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Cîteaux Abbey

Coordinates: 47°07′41″N 5°05′36″E / 47.12806°N 5.09333°E / 47.12806; 5.09333
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Cîteaux Abbey

Cîteaux Abbey (French: Abbaye de Cîteaux [abe.i d(ə) sito]) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France.[1] It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of the Strict Observance).

The abbey has about 35 monks.[2] The community produces a cheese branded under the abbey's name, as well as caramels and honey-based candies.

History

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Cîteaux Abbey was founded on Saint Benedict's Day, 21 March 1098,[3] by a group of monks from Molesme Abbey seeking to follow more closely the Rule of St. Benedict. The Abbey was supported by Renaud, Vicomte de Beaune, and Odo I, Duke of Burgundy.[4] They were led by Saint Robert of Molesme,[5] who became the first abbot. The site was wooded and swampy, in a sparsely populated area. The toponym predates the abbey, but its origin is uncertain. Theories include a derivation from cis tertium [lapidem miliarium], "this side of the third (milestone)" of the Roman road connecting Langres and Chalons sur Saône,[6] or alternatively from cisternae "cisterns", which in Middle Latin could refer to stagnant pools of a swamp.[7]

In the year 1111, the monastery produced the illuminated manuscript now known as the Cîteaux Moralia in Job.[8]

The second abbot was Saint Alberic, and the third abbot Saint Stephen Harding, who wrote the Carta Caritatis that described the organisation of the order. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who would later be proclaimed Doctor of the Church, was a monk of Cîteaux Abbey and was sent in 1115 to found Clairvaux Abbey, of which he became the first abbot. Saint Bernard was influential in the exponential growth of the Cistercian Order that followed.

Cistercian monks depicted on the tomb of Philippe Pot

The great church of Cîteaux Abbey, begun in around 1140, was completed in 1193. The Dukes of Burgundy subsequently used it as their dynastic place of burial. Other dignitaries were buried in side chapels, perhaps most famously the magnificent tomb of Philippe Pot, a high Burgundian official who died in 1493.[9]

By the beginning of the 13th century the order had more than 500 houses and Cîteaux became an important center of Christianity. In 1244, King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) and his mother Blanche of Castile visited the abbey.

During the Hundred Years' War, the monastery was pillaged in 1360 (the monks sought refuge in Dijon), in 1365, 1434 and 1438. In 1380, the Earl of Buckingham stayed at L'Aumône Abbey, a daughter house of Cîteaux located in the forest of Marchenoir whilst his army was quartered in the surrounding Forest.[10]

The modern era

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Since Cîteaux, the head of the order, had to meet extraordinary demands above and beyond those of other Cistercian abbeys, its campus was different. There had to be accommodations for the delegates of the annual chapter, their entourages and horses, but also for the ducal family. These obligations had an impact on the development of the abbey's infrastructure.[11]

To the north, the abbey's gatehouse opened onto a first courtyard, the so-called "lower courtyard," which was flanked by large buildings for guests and pilgrims. At its southern end there was a second gate, the upper floor of which was reserved for the accommodation of the Duchesses of Burgundy. It opened onto a large courtyard of honor, which in turn led to the residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. This courtyard also included buildings that were only used during the General Chapter.[11]

In the beginning of the 16th century, the abbey had a strong community of about 200 members. However, it suffered badly in the French Wars of Religion and slowly declined for the next century. in 1589, soldiers stormed and looted the abbey, reportedly carrying away "three hundred wagonloads of booty" and leaving the monastery in ruins. Cîteaux was left "practically abandoned for years," and it took until around 1610 for any sort of stable monastic life to be re-established there.[12]

In 1698, the abbey had 72 professed monks. In 1790, in the wake of the French Revolution, the monks were offered a pension if they agreed to return to civilian life. Fourteen of them, including Abbot Francois Trouvé, refused the offer, while twenty-nine took it. The abbey was seized and the property sold off by the government; what was left was looted by the local population. To calm the ensuing violence, a minor squad under the direction of Napoléon Bonaparte was called in.[13] Trappist monks resumed monastic life at the abbey in 1898,[14][15] and they continue to reside there.[16]

Notable abbots

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References

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  1. ^ "Citeaux | France". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  2. ^ "Abbaye Notre-Dame de Citeaux". history. 2023-11-15. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  3. ^ Edward Ortved, Cistercieordenen og dens Klostre i Norden, 1, Copenhagen 1927. Page 2.
  4. ^ "Cistercian Order | Grove Art". www.oxfordartonline.com. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T017866. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  5. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cîteaux" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 395.
  6. ^ Jens Rüffer: Die Zisterzienser und ihre Klöster. Leben und Bauen für Gott. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 978-3-534-18811-6, p. 10.
  7. ^ Watkin Wynn Williams, Studies in St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 1927, p. 75. citing Du Cange "cisternae": Dicitur de loco humili et paludoso, ubi stagnat aqua.
  8. ^ Rudolph, Conrad (1997). Violence and Daily Life: Reading, Art, and Polemics in the Cîteaux Moralia in Job. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691026732. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  9. ^ Rorimer, James J.; Forsyth, William H. (1935). "Two French Sculptures of the XV Century". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 30 (10): 196–198. doi:10.2307/3255333. ISSN 0026-1521.
  10. ^ John Froissart, John (1395). Froissart's Chronicles Book II. Manuscript. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  11. ^ a b Martine Plouvier et Alain Saint-Denis: Pour une histoire monumentale de l’abbaye de Cîteaux (1908-1998). Cîteaux, commentarii cistercienses, Association Bourguignonne des Sociétés Savantes,‎ 1998.
  12. ^ Lekai, Louis J. (1970). "The Abbatial Election at Citeaux in 1625". Church History. 39 (1): 30. doi:10.2307/3163211. ISSN 0009-6407.
  13. ^ Tobin, Stephen (1996). The Cistercians. Internet Archive (2nd ed.). Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. pp. 177–180. ISBN 978-0-87951-654-3.
  14. ^ Bisson, Thomas N. (2000). Encyclopedia of monasticism. Internet Archive. Chicago ; London : Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 492. ISBN 978-1-57958-090-2.
  15. ^ "Cîteaux - Monasticism, Abbeys, Benedictines - Britannica". www.britannica.com.
  16. ^ France-Presse, Agence (26 March 2021). "French monks locked down with 2.8 tonnes of cheese pray for buyers". The Guardian.

Sources

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  • Plouvier, M. and Saint-Denis, A. (eds.), 1998: Pour une histoire monumentale de Cîteaux, 1098-1998 (Commentarii cistercienses. Studia et documenta, 8), Cîteaux.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abbaye de Cîteaux.

Pictures

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47°07′41″N 5°05′36″E / 47.12806°N 5.09333°E / 47.12806; 5.09333

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