breadth” o f
Church were similar. Both men were closely Benedictine churches is undoubtedly the most
allied in Paris with the circle o f Peter the celebrated text for art historians.23 Langton also
Chanter, who had condemned superfluity in emphasized simplicity in his lectures and writ­
the building of the cathedral there.20 ing, arguing against the lengthy and the useless.
Innocent himself was imbued thoroughly Like those of the Cistercians and other reform­
with the Cistercians and their ideals. He includ­ ers, his sermons stress renunciation of the mate­
ed many Cistercians in his papal household, rial.26

16. Roberts, Studies, p. 135; end., “Langton on Becket”, 23. Brenda Bolton, “ Quiftdelis est in minimo:T he Impor­
p. 39—40 and 42; Richard Eales, “The Political Setting o f tance o f Innocent’s Gift List”, in Pope Innocent III and his
the Becket Translation o f 1220” , in Martyrs and Martyrolo- World, ed. M oore, p. 113-40 (p. 120—21), and ead., “ Via
gies, ed. Diana Wood, Studies in Church History, 30 (Oxford, ascetica: A Papal Quandary?”, article 6 in Innocent III: Stud­
1993), p. 127-39 (p. 129). ies. p. 161—91 (p. 168), based on the Cistercian chronicle o f
S. Maria di Ferrara.
17. Powicke, Stephen Langton, frontispiece; Amaury d’Es-
neval, “ La Survivance de Saint Thomas Becket à travers son 24. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norm an P. Tan­
quatrième successeur, Etienne Langton”, in Thomas Bech­ ner, 2 vols (Washington, 1990), voi. 1, p. 243 and 263—64.
et: Actes du colloque international de Sédières, ed. Raymonde Similarly, in decree 71 (p. 267) "in vestitu mediocritatem”
Foreville (Paris, 1975), p. 111-14 (p. 113). was used. In canon 12 (p. 240-41), the Cistercian General
18. Acta Stephani Langton, Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, A.D. C hapter m eeting is cited as a model. T he ideas in these
1207-1228, ed. Kathleen Major, Canterbury and York Soci­ canons had been circulated in statutes by several o f the
ety, 50 (Oxford, 1950), p. xxii—xxiii. Richard Poore, bish­ reform leaders in the two decades prior to the fourth Lat­
op o f Salisbury, followed suit, although the wording was eran Council, e.g., by R obert o f Courson, Guala Bicchieri,
used occasionally in other early-13*-century episcopal acta and Stephen Langton. Among the large bibliography on the
as well; see Brian Kemp, “G od’s and the King’s Good Ser­ topic, see Councils and Synods, ed. Powicke and Cheney, ll.l;
vant: Richard Poore, Bishop o f Salisbury, 1217—28”, Peri­ Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, I, ch. 2: The Letters
tia, 12 (1998), p. 359-77 (p. 364). and Charters of Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, Papal Legate in Eng­
land, 1216-1218, ed. Nicholas Vincent, Canterbury and
19. Christopher Wilson, “The Medieval M onuments”, York Society, 83 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1996), p. lxxx.
in A History of Canterbur)’ Cathedral, ed. Patrick Collinson
et al. (Oxford, 1995), p. 451—510 (p. 458). 25. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 11—16;Terryl N.
Kinder, Cistercian Europe:Architecture o f Contemplation (Grand
20. Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, I, passim, espe­ Rapids, MI. 2002), p. 26, 142-43, 161, and passim; Virginia
cially chs 1 and 2; Brenda Bolton, “ Hearts not Purses: Inno­ Jansen, “Architecture and Com munity in Medieval Monas­
cent Ill’s Attitude to Social Welfare”, article 18 in Innocent tic D orm itories”, in Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture,
III: Studies on Papal Authority and Pastoral Care, Collected voi. V , ed. Meredith P. Lillich. Cistercian Studies, 167 (Kala­
Studies series, CS490 (Aldershot, 1995), p. 123—34 (p. 126). mazoo, 1998), p. 58—94 (p. 72, 80, and n. 42).
21. Peters, “Lotario”, p. 19 and n. 50: Bolton, Innocent III:
Studies, p. xii. 26. Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, I, p. 138;
Roberts, Studies, p. 112. With Langton this sense o f m od­
22. Peters, “Lotario”, p. 18-19, citing the Gesta Innocenta esty could reach austerity; in 1215 he was reported think­
PP. Ill, CXLVIII. in Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Lati­ ing o f resigning to becom e a herm it or Carthusian,
na, ed.Jacques-Paul Migne (Paris, 1844—64), 214, cols 225-26. according to Roberts (p. 12).

346 V I R GI N I A J ANSE N
Fig. 5. Pontigny Abbey, choir to east,
late twelfth century, (author)

Innocent was also strongly interested in the ‘“on the ground ecclesiology’” .28 Furthermore,
building and restoration o f churches and con­ in his writing Langton related ruinous condi­
tributed significantly to the Cistercian abbeys tions o f the material church to the moral state
o f San M artino al Cimino, Fossanova, and o f churchgoers and church patrons.29 Mean­
Casamari.27 Historians have remarked upon the while, when Archbishop Langton was at Pon­
acute consciousness about visual effects of mate­ tigny, its choir was either under construction
rial objects from the Pope to the Archbishop or just completed (Fig. 5).30*Given Langton’s
and the English bishops, what has been called astute observance o f his environs and his fre-

27. Bolton. “Gift List”, p. 134. 30. Terryl N. Kinder cited evidence o f quarry usage to
bracket construction between 1186 and 1205 (“Clay and What
28. Ibid., p. 121, and with reference to Edward Peters,
They Did with It: Medieval Tiles and Bricks at Pontigny”, in
“Restoring the Church and Restoring Churches: Event and
Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture, voi. iv, ed. Meredith P.
Image in Franciscan Biography”, Franziskanische Studien, 68
Lillich [Kalamazoo, 1993J. p. 15-44,198-221 [p. 16]; also ead..
(1986), p. 213-36 (p. 234-36).
Cistercian Europe, p. 222-23). The Archbishop acknowledged
29. Smalley in G eorge Lacombe. Beryl Smalley, and his hosts during his exile by granting them a pension o f 50
Alys L. Gregory. Studies on the Commentaries of Cardinal marks per annum in 1222; Acta Stephani Langton, ed. Major, no.
Stephen Langton, repr. front Archives d’Histoire doctrinale 55, p. 73-74. Given the splendid, extensive choir, it is not sur­
et littéraire du Moyen Age (Paris, 1930), p. 177; Beryl prising that King John's new Cistercian abbey at Beaulieu,
Smalley. “Exempla in the Commentaries o f Stephen Lang­ founded in 1204. would follow PontignyS design, a decision
to n ” , Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 17 (1933), p. perhaps brought about by John’s loyal advisor, Peter des
121-29 (p. 123). Roches, bishop o f Winchester, w ho himself founded two
Cistercian abbeys, as mentioned above.

Cistercian Threads in the Fabric of Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals 347

 quent use o f practical examples helpful for daily was present with Archbishop Stephen at the
life as evidenced in his sermons and commen­ examination of the body of St Thomas before
taries, it is more than likely that he observed the translation in 1220.j4 Regularity and order
the forms of his surroundings while there, espe­ were as important to him as they were to Lang­
cially o f the new choir.31 Although there are ton and the Cistercians. The highly regular exte­
few, if any, elements from Pontigny that can be rior and plan o f Salisbury Cathedral perform
identified in the architecture of Canterbury and an architectural accompaniment to Poore’s reor­
Salisbury Cathedrals, Cistercian ideas in gener­ ganization of the liturgy, the Use of Sarum, and
al would certainly have affected a perceptive to his synodal statutes, which drew upon work
observer such as Archbishop Langton. A feature such as Langtons decrees and those o f the
such as quadripartite vaulting — found at both fourth Lateran Council. Brian Kemp empha­
Pontigny and Salisbury — occurs in many sizes his humility, reticence, and wisdom.35
buildings across Europe, but in English archi­ Although the thought must remain speculation,
tecture, even if found in crypts and small Cistercian masters may have been among those
churches, it is infrequent in main cathedral ves­ whom Bishop Richard brought to consult on
sels. Quadripartite vaulting at Wells Cathedral the design o f the cathedral: “W ith the advice
is another case for which Cistercian links could of noble artists whom he had summoned from
be posited.32 Similarly, base spurs are common distant parts he laid out a spacious foundation,
in the twelfth-century architecture of both Eng­ himself putting in place the first stone.”36 In any
land and France, as was the grisaille glass pre­ case, what is definite is that before 1228 Poore
viously discussed. All o f these features are too had refounded an anchorite convent in Dorset
common, however, for the historian to pin at Tarrant Keynes (also called Tarrant Craw­
down with any precise conclusions. ford), his reputed birthplace, which he had
After Langton and his former student in Paris, assisted since at least 1196 and had affiliated with
Richard Poore, returned from exile in 1213, the Cistercian Order, and where he returned
the Archbishop remained in close contact with to die in 1237.-’7 Unfortunately, no physical
Poore, then Dean o f Salisbury (1197-1215), remains of the nunnery have been identified to
who was first elected Bishop o f Chichester inform architectural analysis.
(1215), then Bishop o f Salisbury (1217). Poore Poore also granted an indulgence to help the
had spent the interdict years in Paris teaching building of the nearby Cistercian abbey o f Stan­
and serving as a papal judge delegate.3334He alone ley (Wilts.).38 Thus it is not surprising that

31. Roberts, Studies, esp. p. 112, 46-47, and 53, but also Lateinische Schriftquellen sur Kunst in England, Wales und Schot­
68. 83, and passini’, Lacombe, Smalley, and Gregory, Studies tland vom Jahre 901 bis sum Jahre 1307, 5 vols (M unich,
on the Commentaries, p. 100, n. 1. D ’Esneval, “La Survivance 1955-60), II, p. 484, n o .4067:English translation: A. Hamil­
de Saint Thomas Becket’’, p. 111-112, also stressed Langton’s ton Thompson, “Master Elias o f Dereham and the King’s
following the Cistercian tradition o f biblical interpretation. Works” . Archaeological Journal, 98 (1941), p. 1-35 (p. 10. n.
2) .Jonathan Rady, Tim Tatton-Brown, and John A. Bowen,
32. See Carolyn M alone’s contribution in this volume, “The Archbishop’s Palace, Canterbury”,Journal of the British
which discusses other elements at Wells and their Cister­ ArchaeologicalAssociation, 144 (1991). p. 1-60 (p.8), suggested
cian context.
similarly that “it is quite likely that Stephen Langton (and
33. Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants, I, p. 31. Elias o f Dereham) would have brought new ideas (and
masons?) with them from France when they returned from
34. John le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300, their exile”.
compiled by Diana E. Greenway (London, 1968- ), IV : Sal­
isbury (1991), p. XXX. Richard Poore’s devotion to the Trin­ 37. M uriel M. C. Calthrop, “T he Abbey o f Tarrant
ity is marked by his donation o f 10 marks yearly for Kaines”, in The Victoria History of the County o f Dorset, ed.
maintenance o f lights at the altar dedicated to the Holy William Page (London, 1908-), u. p. 87-90; Canon Fletch­
Trinity and All Saints in the Trinity Chapel; Brown, Sump­ er, “Tarrant Crawford, and the Founder o f Salisbury Cathe­
tuous and Richly Adorn’d, p. 17. dral", Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian
35. Kemp, “Richard Poore”, esp. p. 364—65, 376, and 378. Field Club, 49 (1928), p. 1—24; English Episcopal Acta, voi.
X V III, Salisbury 1078-1217, ed. Brian R . Kemp (1999). p.
36. M atthew Paris, Chronica majora, ed. H enry R . Luard. xxxi, n.10 and p. Iv. Henry Ill’s sister, Joan, queen o f Scot­
7 vols, Rolls Series, 57 (London,' 1872-84) ill. p. 391; "Et land, also selected Tarrant for her burial.
consilio nobilium artificum, quos a remotis convocaverat,
amplum jecit fundamentum, ipso prim um lapidem com ­ 38. English Episcopal Acta, e d . Kemp, X IX , p. 369. no. 384;
ponente.” Also printed in O tto Lehmann-Brockhaus, Fergusson, Architecture o f Solitude, p. 147.

348 V I R GI N I A J ANSEN
details known about Stanley s thirteenth-cen­ Both on physical and historical grounds, Cis­
tury architecture show similarities with mould­ tercian qualities and occasionally specific ele­
ings related to the architectural milieu of ments weave through the web of relationships
Salisbury Cathedral. ’9 Here again the strength between Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals
o f friendships and personal connections might and the reform agendas o f the late twelfth and
be called upon to underscore a Cistercian con­ thirteenth centuries. R eform was the key
nection. Edmund of Abingdon, treasurer of Sal­ thread that bound Cistercian ideals to those o f
isbury from 1222 to 1234 before his election as Pope Innocent III, Archbishop Stephen Lang­
Archbishop of Canterbury (1234—40), lived for ton, and Bishop Richard Poore. Just as Cis­
several months each year at Stanley where his tercian architecture provided a m edium for
friend and advisee, Stephen of Lexington, was stimulating the qualities o f the Cistercian life,
abbot (1224-29).40 N ot only Edm und’s so the fabric o f Salisbury Cathedral may have
extremely ascetic temperament, but also his been meant to mark goals o f reform, as the
especially liberal giving to the poor at his canon- martyrdom o f Archbishop Thomas Becket
ry seems to have necessitated his living at Stan­ symbolized them. From this distance one can­
ley for part of the year in order to save money. not state with any certainty what the prima­
Like Langton, Edmund had earlier been a stu­ ry influences may have been on the astute,
dent and master at Paris (and Edmund also at sensitive, knowledgeable, and widely travelled
Oxford). While archbishop, unable to negotiate clergy o f the early-thirteenth-century Church.
with the king and Canterbury monks, Edmund But to do these remarkable men justice, one
left England in 1240 for Rome, stopping at Pon- might cast the net broadly to encompass their
tigny as he had done on a previous trip. In doing intellectual situations and environments rather
so, he not only drew upon Canterbury tradition than reducing the perspective. The Cistercian
(even staying in the house at Pontigny where image remained powerful in the thirteenth
Becket had lived), but he also expressed his devo­ century. Such authority may be difficult for
tion for the Cistercian Order. At Pontigny he modern art historians to see, but its lack o f vis­
was invited to attend a meeting of the chapter ibility does not make Cistercian meaning and
and to preach a sermon. At this time he appealed religious ideals any less potent to the lives of
for the privilege of confraternity with the com­ men responsible for the spiritual welfare o f
munity there and his request was granted.41 In their world. Architectural, institutional, reli­
fragile health and with winter approaching, he gious, and human threads — together they
appears to have turned back towards England, create a whole cloth o f possibilities for his­
stopping at the Augustinian priory at Soisy near torical interpretation.
Provins. His condition worsened rapidly, how­
ever, and with death imminent he requested that Cowell College
his body be returned to Pontigny for burial.42 University o f California at Santa Cruz

39. Harold Brakspear, “The Cistercian Abbey o f Stanley, 41. This much-coveted privilege allowed special clerical
Wiltshire", Archaeologia, 60, 2nd ser., 10 (1907). p.493-516 and lay benefactors to become associated with the spiritu­
(p.501, fig. 3). Although 1 have found no exact comparisons al benefits o f the monastery, including celebration at death
for the moulding, it looks most like an undated version o f o f the full office as though he were a monk. See “H ow he
ones in the north arm o f the Chichester transept and in the received confraternity in their chapter”, in The Life of St
Boxgrove presbytery. Edmund by Matthew Paris, ed. and trans. Clifford H. Lawrence
(Oxford, 1996), p. 151 and n. 92.
40. John le Neve, Fasti, IV, p. 21. Henry F. Chettle and
John L. Kirby, “Stanley Abbey", in The Victoria History of the 42. Clifford H. Lawrence, Sf Edmund o f Abingdon:A Study
County of Wiltshire, ed. Ralph B. Pugh and Elizabeth C o t­ in Hagiography and History (Oxford, 1960), p. 176—81; also
tali (London, 1 9 5 3 -), ill. p. 273. his biographical introduction to The Life of St Edmund by
Matthew Paris, p. 88—90, 150—51.

Cistercian Threads in the Fabric o f Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedrals 349

 Cistercian Design in the Choir
and Transept of Wells Cathedral
C A R O L Y N M A R IN O M A L O N E

he choir and transept of Wells Cathe­ struction o f Wells, noted only once that a form

T dral, a church o f secular canons in the

west o f England, were designed with
simple Cistercian elements without a trace of
the ornate architectural forms used at Canter­
was borrowed from the west English Cistercian
monastery of Abbey Dore although he had ear­
lier made an extensive study of Cistercian archi­
tecture.3 Cistercian elements from Abbey Dore,
bury during the 1180s.1On the other hand, the in fact, had appeared around 1176 in the west
Benedictine Abbey of Glastonbury was being bays at Worcester Cathedral, the earliest con­
built six miles away with a combination of Cis­ struction of the western school o f masons.4*But
tercian and Canterbury features (Figs 1 ,2 ). in comparison to the other buildings of this
Edward Prior and Harold Brakspear attributed school, such as Glastonbury, the choir and
these contemporaneous churches to a western transept at Wells stand out as more Cistercian
school o f masons. Although Prior had noted in design (Figs 1,3).
the relationship o f the school to Cistercian Although the Lady Chapel at Glastonbury is
buildings such as Buildwas Abbey, Brakspear documented as having been constructed by
did not acknowledge Cistercian sources and King Henry II after a fire in 1184, the date of
proposed that the school originated in the the beginning of work at Wells is less certain."’
Benedictine workshop of Malmesbury Abbey.2 Between 1184 and 1187 Reginald, bishop of
John Bilson, in his detailed analysis of the con­ Bath (1174-91), granted the proceeds o f vacant

1. Carolyn Malone, “West English Gothic Architecture, with Special Reference to Some o f their Earlier Churches
1175-1250” (unpublished doctoral dissertation. University in England", Archaeological Journal, 66 (1909), p. 184-280.
o f California. Berkeley, 1973), p. 13. Identification o f Cis­
4. Jean Bony, “ French Influences on the Origins o f Eng­
tercian features at Wells in this essay is based on my disser­
lish Gothic Architecture” , Journal o f the Warburg and Cour-
tation. In order to emphasize themes im portant to Peter
tauld Institutes, 12 (1949), p. 1-15 (p. 11). Peter Fergusson,
Fergusson’s work. 1 have expanded this research and have
Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian Abbeys in Twelfth-Century
focused on the plan o f the east end at Wells, a feature rele­
England (Princeton, 1984), p. 99. Carolyn Malone, “Abbey
gated to a footnote in my dissertation. The dissertation exam­
Dore: English vs. French Design”, in Studies in Cistercian Art
ined twelve churches and analysed the development o f the
and Architecture, vol. II, ed. Meredith P. Lillich. Cistercian
western school as a mannered refinement o f French G oth­
Studies, 69 (Kalamazoo, 1984). p. 50—75. Christopher W il­
ic architecture.
son, “T he Sources o f the Late Twelfth-Century Work at
2. Edward S. Prior, History of Gothic Art in England (Lon­ Worcester Cathedral”, in Medieval Art and Architecture at
don, 1900), p. 86; and Harold Brakspear, "A West C o u n ­ Worcester Cathedral, ed. Glenys Popper, British Archaeolog­
try School o f Masons” , Archaeologia, 31 (1931), p. 1—18 ical Association Conference Transactions, 1 (Leeds, 1978),
(p. 11). p. 80-90 (p. 89. n. 40), however, lists Abbey Dore as a minor
workshop dependent upon Worcester.
3. John Bilson, “ Notes on the Earlier Architectural His­
tory o f Wells Cathedral", Archaeological Journal, 85 (1928), 5. R obert Willis, Architectural History of Glastonbury Abbey
p. 23-68 (p. 32); id., “The Architecture o f the Cistercians, (London, 1866), p. 11, 22; see below note 85.

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept of Wells Cathedral 351

 Figure 1. Wells Cathedral, north side of choir, ca. 1189. (author)

benefices for the fabric o f the church at Wells

which was located in his diocese.6
William the Precentor who attests this grant
was believed by J. Armitage Robinson to be Figure 2. Wells Cathedral, east side o f south transept, ca. 1195.
William o f Saint Faith. Robinson dated the (author)
grant around 1184 since he believed that the
same William appeared in a Sarum Charter of
1184. A nother document published later in agent o f Archbishop Baldwin to R om e in a
Wells City Charters, however, revealed that document o f 1187, was certainly William of
there were two Williams who followed each Saint Faith. They suggested a date o f ca. 1180
other as precentor at Wells.7 Linzee S. Colch­ for the commencement o f work at Wells. Jerry
ester observed that the second William, William Sampson and Warwick Rodwell most recently
o f Saint Faith, is often mentioned by his full proposed that work began even earlier, around
name, and since William is the name of the pre­ 1176, because Doulting stone was substituted
centor in the grant mentioning the fabric, he for Chilcote conglomerate during the con­
concluded that it must have been the first struction o f the east side o f the transept.9 This
William who was the witness.8 Colchester and date allows enough time for significant work to
John H. Harvey’s terminus post quern is based have been done on the transept before 1184
on the fact that this first William became pre­ since they believe that Doulting stone from the
centor in 1175 or 1176; their terminus ante Glastonbury quarries would have been less
quern is based on the fact that William the Pre­ available after work began on the Lady Chapel
centor, who accompanied Peter o f Blois as at Glastonbury in 1184. They admit, however,

6. Joseph Armitage Robinson, “D ocumentary Evidence 9.Jerry Sampson, Wells Cathedral West Front: Construction,
Relating to the Building of the Cathedral Church o f Wells”, Sculpture and Conservation (Phoenix Mill. 1998), p. 13: and
ArchaeologicalJournal, 85 (1928). p. 1-17 (p.2-5). Warwick Rodwell, Wells Cathedral Excavations and Structur­
al Studies, 1978—93, vol. I (London, 2001), p. 130. Peter
7. Dorothy O. Shilton and Richard Holvvorthy, IVeils City
Draper accepted their 1180 date (“ Interpreting the Archi­
Charters. Somerset Record Society, 46 (London, 1932), p.xii.
tecture o f Wells Cathedral”, in Artistic Integration in Gothic
8. Linzee S. Colchester and John H. Harvey. “Wells Cathe­ Buildings, ed. Virginia Raquin, Kathryn Brush, and Peter
dral”, ArchaeologicalJournal, 131 (1974). p.200-14. Draper [Toronto. 1995], p. 114—31 [p. 120]).

352 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O M A LO N E
 PLATE JV.
Figure 3. Wells Cathedral, compara­ T ' f ü . r p w 37

tive elevations o f choir, transept, and

nave, (from John Bilson, “Notes on
the Earlier Architectural History of
Wells Cathedral”, Archaeological
Journal, 85 [1928], p. 2 3 -6 8 , pi.
I l f facing p. 37, with permission
from the Royal Archaeological Insti­
tute, London, England)

70 FÜET
---1
20 M ÈTRES
-I

that other circumstances may have determined ern school o f masons, such as Worcester (ca.
the change in stone. In fact, the use o f Doult- 1176), Saint David’s in Wales (ca. 1180-85), and
ing stone can be correlated with the location the choir at Glastonbury (ca. 1185).14 Compar­
o f Glastonbury-inspired foliate capitals at ison of mouldings and particularly foliate sculp­
Wells.10 Bishop Savaric in 1194 acquired the ture in the capitals of Wells and Glastonbury at
title o f Bath and Glastonbury and as a result similar locations in the buildings consistently
would have had access to Glastonbury’s quar­ suggests a slightly later date for Wells.13
ries for construction o f the transept during the
1190s.11 W ith work progressing from east to Reconstruction o f the Choir Elevation
west the transept could have been under con­
struction by 1194 if the choir had been begun The choir at Wells was rebuilt in the fourteenth
around 1186. Bilson had asserted earlier on styl­ century, but its late-twelfth-century elevation
istic grounds that Wells was begun after 1185, can be reconstructed. The arcade of the three
probably about 1190.12 For similar reasons Jean west bays o f the choir survive, although the tri­
Bony dated the design of Wells to 1189.13 My forium and clerestory were modified extensively
dating o f ca. 1186 situates Wells chronological­ during the later rebuilding (Figs 1 ,3 ). Bilson
ly in relation to earlier buildings o f the west- reconstructed the original triforium design of

10. Malone, “West English", p. 172-73, n. 52. 14. Malone, "West English", p. 145-58, 178.
11. Charles M. Church, Chapters in the Early History of the 15. Bilson, “Notes ” , p. 44: Malone. "West English ”, p.
Church of Wells, A. D. 1136-1333 (London, 1894), p. 94—98. 166-72, Pis 114-17.
108-09.'
16. Bilson, "N otes”, PI. IV.
12. Bilson, "N otes”, p. 67.
17. Ibid., p. 45. I cite Bilson’s measurements for Wells
13. Bony, “French Influences”, p. 13. throughout this article.

