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Clairvaux Abbey

Coordinates: 48°08′50″N 4°47′20″E / 48.14722°N 4.78889°E / 48.14722; 4.78889
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Not to be confused with Clervaux Abbey.
Clairvaux Abbey
Main façade of the abbey
Clairvaux Abbey is located in France
Clairvaux Abbey
Location within France
Monastery information
OrderCistercian
Established1115
Mother houseCîteaux Abbey
People
Founder(s)Bernard of Clairvaux
Site
LocationVille-sous-la-Ferté, France
Coordinates48°08′50″N 4°47′20″E / 48.14722°N 4.78889°E / 48.14722; 4.78889
Visible remainssubstantial
Public accessyes

Clairvaux Abbey (/klɛərˈvoʊ/, French: [klɛʁvo]; Latin: Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Bar-sur-Aube. The abbey was founded in 1115 by Bernard of Clairvaux. As a primary abbey, it was one of the most significant monasteries in the order. Dissolved during the French Revolution, it was used from 1808 to 2023 as Clairvaux Prison, a high-security correctional facility. As of 2024, work is in process to make the space available and attractive to tourists.[1]

Its layout was significantly altered by construction in the 18th and 19th centuries. Before it was a prison, Clairvaux Abbey served as an archetype for Cistercian monasteries; significant portions of the ancient abbey remain standing.

History

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Founding to dissolution

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An early 18th-century view of the abbey, prior to the reconstruction that began in 1708

According to legend, on June 25, 1115, the Cistercian monk Bernard was sent from Cîteaux Abbey with a group of twelve other monks to found a new monastery at Vallée d'Absinthe. Hughes I, Count of Troyes and a relative of Bernard, donated this valley to the Cistercians.[2] Bernard was installed as first abbot by William of Champeaux, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne.[3]

The abbey developed rapidly, eventually reaching its peak in numbers at 700 members belonging to Clairvaux alone, thus the largest Cistercian abbey in France.[4] Many daughter monasteries followed. In 1118 Trois-Fontaines Abbey was founded from Clairvaux on land donated by Hugh de Vitry. Many nobles were buried there.[5] Later, Clairvaux founded Foigny Abbey (1121), and Cherlieu Abbey was founded in 1131. During Bernard's lifetime over sixty monasteries were founded from Clairvaux all over Europe and reaching into Scandinavia.[3] Many ("over a third of them") were pre-existing communities of monks, canons, or hermits who had decided to join the Cistercian movement.[6]

Construction of the abbey in its roughly current form (named Clairvaux II by historians) began in 1135, and the abbey church was dedicated in 1174. However, the only building surviving from this time is a large 12th-century lay brother's building, eventually converted into a barn.[7] By the end of the 12th century, it had founded more than 250 daughter monasteries. As the mother of so many, Clairvaux occuped a central place in the Cistercian world.[8]

Clairvaux continued to attract promising monks; one of them became a pope (Eugene III), twelve became cardinals, and over thirty were elevated to the episcopacy.[4] The manuscripts copied and written at Clairvaux were of great importance.[9] Research about the monks' literary and theological studies have led to a research project that seeks to reconstruct the abbey's medieval library.[10] In the 13th century, Clairvaux Abbot Stephen Lexington founded the Cistercian college at the University of Paris and it remained under the abbey's responsibility for generations.[4]

In the early modern period, Clairvaux was the origen of the movement toward stricter observance, particularly under Abbot Denis Largentier.[4] Starting in 1708, comprehensive reconstruction of the abbey's buildings in the classical style began, dubbed Clairvaux III by historians.[11] The works were wide-ranging, and records indicate that construction was not complete upon the arrival of the revolution.[12]

Revolution to present day

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The prison as it appeared in 1901

At the time of the French Revolution in 1789, Clairvaux had only 26 professed religious, counting the abbot, Louis-Marie Rocourt, ten lay brothers, and ten affiliated pensioners of the house; 19 of the religious and all the lay brothers were secularized.[13]

Having become state property according to the decree of November 2, 1789, the abbey was purchased in 1792 and converted into a glassworks, which was repossessed by the state upon its bankruptcy in 1808 and turned into a prison. This fate was not uncommon for former monasteries following the penal reforms of Napoleon, it also befell others like Fontevraud and Mont-Saint-Michel. Because the abbey church was sold off as a quarry in 1812, a small new chapel was built inside the former refectory in 1828. During the 19th century, the abbey held 2,700 prisoners, including 500 women and 550 children. Deplorable conditions at the abbey inspired Victor Hugo to write his short story "Claude Gueux", based on a real prisoner at Clairvaux, in 1834.[14] Following a reform in 1875 that required individual cells for prisoners, "chicken cages", cells measuring 1.5 x 2-meter (5 x 6.5 ft), were installed, they remained in use until 1971.[12] The abbey was in 1926 as a historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture, but only one of the buildings, the one for the lay brothers, is medieval in origin yet erected after Bernard had died.[4]

Starting in the 2000s, the prison was gradually dismantled. Comprehensive restorations began in 2013, and the prison was finally shut down in 2023.[15] Renovation has been underway since.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abbaye de Clairvaux.

