Bernard Comes and Goes

In 1107, a Burgundian woman from a noble family died. Her name was Alèthe de Montbard, and she had several children, one of whom was named Bernard. Bernard—who had been educated by priests and thought of becoming one—in 1113 led 30 members of his friends and family to Cîteaux Abbey to join the order.

Bernard's dedication and fervor drew even more of his acquaintances and family to join later, including Tescelin de Fontaine, his own father. Cîteaux's membership expanded so rapidly that they outgrew the current abbey.

In 1115, Bernard and 12 monks left to found a new abbey which he named the Claire Vallée, or Clairvaux. Bernard's reputation was so connected to this new abbey that, although he traveled widely, he is now known as Bernard of Clairvaux.

Bernard (seen preaching in the illustration) was as strict a follower of Cistercian austerity as anyone, if not more so: extreme fasting made him often ill. Despite the strictness, followers were drawn to Clairvaux, so many that from Clairvaux there were several new communities founded. Before Bernard died in 1153 there were 60 additional Cistercian abbeys. Not all were founded from scratch: many were converted to Cistercian from Benedictine. (Despite the reputation of the Rule of St. Benedict for austerity, the Cistercians gained a reputation for being more disciplined.)

Bernard was a great motivator and inspiration for the growth of the Cistercian Order, and involved in many other important events, some of which you can read about here.

"Behind every successful man there's a woman." We can account for his religious dedication by looking at his upbringing, and especially the influence of his mother. Tomorrow we'll talk about Alèthe de Montbard, mother of a saint who became a saint herself.

The Road to the Cistercians

After Robert of Molesme returned to Molesme monastery to restore strict adherence to the Benedictine Rule, Alberic of Cîteaux was elected abbot of the abbey at Cîteaux. Alberic was a planner, and considered the physical needs of the abbey.

He first moved it a mile north to be near a better source of water. He then made what some might think a more radical change. Benedictines wore black garments. Alberic abandoned black for undyed wool, giving the monks a much lighter look. For this reason they are sometimes called the White Monks.

He also made agreements with temporal forces. He managed to get a donation of a vineyard from Duke Odo I of Burgundy, as well as materials for building a church. (The illustration is of the current abbey.) Alberic is given credit for getting their new order recognized by Pope Paschal II.

Alberic died on 26 January 1109, and the English monk Stephen Harding (c.1060 - 28 March 1134), one of Robert's original followers, became abbot. Prior to joining Molesme, Stephen had experienced life with both the Camaldolese and Vallombrosians. Stephen knew that it was important to codify the practices of this new order, and he wrote the Carta Caritatis (Charter of Charity), the Cistercian constitution that outlined a life of work, prayer, and austerity.

Stephen gained more land for the abbey, only accepting donations of undeveloped land that the monks would then cultivate. At Cîteaux they followed the strict observance of the Rule of Benedict in regard to the Divine Office, which meant praying every few hours throughout the day and night. Because of the wakefulness demands of the Divine Office, they took on lay brothers for help in working the land to support the abbey.

In 1113, Cîteaux was joined by a charismatic young man in his 20s named Bernard, and the Cistercian Order really started to grow. We'll see his influence tomorrow.

Who Were the Cistercians?

In 1098, some Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme in France (Duchy of Burgundy) founded a new abbey at Cîteaux. Molesme was only a quarter-century old, having been founded in 1075 by Robert of Molesme. Robert had been a prior at another abbey, then abbot at Saint-Michel in Tonnerre, but the lax attention to the Benedictine Rule bothered him.

Therefore, when a group of six hermits asked him to lead them in a new community, he founded Molesme. They built an extremely primitive abbey, but a visiting bishop saw their situation and provided them with food and clothing. Word spread of this holy situation, but their membership grew too quickly with too many people who did not want the level of austerity and manual labor Molesme demanded.

Disillusioned with this new abbey, in 1098 Robert of Molesme, an English monk named Stephen Harding, and only the most rigorous members of Molesme followed Robert to Cîteaux where they founded a new Benedictine abbey. They were determined to live in austerity and to support themselves with manual labor, largely agricultural.

Cîteaux will be the birthplace of the Cistercian Order, but I don't wish to neglect Molesme. The monks there realized what they had caused by their laziness, and wished to return to the rigor they had under the inspirational and disciplined Robert of Molesme. They appealed to Pope Urban II to convince Robert to return to Molesme and lead them. In 1099 he returned to Molesme, leading them until his death in 1111.

Meanwhile, at Cîteaux, one of the original hermits that asked Robert to lead them, Alberic of Cîteaux, became abbot. He had been Robert's prior at Molesme and Cîteaux, and was very strict about the Benedictine Rule. It was Alberic who would get the Cistercian Order officially recognized by the pope. For that next step, however, you will have to wait until tomorrow.

Medieval Dyes, Part 2

 

Part 1 covered blue, black, red, yellow, and green. Let's look at some others.

Gray was a humble color, and could be had by using leftover dye from making black. Cistercians and the Friars Minor of the Franciscans wore gray habits.

Pink was easy to make, since madder root used for red or brazilwood could be used in a lesser strength or by soaking the cloth for a shorter duration. Medieval illustrations often show ladies wearing pink dresses, which makes one wonder if pink was considered a feminine color centuries ago. Men also could be painted in pink, but their hosiery, not upper/outer wear. (By the way, the name brazilwood comes from a Portuguese word, pau-brasil, a flowering plant in the Old World. When Portuguese sailors found a related species growing all over the coast of South America, they named the place Terra do Brasil, "land of brazilwood." That's right: the country was named for the plant, not the other way around!)

If you wanted to suggest purity or innocence, you went for white. This was not always a bright white, but linen looked white enough prior to dyeing that it qualified as white. You could also soak linen in lye made from wood ashes, and throw in some lime. Since clothes could get dirty, wearing white was a sign that you afford to not get "down in the dirt" as a farmer. In the 14th century poem Piers Plowman—in which we happened to find the earliest reference to a "Robin Hood"—of all the characters introduced, there are few descriptions of their appearance, except when white clothing is mentioned; it always indicates a person of purity or innocence.*

Brown or russet/orange came in many shades and can be produced by anyone with access to boiling water and walnut shells or bark.

And so we come to purple, the color of royalty; so much so, that the phrase "born to the purple" indicated royalty, and porphyrogenitus was used in Byzantium as a title. Expensive purple candles were reserved for Advent, the "coming of Christ the King." Dressing a king's favorite in purple, as Edward II did for Piers Gaveston, was a clear indication to all the court of the king's favor. A species of sea snail (Murex) was an ancient source of the color, but it took thousands to make 1 gram of purple dye. Its expense made it rare, and its rarity gave it value, and its value made it reserved to the wealthy and ultimately limited to emperors and the highest classes.

There has been lots of research into the history of dyes. Although I do not quote from it, the Innsbruck Manuscript of 1330 (translated here) has instructions on dying. Vassar has a bibliography on works on dyeing. And there are many websites devoted to medieval times that instruct on dyeing the old-fashioned way. For instance, the illustration above is found on one such site.

In the paragraph on gray, I looked for a link to explain the Cistercians, and discovered that I have mentioned them many, many times, but there's no "introduction" to them. Let me correct that next time.

*A little trivia about me: "Clothing Imagery in Piers Plowman" was one of the first papers I ever wrote in grad school in the Medieval Studies program at UConn-Storrs.