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept o f Wells Cathedral 353

 twin arches on the basis o f walled-up openings transept and in the nave are still narrower than
which still remain in each of the three bays on those in the bay design of the transept.
the back wall o f this zone in the choir.16 Except for these changes, the choir elevation
Although fourteenth-century windows have seems to have been similar to that preserved in
been inserted, the original external walling the transept. String courses still divide the tri­
remains at clerestory level with the hood- forium zone from the arcade and clerestory in
moulds o f the original windows, buttresses, and the transept (Figs 2, 3). The height of the tri­
corbel tables. O n the interior o f the choir there forium is about one-sixth o f the total internal
are indications of the western sides of the orig­ height of the bay, and less than half the height
inal triforium and clerestory above the arcades o f either the arcade or clerestory.21 There is a
on both the north and south sides o f the west­ clerestory passage, and the clerestory is only two
ern bay next to the crossing piers. This evidence feet less than the arcade storey. In the transept
indicates that the original bay design o f the the mouldings o f the twin openings of the tri­
choir was similar to that of the transept where forium are continuous from jamb to arch in
the original triforium still remains, except for three orders, o f which the outer and inner have
the contraction o f the width o f the transept an angle roll flanked by hollows and chamfers,
bays (Figs 1, 2, 3).The bay width in the transept while the middle order is only chamfered and
between pier centres is 14 ft 8.5 in. (4.48 m) as is returned as a sill. The single clerestory win­
compared with 17 ft 0.5 in. (5.19 m) in the dow in each bay has a double chamfer inside
choir.17 This contraction altered significantly and outside as is also the case in the aisle win­
the proportions o f the bay.18 The width o f the dows. The vaulting shafts rest on corbels locat­
triforium openings was reduced from 2 ft 10 ed above the string course dividing the
in. (86 cm) in the choir to 1 ft 8.5 in. (52 cm) triforium from the arcade. The corbels support
in the transept.19 As a result the arches of the three shaft groups o f which the middle shaft is
arcade and triforium in the transept are more keeled with angular fillets between the shafts.
acutely pointed. The capitals, which support the transverse and
At both Wells and Glastonbury, the oblong diagonal ribs of the high vault, have semi-octag­
shape o f the choir aisle bays had created a bay onal abaci located 3 ft 9 in. (1.14 m) above the
width narrower than that o f the choir in the clerestory string course.
first bay o f the transept. These oblong bays may
have been a Cistercian feature. In his article on Cistercian Mouldings
Cistercian architecture Bilson pointed out that
in “many Cistercian churches, e.g. Fountains, The mouldings used in the choir aisles, the ear­
Kirkstall, Buildwas, Roche, Byland, and Dore, liest remaining part of the church at Wells, are
the aisles are narrower in proportion to the cen­ simple in design and can be found earlier in
tral span, and the bays o f the aisle are decided­ Cistercian buildings. For example, the use of
ly oblong from east to west” .20 At Wells no chamfers at Wells seems to derive from an Eng­
adjustment was made to maintain the width of lish Cistercian tradition. Continuous chamfers
the choir bay in the transept as at Glastonbury, proliferate in a new way at Wells but are found
and the width o f the choir aisle was allowed to earlier in the south transept (ca. 1175-80) of the
control the width of the transept bays. This must West English Cistercian church o f Abbey
have been a matter o f choice, not necessity as Dore.22 N ot only is the chamfer prominent in
Bilson suggested. The master mason o f Wells the mouldings of the triforium at Wells, but a
seems to have preferred the resulting sharply double chamfer frames the clerestory as well as
pointed arches in the transept which he used the aisle and transept windows; it is also found
elsewhere in the building (Figs 3, 4). In fact, the later in the nave (Figs 2, 4). The double cham­
triforium openings in the end walls o f the fer appears earlier than Wells as part o f the

18. Ibid., PI. IV, A and B. 21. Bilson, “N otes” , p. 42-43, Fig. 6.
19. Ibid., p. 46. 22. Malone. “Abbey D ore”, p. 73, n. 36, p. 69. n. 15. The
chamfer seems to be more com m on in England than in
20. Bilson, “The Architecture”, p. 228.
France.

354 CA R OL YN M A R I N O MA L ON E
 aisle walls and the measurements o f the aisles of
the two buildings are almost the same, probably
indicating that the master mason at Wells knew
the plan at Glastonbury, but selected simpler
forms. Peter Draper believes that the design at
Wells resulted from rivalry with Glastonbury.23
For him Wells was designed around 1180 and
responded to the ornate Romanesque buildings
at Glastonbury before they were destroyed in
the fire o f 1184, whereas Glastonbury’s Gothic
church was a conscious restoration of the splen­
dour of its earlier buildings and an attempt to
re-establish the position o f Glastonbury vis à vis
Wells after the fire. For me the details that Glas­
tonbury and Wells share in design, such as the
chamfer, and the similar dimensions o f their
plans indicate that the two Gothic churches were
both designed around the same time after the
Glastonbury fire of 1184.26
Plain mouldings are also adopted for the
ribs o f the vaults at Wells (Fig. 4).27 The dou­
Figure 4. Wells Cathedral, west aisle wall o f south transept, ca. ble roll profile o f the transverse rib between
1197. (author) the aisle vaults o f the choir and transept o f
Wells were previously used at Abbey Dore
and Worcester, and before that in the chap­
repertoire o f the western school of masons in ter house at Buildwas (ca. 1 170).28 The triple
the aisles o f the west bays at Worcester Cathe­ roll o f the diagonal rib at Wells is an English
dral (ca. 1176). While the choir was being con­ Cistercian profile used at Abbey Dore, Build­
structed at Wells, the double chamfer also was was, and in the Cistercian chapter house at
used in the windows o f the eastern extension Forde.29 T he transverse arches between the
o f Abbey Dore (ca. 1190).23 At Wells the cham­ juncture o f the aisles o f choir, transept, and
fered arches of the crossing and the openings nave at Wells have an arris between the rolls
of the clerestory passage are terminated with as at Buildwas and Forde (Fig. 4).30 Likewise,
congés; congés are often a Cistercian feature and the quirked roll, the basic profile used in the
were used earlier at Abbey Dore.2425 mouldings o f the arcade at Wells, appears in
Significantly, the simple form of the chamfer the orders o f arch in the south transept and
frames the aisle and clerestory lancets at Wells nave at Abbey Dore (Fig. 1). This profile is a
whereas in the nearly contemporaneous aisle classic French Gothic moulding appearing in
windows in the choir at Glastonbury (ca. 1185) a form quite close to Wells as early as 1145-50
the chamfer is combined with chevron mould­ in the south-w est tower at Chartres and in
ings like those used at Canterbury. Except for other buildings connected to the St M artin-
this difference in mouldings the design o f the des-Cham ps workshop or in the Soisson-

23. Bilson, “Notes”, p. 32. 27. Bilson, “N otes”, Figs 2, 3.

24. Malone, “Abbey D ore”, p. 54, Fig. 15b; and Fergus- 28. Ibid.. p. 34, Fig. 3; Bilson, “The Architecture”. Fig.
son, Architecture of Solitude, PI. 28. Congés are prevalent in 13;and The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain: Farfrom the Concourse
Burgundian buildings, such as the Cistercian chapter house of Men, ed. David Robinson (Kalamazoo, 1998), p. 80.
at Fontenay o f the 1150 s. They are also found in the Cham­
penois building of Pogny, which might mean that they were 29. Bilson, “The Architecture", p. 266, Fig. 13; Fergus-
used in lost northern French Cistercian buildings. son, Architecture of Solitude, Pis 108, 109; and Malone, "Abbey
D ore”, p. 63, 73, n. 37. T he double roll is also found in
25. Draper. “Interpreting“ , p. 122-23. French buildings.
26. Malone, "West English”, p. 158-79; and below, note 67. 30. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, PI. 108.

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept of Wells Cathedral 355

 Figure 5. Abbeys o f Buildwas and
Roche, comparative elevations.
(from John Bilson, “The Architec­
ture o f the Cistercians, with special
reference to some o f their earlier
Churches in England", Archaeolog­
icalJournal, 66 [1909], pi. 5,
facing p. 227, with permission from
the Royal Archaeological Institute,
B üILD W A S. NAVE.
(P o tto r). (J. Blltton). London, England)

nais.jl The profile o f the abacus o f the capi­ effect, though still more restrained than the ju t­
tals at Wells is found earlier in the west o f ting chevrons at Glastonbury. The multiplicity
England at Abbey Dore; it too is a common of mouldings used at Wells to articulate the tri­
French profile, occurring for example at forium openings recalls the proliferation of
Noyon and Fecamp, and it is also used in the alternating mouldings used around windows in
south-east o f England at New Shoreham (Fig. the Soissonnais, such as those in the apses at
l).T h e semi-octagonal abacus, as used above Courmelles and Berzy-le-Sec.32 The only
three-shaft groups at Wells, seems also to extant earlier example o f a continuous roll that
derive from Cistercian sources and occurs ear­ is returned across the base o f the arch as in the
lier at Abbey Dore (Fig. 4). It was adopted by triforium at Wells is in the same region at
the western school o f masons in a slightly dif­ Fontenoy (Aisne), unless the example in the tri­
ferent form at W orcester previous to its forium o f Saint David s Cathedral built by the
appearance at Wells. western school o f masons is earlier.33 A
Although English Cistercian workshops could restrained ornate effect is also achieved in the
have supplied Wells with most o f the forms so arcade at Wells: the plain roll mouldings are
far discussed, direct knowledge o f French prac­ extended in five orders o f arch to span the thick
tice may have suggested the way in which these arcade wall o f 5 ft 5 in. (1.65 m). Mouldings
forms were multiplied at Wells. Although the particularly similar to the inner order o f the
chamfers and plain roll mouldings at Wells are arcade at Wells can be found at Vailly and at
in themselves simple, when multiplied and alter­ Coulonges.-’4 Although mouldings and foliate
nated with one another within the almost 5-ft- capitals similar to those at Wells can also be
thick (1.5 m) triforium wall, they create a rich found in the north arcade at New Shoreham,

31. Malone. “Abbey D ore”, p. 53; and ead., “West Eng­ 33. Ibid.. PI. 60.
lish”, P I. 105, fig. 1.
34. Ibid.. PI. 105. figs 2. 6. and PI. 106.
32. Malone, “West English”. P I . 73, figs 6, 7.

356 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O M A LO N E
the differences between the mouldings o f the order in dual triforium openings — depended
south-east of England and Wells as well as the on a common French prototype, probably Cis­
greater similarity of the Wells mouldings to tercian, located somewhere in the Soissonnais-
French mouldings, such as those o f Vailly, sug­ Champagne area or to the south o f Paris.39
gest that Wells got a new set o f particularly Since aspects o f the design of Roche may derive
French templates. from this same area, a Cistercian three-storey
elevation with proportions similar to Wells may
Cistercian Principles o f Design have also provided the model for the design of
the elevation at Wells.40
Although the triforium openings at Wells are The structure o f the triforium in the choir
richly articulated with continuous orders o f at Wells, however, is different from either the
arch and, hence, go far beyond any Cistercian blind triforium at Roche or the passage in the
building in their ornamental treatment, the thickness o f the wall at Déols. It is based on
double-arch design of the triforium seems based older traditions in which the triforium opened
on Cistercian buildings (Figs 2, 3).35 The way into the space above the aisle vault. The struc­
in which the twin arches of the triforium are tural system at Wells is characteristic of N or­
centred between the single arches o f the arcade man Romanesque elevations: the back wall of
and clerestory, with string courses dividing each the triforium o f both the choir and east side of
zone o f the three-storey elevation, recalls the the transept has an unmoulded rear-arch over
design o f the English Cistercian abbey o f each opening which is framed by a pointed
Roche (ca. 1170), although at Roche the trifo­ relieving arch springing from chamfered imposts
rium is blind and the clerestory arch is semi­ on the sides o f the piers.41 The wall o f the
circular instead o f pointed as at Wells (Fig. 5).36 clerestory and triforium including the rear
At Wells, however, a nearly equal balance of relieving arch is just over 5 ft (1.52 m) in thick­
arcade and clerestory was achieved since the ness. Beneath the roof o f the triforium, quad­
height of the clerestory is only two feet less than rant arches abut this wall to support the
the zone of the arcade.37 In this respect the choir clerestory buttress in the manner o f Durham or
elevation at Wells is closer to the French design La Trinité at Caen.42 Hence, a thick-wall sys­
of the Benedictine abbey of Déols (ca. 1170) tem with clerestory passage is used at Wells as
which is located near Chateauroux in the Indre at St Nicholas at Caen and St Georges
district of France.38 At Déols, as at Wells, the Boscherville. This type o f Romanesque eleva­
large clerestory windows and the arcade are bal­ tion — in which the triforium is pierced
anced on each side of a triforium with double through the wall and opens under the aisle roof
openings which are articulated with a contin­ — had been used in the west o f England in the
uous order, except at Déols the triforium arch­ nave at Hereford and also at Chepstow with a
es are round instead o f pointed and open into thinner wall and double openings. At C hep­
a triforium passage. Although the wars of Henry stow, as at Wells, the back o f the triforium wall
II between 1186 and 1189 could have made was reinforced with a wide, framing, relieving
Déols known to an English master mason, Bony arch. A related relieving arch was also used in
believed that the similarities between Déols and contemporaneous Gothic buildings in other
Wells — including the use of the continuous parts o f England, including Canterbury and

35. Ibid., p. 150. 39. Jean Bony, personal communication, 1970.

36. Ibid., PI. 125, fig. 2: and Fergusson, Architecture of Soli­ 40. Fergusson, Architecture o f Solitude, p. 65, for the
tude, Pis 61, 62. beginning o f work at R oche betw een 1170 and 1185.
Fergusson finds sim ilarities w ith the C istercian three-
37. Double lancets are balanced between single arches in
storey elevation o f Preuilly (Seine-et-M arne) and church­
the arcade and clerestory o f the similar but later design o f
es bordering the Ile-de-France o f the 1160s—1170s as well
the Cluniae abbey o f Much Wenlock. suggesting a similar
as those in the Aisne valley, for exam ple N o u v io n -le-
Cistercian prototype.
Vineux.
38. Jean Hubert, “ L'Abbatiale Notre-Dam e de Déols”,
41. Bilson, “N otes”, Fig. 6.
Bulletin monumental. 86 (1927), p .5—66 (p.31), fora recon­
struction o f the south bay o f the nave. H ubert dates the rib- 42. Ibid., p. 44.
vault at Déols between 1143 and 1153.

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept o f Wells Cathedral 357

 Ripon. But at Wells the unmoulded rear-arch bay-division was being used at the same time in
over each triforium opening is framed with a the choir of Glastonbury, at Wells only the tri­
pointed instead o f a round relieving arch as in forium and clerestory are divided into bays by
these buildings. vaulting shafts. When designing the continuous
The structural use o f sharply pointed arches arcade of ornamental piers at Wells, the master
indicates an understanding of up to date French mason may have had in mind English Cistercian
construction although the construction of the buildings. In fact, he seems to have united two
wall at Wells is conservative (Fig. 4). All the vault phases o f Cistercian design: the bay-divided
and wall ribs at Wells are pointed with stilted phase o f Roche and Abbey Dore in the upper
pointed arches.43 Churches in the Soissonnais, zone with the earlier Cistercian continuous
such as the south transept of Soissons Cathe­ arcade o f Buildwas and Fountains in the lower
dral (1177—ca. 1185), seem to have been the zone (Fig. 5) ,45 A similar combination of a bay-
source for the sharply pointed arches and stilt­ divided triforium and clerestory with a bay-less
ed springing o f the vaulting used at Glaston­ horizontal arcade was designed previously for
bury and Wells.44 The vault in the transept at the nave of Saint David’s (ca. 1180-85), anoth­
Abbey Dore may have been part of the same er product of the western school of masons, but
wave o f French influence in the west o f Eng­ there the vaulting shafts rest on the string course
land: a wall-rib had not been used in the transept o f the triforium, according to Romanesque
chapels, but a stilted wall-rib is used for the practices initiated at Durham and used in west­
vaulting o f the transept. The arcade o f the ern Romanesque buildings, such as the nave of
rotunda o f the Temple, London (1184-86), has Gloucester (ca. 1120). At Wells the vaults are sup­
the same sharp pointing o f arches found in the ported on corbels (Figs 2, 3). This system of
aisles at Glastonbury and Wells. A common three-shaft groups supported on corbels finds its
Soissonnais-Champenois source may stand closest parallel in the aisles of Byland (ca. 1177).46
behind both these sharply pointed arches and The horizontal emphasis in the arcade at
the French stepped buttresses which seem to be Wells — which can be called an anti-bay ten­
used for the first time in England at Wells and dency — was characteristic not only o f Cister­
in the Temple. The diagonal placement of the cian design but also o f late-eleventh- and
vaulting shafts at Wells and at Glastonbury also early-twelfth-century buildings in the west of
indicates French building practices, although England, such as the nave of Gloucester.47 After
the use o f diagonally placed vaulting shafts at 1130 the Cistercians reinforced this resistance
Wells can be found in an earlier phase of French to the bay in the north as well as in the west of
influence in the transept chapels at Abbey Dore. England. It appeared in the nave at Rievaulx
Although a modern French system of con­ and continued to be used in buildings o f the
structing vaults was adopted at Wells, the ana­ north such as Fountains, Kirkstall, and Furness,
lytical system o f French bay-division was as well as in the west at Buildwas in the 1150s.48
rejected there in the design of the elevation of The nave o f Buildwas was still being con­
the choir, transept, and nave (Fig. 3). This prin­ structed in the 1180s and must have seemed
ciple, which links all parts of the elevation, had current design to the master masons of the naves
been used at Déols, Roche, Abbey Dore, and at Abbey Dore and Wells.
Worcester, but at Wells it was confined to the The three-shaft group, which was used ana­
upper zone. Although the analytical principle of lytically at Wells for the corbelled vaulting shafts

43. Ibid., p. 43. triple-shaft groups supported on corbels seem to have divid­
ed the upper zone o f the nave elevation into bays. Earlier
44. Jean Bony, French Gothic Architecture of the 12th & I3'h
at Abbey Dore around 1180 simpler corbels were adopted
Centuries (Berkeley. 1983), p. 148, Fig. 143:and id., “ French
for vaulting the north transept chapels; the corbels used in
Influences”, p. 13. T he sharply pointed arch is common in
the high vault at Abbey Dore resemble those in the choir
the Soissonnais, as at N ouvion-le-V ineux (ca. 1160) and at
at Buildwas.
Belloy-en-Santerre (ca. 1185); Malone, "West English” , p.
135-36, 150. 47. Malone, “Abbey D ore”, p. 66.
45. Malone, “West English”, p. 143. 48. Fergusson, Architecture o f Solitude, PI. 2: Rievaulx, PI.
10; Fountains, PI. 25; Kirkstall.
46. Malone, “Abbey D ore” , p. 64, 66, n. 45; and cad.,
“West English”, p. 149. At Abbey Dore, as at Llanthony,

358 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O M A LO N E
as well as for the vaulting responds in the aisles, pier correspond to only one order o f arch. At
is used as a purely ornamental element in the Wells the three-shaft group found at Glaston­
piers o f the arcade (Figs 1, 2, 3, 4). This orna­ bury has been doubled in a kaleidoscopic pat­
mental treatment of the pier, created by the reg­ tern: the axial roll o f the three-shaft groups in
ular repetition o f the three-shaft group, the angles of the pier is keeled, and these keeled
emphasizes the continuous horizontality of the groups alternate with the three-shaft groups on
arcade. Although the three-shaft group with the main faces o f the core to create a shifting
semi-octagonal abacus had been used before pattern that makes it difficult visually to deci­
Wells in the west o f England in the transept at pher the cruciform design o f the pier. The pro­
Abbey Dore, the west bays at Worcester, and at jecting angles o f the core in fact only increase
Glastonbury, it had always been used as an ana­ the proliferation o f lines and further conceal
lytic element with a functional relationship to the underlying order o f the pier design at Wells.
the vault ribs. Nonetheless, at Glastonbury, for This ornamental concept of the pier may have
the sake o f regularity, it had also been repeat­ been influenced by buildings in which the ana­
ed in a non-logical way on the arcade sides of lytical element was not a factor, such as the sup­
the pier with a single order in the soffit above. ports in Cistercian chapter houses. Such designs
Likewise, in churches o f the département o f the may have stimulated the master mason at Wells
Aisne in northern France, the three-shaft group to modify the pier o f Glastonbury. A similar
had been used in relation to one order of arch ornamental principle was used in France in Cis­
in the arcades of the naves at Urcel (ca. 1145-60) tercian-inspired, clustered piers, as at D om -
and Lhuys (ca. 1140—60) and in the chancel martin in th e ll7 0 s .50 This principle o f
arches of Pernant and Dhuizel.49 regularity had also appeared in English Cister­
At Glastonbury the piers remained essential­ cian buildings, such as Kirkstall and Roche. A
ly analytical since the non-logical element was sensibility for Cistercian ornamental regularity
restricted to the sides o f the pier which did not in pier design may have conditioned the
relate to the elevation. The three shafts facing reinterpretation o f the three-shaft group at
the choir and transept at Wells — instead of Wells.51
going up to receive the springing o f the high Later in the nave at Wells (ca. 1205), bay-divi­
vault as at Glastonbury — simply received the sion was eliminated in the triforium (Figs 3, 7).
outer order of the arcade in such a way that the An additional triforium arch was added to each
pier has no relation to the high vault (Figs 1,2, bay, and the resulting three arches became con­
3). As a result, in the design o f the elevation at tinuous with those o f the next bay since the
Wells the pier becomes purely ornamental since corbels o f the vaulting shafts were moved
it is no longer linked to the elevation above. upward into the spandrels above the triforium
Hence, the systematic interrelationship o f the arches. As a result, the middle triforium zone
parts o f the elevation that could be dissected became a continuous horizontal band of arch­
and analysed through the pier at Glastonbury es running in tandem with the arcade below.
is dismissed at Wells. Instead, the three-shaft This continuous arcading in the nave triforium
group is multiplied as a recurring ornamental accords perfectly with the richly moulded arch­
moulding that is placed in the angles as well as es o f the arcade, and it is the natural conclu­
on the faces o f the pier. Only one o f the eight sion o f the principle o f multiplication which
three-shaft groups has a logical relationship to controlled the design o f the pier in the choir,
the members which it supports: except for the although the nave design may be that o f a new
three-shaft group which supports the ribs of the master mason. By allowing the dominance of
aisle vault, each of the three-shaft groups in the ornamental tendencies in the nave, along with

49. Bony, “French Influences”, p. 13. An English Cister­ (ca. 1150). Hence, the Soissonnais may be the source for the
cian source may have suggested the use o f three-shaft groups use o f the three-shaft group in the western school o f masons,
at N ew Shoreham and in the Lady Chapel at Chichester as well as at R ipon in the north and Chichester in the south
around 1182. T hat these south-eastern churches, or their o f England.
English Cistercian prototype, may ultimately go back to
now destroyed French Cistercian models, particularly in the 50. Ibid., p. 6, Fig. 2.
Soissonnais. may be indicated by similarities o f their three- 51. Malone, “West English”, p. 146—47.
shaft groups to those in the transept and choir at Bruyères

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept o f Wells Cathedral 359

 Figure 6. Wells Cathedral, north wall o f north transept, ca.
1197. (author)

Figure 7. Wells Cathedral, south side o f nave, ca. 1205. (author)

the adoption o f carved bosses and spandrels
from Glastonbury, the early Cistercian princi­
ple o f restraint found in the choir is abandoned
for a richer version o f western Gothic. The ana­ destroyed flat eastern gable wall o f the choir
lytic element of bay-division o f the upper zone since a rectangular ambulatory plan seems to
o f the choir has been replaced by ornamental have been part o f the original plan.
repetition in the triforium.
Still, the richer design of the nave at Wells is The Rectangular A mbulatory
a reappraisal — and an elaboration — o f the
ornamental principle that controlled the pier Since many o f the forms used in the choir and
design o f the choir. Bilson believed that the tri­ transept at Wells seem to have been Cistercian
forium design in the nave had been suggested or N orthern French in origin, it is possible that
by the continuous arcading in front of the tri­ the now destroyed rectangular ambulatory plan
forium passage in the end walls of the transept o f the choir was also based on Cistercian design.
(Figs 6, 7).32 Regardless, the addition of orna­ It has long been suggested that the church at
mental bosses to the triforium spandrels in the Wells had an aisled choir o f three bays with an
nave changed the design considerably. In fact, aisle across its flat gabled east end that func­
the arcading of the triforium in the end walls tioned as an ambulatory. During the third
o f the transept maintains the simplicity o f the decade o f the fourteenth century, the twelfth-
choir design, and it can be suggested that a sim­ century choir o f three bays was doubled in
ilar triforium design with five continuous arch­ length and beyond it was built a two-bay retro-
es may have also been used for the now choir which led into a spacious polygonal lady

52. Bilson, “N otes’-, p. 47. T he width o f the triforium 53. Peter Draper, “The Sequence and Dating o f the Dec­
arches in the nave (1 ft 4.5—5 in./4 2 -4 3 cm) is the same as orated Work at Wells and Glastonbury”, in Medieval Art and
those in the continuous triforium arcade in the transept Architecture at Wells and Glastonbury, British Archaeological
ends. Association Conference Transactions, 4 (London. 1981). p.
18-29 (p. 21).

