Rievaulx Abbey is located in the village of Rievaulx in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1132 by 12 Cistercian monks from Clairvaux in Burgundy, France. It was the first Cistercian monastery founded in the north of England. Its name comes from its location in the valley of the River Rye: Rye (Rie) and valley (vaulx).
Founding and Early Years
Rievaulx was founded with the intention of making it the center of Cistercian reform in the north of England. The land was given to the monks by Walter Espec, lord of Helmsley, and a wealthy landowner. Espec was an active supporter of ecclesiastical reform.
There were many new religious orders founded during the 11th century. One of these orders originated in Citeaux, Burgundy, in 1098. These monks are known as Cistercians. Cistercian monks had two intentions: to follow the Rule of St. Benedict and to follow the example of the Apostles. The Rule of St. Benedict was written in the 540s and was a blueprint for monastic life. The Apostles lived together in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus. The first Cistercian monastery in Britain was founded in 1128 at Waverley in Surrey. Rievaulx was established three years later.
Monks looked for isolated areas for their communities. There were many reasons for this. This type of land was usually cheap and therefore more likely to be donated. In addition, the remoteness reduced the likelihood of neighbors or Episcopal control. This made it easier to enforce seclusion. At the beginning of the 12th century, there were very few people who lived in the North York moors. The Domesday book, written in 1086, there were only 3 houses listed. When Rievaulx was founded in 1132, this number had grown to nine.
The first abbot of the new abbey was Abbot William, a native of Yorkshire. In nearly ten years he expanded the community from 30 to more than 300 men. Heading the new community at Rievaulx was Abbot William, a native Yorkshireman and a remarkable businessman. In a little over a decade William expanded the community from about 30 to more than 300 men. William was responsible for replacing many of the first wooden buildings with stone buildings.
The monks at Rievaulx Abbey followed the Rule of St. Benedict. The church at the abbey served two communities. The eastern half was used by the monks, who spent five hours a day hearing mass and praying. The western part of the church served the lay brothers. The lay brothers were formed by the Cistercians. They were illiterate laborers who lived and worked at the abbey. They used the church twice a day for an hour. They had their own statues, the Usus conversorum, which regulated their daily lives.
Abbot William died in 1145 and was buried in the chapter house. He was succeeded by Abbot Maurice, who had joined Rievaulx from the Benedictine community at Durham, where he had been sub-prior. Maurice was more of a scholar than an administrator and he resigned his position after only 18 months. Before he resigned, however, he expanded the monastery’s lands by more than thirty percent.
Abbot Aelred
Many of the buildings that remain today were built by Rievaulx’s third and most famous abbot, Aelred. Aelred was the abbot of Rievaulx from 1147-1167. He has joined the abbey in 1134. During his abbacy, the community doubled in size and many new Cistercian monasteries were founded. He was one of the most prominent religious figures in England and had a reputation as a writer, biblical scholar, Latin stylist, and pastor. His book for novices, The Mirror of Charity, is still widely used as an example for communal living. Aelred died in January 1167.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
Little is known about the abbey from the death of Aelred to 1530. This is because there are no surviving chronicles and diocesan bishops did not visit. By the time of the King Henry VIII’s Suppression of the Monasteries in 1538, Rievaulx’s population had shrunk to 125 men, of whom only 23 were monks.
In 1530, Edward Kirby was elected as the abbey’s 37th abbot. He was removed from office in 1533 because he questioned Henry’s authority to interfere in church matters during the English Reformation. Rowland Blyton took his place.
In 1536 the Dissolution of the Monasteries began. Monasteries with an income of less than £200 a year were closed. This prompted a failed rebellion in the north known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Henry used this as an excuse to close the remaining monasteries. Rievaulx Abbey closed on December 3, 1538. The monks and the abbot were awarded pensions.
After the Suppression
Immediately after its suppression, the Rievaulx and its lands were sold to Thomas Manners, 1st earl of Rutland. Henry ordered that the buildings should be rendered uninhabitable and stripped of any valuables, including the lead roofs. In 1695, the estate was sold to Charles Duncombe, a London goldsmith and banker. Duncombe built a home in nearby Helmsley at Duncombe Park and was reputedly the richest commoner in England. His son, Thomas, built a terrace along a ridge overlooking the Rye valley that afforded dramatic views of the ruins of Rievaulx in the 1750s. In 1917 the Office of Works gained control of the ruins and today Rievaulx Abbey is the model of how to preserve an ancient monument.
Sources:
English Heritage. “Rievaulx Abbey” (accessed June 25, 2009)
Fergusson, Peter, Glyn Coppack, and Stuart Harrison. English Heritage Guidebook: Rievaulx Abbey. London: English Heritage, 2006.
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