List of abbots

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  • 1115–1153 — Bernard of Clairvaux
  • 1153–1157 — Robert I of Bruges [fr]
  • 1157-vers 1161 — Fastradus [fr]
  • 1162–1165 — Geoffrey of Auxerre
  • 1165–1170 — Pons of Polignac [fr]
  • 1170–1175 — Gerard I
  • 1176–1179 — Henry of Marcy
  • 1179–1186 — Peter I Monoculus
  • 1186–1193 — Garnier de Rochefort
  • 1193–1196 — Guy of France
  • c. 1214–1216 — Conrad I of Urach
  • 1217–1221 — William I
  • 1221–1223 — Robert II
  • 1223–1224 — Lawrence
  • 1224–1232 — Raoul de la Roche-Aymon
  • 1233–1235 — Dreux de Grandmont
  • 1235–1238 — Evrard
  • 1238–1239 — William of Dongelberg [fr]
  • 1242–1255 — Stephen I of Lexington
  • 1257–1260 or 1261 — John I
  • 1262–1273 — Philip I [fr]
  • 1273–1280 — Beuve
  • 1280–1284 — Thibaud de Sancey
  • 1284–1285 — Gerard II
  • 1286–1291 — Jean II de La Prée
  • 1291–1312 — Jean III de Sancey
  • 1312 — William III
  • 1313–1316 — Conrad II of Metz
  • 1316–1330 — Mathieu I d'Aumelle
  • 1330–1345 — Jean IV d'Aizanville
  • 1345–1358 — Bernard II de Laon
  • 1358–1359 — Jean V de Bussières [it]
  • 1363–1380 — Jean VI de Deulemont
  • 1380–1402 — Étienne II de Foissy
  • 1402–1405 — Jean VII de Martigny
  • 1405–1428 — Mathieu II Pillaert
  • 1428–1448 — Guillaume IV d'Autun
  • 1449–1471 — Philippe II de Fontaines
  • 1471–1496 — Pierre II de Virey
  • 1496–1509 — Jean VIII de Foucault
  • 1509–1552 — Edmond de Saulieu [fr]
  • 1552–1571 — Jérôme Souchier
  • 1571–1596 — Lupin Lemire
  • 1596–1626 — Denis Largentier [fr]
  • 1626–1653 — Claude Largentier
  • 1654–1676 — Pierre III Henry
  • 1676–1718 — Pierre IV Bouchu
  • 1718–1740 — Robert III Gassot du Deffend
  • 1740–1761 — Pierre V Mayeur
  • 1761–1784 — François Le Blois
  • 1784–1792 — Louis-Marie Rocourt

Burials

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Reconversion de l'abbaye-prison de Clairvaux : la candidature d'EDEIS-ADIM retenue". www.culture.gouv.fr (in French). 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  2. ^ Jonas, Margaret (2011). The Templar Spirit: The Esoteric Inspiration, Rituals and Beliefs of the Knights Templar. Temple Lodge Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-906999-25-4.
  3. ^ a b McGuire, Brian Patrick (2020). Bernard of Clairvaux: an inner life. Ithaca [New York]: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-5154-7.
  4. ^ a b c d e Dimier, Anselm (2003). "Clairvaux, Abbey of". In Catholic University of America (ed.). New Catholic Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Detroit, New York, San Diego, Washington, D.C.: Thompson/Gale; Catholic University of America. p. 758. ISBN 978-0-7876-4004-0.
  5. ^ Colker, M. L. (2002). "The Liber Altarium and Liber Sepulchrorum of Clairvaux (in a Newly Discovered Manuscript)". Sacris Erudiri. 41: 391–465. doi:10.1484/J.SE.2.300497. ISSN 0771-7776.
  6. ^ Holdsworth, Christopher. “Bernard of Clairvaux: His First and Greatest Miracle Was Himself.” The Cambridge Companion to the Cistercian Order. Ed. Mette Birkedal Bruun. Cambridge University Press, 2012, p. 175.
  7. ^ "Clairvaux | Cistercian Abbey, Monastery, Monks | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  8. ^ Bucher, François. “Cistercian Architectural Purism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 3, no. 1, 1960, pp. 89–105. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/177899. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.
  9. ^ Doyle, Kathleen (2020-03-18), Cleaver, Laura; Bovey, Alixe; Donkin, Lucy (eds.), "Early Cistercian Manuscripts from Clairvaux", Illuminating the Middle Ages, BRILL, pp. 109–124, doi:10.1163/9789004422339_010, ISBN 978-90-04-42233-9, retrieved 2024-11-06
  10. ^ "Bibliothèque virtuelle de Clairvaux". Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  11. ^ Leroux-Dhuys, Jean-François (12 June 2012). "Clairvaux : de l'abbaye à la prison". La Marche de l'Histoire (in French). France Inter.
  12. ^ a b "Restauration des toitures et structures du Grand Cloître de l'abbaye de Clairvaux". www.culture.gouv.fr (in French). 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  13. ^ Lekai, Louis (1968). "French Cistercians and the Revolution (1789–1791)". Analecta Cisterciensia. 24: 86–118.
  14. ^ Allan H. Pasco (2016). "Reforming Society and Genre in Hugo's 'Claude Gueux'". The Modern Language Review. 111 (1): 85–103. doi:10.5699/modelangrevi.111.1.0085. JSTOR 10.5699/modelangrevi.111.1.0085.
  15. ^ "Abbaye de Clairvaux : inauguration des restaurations". www.culture.gouv.fr (in French). 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  16. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Abbey of Clairvaux". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  17. ^ Burton, Janet E.; Kerr, Julie (2011). The Cistercians in the Middle Ages. Boydell Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-84383-667-4.
  18. ^ Craughwell, Thomas J. (2011-07-12). Saints Preserved. Random House Publishing Group. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-307-59074-9.
  19. ^ "PECORARA, Giacomo - Enciclopedia". Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-10-30.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abbey of Clairvaux". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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