360 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O M A LO N E
 • V . -------------------- T 't interior, in line with the broader twelfth-cen­
Ip.- 1 I'
. ! ' n v -'' . I
tury buttresses, the original location o f the east
A! "' ¡ l.
wall o f the choir is defined by responds o f two
shafts that were turned into triple vaulting shafts
in the fourteenth-century rebuilding of the aisle
walls.3'’ Above the high vault of the fourteenth-
century choir, the ragged ends o f the original
east gable wall o f the choir are also aligned with
these broader twelfth-century buttresses. More­
over, the existence o f an eastern aisle beyond
the original east end o f the choir is indicated
by the fact that the plinth o f the twelfth-cen­
tury choir aisles extends eastward from the
broader buttress as far as the western internal
angle o f the western-most fourteenth-century
buttress.56
In 1914 Robinsons excavations revealed the
foundation for the arcade o f the gabled east end
of the choir and, according to his interpreta­
tion, the foundations for the west face of the
east wall o f the eastern aisle as well, although
no trace was found of its eastern face.57 N o evi­
dence was found to suggest the design of the
east arcade o f the choir or the presence o f
chapels to the east o f the ambulatory. Bilson,
like Robert Willis, believed that the eastern aisle
Figure 8. Wells Cathedral, plan, (from John Bilson, "Notes on
did not have projecting chapels but that the east
the Earlier Architectural History of Wells Cathedral”, Archae­
wall may have had arched recesses for altars sim­
ologicalJournal, 85 (1928), p, 2 3 -6 8 , Fig. 1,p. 21, with per­
ilar to those in the east walls o f the transept.58*
mission from the Royal Archaeological Institute, London,
Bilson, complying with Willis’s earlier hypoth­
England)
esis, included in his 1928 plan an axial lady
chapel attached to the east o f the eastern ambu­
chapel.53 Still remaining from the original latory, although he emphasized that there was
design o f ca. 1186 are three bays of the choir no evidence for the lady chapel, except that it
and three bays o f the transept arms with aisles was probably at this altar that Bishop Savaric
on both east and west sides.545The late-twelfth- instituted a daily mass o f the Blessed Virgin
century aisle walls of the choir continue three about 1203.39 During the thirteenth century
bays east of the transept, and a buttress broad­ there are multiple references to a lady chapel
er than the others indicates the intersection of behind the high altar, but it is not clear whether
the east gable wall of the original choir with the chapel was projecting or not. In 1319, before
each of the aisle walls (Fig. 8). Likewise on the the rebuilding, this chapel is described as “ad

54. Bilson, “Notes” , p. 28. lecture given by R obert Willis, Proceedings of the Somerset­
shire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 12.1 (1863),
55. Ibid., p. 29. The base o f this triple shaft has a joint in
p. 14-24.
line with the eastern face o f the middle shaft, indicating
that it was originally a double shaft in an angle supporting 59. Robinson, “D ocumentary Evidence”, p. 9; Sampson,
the vault, as in the internal angles elsewhere (e.g., on the Wells Cathedral, p. 13—14; and Rodwell, Wells Cathedral Exca­
west side o f the south transept at the juncture o f the nave vations, p. 136-37, 145, figs 113, 114, and 115. In 1983 a
and transept aisles). “raft-like” foundation o f undated mortared masonry was
found where the lady chapel would have been, but its edges
56. Ibid., p. 28, PI. II.
remained “largely undefined". Sampson and Rodwell believe
57. Ibid., plan. p. 28. the lady chapel was constructed between 1176 and 1180,
although a date around 1186, as discussed above, seems more
58. Ibid., p. 3. Bilson refers to copies o f some o f Willis’s likely.
diagrams in the cathedral libran' at Wells and a published

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept o f Wells Cathedral 361

 Figure 9. Wells and Glastonbury,
comparative plans. (Reproduced from
Harold Brakspear, “A West Country
School o f Masons ", Archaeologia,
31(1931), P l.X V U I, with
permission from The Society of
Antiquaries o f London)

WELLS CATHEDRAL.

Gl a s to n b u r y a b b e y .

altare beate maria virginis in capella eiusdem side o f the ambulatory. In 1931 Brakspear
retro maius altare”.60 reconstructed Wells with a similar eastern choir
Bilson deduced from the sparse remains o f arcade o f two arches, a central pier, and with
the rectangular ambulatory plan excavated in four chapels projecting to the east o f the ambu­
1856 at the Cathedral of Lichfield (1195-1208) latory (Fig. 9).62 Although there is no archaeo­
that an arcade o f two arches with a central pier logical evidence for the spacing o f the piers of
behind the high altar probably separated the the eastern arcade at Wells, reconstruction of
choir from the ambulatory at Wells, since this two arches and a central pier had also seemed
arrangement at Lichfield may have been based logical to Bilson, given the width o f the choir,
on the earlier plan o f Wells.61 Again without since two piers and three arches would have
evidence, it was assumed that at Lichfield east­ made the openings excessively narrow if the
ern chapels would have projected from the east piers were as large as those o f the north and

60. Draper, “T he Sequence”, p. 20. dral”, ArchaeologicalJournal, 18 (1861). p. 1—25 (p.6, 8, 12—15,
23, Fig. 23).
61. Bilson, “Notes”, p. 30; and R obert Willis, “O n Foun­
dations o f Early Buildings Discovered in Lichfield Cathe- 62. Brakspear, “A West C ountry School”, p. 11.

362 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O MA L ON E
south arcades.63 The choir o f Glastonbury (ca.
1185) was probably begun slightly before the
choir of Wells and also had a rectangular ambu­
latory before its extension in the fourteenth
century (Fig. 9).64 Its choir had four bays, and
its transept arms o f three bays had an eastern
but no western aisle.65 As at Wells, there is no
evidence for the number of piers in the east­
ern arcade o f the choir at Glastonbury, but
Brakspear reconstructed it with an axial pier, as
excavated at Lichfield, and with four chapels
projecting beyond the ambulatory, as had been
hypothetically reconstructed for Lichfield. Since
the dimensions o f Glastonbury’s choir are
almost the same as at Wells, one might expect
a similar eastern arcade and chapel arrangement.
O n the other hand, a rectangular ambulatory
with three instead of two arches in the eastern
arcade was built slightly later {ca. 1190) in the
choir o f Cistercian Abbey Dore (Fig. 10). Here,
the axial element is an open arch instead o f a
pier, and five chapels project to the east of the
ambulatory.66 At Abbey Dore, as at Byland, the
centre vaults of the ambulatory are smaller than
those in the aisles; this solution works for these
bay-less two-storey choir elevations in which the
ambulatory was covered by a lean-to roof.67 A
similar reduction in size of the bays at Glaston­
bury and Wells would not have been possible if
the three-storey choir elevation with a bay-divid­
ed triforium was repeated in the eastern wall.
Figure 10. Abbey Dore, plan, (after M .-Anselme Diinier, Recueil
Still, if these churches were designed with a tri­
de plans d’églises cisterciennes, 1949, pi. 95)
forium zone of five continuous arches which was
blind or had a triforium passage as in the end
walls of the transept at Wells, a lean-to roof above
the ambulatory would have been possible.68 If

63. Bilson, “ Noces”, p. 30. For this reason Bilson reject­ 67. Bilson, “ N otes”, p. 28. According to Bilson’s mea­
ed Willis’s previous reconstruction o f the east end o f Wells surements, the choir at Glastonbury is about 2 ft (61 cm)
with two piers and three arches. w ider than that at Wells, and the total internal w idth o f
choir and aisles is about 4 ft (122 cm) greater. Still, the clear
64. William H. St John H ope. “ N otes on the Abbey
width o f the choir o f Glastonbury, within the vaulting-
Church o f Glastonbury”. Archaeological Journal, 61 (1904),
shafts, is within 3 in. (7.6 cm) o f the clear width o f the choir
p. 185-221 (p. 191-93, plan opposite p. 188). According to
o f Wells, within the pier shafts, since the piers at Glaston­
H ope, “As the gable itself was carried on piers like the
bury are larger. T he clear width o f the arcade openings with
arcades it had no foundation nor sleeper wall below them ” .
the piers is the same within 3 in., and the width o f the aisle,
Courtenay A rthur Ralegh Radford, “Glastonbury Abbey
including the triple vaulting-shafts, is the same. See Bilson
before 1184: Interim R eport on the Excavations, 1908-64”,
(“T he Architecture”, p. 218) for a lean-to arrangement at
in Medieval Art and Architecture at Wells and Glastonbury, p.
Byland and Abbey Dore.
110-34 (Fig. 9). Radford seems to show in his east-west sec­
tion o f the excavated choir the foundation for the high gable 68. Arthur E. Henderson, Glastonbury Abbey Then and Now
o f the twelfth-century church. (London, 1963, unpaginated). Henderson suggested a recon­
struction o f the east arcade with two bays similar to those
65. Willis, Architectural History, p. 37-39. Pis I and II.
in the choir. Because o f the strong bay-division o f the ele­
66. Malone. “Abbey D ore”, p. 51, for the eastern exten­ vation at Glastonbury, his reconstruction o f the clerestory
sion o f Abbey Dore ca. 1190; and Fergusson, Architecture of with triple lancets is awkward.
Solitude, p. 95, for a date between 1186 and 1210.

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept o f Wells Cathedral 363

 by the late 1180s a rectangular ambulatory had the plan at Wells seems closer to Villard s plan
already been planned at Abbey Dore, it might than does any other extant plan. M orimond
have suggested the plans at Glastonbury and Wells Abbey (Haute-Marne, 1155-70) might provide
since Abbey Dore was an important English Cis­ a Cistercian precedent for a choir similar to
tercian source for formal details of their con­ Wells with a rectangular ambulatory and axial
struction. pier, except for the fact that it had chapels lin­
Bilson’s plan o f the choir o f Wells — with a ing both the north and south aisles of the pres­
rectangular ambulatory, an axial pier, and an bytery.'3 Morimond was, of course, the mother
eastern lady chapel — has generally been house of Abbey D ore.'4 The rectangular ambu­
accepted by scholars. On the basis of this plan latory of Abbey Dore, however, did not have
Millard E Hearn considered the English church an axial pier, and in this respect is closer to the
o f Romsey Abbey (1120-25) or the French plan o f Byland Abbey than to Morimond.
church of St Etienne at Beauvais (1125-30) as Hearn concluded that Byland Abbey marked
sources for the rectangular ambulatory at the introduction o f the rectangular ambulato­
Wells.69 The lady chapel and axial pier in Bil­ ry into Cistercian architecture in England.75
son’s plan in particular connect the Wells rec­ Bony also believed that the flat-ended type of
tangular ambulatory plan with the Romsey rectangular ambulatory without a lady chapel
series.70 If by 1186 Romsey, built in the older began in the north at York Minster and then
Romanesque style, might have seemed outdat­ was used at Byland, and perhaps Ripon; all these
ed, the contemporaneous Cistercian use of the plans had non-functional volumes: the ambu­
rectangular ambulatory plan may have made this latory being chapels with the passage placed in
traditional English rectangular plan seem still the last tall bay o f the choir space with a screen
current. A similar Cistercian validation o f older to separate the eastern-most bay from the rest
Romanesque features has been suggested for of the choir.76 Bony believed that lost links in
other aspects o f the design at Wells, such as the the south-east o f England may have transmit­
triforium. ted this plan to Cistercians on the continent, if
Yet if Wells had an axial pier in the east arcade it was not reinvented in the continental series
of the choir and eastern chapels instead of an with chapels on the north, south, and east sides
eastern lady chapel, its plan would have been o f the choir. ' 7 Peter Fergusson has been more
strikingly similar to Villard de H onnecourt’s circumspect about the impact of Byland, par­
drawing of ca. 1230 which is labelled “this is a ticularly within the Cistercian order, conclud­
church made o f squares for the Cistercian ing that
order”. ' 1 N ot only does Villard’s plan have a
rectangular ambulatory with an axial pier in the whether once adopted at Byland che plan then
east arcade o f the choir, but it also has an aisled became the source for its later use by the order
transept with the same number o f bays as at awaits further evidence, but more cautiously, it
Wells.72 In fact, Brakspears reconstruction of seems that the plan at Byland exemplified a ten-

69. Millard F. Hearn. “T he Rectangular Ambulatory in pies o f western aisles in transepts, a feature that derived from
English Mediaeval A rchitecture”, Journal o f the Society of earlier English and French sources.
Architectural Historians, 30.3 (1971), p. 187-208 (p. 190,
73. H enri-Paui Eydoux, “L’Eglise abbatiale de M ori­
192-93, figs 4. 5, p. 193-94, figs 6, 7), discusses these build­
m ond”, Bulletin monumental, 114 (1956), p.253-66 (p. 258-
ings and Old Sarum which he does not relate to Wells. Drap­
60). Alexandra (Kennedy) Gajewski dates M orim ond to
er (“ Interpreting”, p. 122) states that the rectilinear east end
between 1153 and 1207, and more speculatively dates the
and the double-aisled transept at Wells was modelled on Old
choir in the 1160s or 1170s. See Alexandra Kennedy, “Goth­
Sarum; he does not discuss the termination o f the east end
ic Architecture in N orthern Burgundy in the 12th and 13th
at Wells or Old Sarum.
Centuries” (unpublished doctoral thesis, Courtauld Insti­
70. Hearn, “Rectangular Ambulatory”, p. 199, Fig. 150. tute o f Art, University o f London, 1996), p. 196—209.
Although it does not have an axial pier. Evesham Abbey
74. Malone, “Abbey D ore”, p. 50.
(1044—54) could have provided a model in the west.
75. Hearn, "Rectangular Ambulatory”, p. 104.
71. Illustrated in this volume in “T he Two Cistercian
Plans o f Villard de H onnecourt” by Nigel Hiscock (Fig. 1). 76. Jean Bony, personal communication, 1970.
72. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 78. N orth-east­ 77. Ibid.
ern France, Lorraine, and French Flanders provide exam-

364 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O M A LO N E
 dency in Cistercian planning in the 1170s to lower zone and a triplet o f windows above.
experiment with chevet schemes and that its Between the piers the transept is the same width
form was based on traditions in both England as the choir. Moreover, the spacing o f the two
and northeastern France.78 supports and three openings of the east arcade
of the fourteenth-century choir is like that in
Bilson s reconstruction of the rectangular ambu­ the end wall of the transept and thus may repeat
latory plan at Wells differs from that o f Byland the arrangement o f the original eastern arcade
not only in the pier arrangement o f the east­ o f the choir. These comparisons could suggest
ern arcade but also in having a separate ambu­ that the twelfth-century east elevation o f the
latory. If this arrangement existed at Wells, it choir at Wells may have had smaller piers and
might indicate that there were once twelfth- narrower arches than those remaining in its
century English Cistercian abbeys with an axial north and south arcade. If indeed it had two
pier and ambulatory similar to Villard’s later supports and three openings, it was similar to
plan. The master mason at Wells may have inter­ the Cistercian east end o f Abbey Dore (ca.
preted this Cistercian plan as the modern equiv­ 1190); although Abbey Dore had a two-storey
alent of the older plan o f Romsey and could choir elevation, it had triple windows in the
even have included an axial chapel, if the plan east wall o f the choir.81 A triforium of five con­
o f Wells did not have four chapels east of the tinuous arches would also have been possible if
ambulatory as in Villards plan. In either case, the eastern arcade had a central pier. Even with
there may have once existed an English Cister­ a central pier, the non-bay-divided lower zone
cian abbey contemporaneous with Byland but o f two arches would have provided an expanse
with an axial pier dividing the choir from a rec­ o f eastern wall framing the high altar; this
tangular ambulatory. As Fergusson has pointed arrangement can be visualized somewhat by iso­
out, the axial pier — as at M orim ond — lating two bays o f the east wall of the transept
became the customary arrangement in the con­ (Figs 2, 6). Hence, the transept at Wells pro­
tinental Cistercian monasteries built on the rec­ vides visual clues to reconstructing the east end
tangular ambulatory plan, such as Cîteaux, o f the original choir at Wells whether it had
whereas in England, as at Byland, the prescribed two or three openings dividing it from the
solution was an arcade using three arches with ambulatory.
the axial element now an open arch instead of
a pier.79 This was certainly the case at Abbey Conclusion
Dore which resembles Byland. Still, outside of
the Cistercian order the axial solution may have It seems certain that the original choir at Wells
been used in the late-twelfth-century arrange­ had a rectangular ambulatory plan, although the
ments o f the western English choirs at Glas­ arrangement o f the east arcade o f the choir, as
tonbury, Wells, and Lichfield. M ight these well as the chapel configuration to the east of
English plans as well as continental plans, such the ambulatory, is unknown. The efficient
as that o f Cîteaux, have been based in part on design of the rectangular ambulatory and aisled
lost Cistercian plans in south-east England and transept seems to have made this plan as appro­
northern France?80 priate for the liturgical needs o f secular canons
Another possibility is that — as in the end at Wells as it was for Cistercian monks, or for
walls of the transept at Wells — the flat gable that matter, Benedictine monks at Glastonbury.
end of the choir had a triforium with five con­ Flanking the choir, the rectangular ambulato­
tinuous arches, three openings in the arcade, ry and aisled transept provided ample proces­
and twin supports in the arcade (Fig. 6). In the sional space and multiple chapels for private
end wall o f the transept the five triforium arch­ masses. The simplicity o f Cistercian forms cre­
es are balanced between three arches in the ated a suitable devotional frame for the liturgy

78. Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude, p. 79. 80. See above, note 49, for the relationship o f the south­
eastern buildings to Wells and northern France.
79. Ibid., p. 77; M.-Anselme Diniier, Recueil de plans d’églises
cisterciennes, vol. il, Planches. Commission d’histoire de l’Ordre 81. Prior, History of Gothic Art. p. 183, Fig. 135.
de Cîteaux, Etudes et documents, 1 (Grignan, 1949), PI. 80;
and Terryl N. Kinder, Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Con­
templation (Grand Rapids, M l, 2002), p. 171.

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept o f Wells Cathedral 365

 o f the secular canons in the Wells choir, as it op Baldwin o f Canterbury.8-1Baldwin had been
previously had for Cistercian monks. Abbot o f the Cistercian Abbey o f Forde in
Each Cistercian element utilized at Wells was Devonshire before being consecrated Bishop of
simple in design. Nevertheless, because these Worcester in 1180 and Archbishop of Canter­
Cistercian shafts and mouldings were multiplied bury in 1184.84 As mentioned previously, rib
to mask with thin lines the thickness of the piers mouldings similar to those o f Wells are found
and walls mandated by the inclusion o f the tra­ in the chapter house at Forde. In addition,
ditional English clerestory passage, the result­ William, the Precentor at Wells who attests the
ing design was far more ornate than the grant o f proceeds o f vacant benefices for the
Cistercian source. In addition, the design o f the fabric o f the church, accompanied Peter of
elevation at Wells became more complex as Blois to Rome in 1187 as agent of Archbishop
work progressed westward from the choir and Baldwin. And it was Baldwin who convinced
transept to the nave. Ornamental repetition of Henry II to fund the rebuilding of Glastonbury
the Cistercian forms of the choir created a rad­ Abbey after the fire o f 1184.85 Baldwin’s asso­
ically new design in the nave, but this princi­ ciation with Reginald and the Precentor of
ple o f repetition, as first used in the choir piers, Wells might thus explain the Cistercian ele­
was itself a Cistercian element o f design. ments in the choirs o f Wells and Glastonbury.
It is difficult to point to specific northern Reginald also had extensive contact with Can­
French Cistercian buildings that may have been terbury Abbey during the 1180s and was elect­
sources for features at Wells since these poten­ ed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1191, although
tial prototypes have been destroyed. Yet forms he died before he could accept the post.86 There
similar to those at Wells can be found in other is, however, no sign o f architectural borrowing
buildings o f this area, particularly in the Sois- from Canterbury in the design o f the elevation
sonnais. Bony believed that during the second at Wells although it is clearly attested in the
half of the twelfth century, the designers of now nearby church o f Glastonbury.
destroyed early Cistercian buildings in north­ It is difficult to evaluate w hether Bishop
ern France turned from Burgundy to the Ile- Reginald’s association with Baldwin was as
de-France for inspiration; he thought this important for the use o f Cistercian elements in
northern French Cistercian style could perhaps the design o f Wells Cathedral as was the mas­
be reconstructed by a careful survey o f related ter mason’s training in a western school of
peripheral Cistercian buildings, such as Abbey masons that had previously copied Cistercian
Dore.82 Perhaps the plans of Glastonbury and forms. The contemporaneous choir at Glas­
Wells also might suggest the importance of the tonbury and the earlier western bays at Worces­
rectangular ambulatory for these lost northern ter include Cistercian features, even though the
French Cistercian churches, especially since the master mason at Wells adhered more strictly to
Soissonnais seems to have been a source for Cistercian elements o f design. The Bishop
other aspects of their design. might be expected to have expressed a liturgi­
Still to be considered is the reason for Cis­ cal need for a rectangular ambulatory for pro­
tercian elements at Wells. Reginald, bishop of cessions and multiple chapels for private masses.
Bath (1174-91) can be associated with the Cis­ Otherwise Reginald’s contribution may pri­
tercians through his friendship with Archbish­ marily have been to provide funding for the

82. Jean Bony, personal communication, 1970. began at Worcester ca. 1176, any Cistercian element prob­
ably predates Baldwins arrival in 1180.
83. Charles M. C hurch, “ R eginald, Bishop o f Bath
(1174-1191): His Episcopate, and his Share in the Building 85. Church, “Reginald”, p. 306; Prior, History of Gothic
o f the Church o f Wells”, Archaeologia, 50 (1887), p. 296-359 Art, p.77;and Willis. Architectural History, p. 11. King Henry
(P- 306). IPs charter credits Baldwin with convincing him to rebuild
Glastonbury abbey; the King’s camerarius, Radulphus, laid
84. The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales, voi. the foundations o f the church and directed construction of
1, 940-1216, ed. David Knowles, C. N. L. Brooke, and Vera
the Lady Chapel o f St Mary which was dedicated by Bish­
C. M. London (Cambridge, 1972), p. 132; and David
op Reginald in 1186.
Knowles, 77/c Monastic Order in England: A History o f its Devel­
opmentfrom theTimes of St Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Coun­ 86. Church. “ Reginald”, p. 320.
cil, 943-1216 (Cambridge, 19632), p. 317-18. Since work

366 CA R OL Y N M A R I N O M A LO N E
fabric and to engage a master mason on the used at Canterbury and Glastonbury.88 The
strength of his technical skill and modernity of design of the choir at Wells can thus be inter­
approach, as did the monks of Canterbury preted as testifying to the prestige of Cistercian
according to Gervase.87 The master mason at construction among both clerics and master
Wells may have emphasized Cistercian features masons in the west of England around 1186.
because he viewed them as structurally and func­
tionally efficient as they were modern in design; Department of Art History
he may have preferred Cistercian simplicity as an University o f Southern California
up to date alternative to the ornate forms being Los Angeles, CA 90266

87. Christopher Wilson, “T he Cistercians as ‘missionar­ 88. Draper (“ Interpreting”, p. 122-23) would concur that
ies o f G othic’ in N orthern England”, in Cistercian Art and the visual effect o f Wells and Glastonbury is quite distinct,
Architecture in the British Isles, ed. Christopher N orton and although for other reasons as discussed previously. H e also
David Park (Cambridge, 1986), p. 86-116 (p. 114 n. 97), assumes a “critical awareness o f such visual effects on the
makes this point about Gervase’s account o f the works at part o f masons and leading ecclesiastics, w ithout having to
Canterbury from 1174. postulate that they had a concept o f style as we understand
it” .

Cistercian Design in the Choir and Transept of Wells Cathedral 367

 Beating their Swords into Set Squares*
LISA REILLY

ll the monarchs of the Norman race enter into their new inheritance, rather than to

A had shown the most marked predilec­

tion for their Norman subjects; the laws
of the chase, and many others, equally
advertise their role as continental conquerors”.2
Both historians and literary scholars have fre­
quently emphasized the post-conquest period
unknown to the milder and more free spirit of in Britain as strongly historicist, making strong
the Saxon constitution, had been fixed upon and self-conscious use o f literature and histor­
the necks of the subjugated inhabitants. [. . .] ical writing to promote a sense o f continuity
the great national distinctions between them between pre- and post-conquest England.
and their conquerors, the recollection of what Antonia Gransden discusses at length Norman
they had formerly been, and to what they were adoption of Anglo-Saxon history to justify and
now reduced, continued down to the reign of make acceptable their religious reforms, which
Edward the Third, to keep open the wounds are cast as a restoration of Anglo-Saxon monas-
which the Conquest had inflicted, and to main­ ticism to its former glory.3 Several contribu­
tain a line of separation betwixt the descen­ tors to the recent Cambridge History of Medieval
dants of the victor Normans and the English Literature identify the N orm an con­
vanquished Saxons.1 sciousness o f the past and local tradition as a
way o f celebrating their history as well as inte­
The romantic view of a separation of Norman grating themselves into the history o f their
conqueror and Saxon subject promoted by Scott conquered subjects. This seems to be a com­
and continued in modern popular culture, such mon theme in several areas o f N orm an cul­
as the 1964 film Bechet, has dominated modern ture. Christopher Baswell identifies William the
thinking although it contrasts sharply with the Conqueror’s use o f some o f Edward’s regalia
Norman vision of themselves. Contemporary and a ritual reminiscent o f that used for
chroniclers such as Geoffrey o f M onmouth, Edward’s coronation as means o f lending
Geoffrey Gaimar, and Wace identify Norman authority to his reign. Baswell suggests that
rule as a time o f continuity with earlier tradi­ William invokes Edward in order to establish
tions rather than simply disruptive. As described him as the hinge between the Anglo-Saxon
by literary scholar Elizabeth Salter these chron­ and Norman dynasties, thus demonstrating a
iclers “confirmed the desire of the Normans to continuing tradition o f kingship in the pre-

* This essay is dedicated to Peter Fergusson who has been 2. Elizabeth Salter, “An Obsession with the C ontinent”,
a major source o f support and encouragement throughout in English and International Studies in the Literature, Art, and
my career. I greatly appreciate our many hours o f conver­ Patronage o f Medierai England, ed. Derek Pearsall and N ico-
sation about the historiography o f the field o f medieval lette Zeeman (Cambridge, 1988), p. 1-100 (p. 6).
architectural history which led to this essay.
3. Antonia Gransden, “Traditionalism and Continuity
1. Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoc (London, 1994; first published during the Last C entury o f Anglo-Saxon Monasticism”,
1819), p. 8-10. Journal o f Ecclesiastical History, 40.2 (1989), p. 159-207.

Beating their Swords into Set Squares 369

 and post-conquest periods.4 In the same vol­ style, a means of differentiating and organizing
ume, Susan Crane relates how Anglo-Norman scholarly thinking about the wide range o f
literature o f the later twelfth century aims “to medieval architecture, covering as it does a vast
unite the conquerors’ history to England’s and geographic and chronological spectrum.
to provide them with an illustrious past in Eng­ O f course what is lost in this approach is the
land” .3 Even before the conquest o f England, sense o f difference. In taxonomic classifica­
Dudo writes in the early eleventh century of tion, similarity rather than diversity is celebra­
R ollos dream in which a m ountaintop in ted. Taxonomy is defined as the “classification
France is described as a gathering place for o f plants and animals according to their pre­
thousands of birds o f different types and colours sumed natural relationships” .7 Presumed is the
who have come together from every direction key word here, indicating the subjective nature
to bathe in a fountain o f pure water and to nest. o f such a system. The term “natural” , which
Dudo interprets the dream for Rollo, claim­ Webster’s discusses as “ having a spontaneity
ing that the birds represent men o f different suggesting the natural rather than the man­
realms whom Rollo will bring together under made world” is also problematic.8 It suggests
a single Christian realm, much as Aeneas — a lack o f active choice in the process, which
with whom he is paralleled — founded a nation is not of course the case in architectural design
ex diversibus gentibus.56 regardless o f the evolutionary framework into
This interest in the Normans as self-conscious which historians may fit buildings. This sys­
rulers of diverse peoples who sought to inte­ tem of analysis views buildings largely in terms
grate themselves historically with their subjects o f how they respond to earlier architecture or
has largely been absent from the study o f the influence later structures rather than as
most visible remains o f Norman culture: their responses to other sets o f circumstances such
buildings. This essay will consider how N or­ as site history or institutional identity. The
man buildings have been treated within the development o f a seamless evolutionary con­
broader framework o f eleventh- and twelfth- tinuum converging at a particular goal has
century architectural studies and will propose contributed heavily to the monuments select­
some new modes of investigation which take ed for study as well as the manner o f their pre­
account of the Normans’ own view o f them­ sentation. Such a construct is understandable
selves as suggested by textual and visual evi­ as taxonomic organization and the scientific
dence. Some o f these hypotheses are drawn bases o f much nineteenth-century scholarship
from the questions asked by other disciplines is biased towards hard physical evidence which
such as literary studies and history about the can be quantified through matching mould­
Normans. ing profiles or capital forms. Hence, given an
In certain ways, medieval architectural schol­ interest in classification and evolution as the
arship has developed in response to questions construct into which the evidence o f medieval
and dictates of other disciplines, perhaps in an architecture is being inserted, we see mould­
effort to provide quantification o f a subject ing profiles, vaults, buttresses, and tracery pat­
which is not essentially quantifiable. Early schol­ terns as the principal organizing features for
arship revolved around questions o f evolution much early scholarship. Texts such as Paley’s
and classification in accordance with nine­ study o f Gothic moulding profiles is typical
teenth-century taxonomic concerns for natur­ in its arrangement o f clusters o f mouldings
al history. This methodology succeeded in according to similarities in a scheme not unlike
providing a framework for the study of medieval that employed by nineteenth-century natu­
architecture largely based on chronology and ralists for equally disembodied features such

4. Christopher Basweli, “Latinitas” , in The Cambridge His­ 6. Cassandra Poets, "Atque unum ex diversis gentibus popu­
tory of Medieval English Literature, ed. David Wallace (Cam­ lum effecit: Historical Tradition and the Norm an Identity”,
bridge. 1999). p. 122-51 (p. 128). Anglo-Norman Studies, 18 (1995). p. 139-52 (p. 141-43).
7. Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield.
5. Susan Crane, “A nglo-Norm an Cultures in England”, MA. 1976), p. 904.
in The Cambridge History of Medieval English, ed. Wallace, p.
35-60 (p. 40). 8. Ibid., p. 563.

370 LISA REILLY

as bird beaks, wings, and feet.9 The Gothic style such buildings as Amiens or to previous build­
has traditionally been set up as an architectural ings according to their role in this “natural evo­
climax, and although the exact peak varies lution” towards Amiens or its equivalents. This
depending on the scholar and his/her time and organizing principal and imposition o f the nat­
nationality, thirteenth-century buildings such ural law o f evolution on the man-made world
as Amiens or Reims have been regarded for o f architecture is problematic in its sense o f
much o f the twentieth century as the peak of determinism and inevitability as well as the
medieval architectural achievement.10 M uch of inference that the extinct varieties o f architec­
our thinking about medieval architecture is ture — the road not taken — imply some sort
heavily influenced by E. E. Viollet-le-Duc o f genetic inferiority. Such an approach sug­
whose Dictionnaire contributed heavily towards gests that, like the dinosaurs, buildings such as
the classification o f these buildings.11 Viollet- Albi are fit only for extinction rather than imi­
le-Duc saw reason as the generating principle tation. As a thirteenth-century building with­
behind French medieval architecture.12 He was out flying buttresses, Albi, according to
also influenced by his times and by a model of Viollet-le-Duc, would be an unwanted build­
thinking which placed Paris at the centre of ing.
French life, and he aimed to demonstrate this For much o f the twentieth century, an archi­
Parisian centrality as a circumstance rooted in tectural history constructed according to style
history. In line with his political views, the non- and date, celebrating buildings’similarities rather
structural aspects of medieval architecture, such than their differences, served very well. The age
as liturgy, were suppressed in favour of less emo­ o f High Modernism and the International Style
tive and more “scientific” issues such as vault­ tended to emphasize the importance o f new­
ing. Thus, the architecture o f the Ile-de-France ness and structural evolution without an inter­
is seen as a goal towards which structural his­ est in a sense o f place or the past. The language
tory is moving, with its buildings regarded as used to describe these two architectural move­
ultimately desirable. O f the flying buttress, for ments, Gothic and High Modernism, is often
example, he says: startlingly similar: “The High Gothic cathedral
is a monument to clarity and reason. [...] every
Jusqu’à leur application dans les églises goth­ part has its proper place, nothing has been omit­
iques, tout est tâtonnement; du moment que ted, nothing is superfluous” 14 is reminiscent of
les arcs-boutants sont nettement accusés dans Mies van der R ohe’s motto “less is more”.Bran-
les constructions, la structure des églises se ner’s description o f a Gothic church — “the
développe dans son véritable sens, elle suit anatomy of the church, like the human frame,
hardiment la voie nouvelle. Demander une is in reality a three-dimensional skeleton. The
église gothique sans arcs-boutants, c’est deman­ wall is a mere skin stretched between uprights
der une navire sans quille; c’est pour l’église and arches” 13 — may bring to mind both the
comme pour le navire une question d’être ou Seagram Building and Amiens Cathedral as well
de n’être pas.13 as Mies’s description o f office buildings: “This
is skin and bone construction.” 16 Indeed, the
Contemporary buildings are often classified very point of this modern architecture was its
(and valued) according to their similarities to lack o f specificity for time and place, a concept

9. Frederick Paley. A Manual of Gothic Mouldings (New of Architecture: Four Essaysfrom the Dictionnaire raisonné ofVio-
York, In.d.]). llct-le-Duc, introd. Barry Bergdoll. trans. Kenneth D. W hite-
head (New York. 1990), p. 1—3 (intro.).
10. For example. Whitney Stoddard, Monastery and Cathe­
dral (Middletown, 1966), p. 211, describes Amiens in a man­ 13. Viollet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire, I, p. 60.
ner typical of this approach: “The cathedral o f Amiens [...] is
14. R obert Branner, “High Gothic Architecture", in 'Die
[...] the climax of the High Gothic heritage from the Chartres Year 1200, ed. Florens Deuchler, 2 vols (New York, 1970),
design (1194) via Soissons (late 1190s) and Reims (1211)." II, p. 7-32 (p. 7).
11. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire raison­ 15. Ibid., p. 9.
né de l ’architecture française du AT' au X V f siècle, 10 vols (Paris,
1863-72). 16. Mies van der R ohe, “Bürohaus”, G, 1.3 (June 1923),
cited by Philip Johnson, Mies van der Rohe (New York, 1947).
12. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, The Foundations p. 183.

Beating their Swords into Set Squares 371

 which carried over to the analysis of historical man architecture should perhaps be pleased that
monuments such as Durham and Amiens. this mode o f analysis places some o f the sub­
The issue is not that this approach is wrong jects of their study in such a key position in this
or invalid. It is useful as a means o f under­ history: as the birthplace o f such critical ele­
standing certain features of medieval architec­ ments as the rib vault, the harmonic façade, and
ture. The structural evolution towards High logical articulation o f parts. But this is also a
Gothic does explain the technical history o f an limiting factor in what is known about N or­
influential group of buildings. For figures such man architecture in two key ways: firstly, it
as Viollet-le-Duc, the historical context in addresses only certain aspects o f Norman archi­
which these buildings were produced was very tecture in its role as the harbinger of the new,
much a loaded one, as it had been for earlier and secondly, it separates buildings that might
English antiquaries for whom a celebration of more effectively be studied as a group — in par­
the medieval — and hence overtly Catholic — ticular the architecture o f Norman Italy and
past was sometimes a dangerous act.17 His com­ Sicily is rarely considered in relation to that of
pilation o f hard physical evidence has a greater Norman France and England.
appearance o f seemingly incontrovertible sci­ While N orm an architecture is considered
entific rigor than the more emotional appeal Romanesque, it is typically positioned as the
of, for example, Pugin: most enlightened o f pre-Gothic architecture
due to its leadership role in the genesis o f the
the Church is the true mechanics’institute, the Gothic style. In addition to including the ear­
oldest and the best. She was the great and never liest rib vaults, seen at Durham Cathedral, terms
fading school in which all the great artists of the days like logical, skeletal, and rational are frequent­
offaith wereformed [italics original]. Under her ly employed to describe Anglo-Norman and
guidance they directed the most wonderful Norman buildings as well as Gothic architec­
efforts of their skill to the glory of God; and ture.19 The use o f terms such as logical and
let our fervent prayer ever be, that the Church rational in particular further suggest the cor­
may again, as in days of old, cultivate the tal­ rectness o f this approach to building in contrast
ents of her children to the advancement of reli­ to the illogical, irrational forms found else­
gion and the welfare of their own souls.18 where.
Traditionally, general surveys o f medieval
Additionally, Viollet-le-Duc’s promotion o f the architecture have placed Norm an buildings
technical side o f medieval architecture further from France and England at the end o f the
established the relevance of Gothic for the mod­ Romanesque section and/or the beginning of
ern era. the Gothic section.20*Studies o f Romanesque
The difficulty with the evolutionary Gotho- architecture are often organized regionally
centric approach, however, is what it leaves out: rather than chronologically and buildings such
an understanding o f why buildings differ and as St Etienne in Caen and Durham Cathedral
how they relate to individual or specific sets of are consistently found at the crossroads of the
circumstances, precisely the sorts o f questions Romanesque/Gothic divide as it is their role as
with which the postmodern deconstructed harbingers o f the future that is most consistently
world of the early-twenty-first century is con­ emphasized by architectural historians. Admit­
cerned. The structural evolution towards High tedly many, although not all, o f these surveys
Gothic does explain the technical history o f an were written some time ago, but this arrange­
influential group o f buildings. Scholars of N or- ment remains influential. Roger Stalley in his

17.See. for example, discussion o f chis topic in Joan Evans, 20. Hans Erich Kubach, Romanesque Architecture (New
A History of the Society of Antiquaries (Oxford. 1956), p. 14, York, 1972; Electa paperback edn 1988) uses a chronolog­
25. ical approach that ends with a chapter, "T he Church Build­
ing and its Environment", which is not listed in the table
18. Augustus Welby Pugin, The True Principles of Pointed o f contents, in this chapter, Kubach discusses Durham as
or Christian Architecture (Oxford, 1841;repr. 1969), p. 30.
part o f a general treatment o f vaulting. His analysis o f N or­
19. Jean Bony, French Gothic Architecture of the 12'h & 13th man and A nglo-N orm an architecture (p. 85—88) heavily
Centuries (Berkeley, 1983). See, for example, his description emphasizes the history o f vaulting in this area. His chrono­
o f the terminal transept walls at Peterborough, p. 25—26. logical arrangement places N orm an Sicily in a later chap­
ter entitled “Late Romanesque Architecture” (p. 178-80).

372 LISA REILLY

recent excellent volume Early Medieval Archi­ For the most part, Conant apparently regarded
tecture, while discounting the traditional region­ Sicily as an interesting anomaly, calling it “hard­
al approach, ends his final chapter with a ly a Romanesque civilization” and its architec­
discussion of Anglo-Norman architecture and ture “exotic and overblown” .23 Its buildings
images o f Winchester and Ely.21 were apparently not, in his estimation, critical
Kenneth John C onant’s Pelican History of to the future of medieval architecture.
Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture was first At the end o f the book Conant makes clear
published over forty years ago, but has been his interest in Norman architecture as the pre­
reprinted consistently into the present decade cursor o f Gothic: “Progress achieved in the art
and remains influential.22 A glance at the table o f rib vaulting is from the point of view of the
o f contents alone reveals his evolutionary bent: general history of architecture the most impor­
pre-Romanesque and proto-Rom anesque of tant achievement of the Norman architectural
the earlier chapters give way to the Mature style.”26
Romanesque of parts three and four with a Conant was not unique in this G otho-cen-
consideration of Normandy and Norman Eng­ tric approach. Geoffrey Webb, in his 1956 Pel­
land constituting the last hundred plus pages of ican volume on British medieval architecture,
the book. In his forward Conant explains this began his chapter on A nglo-N orm an
sequence: Romanesque with a discussion o f Durham and
rib vaults: “Durham is the most important work
But they [Holy Roman Empire] do not show o f the Anglo-Norm an School, both histori­
the drive for the logical synthesis in structure cally and aesthetically. Historically because it is
which characterized the northwestern region. vaulted throughout with rib vaults.”27 While
Therefore, at the end of our work we refer to he goes on to say that the historical importance
Romanesque Norman England and the Ile-de- o f the vaults o f Durham has, perhaps, “tend­
France in contrast with the Empire; the result ed to divert attention from other qualities o f
of their effort in architecture was the creation the building”, his first emphasis is the role of
of a new structural unit.23 Durham in the structural evolution leading to
the Gothic.28 A more recent survey o f medieval
Conant discusses N orm an architecture in architecture by R obert Calkins follows the tra­
southern Italy and Sicily in part six, “Mature ditional pattern used by Conant. Calkins places
Romanesque Architecture in the Lands associ­ his chapter “Anglo-Saxon, N orm an and
ated within the Holy Rom an Em pire”. His A nglo-Norm an” at the end o f his discussion
introduction to part six describes these build­ o f Romanesque architecture, just before the
ings as follows: Gothic section of the book, and stresses their
importance for subsequent architectural devel­
They developed spectacularly in scale, richness opment.29 Norman Sicily and southern Italy
and superior craftsmanship from local Early are discussed separately from Normandy and
Romanesque styles; but lacked the inventive England, as part o f Italy, with little clear analy­
drive which eventually achieved the definitive ses o f the Norm an aspects o f the architecture.
solution (in France) of the essential vaulting Once again, in Calkins as in earlier texts, rela­
problem. [...] A certain unity will be given to tionships between all areas of Norman archi­
our exposition by mention of the features tectural patronage are not discussed. Sicily is
which the respective styles contributed to the considered an interesting anomaly but without
development of Gothic architecture.2425 relevance to the central role o f A nglo-N or-

21. R oger Stalley, Early Medierai Architecture (Oxford, 26. Ibid., p. 453.
1999), p.230-31.
27. Geoffrey Webb, Architecture in Britain in the Middle
22. Kenneth John Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque Ages (Harmondsworth, 1956), p. 35.
Architecture 800-1200 (London, 1959; repr. 1990).
28. Ibid., p. 36.
23. Ibid., p. 11-12.
29. R obert Calkins. Medierai Architecture in Western Europe
24. Ilud., p. 343. (Oxford, 1998), p. 151, 154.
25. Ibid., p. 352. 359.

Beating their Swords into Set Squares 373

 m an/N orm an architecture as the structural Durham this connection was made to explain
progenitors of the Gothic style. These build­ or justify contemporary decisions through a par­
ings are traditionally positioned within the text ticular representation o f the institution’s past,
and then analyzed principally to highlight this in this case the community’s monastic heritage.
aspect o f their form. Shifting the questions asked o f these buildings
W ith few exceptions, these N orm an and to include a consideration o f Norman archi­
Anglo-Norman buildings are analyzed in rela­ tectural intention or identity should, I would
tion to one another, and generally their critical argue, be distinct from their contribution to the
role in the ultimate achievement o f Ile-de- Gothic of the Ile-de-France, a consequence vis­
France High Gothic is stressed.30 Sicilo-Nor- ible only in hindsight.
man buildings are typically left out o f these Secondly, a reformatting o f the approach
discussions. Presumably their lack of physical whereby Norman architecture is considered as
proximity and clear visual similarity to the a group, rather than separated into important
northern examples has promoted this approach. contributors and interesting but unimportant
Undoubtedly their lack of importance for the buildings, could also further our understanding
vaulting evolution towards the desired goal of of the Normans with regard to both their archi­
Gothic architecture also led to their marginal­ tecture as well as their culture at large. One of
ization. W hat this separation does is to omit the key debates in Norman history, for exam­
from the discussion conceptual links or patterns ple, is whether Normans in Normandy are con­
in building practice or attitudes towards the use querors who impose their ways and represent a
o f earlier traditions. Is there a pattern to how rupture in the history o f their territories or
Normans synthesized their traditions with whether they assimilate as they adopt local prac­
indigenous ones which lead to such extensive tice. At first glance, the architectural evidence
examples o f lavish architectural patronage? might suggest neither or both. The transfor­
Despite sharp differences in appearance, might mation o f the English architectural landscape
this not be the case, given the clear links with following the N orm an Conquest with the
earlier cultural practices throughout the three extensive construction o f castles might suggest
regions under their political control? O ther imposition as the answer to this question while
questions might include how this architecture the indigenous features found at Monreale and
relates, if at all, to past building traditions. Is its Durham suggest assimilation. At the same time,
orientation principally historicist or modernist? these and other examples o f Norman architec­
Much could be gained by a regrouping of the ture are undeniably varied. Gloucester doesn’t
current pattern o f enquiry. Firstly and most look very much like Monreale or Cefalù or St
obviously, the Normans were not seers who Etienne, Caen or Bernay, perhaps because of
knew that Chartres was just ahead and they chronological differences or perhaps because
could therefore get their names into every sur­ there is not a strong N orm an identity that
vey book o f the twentieth century by building moves between Scandinavia, Normandy, Sici­
with rib vaults. Rather, their architectural choic­ ly, and England. What is common to these three
es were based on other considerations and in at areas o f N orm an Conquest is an interest in
least some cases it was the past rather than the making their presence known through archi­
future with which the Normans were con­ tecture, especially architecture that is very big.
cerned. Key features o f major Anglo-Norman Indeed, the very variety that is found may be
monuments such as the cathedrals o f Durham the key to the commonalty of Norman archi­
and Peterborough reflect an interest in empha­ tecture. The manner in which native, often
sizing the elements o f continuity between the highly localized, traditions are integrated with
pre- and post-conquest history of the site.31*At Norman ones may explain the rich diversity of

30. Peter Kidson, Peter Murray, and Paul Thompson, A tecture rather than medieval architecture in general. See, for
History of English Architecture (Harmondsworth, 19792). Peter example, p. 52.
Kidson’s treatment o f Anglo-Norm an Rom anesque is vir­
tually unique in its analysis o f English buildings on their 31. See Lisa Reilly. “Durham Cathedral: T he Emergence
own terms rather than in terms o f their contribution to an o f Anglo-Norman Architecture", Anglo-Norman Studies, 19
overall evolution o f European architecture, but this is per­ (1997), p.335-51 and cad.. An Architectural History of Peter­
haps to be expected in a book specifically on English archi- borough Cathedral (Oxford, 1997), ch.7.

374 U SA REILLY
their architecture. An acknowledgment of the and literary forms that are no longer current.
diversity o f N orm an architectural forms as a This possibly deliberate antiquarianism may be
conscious choice tied to political goals would evidence o f an instinct for self-preservation on
reinforce Cassandra Potts’s argument that the the part o f Anglo-Saxon writers rather than
Normans were highly conscious of the mixed Norman integration into local traditions.33 For
heritage o f the people under their rule.32 As the most part, however, these historians and
mentioned above, she cites the account o f the literary scholars apparently regard the post-con-
dream o f Rollo related by Dudo which sug­ quest period as one which makes strong and
gests the Normans are destined to bring togeth­ self-conscious use o f literature and history­
er diverse peoples under one rule. The Norman writing to promote a sense o f continuity in
identity seems to be based in diversity, which pre- and post-conquest England. The applica­
may explain the variety found in their archi­ tion o f these same questions to architectural
tecture. studies would allow an examination o f the
The analyses o f literary scholars and histori­ Norman relationship to the past and non-N or-
ans such as Elizabeth Salter, C hristopher man traditions, which should reveal much
Baswell, Susan Crane, Cassandra Potts, and about their intentions for their architecture
Antonia Gransden suggest that a Norman con­ unlike an analysis based on the role of N or­
sciousness of the past and local traditions as a man buildings as harbingers of the future. N or­
means o f celebrating their history as well as man architectural studies might be recast, in
integrating themselves into the history o f their part following the model o f historical and lit­
conquered subjects is a common theme in sev­ erary studies which recognize Norman manip­
eral areas o f N orm an culture. It must be ulation o f the past as well as their concern for
acknowledged, however, that the question of image and acceptance among the people whom
how much o f the continuity between pre- and they conquered. This approach acknowledges
post-conquest Britain can be seen as Norman the Norman quest to represent their own iden­
enthusiasm for the past versus Anglo-Saxon tity as well as that o f their subjects through text
retention o f their tradition remains an open and visual culture.
one. In the Cambridge History of Medieval Eng­
lish Literature, Seth Lerer asserts that Old Eng­ Department o f Architectural History
lish writing during the 150 years following the University o f Virginia
conquest is self-conscious in its use of language Charlottesville, VA

32. Potts, “ Historical Tradition”, p. 139—52. 33. Seth Lerer, “O ld English and its Afterlife”, in The
Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature, ed. Wallace,
p .7 -3 4 (p. 12).

Beating their Swords into Set Squares 375

 Furness Abbey: A Case Study
in Monastic Secularization
JA S O N W O O D

have made a miserable botch of this up by English Heritage in the 1980s. It was

I description; it is no description, but mere­

ly an attempt to preserve something of the
impression it made on me, and in this I do not
established to achieve a full, analytical record of
the archaeology and architecture o f the monas­
tic remains in English Heritage’s guardianship
seem to have succeeded at all.1 prior to major repair and conservation works.2
During my time at Furness I had pleasure in
This remark, taken from one o f the more showing the site to numerous scholars and other
obscure references to Furness Abbey, provides interested parties, including one Japanese PhD
a revealing context for the present work. It was student who was researching the writings of
written by the American Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne by following Haw­
during his visit to the site in July 1855, when thorne’s exact itinerary for July 1855. (He was
the abbey was well on the way to becoming a having difficulty doing this as Hawthorne’s day
popular tourist attraction. A railway station and at the abbey began by alighting at the railway
hotel had recendy been opened and guidebooks station which no longer exists!)
were available for the first time. As Hawthorne I recounted this story to Peter Fergusson on
readily admits, however, it was still virtually his visit to Furness while researching early Cis­
impossible to describe and understand the ruins tercian gatehouses for an article in Peter Kid-
in any meaningful way. son’s festschrift.3 The site of the railway station
I came to share these concerns 130 years later lies close to the abbey gatehouse, and the for­
when my own involvement at the site began in mer hotel (now also demolished) was partly
1985 with the creation o f the Furness Abbey built over the gatehouse remains. I recall a very
Survey Project. Undertaken by Lancaster U ni­ happy occasion, discussing the evidence for the
versity Archaeological Unit, this project was early plan of the gatehouse and afterwards shar­
one of a number o f historic fabric surveys set ing ideas about the early development the abbey

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Our Old Home, and English Note­ Archaeology N orth) for access to the Furness Abbey Sur­
books, vol. li. in The Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, vey Project archive, and to English Heritage for grant aid
vol. vin, with introductory notes by G. P. Lathrop (London, to enable two o f the illustrations to be redrawn for this
1883). p. 14. publication.
2. See Jason W ood, “ Furness Abbey: An Integrated and 3. Peter Fergusson, '“Porta Patens Esto’: Notes on Early
M ulti-disciplinary Approach to the Survey, Recording, Cistercian Gatehouses in the N orth o f England”, in Medieval
Analysis and Interpretation o f a Monastic Building”, in Architecture and its Intellectual Context: Studies in Honour of
Medieval Europe 1992, vol. VI, Religion and Belief (York, Peter Kidson, ed. Eric Fernie and Paul Crossley (London,
1992), p. 163-70. I am grateful to form er colleagues at 1990), p. 47-59.
Lancaster University Archaeological U nit (now O xford

Furness Abbey: A Case Study in Monastic Secularization 2>11

 Fig. 1. South-East View, Furness Abbey, engraving byJ.T.W ill- Fig. 2. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage viewed from the
more after a painting by D. Crosthwaite. (front Thomas Alcock south,following the arson attack in 1996. (Lancaster Univer­
Beck, Annales Furnesienses: History and Antiquities o f the sity Archaeological Unit)
Abbey o f Furness, London, Í8 4 4 ,plate 1, opp. p. 3 6 t) The fire all but destroyed the original roof although parts o f the
Abbey Park Cottage is in the middle distance on the right. tie-beam truss and bracket truss and some purlins survived in a
badly burnt state.

church, which of course has been Peter’s pri­ ple o f small trial pits were excavated to estab­
mary interest at Furness.4 As the light was fad­ lish the original ground level, and stripping of
ing we didn’t have time to visit the southern limited areas of plaster was necessary to observe
end o f the site, nor the building known as the roof structure. Samples from the roof tim­
Abbey Park Cottage. So here, Peter, is what we bers were taken for tree-ring analysis. Unfor­
found. tunately, relatively few written sources, plans,
engravings, or photographs could be located
Abbey Park Cottage relating specifically to this building, compared
to the total archive of over 1200 cartographic
This essay describes the results o f one discrete and pictorial sources for Furness Abbey as a
element of the Furness Abbey Survey Project. whole.
It focuses on an area within the outer court and Since this work, the building has suffered
in particular on Abbey Park Cottage situated to mixed fortunes. The refurbishment proposed in
the south-east o f the abbot’s house and infir­ 1988 was never undertaken. English Heritage
mary (Fig. 1). Prior to the Project very little was subsequently relinquished their guardianship of
known about the cottage. Previous researchers this part o f the site and as a result control over
had assumed that it was formerly a medieval the building’s future reverted to the owner, Lord
mill,5 and from the late nineteenth century the Cavendish of Furness. During this period, the
building was known to have provided accom­ cottage was listed Grade II. Lord Cavendish
modation for the abbey guide or custodian. leased the building to Com m unity Action
R ecording and analysis o f Abbey Park Furness, a local charity, whereupon a squatter,
Cottage were commissioned in 1988 in advance under threat o f eviction, set fire to the build­
o f impending refurbishment works by English ing (Fig. 2). Using insurance monies released
Heritage to bring the building back into use as following the arson attack, the charity has now
the custodian’s accommodation. The fabric sur­ successfully completed the initial stage o f a con­
vey was achieved largely by hand measurement servation programme to make the surviving
combined with rectified photography. A cou­ shell wind and watertight. In 2000, it obtained

4. See Peter Fergusson, Architecture of Solitude: Cistercian p. 38—55 (p. 43): and subsequent writers, including William
Abbeys in Twelfth-Century England (Princeton, 1984), espe­ H. St John Hope, “The Abbey o f St Mary in Furness, Lan­
cially p. 55-62. cashire”, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Anti­
quarian and Archaeological Society, old series, 16 (1900), p.
5. M r Stables, “Photographic Survey o f Furness Abbey”,
221-302 (p. 290).
Proceedings o f the Barrow Naturalists’Field Club, 10 (1894—95),

378 JA SO N W O O D
Fig. 3. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, viewedfrom the south-east, 1999.
(Fleritage Consultane)' Services, Carnforth).
This view,following conservation and re-roofing, shows the south wall extending eastwards beyond
the line o f the east wall; note also the blocked door and windows in the south wall.

a European regional development grant to use second half o f nineteenth century, with sever­
the building as a vehicle for interpretation of al refurbishments in the twentieth.6
the heritage o f the surrounding landscape,
complementing English Heritage’s presentation Fabric Description
o f the abbey itself.
The description and interpretation that follow
The Late Medieval House are derived from information obtained before
the fire.
Abbey Park Cottage is a complicated, multi­
period structure. Before the fire, sufficient fab­ General
ric survived — albeit in a modified form — of The walls are solidly built o f reddish-brown St
the different periods o f construction to arrive Bees sandstone throughout. On the whole, the
at an interpretation of the building’s history. It facings are o f unevenly coursed rubble of irreg­
started life as a late medieval house built in the ular shapes and sizes. However, the stones which
second half of the fifteenth century (Period 1), form the doorjam bs and lintels and window
and it is this period o f use which is the focus jambs, sills, and mullions are more neatly
o f the present essay. There is nothing in the fab­ dressed. The original mortar is creamy yellow
ric to suggest its use as a mill at any stage; the in colour with small pebble inclusions, and there
plan and architectural detailing of the building is some evidence that a thin wash o f painted
are purely domestic. Over the subsequent five plaster was applied to the internal walls.
centuries, the building’s size, shape, and pur­ A number o f the Period 1 features are only
pose changed dramatically; it was converted to partially visible. Some elements are obscured or
a field barn in the late eighteenth century and have been removed by later construction. In
the aforementioned custodian’s cottage in the particular, the west wall is a replacement struc-

6. For the results o f the pre-fire survey, see Jason Wood, vices, 1999). Post-fire recording and analysis will hopefully
“Abbey Park Cottage and Environs, Furness Abbey, C um ­ complete the picture and test the validity o f the proposed
bria: Initial Interpretative R eport” (unpublished report for development sequence.
Communit)- Action Furness by Heritage Consultancy Ser-

Furness Abbey: A Case Study in Monastic Secularization 379

 ture, several door and window openings are
blocked, and before the fire a number o f the
roof timbers were hidden from view or sawn
off.

Ground Floor
At ground floor level, the surviving fabric of
the primary build consists o f three sides o f a
thick walled, rectangular chamber divided into
two rooms by a narrower cross wall running
east-west. The north and south walls o f the
Fig. 4. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, trial excavation
chamber are 8 m apart and approximately
1—1.10 m thick; the longer east wall is slightly
against the external face of the south wall, 1988. (Lancaster
narrower at 0.90 m .The cross wall is about 0.40
University Archaeological Unit)
m wide. The northern room is approximately
Note the sill o f the blocked double-light window and the top of
0.85 m wider than that to the south. A small
the foundation offset about 0.9 0 m below the present ground
area o f the external fabric at the south-east cor­
level.
ner o f the building (Fig. 3) demonstrates that
the south wall originally extend­
ed eastwards beyond the line o f
the east wall.
The south wall is pierced by a
splayed, flat-headed doorway and
one splayed, double-light window
presenting a square frame to the
exterior but set into an arched
embrasure internally. The north
wall has a similar window but no
doorway. There are indications of
another two flat-headed door­
ways in the east wall. The cross
wall was probably pierced by a
doorway at its western end. All of
the door thresholds and window
sills lie below the present ground
level. Small trial excavations
against the internal face o f the
north wall and external face of
the south wall (Fig. 4) revealed the
top of the foundation offset and
the edge o f the foundation trench
cutting into natural clay. The
foundation offset is 0.20-0.30 m
wide and is approximately 0.90 m
Tinted areas indicate late medieval timbers
below the present ground level.
Traces o f an internal floor and
external paving were also discov­
Fig. 5. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, north wall inter­ ered.
nal elevation showing the offsetfor thefirst floorjoists, the blocked
windows at ground and first Jloor levels, and a section through First Floor
the roofstructure; Furness Abbey Survey Project, Drawing Sheet Just above the door lintels and
240. (Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, redrawn for window embrasures, the north
publication by Henry Buglass). and south walls are offset inter­
nally by 0.10—0.15 m. This level

380 JA SO N W O O D
 Wood - Colour Plate 1. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, a three-dimensional, wire-frame model o f the reconstruction o f the
late medieval house, created in Form Z by Autodesys. (Stephen Thompson)

Wood — Colour Plate 2. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, a photo-realistic image o f the reconstruction o f the late medieval
house dropped into a contemporary photograph o f the area. (Stephen Thompson)
 Roof
Before the fire, a substantial amount of the two-
bay, oak roof structure remained. This com­
prised a tie-beam truss on the west side, linked
to a central bracket truss by wall-plates and two
pairs o f through purlins either side o f the ridge
(Figs 5 and 6). Five common rafters survived in
the south-west quadrant. Although some ele­
ments of the roof were missing, there was clear
evidence for a ridge purlin and five common
rafters in each quadrant. The nature of the mate­
rial which covered the roof is unknown.
The massive western tie-beam is 9.10 m in
length. The beam is slightly cranked and cham­
fered and stopped on its eastern edge. The sof­
fit is obscured as the beam has been underbuilt
by the replacement west wall. The ends o f the
beam sit on wall-plates which run along the
centre o f the north and south walls. The tie-
beam supports a pair o f principal rafters
between which run two cranked collar-beams.
The lower collar is also chamfered and stopped
on both edges. The pitch of the rafters, their
position in relation to the tie-beam, and the
presence of dowel holes close to the ends of the
Fig. 6. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, upper parts o f the tie-beam would suggest that there were origi­
central bracket truss with the two cranked collar-beams o f the nally tilting fillets to ease the roof line over the
tie-beam truss beyond, 1988. (Lancaster University Archaeo­ edge o f the side walls.
logical Unit) The central truss arrangement was similar to
that o f the west side except that the tie-beam
did not span the width of the roof. Rather, its
is marked externally by a larger course of rub­ protruding ends were supported on decorative
ble masonry, especially in the north wall. Pre­ timber brackets above stone corbels. The brack­
sumably these offsets originally carried a series ets were chamfered and stopped on both edges.
o f north-south floor joists across the building, The through purlins running between the
supported in the middle by the cross wall. It two trusses were flat, almost plank-like in cross-
does not appear that the cross wall was carried section. The purlins supported the common
up to the first floor level. The upper room was rafters which sprang from the wall-plates to the
lit by two splayed, rectangular windows, one in ridge. The common rafters were much squarer
the north wall and one in the south, positioned in section than the purlins. There was no indi­
just below the eaves (Fig. 5). cation in either truss o f mortises in the tie-
Interestingly, the height of the internal offsets beams or collars to suggest joists for a ceiling or
is matched by one (0.08 m wide) running along posts for loft partitions.
the external face of the east wall. This presum­
ably provided the seating for a series of east-west Tree-ring Analysis
floor joists. Immediately above this offset, and Samples from ten o f the oak timbers in the roof
directly above the northern of the two ground were taken for tree-ring analysis, including the
floor doorways in the east wall, is another flat­ tie-beams, principal rafters, through purlins and
headed doorway. Combined with the evidence common rafters. The ring sequence of one tim­
for a floor and a continuous south wall (noted ber, an upper purlin, was dated to 1355—1436.
above), the presence of this first floor doorway This timber was felled after ca. 1450 but prob­
confirms that the building originally extended ably before 1495. Assuming that the purlin in
beyond the line of the present east wall. question was used shortly after felling, and is

Furness Abbey: A Case Study in Monastic Secularization 381

 primary to the construction (the timber is inte­ most parts o f the country from the fourteenth
gral to the roof structure and there are no signs century onwards.8 Examples include the
o f reuse), the probable date for the roof is Chantry at Mere (Wiltshire) which has a hall
between 1450 and 1495.7 — once open — o f three bays, a solar block
o f two bays, and a much larger service block
Tentative Reconstruction o f six bays, occupying practically half the
building. It is thus an elaborate version o f the
The fabric survey outlined above provides an tripartite plan with an additional room to the
indication o f the appearance and date o f the service end. The Chantry dates from the mid­
surviving elements of the Period 1 building. dle or second half o f the fifteenth century.9
The dating of the roof places the primary con­ O f similar date are a number o f priests’ hous­
struction firmly in the second half o f the fif­ es in south-west England where there are sev­
teenth century, confirming the building’s eral good parallels, especially in Somerset.10
suspected late medieval origins based on archi­ A nother example from W iltshire is Place
tectural style and form. Farm, Tisbury.11 Here, the domestic range o f
The surviving fabric comprises parts o f a the form er home farm o f the Benedictine
two-storey, rectangular chamber divided by a nuns o f Shaftsbury is comparable in size and
cross wall at ground floor level and surmount­ date to the surviving remains o f Abbey Park
ed by a two-bay roof structure. D oor and win­ Cottage.
dow openings in the external north and south Based on these examples, the proposed
walls were splayed. That the east wall was orig­ reconstruction for the Abbey Park Cottage
inally an internal wall is confirmed by the pres­ building is o f a house forming a long rectan­
ence o f three unsplayed doorways (two on the gle under a continuous roof o f seven full and
ground and one on the first floor) and the east­ two half bays. The layout consists o f a hall,
ward extension o f the south wall. This, com­ open to the roof, flanked by two-storeyed
bined with the evidence that the east wall had accommodation. West o f the hall are private
once supported a floor, is overwhelming proof apartments comprising a parlour with a solar
that part of the two-storey building has been or best chamber above. To the east are service
lost to the east. Moreover, the existence o f the rooms, separated from the hall by a screens
western tie-beam truss, and its position in rela­ passage. Entrance to the hall is via opposed
tion to the replacement west wall, strongly sup­ doorways into the passage. Two doorways off
ports the view that part of the building has also the screens passage lead into the service
disappeared to the west. In other words, the sur­ rooms; one to a buttery, another to a pantry,
viving structure is only a section o f a larger late w ith a service doorway in the south wall.
medieval house. Connecting doorways from the buttery and
In order to understand the nature of the miss­ pantry lead through to a kitchen at the east
ing parts and arrive at a tentative reconstruc­ end. The first floor o f the service block con­
tion for the whole o f the Period 1 building, it tains additional bed chambers w ith a con­
is necessary to draw information from com­ necting doorway.
parative structures of similar date which survive Three sets o f stairs provide access to the
in a more complete form. upper rooms and an open gallery above the
The closest parallels to the Abbey Park C ot­ screens passage. Three chimneys serve five fire­
tage building are developed from the “typi­ places: the main one is situated in the open
cal” late medieval tripartite plan, common in hall; the others in the parlour, solar, kitchen,

7. For the results o f the tree-ring analysis, see Cathy 9. W. A. Pantin, "C hantry Priests’ Houses and other
Groves, “Tree-Ring Analysis o f Oak Timbers from Furness Medieval Lodgings” , Medieval Archaeology. 3 (1959),
Abbey Park Cottage, Barrow -in-Furness, C um bria” p. 216-58 (p. 224-31).
(unpublished A ncient M onum ents Laboratory R ep o rt
135/89. Sheffield, 1989). 10. W. A. Pantin, “Medieval Priests’ Houses in South-
West England”, Medieval Archaeology, 1 (1957), p. 118-46.
8. For a general discussion o f the late medieval tripartite
plan, see Margaret Wood, The English Medieval House (Lon­ 11. Colin Platt, The Monastic Grange in Medieval England
(London, 1969), p.44—45. 240—41.
don, 1965); Maurice Barley, Houses and History (London,
1986); and Jane Grenville, Medieval Housing (Leicester, 1997).

382 JA SO N W O O D
 and the bed chamber directly above the
latter. All walls are o f stone, though the
narrower walls o f the screens passage and
gallery are probably o f timber construc­
tion. Each main room is provided with
at least two windows, double-light on
the ground floor and single-light on the
first floor. Finally, the ro o f trusses are
Ground floor plan alternatively o f tie-beam and bracket
construction, except for the trusses in
A 1=1 \ l\ A the bay occupied by the screens passage
\
J
and gallery which are both tie-beams.
It is tentatively suggested that the Peri­
[ ) od 1 fabric o f Abbey Park Cottage forms
part o f the service block o f this late
JÉ medieval house, specifically the ground
V/ W _____ u_____ u___ floor buttery and pantry with a bed cham­
First floor plan ber above. Two-dimensional representa­
tions o f the proposed reconstruction of
the house are shown in Figure 7. These
drawings were used as the basis for a com­
puter modelling exercise to visualize the
proposed reconstruction in three dimen­
sions (colourplates 1 and 2).12

A Pre-Dissolution Secular Residence

For whom did this mid-late fifteenth-cen­
tury building provide accommodation? In
order to answer this question, it is neces­
sary to review certain aspects o f the later
history o f the abbey as a whole, specifi­
cally the period from shortly before the
Dissolution to the leasing o f the site in the
mid-sixteenth century.13
Section looking north D uring the fifteenth century, a relax­
ation o f the Cistercian rule permitted lay­
men to live within the monastery on the
same terms as the lay brothers had done

12.1 am grateful to Stephen Thompson for per­

mission to reproduce his three-dimensional com ­
puter images. T he model was created as a project for
an MA in Design at the University o f Central Lan­
cashire in 2001.
13. For a summary history o f the abbey, see the
author’s contribution to the English Heritage guide­
Fig. 7. Furness Abbey, Abbey Park Cottage, Period i; two-dimension­ book to the site — Stuart Harrison, Jason Wood, and
Rachel Newman, Furness Abbey, Cumbria (London,
al representations of the reconstruction. (Lancaster University Archaeo­ 1998), p. 22-36. For more detailed historical research,
logical Unit, redrawn for publication by Henr)> Buglass) see Geoffrey Martin, “Historical Introduction: Fur­
ness Abbey from its Foundation to 1537” (unpublished
report for English Heritage, 1992), and Janet Martin,
“Historical Introduction: History o f the Site from
1537” (unpublished report for English Heritage, 1992).

Furness Abbey: A Case Study in Monastic Secularization 383

 before. The outer court would have been staffed titles such as the Receiver of Rents and the Pri­
by laymen and hired servants, responsible to a ory Auditor.15
bailiff, many of whom would have lived in the
court. These laymen sometimes included cor- The Building’s Post-Dissolution Fate
rodians — pensioners who paid, or were spon­
sored, to lodge in private accommodation The evidence is silent as to the fate of Abbey
within the precinct. Importantly, the more Park Cottage following the Dissolution. We
prominent among the laymen began to play key know that a part o f the building was convert­
roles in the commercial and business affairs of ed to a field barn, but this was in the late eigh­
the monastery. The last forty years of the abbey s teenth century. W hat happened to the house in
existence were marked by a general decline in the intervening period? How long did the
the standing o f the religious institution, cou­ building survive in its original shape and form?
pled with the increasing influence o f salaried Was it, for instance, partly demolished and
workers in the administration and exploitation reduced in size during the sixteenth-century
o f the abbey and its estates. upheavals or at some date closer to the date of
Against this background it is tempting to see conversion? Given that no construction period
the building of Abbey Park Cottage as an inter­ was recognized between those o f the second
esting case study in monastic secularization.The half o f the fifteenth centurv and the late eisji-
substantial construction and broadly secular teenth century (a period o f some three hun­
character of the building has been noted. Its dred years) it is perhaps unlikely that the
architectural style and form show no substan­ building survived in use for a long time.
tial differences from the granges and manor It is possible that it was put to some light
houses o f fifteenth-century landowners, domestic or semi-agricultural purpose by Sir
whether ecclesiastical or lay. In short, the build­ John Lamplieu in the immediate aftermath o f
ing falls into the mainstream of late medieval the Dissolution. Lamplieu, the high sheriff o f
domestic planning and corresponds well with Cumberland, is thought to have assisted the
the houses of the lesser gentry, lords of manors, C ourt o f Augmentations’ Receiver, R obert
and prosperous yeomen. Southwell, w ho arrived in person with three
The evidence seems to point to the house other Commissioners in June 1537 to survey
being the residence for one of the abbots senior the abbey and preside over its dismember­
lay retainers or officials, or perhaps even a dis­ ment. Lamplieu was placed in charge o f the
tinguished ex-official. Analogous buildings, site and lands and duly took up residence early
although o f much earlier date, are known from in 1538.16 Accordingly, some o f the abbey
other monastic sites. Excavations at T h orn- buildings — probably including the former
holme Priory (Lincolnshire) uncovered the abbot’s house17 — were left in a habitable
remains of a stewards hall, and similar build­ state.
ings are known in the outer courts o f Elstow In 1540 the site was leased to Sir Thomas
Abbey (Bedfordshire) and Waltham Abbey Curwen and passed to his son-in-lawjohn Pre­
(Essex).14 A more contemporary parallel is pro­ ston in 1546. A document from the Lancashire
vided by the Priory of St John Clerkenwell in Pleadings in the Duchy Court dated February 1549
London. Here, lease books from ca. 1480 to alludes to the ruinous state o f the “Halle and
1540 demonstrate that the outer court at this other Howses” and the desire of Preston to erect
site was mostly occupied by rich tenants, includ­ a “newe Halle parler Chambres and other hows-
ing the priory’s own financial officials, who had es o f offices”.18 It is possible that Abbey Park

14. Glyn Coppack, English Heritage Book of Abbeys and 17. H ope, “T he Abbey o f St M ary in Furness, Lan­
Priories (London, 1990), p. 114. cashire”, p. 297.
15. Barney Sloane, “Reversing the Dissolution: R econ­ IS. Pleadings and Depositions in the Duchy Court of Lan­
structing Londons Medieval Monasteries”, Transactions of caster in the time of Edward VI and Philip and Mary, ed. Henry
the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, 50 (1999), p. Fishvvick, The Record Society o f Lancashire and Cheshire,
67-77 (p. 71, 75). 40 (London, 1899), p. 90; Hope, “T he Abbey o f St Mary
in Furness, Lancashire”, p. 297-98.
16. C hristopher Haigh, The Last Days of the Lancashire
Monasteries and the Pilgrimage of Grace, Chetham Society, 3rd
series, 17 (Manchester, 1969), p. 106-07.

384 J A SO N W O O D
Cottage was one o f the houses referred to as Park Cottage points to the existence of a pre-
being in a ruinous state. Dissolution, secular residence within the abbey s
outer court, close to the abbots house. While
Conclusion not in themselves evidence for a decline in
abbatial authority, the nature and location of
From a study o f the historical documentary the building are, arguably, tangible evidence for
sources and the archaeology of the buildings at the influence o f the laity in administration and
Furness Abbey, a picture is emerging o f the management o f the abbey during the latter
evolution o f the monastic landscape and the years o f monastic life and the aftermath o f the
abbey’s architectural style and form. As at oth­ Dissolution.
er sites, this evolution reflected that of the
Cistercian Order as a whole and, in particular,
the necessity of monastic life to respond to the Heritage Consultancy Services
political and social changes o f the day. The Hawkshead Home Farm, Highfield Lane
increased use o f laymen in the late medieval Bolton-le-Sands
period is one example o f adaptation to needs Carnforth, Lancashire
and circumstances. The evidence from Abbey UK

Furness Abbey: A Case Study in Monastic Secularization 385

 Planting over the Past:
A n U nknow n Episode in the Post-M onastic
H istory o f P ontigny Abbey*

T E R R Y L N. K IN D E R

eter Fergusson once remarked that the years earlier. By 1811, demolition of the abbots

P world was spared more articles from his

pen (this was in the days before comput­
ers) because of the time he spent gardening. It
therefore seems appropriate to honour his con­
residence and other dependencies — as well as
all medieval structures save the church and lay
brothers’ building — was nearing completion.
By looking carefully at the plan, the site, and
tribution to the study of both Cistercian archi­ the post-revolutionary history o f Pontigny, the
tecture and landscape design — as well as his context, if not the raison d’être, for this unusu­
sense of humour, inquisitive spirit, and gener­ al document may be coaxed out o f the obliv­
ous encouragement — with an unpublished ion in which it has rested for nearly two
plan for a garden at Pontigny. Behind every gar­ hundred vears.
den there is a story, sometimes lying dormant
for a long time until the right conditions allow Description o f the Drawing
its long-forgotten fruits to reappear. The fact
that this one was never realized is irrelevant; as A legend on the plan describes it as aJardin pro-
every gardener knows, w ithout dreams there jetté sur l’Emplacement des Ruines de l’ancienne
can be no reality. Abbaye de Bernardins à Pontigny, it is signed
Foucherot, ingénieur en chef attaché au Canal de
Among the treasures o f a college archive in Bourgogne and dated at Tonnerre le 6janvier Í 8Í Í
northern Vermont is an unknown, unpub­ (Fig. l).T he drawing, which was made on paper
lished, unbuilt design for a garden covering part and glued to a loosely woven cloth backing,
o f the grounds within the precinct wall o f the measures 31.2 x 59 cm (12 x 23 in.). Once
former abbey o f Pontigny. Precisely how and framed, it appears to have been hung in the light
why this plan came about is not known, but it for many years, causing the exposed paper to
was made at a delicate point in Pontigny’s his­ darken.1 Intact but in fragile condition, the
tory. The monks had been expelled and the drawing has now separated from the backing in
abbey sold as a bien national less than twenty several places.

* W ith gratitude to Br. Benedict Simmonds o f Holy 1. Nails along the top and bottom once fixed the draw­
Cross Abbey, Berryville, VA. for his encouragement, enthu­ ing in a frame, and two series o f holes suggest it had been
siasm, and assistance: to Linda Lott at the Dumbarton Oaks refrained at least once. The original colour o f the paper is
Research Library: and to Rebecca T. Frischkorn, landscape visible in a band 9 m m wide along the top and 6-9 mm at
designer in Charlottesville, VA, and Professor R euben M. the bottom where the frame once protected it. Removed
Rainey o f the Department o f Architecture and Landscape from the frame at some point, the drawing was folded over
Architecture at the University o f Virginia for their helpful about 23 cm from the left edge and also appears to have
suggestions concerning historic gardens. been rolled inward (perhaps for transport?).

Planting oner the Past: A n U nknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History o f Pontigny Abbey 387
 Fig. 1. Pontigiiy Abbey, Jardin projette sur ¡’Emplacement des Ruines de l ’ancienne Abbaye de Bernardins à Pontigny by [Jacques/
Foucherot, 6 January 1811. North is at the top. (Society o f Saint Edmund Archines, Saint Michael's College, Colchester, VT)

Although the darkened paper makes the orig­ rentin à Auxerre. All elements named are still pre­
inal colours appear less vivid, it is nonetheless sent in the landscape.
apparent that the artist first drew the major ele­
ments — buildings, garden features, paths — in Description o f the Garden Design
fine black ink, then highlighted the planting beds
with brown and green washes. R elief was The 1811 garden was planned within the
achieved by applying a double outline o f brown boundaries defined by the monastic occupation
on one side o f the black defining line, green on of the site and incorporates numerous existing
the other. Buildings were clearly not objects of architectural and landscape features (Fig. 2).The
interest and were shaded a uniform grey or black straight southern edge, labelled chaussée pavée,
(depending on their importance to the garden leads from the main road (... de S. Florentin à
schema) with no attention to doors, windows, Auxerre, now national route 77), passes through
wall thickness, or any interior detail, nor even the entrance portal (a neo-classical monastic
accurate proportions. While the artist, as we shall gatehouse flanked by two square pavilions), and
see, was well versed in the measuring and draw­ continues eastward to the porch o f the abbey
ing of historic monuments, here they were not church.2 The northern edge is defined by the
the point, serving merely as backdrops to or millstream (Canal de dérivation de la Riviere de
boundaries framing the plantings. Se [mi]) and the abbey orangerie. The western
Structures identified on the plan include the boundary is part of the monastic precinct wall
Eglise with attached Porche and Cimetière; Vinée separating the abbey from the road, while the
et greniers (former lay brothers’ building) and eastern end — between the apse o f the church
adjacent logement du curé; Canal de dérivation de and the millstream — is closed by a wall erect­
la Riviere de Se[nn] (millstream); Enclos; chaussée ed, probably in the eighteenth century, to define
pavée; Cour and Batiment de la Ferme; Orangerie; the eastern edge of the monks’and novices’gar­
Jardin potager, and [Route? or Chemin?] de S. Flo- dens.3

2. This entrance drive was designated as a public access Cîtcaux, département de l'Yonne (Auxerre, 1839: re-edition,
w hen the former monastic church became a parish church 1888). It was present in 1844 when Victor Petit illustrated it
shortly after the Revolution. for Etienne Chaillou des Barres's book L’abbaye de Pontigny
(Paris. 1844, opposite p. 212), and was sdii standing in a pho­
3. This wall appears on the 1760 plan, published by Vaast-
tograph taken in 1950. The date of its demolition is not known.
Barthélemy Henry, Histoire de l’abbaye de Pontigny, ordre de

388 T E R R YL N. K I N D E R
Fig. 2. Pontigny Abbey, aerial view o f site looking cast, April 1999. (Jean-Paul Delor)

These boundaries result in an irregularly shaped ern wall to the widest north-south expanse and
park approximately five times longer than it is includes the area of the former cloister and claus­
wide at 320 x 64 m average width (1050 x 210 tral buildings as well as the site of the abbot s res­
ft). Within it, two very different styles of land­ idence. The style here is that of an English garden,
scaping were used to create two contrasting gar­ with paths circumambulating circular or curvi­
dens that in no way reflect the previous monasdc linear expanses of grass, and trees or bushes form­
occupation. In fact, the design appears intent on ing a verdant screen around the periphery. The
erasing past habitation by creating a very differ­ result is a park through which one is invited to
ent arrangement of the grounds. The lay of the amble, the view changing as the visitor strolls,
land is portrayed accurately, although it is repre­ arboreal walls around the edges metamorphos­
sented as an artist’s rendering rather than as a sur­ ing in colour and transparency with the seasons.
veyed plan. Foucherot probably made notes, Such comfortable informality is not of course the
sketches, and rough measurements on-site, and result of happy chance, but the product o f a care­
then conceived and drafted the plan elsewhere, fully designed environment.
since proportions and other features are not always O n examining the plan more closely, it
true to scale. This supposition is further corrob­ becomes apparent that Monsieur Foucherot had
orated by the fact that it is signed and dated from quite a few existing elements to include in his
Tonnerre, a town some 30 km southeast of natural-appearing garden. The first thing one
Pontigny where he lived. sees today on entering the park from the chaussée
pavée along the south edge is the first thing one
The larger garden, which covers approximately would have seen entering the same gate in the
80 percent of the drawing, stretches from the east­ eighteenth century: a fountain.4 A plan o f 1760

4. T he fountain dates to the 12th century, although its cistercien (see catalogue o f same name, ed. Léon Pressouyre
original location has not been determined. A moulage was and Terryl N. Kinder [Paris, 1990], p. 227).
made o f it for the 1990 exhibition Saint Bernard et le monde

Planting over the Past: A n U nknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History o f Pontigny Abbey 389
 Fig. 3. Pontigny Abbey, plan o f 1760, detail o f western portion o f projected garden area, including entrance road, gatehouse,
midstream, and abbots’ residence with gardens. North is at the top. (as published by V-B. Henry in 1839. see note 3)

Fig. 4. Pontigny Abbey, detail o f 1811 plan showing site o f abbots' residence. (Society o f Saint Edmund Archives, Saint
Michael’s College, Colchester, VT)

390 T ER R YL N. K I N D E R
Fig. 5. Pontigiiy Abbey, detail of 1811 plan showing site o f cloister. (Society o f Saint Edmund Archives, Saint Michael’s College,
Colchester, VT)

shows this fountain (#34) surrounded on three an upright (conifer?) to the north-west. The
sides by the palais abbatial and landscaped with density of deciduous trees and bushes increas­
four tapis verts or parterres o f grass (Fig. 3). In es toward the western end, where curving paths
the 1811 design all reference to the abbatial con­ and mass plantings block the view beyond. Two
text has been effaced, leaving the unadorned o f the boskets have hollow interiors, a short
fountain as the centrepiece in a small circular curved path leading inside the greenery to a
grassed plot to be admired democratically from small central clearing, thus providing areas of
all sides. intimacy in an otherwise transparent green
After being invited into the park by the space.
splashing fountain, the visitor has several paths This same sinewy layout continues into the
from which to choose (Fig. 4). O n either side, former cloister garth, which was once defined
large curved grassy areas are sparsely orna­ by buildings on four sides (Fig. 5). Two of these
mented with solitary or clustered globes, weep­ imposing structures still stand today and were
ing willows, or pyramidal needled evergreens. included in the 1811 plan. The garden is bound­
These individual trees were drawn from a bird’s- ed to the south by the church and attached
eye perspective, while most of the garden is rep­ cloister gallery.3 While not strictly speaking part
resented as a two-dimensional plan, which of the garden, the church would nevertheless
suggests that they may have been unusual or have provided a massive shadowy backdrop to
recently imported specimens, placed to stand the south. O n the other hand, the twelfth-cen­
out against the grassy surround. The circular tury lay brothers’ building ( Vinée et Greniers),
fountain, in its circular parterre, is echoed by a situated at right angles to the church, projects
smaller circular planting o f ten globes around fully into the garden space but is not allowed

5. South o f the church is the cemetery (a parish ceme­ for monastic burials in 1764), although no details are pro­
tery from the time o f the Revolution, it had been started vided concerning its appearance or landscaping on this plan.

Planting over the Past:An Unknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History o f Pontigny A bbey 391
 Fig. 6. Politigli}' Abbey, hornbeam
hedge along the niilUtream, now
truncated, 2003. (author)

to break the flow o f the curvilinear walkways. becomes an architectural foil to a tunnel o f
Large leafy trees in curved beds would allow greenery on the opposite side o f the garden.
glimpses o f the building, softening its lines and The millstream marks the northern limit o f the
playing down its angularity. park, but since the area on the far side was cul­
A nother grassy circle, this one larger and tivated as a vegetable garden (jardin potager), an
planted formally with eighteen shaped trees unbounded view was perhaps not considered
around the periphery, fills the former cloister desirable and fairly dense plantings obscure all
garth. The surrounding path provides visitors but the briefest glimpses. Stretching from west
with choices in four directions. A branch to the o f the bridge to the point where the millstream
east allows passage through the old wall to the flows under the mill (not indicated on the plan)
enclos,6 while a spur to the north leads one to is the charming device o f a tunnel o f greenery
the edge o f the old millstream, with a view or charmille. O n the plan it appears as eighteen
across the gently sloping meadow toward the bays of four-part cross-vaults, indicating a walk­
precinct wall and beyond it to the river.'' The way in the landscape formed by tall interlaced
westward path gives access to a short bridge plantings. A pleached hornbeam tunnel lining
across the millstream, present on the 1760 plan this path in the early twentieth century is still
and still used today. Two paths lead south toward present, although its interlaced “vault” has been
the church and cloister gallery, which one could truncated (Fig. 6). W hether or not this repre­
enter from either end to enjoy the shade of the sents a survival from monastic times has not
cool vaulted walk while looking out to the been determined.9
north.8
By incorporating the existing cloister gallery A second distinct part of this garden is the con­
into the design, the proposed garden can also trastingly severe geometric design at the far west
be seen as an extension of the architecture. The (left) end of the plan, laid out in a formal French
stone-vaulted passage beside the church style (Fig. 7). Existing boundaries define its rec-

6. O n the 1760 plan, this passage between the monks’ the only entrance to the church from the cloister today; the
and novices’ gardens provided access further east. other, formerly for the lay brothers in the westernmost bay
o f the north aisle, was blocked when the medieval cloister
7. T he 1760 plan shows a second footbridge here; it may
was rebuilt in the neo-classical style but is clearly visible
have been destroyed a few years before the 1811 plan was
inside the church.
made as part o f the revolutionary sale contract (see infra).
9. The lifespan o f the hornbeam is not sufficiendy long
8. These two paths do, in fact, lead to church entrances
to suggest that individual plantings date back more than 200
inside the cloister gallery, although whether they were meant
years, although the hedge as a feature may have, with stock
to be used as part o f the traffic flow in this context is not
being replaced as it died.
known. T he door on the right, near the north transept, is

392 T E R R YL N. K I N D E R
 Fio. 7. Pontigny Abbey,
detail of 1811 plan showing formal
west garden and entrance.
(Society o f Saint Edmund Archives,
Saint Michael’s College,
Colchester, VT)

tangular form, which measures approximately no way resemble the planting beds indicated on
40 X 68 m (131 X 223 ft), and here the formal the 1760 plan (Fig. 3).
design may have been suggested by the shape This rectangular parcel was divided into six
and lay o f the land. It is the lowest point o f the triangular segments with radiating paths tran­
very gradually sloping site, approximately 80 secting the rectangle. Each segment consists of
cm (31 in.) below the western end o f the Eng­ a central grassed portion bordered by a low
lish garden. Partially walled by the (monastic) double hedge o f clipped box inset with small
precinct on the south and west sides, the abbey globes at regular intervals. The focal point is a
orangery closed it to the north. An ornamen­ second (monastic) fountain in the centre,
tal garden in this location in the eighteenth cen­ which may already have been moved here by
tury would have set off the main facade o f the the time the plan was m ade.10 T he abbey
abbots residence {palais abbatial), although the orangery to the north could have served as a
paths radiating from the central fountain in a w inter storage-place for more fragile plants
sexpartite arrangement in the 1811 design in (Fig. 8).

10. T he fountain is still in this location, although it does whom , and for what reason is not known, nor is its orig­
not appear on the 1760 plan. W hen it was moved, by inal site.

Planting over the Past: A n U nknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History o f Pontigny Abbey 393
 Fig. 8. Politigli)' Abbey, area intended for formal garden, with orangery and large fountain, 1999. (author)

The eastern edge o f the rectangle is formed main drive, similar to the tunnel found along
by a short slope with four central steps leading the millstream at the north edge o f the park.
up to the larger garden. There, sixteen upright These pleached hedges are set back from the
conifers planted singly in a row with a central drive against the side walls, providing an invi­
semi-circle provide a formal facade to the mean­ tation to enter through the gates yet leaving suf­
dering English design, while immediately ficient room for carriages to turn.
behind the boskets this symmetry dissolves back
into the rambling eastern garden. Lest the two The final feature is a long strip garden in two
parts seem too starkly unrelated, it is worth not­ sections running the length o f the entrance
ing that the two fountains — one in each of drive from gatehouse to church. Bounded on
the contrasting landscapes — are in fact on the the north by the old monastic precinct wall, this
same axis, with a narrow central opening in the garden is divided into a series o f contiguous
western boskets allowing the play o f water to rectangles (Fig. 4). Although planting types are
provide a visual link between these two worlds. not shown, the rectangles are neatly tilled. At
first one might imagine the successive plots to
Aside from the two main sections of the park, be simply utilitarian, especially as the priest’s
smaller elements also figure in the design. Vis­ house (logement du cure) opens directly onto its
itors to the former abbey entered through a eastern end. While the intended function is not
gatehouse which is set back approximately 60 specified, the overall form nevertheless plays a
m (200 ft) from the main road. The area pre­ quasi-architectural role.
ceding it very likely included a num ber of The main entrance to the park is toward the
buildings for guests in the medieval abbey,11 centre o f the precinct wall between these two
although the gatehouse shown on the plan (and long beds, which are set off by a hedge on both
still present today) dates from the post-medieval north and south sides.12 The wall itself is angu­
period. Its formal symmetry perhaps invited the lar and unadorned, and the strip garden has been
landscaping provided on the 1811 plan: seven shaped to soften the wall by means o f a gra­
parallel “bays” o f vaulted greenery flanking the cious half-circle o f greenery flanking the

11. Excavations in the autumn o f 2001 to replace a fire­ 12. W hether this is a free-standing hedge or a low wood­
plug on the west side o f the gatehouse revealed substantial en or stone wall covered with plantings is impossible to
medieval foundations, but the rescue nature o f the archae­ determine from the drawing, which shows it as a series o f
ology precluded further study at the time (Terryl N. Kinder. triple loops drawn in ink and linked with a green wash.
"R apport de fouilles”, Direction Régionale des Affaires
Culturelles, Dijon. 2001).

394 T E R R YL N. K I N D E R
entrance. This device distracts the eye from the ing talent was recognized not only through the
austerity of the bare grey wall while drawing numerous prizes he won during his studies, but
attention to the entrance and the park beyond. also by the Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier, who
In formal terms, it also echoes the curved wall asked him to join an expedition to Greece in
leading to the cour de laferme opposite. 1776 and again in 1780 as an illustrator for his
books.14 Having meantime finished his diplo­
In overall design, then, Monsieur Foucherot has ma in civil engineering, on 6 April 1784
animated four distinct areas with different Foucherot was named sous-ingenieur o f the
shapes, plantings, and definitions o f space. In généralité o f Paris (département o f Melun and
the English garden, curves predominate and cir­ Fontainebleau) with a residence at Melun. In
cles are repeated: around the fountain, in the 1787 he obtained a ministerial leave of absence
former cloister, the hollow boskets, smaller plots from this position in order to supervise the
within the main garden. Strictly geometric form engravings for the planned second volume of
dominates the French garden at the west end, Choiseul-Gouffier’s book. Events of the Rev­
both by its rectangular shape and in the way in olution held up its publication, however, and
which the beds divide it. Water from the two the first part o f the second volume did not
fountains creates a linking echo between the appear until 1809.13 For his participation in this
two. The architecture o f the cloister gallery is work, Foucherot was named Correspondant de
imitated in greenery via pleached hedges along l’institut national des sciences et arts.
the millstream as well as flanking the entrance. O n 19 February 1793 he was promoted to
And the long straight grey stone wall along the the grade o f ingénieur ordinaire and assigned to
entrance drive, which — left unadorned — the département o f the Yonne with a residence
would scarcely be an invitation to a stroll in the in Tonnerre, where he lived for the rest o f his
park, is softened by plantings structured to mod­ life although not in the tranquillity (either pro­
ify its stark monotony. fessional or personal) that he might have liked.
He had been sent to the Yonne to work on con­
Author of the Drawing struction o f that portion o f the Canal de Bour­
gogne linking the Yonne and Saône Rivers in
Since the artist who made this plan has never, order to create an interior waterway from the
to my knowledge, been the object o f enquiry, English Channel to the Mediterranean. This
this brief biographical note may provide an project, discussed since the early sixteenth cen­
introduction. tury, was finally authorized by royal edicts in
Jacques Foucherot was born on 5 February 1773—74; work began at the Yonne end in 1775
1746 in D ijon.13 After finishing his secondary and the Saône end in 1784.16 By 1793 when
education there, he continued with mathemat­ the newly promoted engineer Foucherot
ics, drawing, and plan design, and in 1772 went arrived, continued work on the canal was in
to Paris to enrol in the École des Ponts et question, the Revolution, establishment o f a
Chaussées. As there were insufficient places that new government, and lack o f funds all slowing
year, he studied architecture at the Académie des its progress.17 Despite attempts to keep work
Beaux-Arts until being admitted to the Ponts et going, construction was abandoned until laws
Chaussées on 24 March 1775. Foucherot s draft­ were passed in 1808 and 1809 to sell other canals

13. All inform ation, unless otherw ise noted, derives 15. Part 2 o f the second volume was not published until
from the personnel files o f the Ecole nationale des Ponts et 1822, posthumously for both the author and this illustrator.
Chaussées, now in the Archines nationales. 1 would like to
express my gratitude to Laurent Veyssière o f the Arch, 16. This canal, which connected the Seine to the R hone
not. and C a th erin e M asteau o f the E N P C for their by means o f the Yonne and Saône Rivers, stretches 242 km
invaluable assistance in tracking this inform ation. T he (151 miles) between Laroche (dépt. Yonne) and St-Jean de
publication o f this plan may be seen as a prelude to a Losne (dépt. C ôte-d’Or). It opened to navigation in 1832.
more com plete study o f Jacques Foucherot and his work 17. Correspondence concerning the advancement o f con­
in the Yonne. struction may be found in “Rapport des ingénieurs Boudin,
H.M arie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste, Com te de Choiseul Foucherot et Tarbé sur l’état des travaux du canal en bru­
(dit Choiseul-Gouffier), Voyage pittoresque de la Cróce, vol. I maire an III” [late O ct./early Nov. 1794J, Archives départe­
(Paris, 1782). mentales de l’Yonne, L.564.

Planting over the Past: A n U nknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History o f Pontigny Abbey 395
 that had been completed in order to finish those Personnel files are not the most well-round­
that had not.18 ed sources o f information, but one thing that
Letters describe Jacques Foucherot as an emerges from reading them is Jacques Fouche­
extremely modest man who was much appre­ rot s sincere dedication to his art. He retained a
ciated by the inhabitants of Tonnerre. Given the lifelong admiration and passion for Antiquity
rather unstable rimes, his financial circumstances (“la peinture, la sculpture et l’architecture
do not appear to have allowed him to marry (in surtout, ne se sont perfectionnées en France que
any case there is no evidence o f his ever hav­ par l’étude et par la comparaison des ouvrages
ing done so); more than once he mentions his antiques avec les modernes”), and on becom­
pecuniary state. He applied for the grade of ing a founding member of an early scientific
ingénieur ordinaire 1° classe in 1804 but was not and literary society, the Lycée de l’Yonne, he pre­
promoted until 1 March 1809.19 A great deal sented a detailed and enthusiastic description of
o f his personal time seems to have been spent the Athens he witnessed in his travels.20 He
trying to maintain his residence in Tonnerre; in applied to every design question at hand his for­
1798, when the canal project had been aban­ mative experience o f drawing monuments in
doned, he asked to stay and work on the roads. the Ottoman Empire from the Levant to the
After many months of uncertainty that request Balkans, Greece, Dalmatia, Italy, and the
was finally granted, only to be threatened once Republic o f Venice (“j ’ai levé les plans comme
again in 1800 when a younger colleague who ingénieur, et mesuré les monumens comme
wished to marry schemed to get his apartments, architecte”21). In his proposal for a monumen­
under the pretext o f procuring him a more tal entrance to the canal from the Yonne River
advantageous position in Avallon. This would, at Laroche, he departed from the sober sim­
Foucherot explains in a petition, have entailed plicity o f the bridges and locks to introduce a
the expense o f a horse — which he could not pair of majestically landscaped obelisks guard­
afford — and considerable travel, for which he ed by lions.22
says his age (he was 54) and weakened condi­ In the last set of personnel documents, when
tion would not allow. Following another siege he appeared unable to withstand still further pres­
o f correspondence he was granted permission sure to leave Tonnerre, Foucherot, then 58,
to continue living in Tonnerre, where, think­ resignedly requested a transfer to a neighbouring
ing residence there was secured, he redecorat­ département in order to be closer to his aged father
ed his apartments. who was still alive in the Côte-d’Or. While adding
Having survived that domestic skirmish, his that such a move would be costly, the main rea­
discouragement is nevertheless once again appar­ son given is the expense of transporting all his
ent in a letter to the general director of the Ponts books, models, paintings, engravings, and draw­
et Chaussées in 1804. At that rime his residence in ings (both framed and unframed).
Tonnerre was again in jeopardy for lack o f work. But stay in Tonnerre he apparently once again
He describes with admiration the immense managed, for the projected garden plan for Pon-
amount of labour already given to terracing the tigny is signed Ingenieur en chef attaché au Canal
land for construction of the canal and how it was de Bourgogne, à Tonnerre le 6 janvier 1811. N oth­
crumbling for lack of maintenance, while farm­ ing more is known o f his life, nor o f the draw­
ers whose land had been expropriated were impa­ ings, paintings, engravings, and models he had
tient for the waterway to be finished in order to so treasured in his adopted city.23 He died in
benefit from increased commerce. Tonnerre on 16 September 1813.24

18. See especially the article by Pierre Pinon, “ La longue 21. Ibid., p. 66.
durée du canal de Bourgogne”, in Un canal ...des canaux ...,
22. The design was approved twice but abandoned both
exhibition catalogue (Paris, 1986), p. 289—99.
times. See Pinon, “La longue durée”, p.298—99 (with colour
19. By Napoleonic decree, dated 10 March 1809 (extrait illustration p. vu).
des Minutes de la secrétairerie d’Etat), although different dates
23. Genealogical web sites show that the name Foucherot
have been suggested elsewhere for this prom otion (see
Pinon, “La longue durée”, n. 42). is indeed common in the area around Dijon and the Saône-
et-Loire region. By good fortune, might some o f his works
20. “Description d’Athènes moderne, par le citoyen still survive there?
Foucherot. Membre du Lycée”, Mémoires du Lycée de l’Yonne,
24. Certificate o f death, filed in Tonnerre on 17 Sep­
vol. I (Auxerre, [1801—02]), p. 62-77 (quote from p. 62).
tember 1813.

396 T ER R YL N. K I N D E R
Interpretation Loizel, carpenter; and Etienne Guillerat, plow­
man — to whom certain abbey buildings were
How might this plan have come into existence? sold for the demolition, recovery, and resale of
Jacques Foucherot’s modest circumstances do their stone, after which the land on which they
not favour the likelihood o f his having made it had been built would revert to the Widow Ger­
for simple pleasure, particularly as Pontigny was ard. In the course of time alterations were made
private property at the time. Further, it was not in the original group of contractors, but these
among his possessions at his death (the fate of details — and, while fascinating, those of the
his collection is unknown) but has come down demolition itself and subsequent payments to
to us through rather circuitous means. W ho Widow Gerard — need not concern us here.
would have commissioned him to make such a What pertains to the 1811 plan under discus­
plan, and for what reason? In the absence of sion are several clauses in the sale contract con­
direct documentary evidence, one must look cerning the demolition o f the buildings.
more closely at the context for a possible expla­ Stipulated there are die necessary precautions that
nation. were to be followed during demolition, particu­
larly to avoid clogging the millstream. For while
The former abbey o f Pontigny was sold in 1792 Messieurs Meunier, Loizel, and Guillerat had the
to a Parisian woman usually referred to in the right to profit from materials recovered from
documents as Veuve Gerard.25 This purchase con­ demolition of the buildings, it was Veuve Gerard
sisted of the land on which the abbey was built, who owned the property and all within it, and
which included the cloister, abbot’s house, sta­ the first thing the contractors were required do
bles, barns, and all acreage within the enclosure — within the following year (that is, before 1
wall, plus the farm, basse cour, dovecote, and any September 1793) — was to dismantle, transport,
rights-of-way and dependencies; an area known and reconstruct the winepress.26 The contract
as le parc east o f the precinct wall, the grain and further required construction of a wall six feet
foiling mills, the dam and millstream, all former high below the garden of the abbot s palace, from
monastic fishing rights there and in the Serein the enclosure wall to the millstream, to separate
River; 45 arpents of meadows outside the precinct the buildings under demolition from the rest of
wall and adjacent to the fulling mill, including the property and to close off the bridge so there
the Pré neuf (as it is still called today) as well as would be no access to the winepress.
other pastures; and the watercourse coming from The contractors set about their task at once,
the spring and all conduits and canals pertaining presumably demolishing buildings and selling the
to it. Certain reserves were placed on this pur­ stones in order to meet the repayment schedule.
chase, including the church and drive leading up Their debt was paid off by 29 October 1795,
to it, the cemetery, and the pavilion and gardens after which time they could enjoy the profits of
at the entrance, as well as the cloister gallery their investment for the next seventeen years, for
attached to the length o f the church. These the sale contract stipulated that within the space
became the property of the newly established o f twenty years (from 20 Oct. 1792) they were
commune o f Pontigny, while the church was to have dismantled the buildings, removed all
intended to serve the equally new parish. materials, and levelled off the site.27 Demolition,
This contract also named a group o f adjudi­ then, had to be completed by 19 October 1812,
cataires, all of them inhabitants o f Pontigny — leaving the grounds in good order before turn­
Jean-Baptiste Meunier, shoemaker; Pierre ing them over to Widow Gerard.28*

25. Society o f Saint Edmund Archives, Saint Michael’s 27. “enlevé les matériaux de quelques unes des places
College, Colchester, VT. In a forthcoming study I shall dis­ desdits bâtiments, s’obligeant de les démolir, niveler et égalis­
cuss in greater detail the circumstances o f this purchase and er, dans l’espace de vingt années à dater de ce jo u r”.
the curious involvement o f this interesting woman.
28. Modem villages were often built from the stone of demol­
2 6. T he new location for this valuable item is not m en­ ished abbeys, and this has long been said about Pontigny. Ashlar
tioned. T he monastic winepress was a central-screw type, blocks can especially be identifred by colour, texture, and surface
located on the ground floor o f the east w ing o f the clois­ finish. Recent work on a modest house a few hundred metres
ter and visible in the northernm ost bay on the plan o f from the former abbey revealed the inscription “SGM 181 l ” on
1760. an interior gable. The identity of SGM is not yet known, but the
date corresponds to the period of demolition.

Planting over the Past: A n Unknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History of Pontigny Abbey 397
 So who commissioned the 1811 jardin? Given tiste Bernard, sold the Pontigny property to
the timetable and demolition requirements, one the Archbishop o f Sens, M onseigneur du
would be tempted to imagine that this band of Cosnac. This episcopal purchase was made at
local men, perhaps inexperienced in real estate the instigation o f Fr. Jean-Baptiste Muard in
speculation and hoping to get rich from their order to install, in 1843, a group o f secular
revolutionary investment, had hired Jacques “auxiliary priests” in the remaining buildings
Foucherot to design a garden to smooth over o f the form er Cistercian abbey. The priests
the land before it reverted to Widow Gerard. took as their patron the medieval Archbishop
In reality, however, the situation was signifi­ o f Canterbury, St Edm und o f Abingdon,
cantly more complicated. In order to propose whose body has reposed in the abbey church
a credible answer to this key question, it is nec­ o f Pontigny since his death in 1240. The his­
essary to bring the story o f the plan up to date. tory o f the Society o f Saint Edmund (SSE) is,
Dame Gerard, in fact, never recovered the like all human institutions, a complicated one,
levelled-off land from the contractors; she sold and only the barest outline is necessary here.33
the Pontigny property in January 1810, some Although the Society expanded, becom ing
thirty months before the 1792 contract was to responsible for numerous missions and schools
expire. The purchaser was M. Pierre Bernard in France, Pontigny remained the m other
from the nearby town of Héry. It is not possi­ house. In 1867, at the request o f the Bishop
ble to know precisely which buildings had been o f Coutances (himself one o f the original
demolished by that time, but the wording of priests w ho went to Pontigny in 1843), six
this sale — Vente des matériaux des Batiments de members o f the Edmundite community took
l’abbaye de Pontigny qui restent à demolir à M. Pierre on direction o f the former Benedictine abbey
Bernard d’Héry2>) — makes clear that the task at Mont-Saint-Michel, where they established
was left unfinished; other documents also sug­ a m inor seminary. O ther foundations were
gest that all had not gone well with the con­ made in England, Switzerland, and the U nit­
tractors’ plans. ed States. W hen the church-state crisis in
The new owner, Pierre Bernard [dit d’Héry], France came to a head in 1901, a radical reor­
was an influential personality in the region: a ganization was imposed. A move toward Amer­
farmer, lawyer, deputy to the legislative assem­ ica had already begun in 1892, and in 1902
bly, founder of the scientific and literary soci­ property was purchased in Vermont so that a
ety Lycée de l’Yonne, counsel to the Préfecture of noviciate could be established in the N ew
the Yonne from 1800 to 1830, advocate for World. Incorporated by the State o f Vermont
public education (among other things), and the following year, this institution was dedi­
recipient o f the Légion d’Honneur.30 He owned cated as St Michael’s College in 1904. It even­
land in many places and seems to have divided tually became the mother house o f the Society,
his time between a residence in Paris and anoth­ and records and archives were thus transferred
er in his native town of Héry, some 8 km down­ from Pontigny to Vermont.
stream from Pontigny. W hen in Héry he lived
in a “château” called “La Chapelotte”,31 where There can be little doubt but that Pierre
— self-taught man that he was — Bernard Bernard d’Héry is the missing link. A man of
amassed not only books but collections diverses remarkable energy, intelligence, and accom­
which were kept in a gallery o f his house.32 plishment, he had purchased Pontigny in 1810,
Pierre Bernard d ’Héry died in 1833, and although his acquaintance with the abbey goes
nine years later his son, Ambroise Jean-Bap- back much further; it is he who was appointed

29. Society o f Saint Edmund Archives, Saint Michael’s 32. Maximilien Quantin, Departement de l ’Yonne: Réper­
College, Colchester, VT. toire archéologique (1868; repr. Paris, 1991), col. 66; Paul-
Camille Dugenne et al. Dictionnaire biographique,généalogique
30. Archives départementales de l’Yonne, series L, pas­
et historique du département de l’Yonne, vol. ï (Auxerre, 1996),
sim.
p. 102.
31. La Chapelotte, a large house w ith an enclosed park,
33. W ith gratitude to D r Thomas H. Geno for informa­
was built in the 18th century near the site o f the long-razed
tion from his forthcoming book, From Le Mont Saint-Michel
medieval château and is therefore sometimes itself referred
to Saint Michael’s College: Early Edmundite Years in Vermont
to as a “château” .
(Montpelier, VT, in press).

398 T E R R YL N. K I N D E R
to assess the abbey library at the Revolution.34 For unknown reasons Foucherot’s park was
After acquiring the property in 1810, he cer­ never realized, and the location o f the plan
tainly made use o f what he found there, since from 1811 to 1842 is not known. As a col­
medieval columns and capitals from the abbey lector o f things diverses, Pierre Bernard may
were incorporated into a new wing o f La have hung it w ith the rest o f his collection
Chapelotte.35 W hen this part o f the house was on the wall o f his château at Héry, where it
demolished by a later owner between 1923 and remained after his death in 1833, his son pass­
1934, the columns were set up in a semi-circle ing it to the new owners in 1842. O r it may
on the grounds as a garden folly, where they have been in an abbey building at Pontigny
may still be seen.36 and reverted to the new diocesan society
Jacques Foucherot was working on the Canal along with the land. W hatever the details o f
of Burgundy in Tonnerre from 1793 until his its transmission, the plan became part o f the
death twenty years later. It is not known how Edmundite archives and was happily consid­
the two men met, w hether in the course of ered w orth taking to N orth America early in
their professional work or because o f common the twentieth century. In this m anner a tiny
cultural interests,37 but they were acquainted at window was preserved, providing a glimpse
least by 1800 when together they founded the —not only onto a picturesque park —but into
Lycée de l’Yonne,38 Since Pierre Bernard was the an unexplored generation o f Pontigny’s his­
sole owner o f the former abbey from 1810, tory.
there can be little doubt but that it was he who
commissioned Foucherot to design a park on Cîteaux: Comm. cist.
the grounds, which were probably scarred from Pontigny
demolitions begun nineteen years previously France
and apparently still in progress.

34. Compte de liquidation de l’abbaye de Pontigny [ilfé v ri­ ciens dans l’Yonne, ed. Terryl N. Kinder (Pontigny, 1999), p.
er 1790J, ADY, L.27. See David N. Bell, “Abbot Jean 85-96 (p. 93).
Depaquy and the Printed Books o f Pontigny, 1778-1794”,
37. There is a remote possibility that they were blood
Cîteaux, 51 (2000), p. 117-47.
relations, since Foucherot’s m other was a Bernard before
35. “ C. H.” [Claude Hohl], “ Héry, Château de La her marriage to Jean-Baptiste Foucherot, but as Bernard is
Chapelotte”, in Dictionnaire des châteaux de France: Bourgogne, a common surname further genealogical work must be done
Nivernais, ed. Françoise Vignier (Paris, 1980), p. 171.Three in order to establish or disprove a potential family connec­
o f the columns and capitals as reused in the wing built by tion.
Pierre Bernard were published on a picture post card post­
marked 1904. 38. “Arrêté du Préfet du D épartement de l’Yonne por­
tant établissement du Lycée de l’Yonne” (with letter o f con­
36. W ith thanks to M. Raymond Guérin o f Héry who firmation signed L. Bonaparte), in Notice des morceaux lus à
kindly shared notes by Abbé Mast (curé o f Héry from 1904 la première séance publique du Lycée de l’Yonne, le 20 messidor
to 1955) concerning the château; for the context, see the an 8 (Auxerre, [1800]), p. 7-8.
chapter “ Pontigny” in the exhibition catalogue Les Cister-

Planting over the Past: A n Unknown Episode in the Post-Monastic History of Pontigny Abbey 399
 Index Nominum

Cistercian abbeys for m en (m) and women (w) A ltenberg (Premon) 272
are indicated in bold. A lured W estou 55
Abbeys and priories o f other orders or congregations Alvaro R odriguez (count) 313, 315, 321
are abbreviated as follows: A rrouaisian (Arr), A m alric o f Lusignan 105
Augustinian (Aug), Benedictine (Ben), Carthusian Amelungsborn (m) 271
(Carth). C luniae (Clun), Hospitallers (Hosp), Paraclete Amiens 371-72
(Par), Prem onstratensian (Prem on), Santiago (Sant), Anafreita 314, 318
Tironensian (Tirón) A ngoulêm e 254
Anisius (dean) 150-51
Abælard see Peter Abælard Anselm, archbishop o f C anterbury 57, 60
Aberconwy (m) 115-23 passim donors 119 A ntw erp 214, 265
Achard, m onk o f Clairvaux 161, 165 Aquinas, T hom as see T hom as Aquinas
Acre 102 Ardusson (river) 330
Adam, abbot o f M eaux 22, 35-37, 306 Armenteira (m) 3 1 3 ,3 1 7 -1 8 donors 313-14
Adam, m onk o f Fountains 165 A rnald o f Bonneval 71-79 passim
Aduard (m) 2 1 5 ,2 1 8 granges 218 Ashridge H ouse 262, 265
Aelred, abbot o f R ievaulx 9, 10, 16, 19, 26-28, 43, Asperelo 314, 325
47, 49-53, 55-62, 111, 113, 135, 168, 204, 234 Astureses 314, 326
Aeneas 370 Aubepierres (m) 213 granges 216-17
Afonso H enriques, king o f Portugal 315 Auberive (m) 167, 214
Agnès de la Borde, abbess o f the Paraclete 333 Augas Santas 3 1 4 ,3 2 6
Aguada 314, 316, 325 Aumône see L’Aumône
Aiguebelle (m) 218-19 grange 218-19 A uxerre 333, 388
Ailred see Aelred Avallon 396
Airard, abbot o f S t-R em i 284 Avignon 224, 225, 227, 230, 231, 234
Alberic, abbot o f C iteaux 75
Albertus M agnus 293 Baldwin, abbot o f Forde, archbishop o f C anterbury
Albertus, abbot o f M eira 316 344, 352, 366
Albi 371 Baler ne (m) 191
Aldonza R odríguez (countess) 315 Balmerino (m) 81, 82, 84, 90 donors 81
A lexander II (pope) 84 Bardney (Ben) 2 0 7 ,2 0 8 ,2 1 0 ,3 0 1 -1 1
Alexander III (pope) 345 Barlings (Prem on) 311
Alexander IV (pope) 215 Barnoldswick 37,44
Alexander VII (pope) 196 Beaubec (m) 110
Alexander N eckam 77 Beaulieu (m) 203, 209, 344-45, 347
Alexander o f Kirkstall 22, 37 Beauvais, St E tienne 364
Alexander, m onk o f Fountains 166 Bebenhausen (m) 194, 195, 279
Alfonso VII, king o f León-Castile 315, 319 Becket, T hom as see T hom as Becket
Alfonso IX, king o f León 315, 320, 322 Beddgelert (Aug) 115, 123
Alis (Alipidis) o f Barre, abbess o f the Paraclete 332 BeUapais (Aug, Prem on) 107
Alix o f C ham pagne 105 Bem bibre 314, 321
Altenberg (m) 2 1 4 ,2 2 6 ,2 7 5 granges 214, 215, 218 B enedict del Sneit 49

Index Nominum 401

 Benedict X II (pope) 189-90, 196, 223-34 passim Carcassonne 232
Benedict (Rule) see R u le o f Saint Benedict Carebis, W illiam see W illiam Carebis
Benedictina (Fulgens sicut stella) 189-91, 193, 196, 225 C ard ie 3 1 4 ,3 1 8
Berenguela, princess o f Castile 315 Carracedo (m, Congregation of) 313, 315, 318
Bernard [d’H éry], Pierre 398-99 Carrizo (w) 315
Bernard, abbot o f Clairvaux 7, 10, 11, 16, 18, 22, Casamari (m) 347
23, 26, 35-37, 44, 47-52, 59, 71-80, 110, 113, 159, Castle Acre, N orfolk 61
161-62, 165, 167-69, 191, 192, 197, 269, 280, 281, Castro de R ei de Lemos 314, 321
327, 346, C atherine o f Courcelles, abbess o f the Paraclete 340
Bernard o f T irón 113 Cefalù 374
“B ernardine plan” 36, 73, 160-61, 165, 171, 172, C enacle 101-07
317, 318 Cervela 321, 324
Bernardus, abbot o f Sobrado 316 C halon-sur-Saône 340
Bernay 374 C hâlons-sur-M arne 153
B ertrand Auseti 228, 233, 234 Charité, La see La Charité
Berwick (w) 82 Charles II o f A njou, king o f Naples 227
B erw ick-upon-T w eed 249 Charles the Bald, king o f France 156
Berzy-le-Sec 356 C harlotte o f Coligny, abbess o f the Paraclete
Bierzglowo 277 C harroux (Ben) 302
Birgitta o f Sweden (abbess) 273 C hartres (cathedral) 151, 154, 171, 355, 371, 374
Bithaine (m) 211 C hartres, St-Père 150
Blackadder, R o b e rt, archbishop o f Glasgow 84 C hepstow 357
Boethius 168-70 Cherlieu (m) 74,78,211
Bonport (m) 345 C hichester 253, 257-58, 348-49, 359
B oran see S t-M artin-aux-N onnettes C hoiseul-G ouffier (count) 395
Bordesley (m) 38 Cicero 56, 72, 293-294
Boscherville, Saint-G eorges-de (Aug, Ben) 357 Citeaux (m) 18, 30, 35, 36, 47, 75, 76, 80, 109,
Bottenbroich (m) 261, 267 110, 113, 160-64 passim, 170, 171, 192, 196, 249,
Boulbonne (m) 218 250, 2 6 9 ,3 1 3 ,3 1 5 , 365
Boxley (m) 250 Civitella Casanova (m) 214 grange 214
Bran the Blessed 16, 17 Clairvaux (m) 23, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 47, 49,
Bream o 3 1 4 ,3 1 7 59, 71-80, 110-13, 160-67, 208, 217, 219, 249,
Bridgewater, earls o f 262 270, 313, 317, 318, 327 granges 217, 218
Brookhaven N ational Laboratory 283, 289-90 Clarté-Dieu, La see La Clarté-Dieu
Bruce, Sir G eorge o f C arnock 87 C lem ent VI (pope) 227, 230
Bruges 235-51 passim C lem ent VII (pope) 9
Bryn Athyn see G lencairn M useum C lem ent V ili (pope) 196
Buchan, earldom o f 81 Cleurbery, Thom as, abbot o f D ore 207
Buildwas (m) 119, 132, 137, 138, 351, 354, 355, Cleveland M useum o f A rt 261-67
356, 358 C lothilde, queen o f the Franks 297
Bukow o M orskie 277 Clovis, king o f the Franks 283, 297, 298
B urton, T hom as see T hom as B urton C luny (abbey) 28, 29, 64, 75, 78. 79, 176
Bury St Edm unds (Ben) 57, 60, 62 Cluny, C ollège de 223
Byland (m) 63, 66, 121, 129, 134, 137, 146, 153, Coldstream (w) 82
165, 170, 204, 301, 305, 306, 344, 354, 358, 363- C ologne 2 6 1 ,2 6 5 ,2 6 6 ,2 7 2 ,2 7 4 ,2 7 5
65 donors 63, 66 C olum ba (saint) 82
Bytham 44, 305 Colville, Alexander 85
Colville, Jo h n 85
C adw allon ap M adog 115 C olyngham , John, abbot o f Kirkstall 207
C aen 27, 110, 112, 357, 372, 374 C om postela 102, 313-27 passim
Caesarius, m onk o f H eisterbach 274-75, 280 Com yns (family) 83
Calatrava, O rd er o f 316 C onques, Ste-Foy (Ben) 160
Calder (m) 134 C onrad o f Eberbach 77
Cam brai 157-58, 171 Conw ay 118, 120, 123
Cambrón (m) 215 grange 215 C o n w y (river) 115, 118
C am buskenneth (Arr, Aug) 90 C orbie (Ben) 158
Cam eixa 314, 325 Coulonges 356
Camp (m) 218,2 6 1 grange 218 C o u n ter-R efo rm atio n 246
Cañas (w) 315 Coupar Angus (m) 81, 82
C anterbury (Ben) 28, 366, 367 C ourm elles 356
C anterbury (cathedral) 153, 341-49, 351, 355, 357, Craw fort, Jo h n , m onk o f M elrose 236, 237, 241
366 Croxden (m) 199, 200, 206, 209-11
Capetian kings 225, 295, 297 Crystall, Thom as, abbot o f Kinloss 85

402 Index Nominum

Culross (m) 81-99 donors 81, 83 Elvira O sóriz (countess) 319-20, 324
C unault 105 Elvira, Synod o f 1-7
C urri, G uillaum e (cardinal) 233 Ely 207, 302, 303, 373
C urw en, Sir T hom as 384 E rm engarde (queen) 81
C u th b ert (saint) 49, 55 Erm engarde, abbess o f the Paraclete 333
Cwmhir (m) 115-23 passim, 215 donors 115, 123 Espec, W alter see W alter Espec
Cymmer (m) 115-23 passim donors 115-16 Esrum (m) 270, 271, 274
Estienne de Vaux (canon) 333
Dalon (m) 218 Esztergom 279
D aniel, Walter see Walter Daniel Eugenius III (pope) 78-79
Dargun (m) 269-81 Eustorgue o f M ontaigu, archbishop o f Nicosia 105
D arnton (abbot) 139 Exeter 215, 253, 257
David, king o f Israel 101, 102, 297, 298
David, king o f Scotland 10, 52, 55, 81 Fecamp 356
Deer (m) 81, 82, 84, 90 do n o r 81 Ferdinand II, king o f León 314, 315, 322
Delafons, Q uentin, canon o f S t-Q u en tin 150, 154 Ferrara (m) 227, 346
Déols (Ben) 357-58 Ferreira de Pantón (w) 314, 315, 322, 324, 326
Depaquy, Jean, abbot o f Pontigny 399 d o n o r 315, 324
Dhuizel 359 Ferié, La see La Ferté
Didbroke, John, m onk o f D ore 219 Fife, earls o f 8 1 ,8 3
D iocletian (emperor) 2 Fínchale (Ben) 42
Doberan (m) 215, 270-72 Flaxley (m) 218 grange 218
D odsw orth, R o g e r 11, 51 Florence 234 baptistery 279 San Felice in Piazza
Doest, Ter see Ter Doest 280
D om m artin (Prem on) 305, 359 Fogo, Jo h n , abbot o f M elrose 241
Dore (m) 121, 134, 137, 207, 210, 219-20, 351, Fontainejean (m) 164-65, 170, 102
354-56, 358-59, 363-66 granges 219-20 Fontenay (m) 126, 138, 160, 161, 166, 167, 169,
D o n n ea 314, 318 229, 355
D ownside (Ben) 15 Fontenoy 356
D ozón 3 1 4 ,3 2 5 Fontevrault (abbey) 105
D reux, S t-E tienne 105 Fontfroide (m) ' 144, 146, 193, 216, 217, 221, 224
D rostan (saint) 82 granges 216, 217, 221
D udo 3 7 0 ,3 7 5 Fontvive see Grosbot
Dugdale, W illiam 11 Forde (m) 355, 366
Duinen, Ten see Ten Duinen Fossanova (m) 347
Dunbrody (m) 133 Foucherot, Jacques 387-89, 395-96, 398-99
Dundrennan (m) 5 3 ,8 1 ,1 3 4 donors 81 Fougères, lords o f 109, 111-13
Dunes, Les see Ten Duinen Fountains (m) 9-33 passim, 35-45 passim, 47-52
D unferm line (Ben) 8 1 ,9 7 ,9 9 passim, 59, 63-68, 125-131, 135, 137-146, 153,
Dürer, A lbrecht 263-65, 279 165-166, 169, 192, 199, 206, 209-10, 305-07, 311,
D urham 19, 20, 22, 26-27, 42, 49, 50-53, 55, 59, 345, 354, 358 donors 65-68
209, 303, 357, 358, 372-74 Frankfurt-am -M ain 272
Franqueira (m) 314
Ealing (Ben) 15 Friolfe 3 2 1 ,3 2 3 ,3 2 4
Easby (Premon) 101, 173 Froidm ont (m) 213, 215-17, 219 granges 217,
Eberbach (m) 211, 273, 274, 275, 278 219
Eccles (w) 82 Froila R am irez (count) 322
E dm und o f A bingdon, archbishop o f C anterbury Fröndenberg (w) 277
349, 398 Fronilde Fernandez (countess) 314, 322, 324
Edm und, Society o f Saint (SSE) 390, 391, 393, 397- F u rn e s s (m ) 9, 64, 126, 133-34, 203-04, 206, 207,
99 209, 214, 344, 358, 377-85 grange 214
Edward I, king o f England 118, 345
Edward III (the Confessor), king o f England 369 Gaimar, Geoffrey see Geoffrey Gaim ar
Edward VI, king o f England 384 Galloway, lords o f 81
Egidius, abbot o f Sobrado 316 G eneral C hapter 51, 76, 77, 79, 81, 135, 138. 164,
Elcho (w) 82 166, 187-98, 211, 213, 214, 249, 250, 259, 267,
Eldena (w) 272 269, 319, 329, 346
Eleanor (countess) 151 Geoffrey G aim ar 370
Eleanor o f Provence (queen) 346 Geoffrey o f Ainai 37, 39, 161, 165, 169
Elgin, earl o f 89 Geoffrey o f Auxerre 72, 78, 167
Elizabeth o f M arburg 171 Geoffrey o f M o n m o u th 370
Elizabeth o f Vermandois 150 Geoffrey o f V insauf 292, 296
Elstow (Ben) 384 Geoffrey, abbot o f Savigny 111

Index Nominum 403

 Geoffrey, abbot o f St M ary’s York 10, 14, 16, 23-25, Holm Cultram (m) 132-33
28-31 Holy Cross (w) 272
Geoffrey, p rio r o f Clairvaux 71, 72 H o m er 293
Gerard o f Pontigny (cardinal) 346 H ope, W illiam St Jo h n 139, 145, 200
Gervase del Sneit 48 Hospitallers 320-26 passim
Gervase o f C anterbury 367 Huby, M arm aduke, abbot o f Fountains 139
G ilbert o f G ant 50, 51 Hude (m) 277
G ilbert o f G hent 301 Huelgas, Las see Las Huelgas
G ilbert o f Tournai 298 Huerta (m) 321
Giraldus, abbot o f M elón 316 H ugh B rito 37, 307
G lastonbury (Ben) 351-67 passim H ugh o f Fouilloi 77
G lencairn M useum 283-90 passim H ugh o f le Puiset (bishop) 27, 50
Glenluce (m) 81 donors 81 H ugh o f Kirkstall 10-14, 16, 18-20, 22, 24, 36, 37
G loucester 141, 253, 257, 301, 358, 374 H ugh o f Malabisse 64, 65
G obert o f Laon 74 H ugh o f Saint V ictor 167
G oltho (manor) 41 H u g h o f Semur, abbot o f C luny 75
G óm ez González (count) 322 H u g h o f York (dean) 23
Gradefes (w) 315, 321 H ugh, abbot o f Selby 30
Granada 1-3 H ugh, p rio r o f Kinloss 81
Grasser, Erasmus 279 H ughes, H arold 1 1 8 -1 2 0 ,1 2 3
Grey (m) 133 H unter, Andrew, abbot o f M elrose 241-42
Grosbot (m) 253-60 donors 254
Grudziçdz 277 Inch (m) 133
G ruffudd ap C ynan 115 Incio 314, 320-26 San Fiz 320-26
G rzyw no 277 Innocent II (pope) 48, 72, 78, 79,
G uillaum e see W illiam Innocent III (pope) 214, 315, 345-47, 349
G uillebert de M ets 223 Innocent IV (pope) 109, 113, 214, 225
G utierre R odríguez de Castro (count) 319, 320, 322 Innocents, Feast o f the 332, 334
G uy d ’Eu 169 Innocents, Massacre o f the 296, 298
Isenhagen (w) 247
Haddington (w) 82 Isidore o f Seville 299
Hailes (m) 345 Ivenack (m) 272
H aim on, master o f conversi 109, 111-13
H arding, Stephen see Stephen H arding Jacobus de Voragine 280
Hauterive (m) 2 1 9 ,2 4 7 granges 219 Jaque, abbess o f the Paraclete 332
H aw thorne, N athaniel 377 Jean de Cirey, abbot o f C iteaux 193
Heiligkreuztal (w) 277 Jean o f Louvres 230
H eim bach 261 Jeanne I o f les Barres, abbess o f the Paraclete 333
Hélisande o f Barre, abbess o f the Paraclete 332 Jeanne II o f la Borde, abbess o f the Paraclete 333
Helmsley 48, 52, 55 Jeanne o f B urgundy (queen) 225, 232
Heloise, abbess o f the Paraclete 329-30, 339, 340 Jeanne o f C habot, abbess o f the Paraclete 340
H ém eré, C laude 149 Jeanne o f Trazegnies, abbess o f Soleilm ont 248
H enricus, abbot o f Sobrado 316 Jerpoint (m) 216 granges 216
H enry I, king o f England 14, 47, 49, 50, 52. 53 Jerusalem 2, 4, 17, 101-03 Cenacle 101-03
H enry II, king o f England 51, 109-11, 351, 357, Heavenly 62 H oly Sepulchre 101 Temple 6
366 Jervaulx (m) 188, 199, 200, 204-10
H enry III, king o f England 118, 341, 345, 348 Joan, queen o f Scotland 348
H enry VI, king o f England 236 Jocelin o f Brakelond 57, 60-62
H enry M urdac. abbot o f Fountains 22, 23, 26, 37, Jocelin o f Furness 83-84
44, 50, 51, 59 Joest, Jan 265
H enry o f Blois, archbishop o f W inchester 41 Johann Friedrich I o f Saxony 278
H erbertus, abbot o f Sobrado 316 Jo h n o f H exham 49
H ereford 357 Jo h n o f Peebles, abbot o f Culross 84, 85
H erod Antipas 297-99 Jo h n the Baptist 182, 293-98, 330-31, 333-34, 337
H erod the G reat 293, 295-99 passim Jo h n , king o f England 109, 345, 347
Herodias 293, 295-97 Jouy (m) 216-17 granges 216-17
H éry 398-99 Jouy-en-Josas 272
H exham 55 Jülich-B erg, dukes o f 261
H eym ericus, abbot o f M eira 316 Jum ièges (Ben) 160
Hilda see Eldena
H ildesheim , St M ichael’s (Ben) 160 Kamieñ 215
Him m erod (m) 165, 166, 274, 275 K am m in 270
H incm ar, archbishop o f R eim s 284, 286, 288, 299 Kappel (m) 247

404 Index Nominum

K atherine o f Barre, abbess o f the Paraclete 332 Lugo 314, 317, 320, 323
K atherine o f Courcelles, abbess o f the Paraclete 333 Lusignan (family) 103-07 passim
K entigern (saint) 83-84 Luther, M artin 278, 280
K in g sw o o d (m ) 220 grange 220 L ysa (m ) 22, 44
K in lo ss (m ) 81, 82, 84. 85, 91
K irkham (Aug) 48, 52, 53 MabiOon, Jean 11
K irk stall (m ) 37-38, 42, 125, 129-33, 135, 137, M a e n a n see A b e rc o n w y
142-46, 166, 199, 206-07, 253, 257-58, 305-06, M a ig ra u g e , L a see L a M a ig ra u g e
354, 358-59 grange 217 Malachy, archbishop o f A rm agh 78-79
K irk ste a d (m ) 22, 37, 166, 301, 306-11 passim M albork 277
Knowles, David 14-18, 47 M alm esbury (Ben) 351
Konstanz 2 7 3 ,2 8 0 Manasses, archbishop o f R eim s 148
Mantaras 314, 319
L e k n o (m ) 215 M a n u e l (w ) 82
L’A u m ô n e (m ) 47 M arculf (saint) 148
L a C h a rité (m ) 166, 191 M aredudd ap C ynan 115
L a C la r té - D ie u (m ) 345 M a rg a m (m ) 131, 213, 214, 216 granges 214, 216
L a F e rté (m ) 219 grange 219 Maria Ponce (countess, abbess) 315
L a M a ig ra u g e (w ) 247 M a ria w a ld (m ) 261-67 donors 261
L a M e rc i-D ie u (m ) 273 M arie, abbess o f the Paraclete 332
La R e a l (m ) 218 grange 218 M arie III o f La R ochefoucauld, abbess o f the Paraclete
La T ra p p e (m ) 196 340
L a Z a id a (w ) 192 M a r ie n g a r te n (w ) 276
Lam plieu, Sir John 384 M a r ie n s ta tt (m ) 275
Langton, Stephen see Stephen Langton M a rie n w a ld e (m ) 227
Laon 105-07 passim, 157, 165 M arm o u tier (Clun) 28
Laroche 395-96 Marshall, R ichard, abbot o f Culross 84
Las H u e lg a s (w ) 215. 315 Maside 3 1 4 ,3 2 6
Latomus 278, 280 M ason, Andrew, abbot o f Culross 85, 95
Laval (Par) 329 Matilda, abbess o f C aen 27
Le Pommeraye (Par) 329 Matilda, countess o f M ortain 109
Leipzig 2 7 7 ,2 7 9 ,2 8 1 M atthew Le Sot 150, 151
Léonard o f Turrenne, abbess o f the Paraclete 333 M atthew Paris 348-49
Lhuys 359 M atthew, abbot o f Culross 84
Lichfield 3 6 2 -6 3 ,3 6 5 M a u lb ro n n (m ) 247, 273-74
L ic h te n ta l (w ) 280 M aurice o f D urham , abbot o f R ievaulx 26, 49-51, 53
L ie u c ro is s a n t (m ) 220 Maurists 284-85
L ilien feld (m ) 273 M aw ddach (river) 115
Lincoln 53, 207, 214, 302-03, 306, 309, 311, 341, M e a u x (m ) 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 206-08
343-44 M eaux (cathedral) 157-58, 165
Lindisfarne (Ben) 52, 143, 145 M e ira (m ) 315-325 passim donors 313, 315
Lindores (Tirón) 90 M elchisedek 296-97
Linlithgow 85, 97 Mélisande, abbess o f the Paraclete 330-32, 339
Lippo M em m i 273 M e llifo n t (m ) 133
Llandaff 214 M e ló n (m ) 313-18, 325-27 donors 314
Llanidloes 122 M e lro se (m ) 36, 53, 82, 97, 131, 135, 235-52 passim
L la n ta r n a m (m ) 216 granges 216, 218, 219 M e rc i- D ie u , L a S ee L a M e rc i-D ie u
L la n w n d a S ee A b e rc o n w y M ercier, Jo h n 87
Llywelyn ap lorw erth 116, 119, 123 M ere (chantry) 382
L o c -D ie u (m ) 247-48 M etropolitan M useum , N Y 283
L ondon, Saint Jo h n Clerkenw ell (Ben) 384 Society Mies van der R o h e 371
o f A ntiquaries 12-13, 235 Temple 358 V ictoria M igne, Jacques-Paul 11
& A lbert M useum 262, 264, 267, 279 M ilan (cathedral) 159, 162, 172
L o n g p o n t (m ) 163, 166, 188, 189, 224, 225 Milley, D om N. 39, 78
Lope Diaz de H aro (count) 315 M iño (river) 314, 320, 325
Lor (river) 320 M olesm e (Ben) 30, 32, 269
Louis I the Pious, king o f France 156 M o ndoñedo 3 1 4 ,3 2 3
Louis IV d ’O utrem er, king o f France 286 M o n fe ro (m ) 3 1 4 ,3 1 7 -1 9
Louis IX, king o f France 113, 225, 240, 291, 297- M onreale 374
99 M o n t-D ieu (Cardi) 197
L o u th P a r k (m ) 37, 207, 208, 301, 307, 309, 310 M o n te d e r r a m o (m ) 313, 315, 317-18 donors
Lübeck 274, 276 315
L u ce lle (m ) 217-18 grange 217-18 M o n t- S a in te - M a r ie (m ) 193

Index Nominum 405

 Moreruela (m) 321, 327 Pearson, Thom as, m o n k o f Culross 85
M orim ond (m) 80, 160, 167, 215, 261, 271-72, Pelplin (m) 247
3 6 4 ,3 6 5 granges 215 Penamaior (m) 313, 314
M orow, John 242 P ernant 359
M ortain, counts o f 109 Peter, abbot o f Clairvaux 111
M ortem er (m) 110 Peter Abælard 187, 329-40 passim
M ortim er, R o g e r see R o g e r M ortim er Peter des R oches, bishop o f W inchester 345, 347
M orvo, Jean see M orow, Jo h n Peter o f Avranches 111
M o u n t o f Olives 101, 265 Peter o f B arton, abbot o f Bardney 310
M ount Sion 101-07 Peter o f Blois 352
M ountjoy, O rd er o f 315, 321 Peter o f Celle 284
M uard, Jean-Baptiste 398 Peter o f C orbie 158
M ünster 272 Peter o f Foro, abbot o f Ten D uinen 245
M urdac, H enry see H enry M urdac Peter o f Pisa 72
Peter the C h an ter 342, 345, 346
N arbonne (cathedral) 229-30 Peter the Venerable 28, 340
Navarre, Collège de 223 Peterborough 303, 372, 274
Neath (m) 1 2 1 ,2 1 3 granges 216, 217 Pforte (m) 270
Netley (m) 121, 122, 202-03, 207, 345 Philadelphia M useum o f A rt 283-90 passim
Neukloster (m) 272 Philip o f Alsace 150
N ew Shoreham 356, 359 Philip the Bold, duke o f B urgundy 239
Newbattle (m) 81, 82 Pilis (m) 153, 171-72
N ewcastle (Ben) 344 Plasy (m) 215 granges 215
Newminster (m) 37, 40, 42, 126, 166 Poblet (m) 193
Nicaea, C ouncil o f 7 Pombeiro, San V icente de (Clun) 325-26
Nicasius, bishop o f R eim s 295 Pons de Madieiras 228, 230, 233-34
N icholas o f O urscam p 227 Pontefract (Clun) 22, 26, 30
N icholaus, abbot o f M eira 316 Pontigny (m) 80, 110, 152, 154, 160, 162, 163,
N icholl, D onald 16-17 165, 211, 219, 221, 345-49, 387-99 granges 219,
Nicosia, cathedral St Sophia 103-07 passim 221
N iobe, W illiam see W illiam N iobe Poore, R ichard see R ichard Poore
N o ëfo rt (Par) 329 Preston, Jo h n 384
N ogent-sur-S eine 334, 336, 340 Preston, R o b e rt 88
Noirlac (m) 146 Pugin, A. W 372
N orfolk 60, 61, 262, 263 Purbeck 3 1 1 ,3 4 2 ,3 4 4
N orth Berwick (w) 8 1 ,8 2 donors 81
N o rto n (Aug) 257-59 Q uarr (m) 214 granges 214
N ostell (Aug) 52 Quincy (m) 197
N oyon (cathedral) 145, 150-51, 356 Q uincy (family) 94

Obazine (m) 254, 259 R alph o f Fougères 1 09,112

O d er (river) 277 R alp h o f Norway, abbot o f Lysa 22
O do, abbot o f M orim ond 167-68 R am irás 3 1 4 ,3 2 6
O d o o f Boltby 48 R aneé, A rm and-Jean de 196
O d o o f Ness 49 R ao u l o f Vermandois 148-51, 154
Oia (m) 313-15, 317-18 R aoul, seigneur o f N esle 148
O ld Sarum 160, 264 Raynald, abbot o f C îteaux 76
O rderic Vitalis 113 Real, La see La Real
O s Anxeles 3 1 4 ,3 1 8 R e d o n 111
Oseira (m) 313, 316-18, 323, 325-27 R eform ation 7, 84-87, 90, 99, 192, 278, 311
O sm und (saint) 345 R eginald, bishop o f Bath 3 5 1 ,3 6 6
Ossius, bishop o f C ordoba 6, 7 R eim s (cathedral) 28, 151, 157, 165, 172, 232, 291-
Oswald, king o f N orth u m b ria 301 99, 371 C ouncil o f 72 S t-R em i (Ben) 283-
O urense 314, 317, 325 90
Oya see Oia R em igius, bishop o f R eim s 283
R e v e sb y (m ) 49, 51, 53, 55, 301, 307
Paraclete (abbey) 329-40 passim R h ed y n o g Feien see A berconw y
P a r c - a u x - D a m e s (w ) 191 Ribadavia, San X oán de (Hosp) 314, 326
Paris 194, 234, 292, 340, 342, 345, 346, 348-49, R ichard, abbot o f M elrose 236, 241
3 5 7 ,3 7 1 ,3 9 5 ,3 9 7 Collège Saint-B ernard 190, R ichard, abbot o f Vauclair 1 4 2 ,1 2 6
193, 223-34 Père Lachaise (cemetery) 340 R ichard 1, abbot o f Fountains 9-33, 44, 49
Sainte-Chapelle 228, 291, 292, 295 R ichard II, abbot o f Fountains 59
Parker, M atthew, archbishop o f C anterbury 21 R ichard I, king o f England 109, 110, 249, 345

406 Index Nominum

R ichard II, king o f England 241 Saint Evoca’s (w) 82
R ichard o f C ornw all 345 Saint-Flavit (Par) 329
R ichard o f D unham , abbot o f Louth Park 208, 310 Saint-Florentin (town) 388
R ichard Poore, bishop o f Salisbury 342, 345, 348, Saint Gall (plan) 159, 208
349 Saint-Jean de Losne (town) 349
R ie v a u lx (m ) 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 22, 26, 27, 30, 33, Sainte-M adeleine-de-T rainel (Par) 329
36, 43, 44, 47-53, 55-62, 63-70, 110, 111, 113, S aint-M artin-aux-N onnettes (Par) 329
117, 121, 125, 126, 128, 131, 135, 137, 153, 165, Saint-M artin-des-C ham ps (Clun) 355
166, 168, 192, 200, 202-204, 207-210, 224, 234. S aint-Q uentin (collegiate church) 147-56 donors
261, 267, 358 donors 48-49, 63-70 passim 149-51
granges 50, 51 Salisbury (cathedral) 341-49
Rigny (m) 211 Sallay see Sawley
R ip o n 10, 12, 26. 106, 146, 303, 305, 358, 359, 364 Salome 294-96
R o b e rt d ’Arbrissel 113 Sambucina (m) 211
R o b e rt, abbot o f N ew m inster 37, 40 Samos (Ben) 314, 321-23
R o b e rt, dean o f York 67 Samson, abbot o f B ury St Edm unds 57, 60
R o b e rt, m onk o f Fountains 165 San Andrés de A rroyo (w) 31 5 ,3 2 1
R o b e rt I, king o f Scotland 84 San B artolom é de R ebordáns 323
R o b e rt le Bret 64 San Clodio (m) 314, 317, 325
R o b e rt o f C ourson 347 San Galgano (m) 218 grange 218
R o b e rt o f M olesm e 30 San M artín de M on d o ñ ed o 314, 323
R o b e rt o f M ortain 109 San Martino al Cimino (m) 347
R o b e rt o f Pipewell, abbot o f Fountains 129, 146 Sancha Fernandez (countess) 313, 321-22
R o b e rt o f Wainfleet, abbot o f Bardney 310 Sandoval (m) 315
R o b e rt o f Wedale, m onk o f Culross 85 Santa M ariña de Augas Santas 326
R o cha 314, 318 Santiago de C om postela 102, 317-18, 314, 325, 327
R o c h e (m ) 44, 134, 199, 201, 202, 206, 207, 210, Santiago, O rd er o f 317, 321
305-07, 309, 311, 344, 354, 356-59 passim Santo Estebo de R ibas de M iño 325
R o chester 160 Saône (river) 395
R ö cknitz 275, 276 Sarria 313, 315, 320-24 passim
R o d rig o Alvarez (count) 315, 321-22 Savaric, bishop o f Bath & G lastonbury 353, 361
R o d rig o Pérez de Traba 315 Savigny (m) 109-14
R oger, abbot o f M eaux 206 Sawley (m) 11, 19, 36-38, 40-42, 44, 45, 63, 66-68
R oger, king o f Sicily 78 passim, 122, 141, 192
R o g e r M ortim er 123 Schaep, Jacob, abbot o f Ter D oest 237, 250
R o g er o f M owbray 48, 49, 50 Schw erin (diocese) 270-72, 276
R o g er o f Pont l’Evêque 25, 26 Sées (diocese) 112
R o llo 3 7 0 ,3 7 5 Selby (Ben) 30, 131
R o m e 15, 23, 29, 72, 79, 155, 310, 349, 352, 366 Selincourt (Premon) 305
R om sey (Ben) 160, 364, 365 Sénanque (m) 188
Roskilde (cathedral) 279 Serein (river) 388, 397
R ostock 272, 280 Serf or Servanus (saint) 83-84, 94
Royaumont (m) 163, 177, 224 Serlo, m onk o f Fountains 13-14, 18-19, 36-37, 39,
RufFord (m) 44, 51, 53 57, 59
Riihn (w) 272 Shaftsbury (Ben) 382
R u le o f Saint B enedict 14, 15, 25, 27-29, 32, 35, Sibculo (m, Congregation of) 261
36, 56, 58, 60, 75, 79, 168, 193, 194, 196, 200, 329 Siena 218
Rushen (m) 192 Silvacane (m) 145
R ye (river) 52 Silvela, Santa Maria de 3 1 4 ,3 1 8 ,3 1 9
Sim on, abbot o f Savigny 110, 111
Saddell (m) 82 Sim on, m o n k o f R ievaulx 56, 57
Saint Albans (Ben) 28 Sim on o f M o n tfo rt 110
Saint-Antoine-des-Champs (w) 225-26 Sim on o f Villiers 334
Saint Apern (w) 276 Sion (w) 276
Saint Bees (Ben) 9, 52, 380 Sistine Chapel 265
Saint-Benoît-en-Woëvre (m) 2 1 4 ,2 1 9 granges Skell (river) 10
214, 219 Slagghert, Lam berto 278-79
Saint-Bernard-opt-Scheldt (m) 214 granges Sobrado dos Monxes (m) 313, 315-19, 322-23
214 donors 313
Saint Bothan’s (w) 82 Soissons (cathedral) 105, 151, 154, 182, 358, 371
Saint D avid’s, Wales (cathedral) 353, 356, 358 St-Jean-des-Vignes (Aug) 173-86, 188, 200
Saint-D enis (Ben) 110, 151, 153, 154, 160, 162, 234, donors 183
Saint-D ié 105 Solom on 2 9 7 ,2 9 8

Index Nominum 407

 Soulseat (Premon) 81 Tintern (m) 43-44. 47, 120, 121, 131, 134, 138,
Southw ell M inster 160, 303 199, 206, 216-20 passim, 244, 253, 258 granges
Southwell, R o b e rt 384 216-20 passim
StafFarda (m ) 221 grange 221 Tisbury 382
Stanley (m ) 218, 348-49^ Tongland Abbey (Premon) 81
Steinfeld (Prem on) 262-64, 266 T onnerre 1 9 7 ,3 8 7 ,3 8 9 ,3 9 5 -9 6 ,3 9 9
Stephen, abbot o f St M ary’s York 14 Toulouse (cathedral) 230 St-Sernin 102
Stephen, king o f England 50-52, 109 Tours, St-M artin 155
Stephen H arding 33, 75 Traba (family) 313, 315, 322
Stephen Langton, archbishop o f C anterbury 342, Trappe, La see La Trappe
345-49 T reboedo 3 1 4 ,3 2 6
Stephen o f Blois 109 Tui 3 1 4 ,3 1 6 -1 8 ,3 2 3
Stephen o f C hateaudun, abbot o f Savigny 109, 110, Tupholm e (Premon) 311
112 Turnbull, W illiam, abbot o f M elrose 242
Stephen o f Fougères 109, 111, 113 Ty Vaenor see C w m h ir
Stephen o f Lexington, abbot o f Clairvaux 110, 112, Tynem outh (Ben) 52
209, 218, 224, 349
Stephen o f M einill 48, 49 Ulla (river) 314
Stephen o f O bazine 76 U rcel 359
Stephen o f W hitby 1 8 -2 0 ,2 9 U rraca González (countess) 322, 323
Stewart, James, abbot o f Culross 84
Stewart, John, o f Innerm eath 94 Vailly 356-57
Stirling, W illiam 86-88, 92-94 Vale Royal (m) 345
Stralsund 278-79 Valle Crucis (m) 116, 117, 119, 123
Strasbourg 279 Val-Notre-Dame (w) 192
S tra ta F lo rid a (m ) 115, 116, 119-21, 131-32, 135, Valonga 314, 318
220, 221 granges 220, 221 van Aeltre, C ornelius 235-36, 238-40, 251
S tra ta M a rc e lla (m ) 1 2 2 ,2 1 9 grange 219 Van Eyck, Jan 250
Suger, abbot o f Saint-D enis 110, 154, 162, 234 VauceUes (m) 77, 79, 157-59, 163-66, 170-71, 224
Swale (river) 250 Vauclair (m) 44, 59, 142, 146, 192
S w e e th e a rt (m ) 81, 82 donors 81 V au d ey (m ) 37, 166, 301, 305-07, 309, 311
S w in e sh e a d (m ) 301 Velehrad (m) 215
Swinstead 305 Veris (m) 314,318-19
Sydling St Nicholas 258 Vermandois (family) 148-50, 154
Sym eon o f D urham 1 9 ,2 7 Verm udo Alvarez 314, 321
Szczecin 277 V erm udo Pérez de Traba 313
Vilar de D onas (Sant) 3 1 4 ,3 1 7
Taboada, Santiago de 326 Vilar de Sarria 3 1 4 ,3 2 3
Taket, M atthew, m onk o f Culross 85 Vileña (w) 315
Tamié (m) 217 grange 217 Villard de H o n n eco u rt 147, 152-54, 157-72, 279,
Tarrant Keynes (w ) 345, 348 donors 346 364-65
Tartu 277 Villers-Saint-Paul 319, 320
Ten Duinen (m) 214, 235-37, 244-45, 249-51 V ioU et-le-D uc, E. E. 371-72
grange 214 Vitalis, abbot o f M eira 316
Ter Doest (m) 214, 235-37, 244-45, 249-51 Vitalis, abbot o f Savigny 109, 111, 113
granges 214 Vitalis, O rd eric see O rderic Vitalis
Teresa, queen o f Portugal 314 Viterbo, San Martino (m) 347
Tham e (m) 214 granges 214
Tham es (river) 250 Wace 370
T h eo d u lf o f O rléans 147, 156 Walbran, John R ichard 12-15. 18-20, 22. 24, 31,
T heophilus 253, 256-58 129
Thierry, archbishop o f N icosia 105 W aldef o f Kirkham 52, 53
Thom as, archbishop o f Bayeux 18 Walkenried (m) 270
T hom as Aquinas 293, 298 W alter D aniel 9, 47, 49, 51, 52, 55, 59
T hom as Becket 249, 335, 342, 344-46, 348-49, 369 W alter Espec 47-53, 55
T hom as o f B urton, abbot o f M eaux 36-37, 206-07 W alter o f B enniw orth, abbot o f Bardney 310
T hom as o f C anterbury see T hom as Becket Walter, abbot o f Kirkstead 22
T hom as Lengles 232, 234 W altham (Aug) 384
T horald, abbot o f Fountains 50 Warden (m)' 5 0 ,5 1 ,5 3
T ho rn ey 302 Wassenberg 272
T h o rn h o lm e (Aug) 384 W averley "(m) 43, 44, 47, 120, 121. 131, 138, 199-
T hurstan, archbishop o f York 9-33 passim, 47, 49, 2 0 0 ,2 0 6 ,2 1 5 ,2 1 8 granges 215. 218
52, 55 Webb, Geoffrey 373

408 Index Nominum

Wellbeloved, Charles 12, 13 W illiam o f Saint Faith 352
Wells 160, 342, 348, 351-67 W illiam o f Scarborough 206, 207
W estminster (Ben) 207, 208, 247 W illiam o f St Barbe, bishop o f D urham 50
W etheral (Ben) 52 W illiam o f Torksey, abbot o f Bardney 310
Wettingen (m) 273, 277 W illiam o f Tournay, dean o f Lincoln 207
W h ith o rn (Premon) 81 W illiam the C o n q u ero r 27, 369
Whitland (m) 1 1 5 -1 6 ,1 2 1 ,1 3 1 W illiam the Precentor 352, 366
W h orlton 48 W inchester 28, 41, 160, 215, 218, 253, 257-58, 303,
Wienhausen (w) 247 342, 344-45, 347, 373
W illelmus de Hulst, abbot o f Ten D uinen 245 W inchester (Ben) 28
W illiam, abbot o f RievauLx 22, 26, 30, 43, 48, 49, W ismar (town) 277
5 1 ,7 0 , 113, 2 6 1 ,2 6 7 W itham (Carth) 188
W illiam, abbot o f S t-T hierry 71, 161, 167, 197 W itham (river) 310-11
W illiam, king o f Sicily 78 W n io n (river) 115
W illiam I, king o f Scotland 90 Woburn (m) 37, 166, 306
W illiam Carebis 236. 241, 251 Wolvesey (episcopal palace) 41
W illiam de Percy 40 W orcester 351, 353, 355-56, 358-59, 366
W illiam de R os 69-70
W illiam de R oum are 51 Xunqueira de Espadañedo (m) 314, 317, 325
W illiam fitzH erbert, archbishop o f York 22-24, 26,
30, 47, 51 Yonne (river) 395-96
W illiam H erland 247 York 9-33 passim, 49-52, 55, 59, 67, 177, 206, 253,
W illiam N iobe 111 305, 309, 311, 364
W illiam o f A uberive 167, 168 York, St M ary’s (Ben) 9-31, 52, 53, 59, 309
W illiam o f A um ale (count) 38
W illiam o f C orbeil, archbishop o f C anterbury 10, Zacharias 296-97
17, 23, 24, 30-33 Zaida, La see La Zaida
W illiam o f D rynghow e 206 Zinna (m) 247
W illiam o f H atton, abbot o f Bardney 310 Zwettl (m) 269
W illiam o f M alm esbury 75

Index Nominum 409