Cistercian architecture

Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was headed by Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should avoid superfluous ornamentation so as not to distract from the religious life. Cistercian architecture was simple and utilitarian. Although images of religious subjects were allowed in very limited instances, such as the crucifix, many of the more elaborate figures that commonly adorned medieval churches were not. Their capacity for distracting monks was criticised in a famous letter by Bernard. Early Cistercian architecture shows a transition between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Later abbeys were also constructed in Renaissance and Baroque styles, though by then simplicity is rather less evident.

In terms of construction, buildings were made where possible of smooth, pale, stone. Columns, pillars and windows fell at the same base level, and if plastering was done at all, it was kept extremely simple. The sanctuary kept a simple style of proportion of 1:2 at both elevation and floor levels. To maintain the appearance of ecclesiastical buildings, Cistercian sites were constructed in a pure, rational style; and may be counted among the most beautiful relics of the Middle Ages.

Most Cistercian abbeys and churches were built in remote valleys far from cities and populated areas, and this isolation and need for self-sustainability bred an innovativeness among the Cistercians. Many Cistercian establishments display early examples of hydraulic engineering and waterwheels. After stone, the two most important building materials were wood and metal. The Cistercians were careful in the management and conservation of their forests; they were also skilled metallurgists, and their skill with metal has been associated directly with the development of Cistercian architecture, and the spread of Gothic architecture as a whole.

History of order and its architecture

Background
In the Middle Ages , monasticism in the West was evolving and perfecting its organization. The most significant facts were:

In 529 , St. Benedict of Nury founded the abbey of Monte Cassino , origin of the Order of the Benedictines .
In 540 St. Benedict of Norcia wrote a Rule for his monks, the Regula monasteriorum (Rule of the monasteries), which strictly orders the monk’s journey and obedience to the abbot. This was observed by most of the monasteries in the Middle Ages.
During 816 , Benedict of Aniane promoted a monastic reform supported by Louis the Pious , son of Charlemagne , that implied the unification under the rule of Bento de Núrsia of all the monasteries of the Carolingian Empire .
Throughout 909 , William III, duke of Aquitaine , donated lands for the foundation of the Benedictine order of Cluny , under the dependence of the Pope , to avoid the interferences of the feudal lords . The great celebration of the liturgy commenced, which corresponded to churches of great splendor. It had 2000 autonomous priests submitted to obedience and to the common government of the abbot of Cluny, who was freely chosen by the monks.
In 1098 , Robert de Molesmes founded the Benedictine Order of the Cister . There were 754 abbeys, each with an independent abbot.

Architecturally, the inheritance that the Cistercians received, and that adapted to their ideas, is summarized as follows:

In the Middle Ages, the architecture of churches and monasteries sought to convey the preponderance of the eternal life promised in Christianity , for which was a constant reference the description of the heavenly Jerusalem , from the Apocalypse of the Apostle John :
… and he showed me the Holy City of Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from God … His radiance was like that of a very precious stone, like crystalline jasper … It had a great and high wall with twelve gates … the city is a square: its width is equal to length …. Its width, length and height are equal … the material of this wall is jasper and the city is pure gold resembling glass pure…
This strong symbolism was reflected in the monasteries in search of an ideal city of God , based on the organization by squares of the different zones. In Carolingian monasticism it was translated into the plan of the monastery of St. Gall, which served as a model for the construction of monasteries throughout the Holy Roman-Germanic Empire and whose plan is the oldest preserved monastic architecture ( ninth century ). The monastery was structured from the cloister, which in succession became the center of all the monasteries. Cluny also relied on the distribution of St. Gall. The Cistercian also accepted the fundamental of this distribution. Comparing the plans of Clairvaux II, the first great Cistercian monastery, and of St. Gall, the following is proved in both cases: the churches are oriented east-west; the cloisters are leaning against the church; the east wing of the cloister is destined to dependencies of the monks; the south wing of the cloister the dining room and kitchen; the west wing to warehouses.

Cistercian architecture emerged in the final period of Romanesque art in the area of influence of the County of Burgundy and Cluny. Its builders collected the novelties of the previous century, full of architectural innovations: the stone in the apparatus and the stone vaults that replaced the wood that burned easily. In several Romanesque churches of the zone one appreciates the constructive forms that later used the Cistercians:
The church of the monastery of Payerne, finished of construction in 1050, reunited all the accumulated news of the cluniacenses and conserved until the present time without modifications. One can observe the arches of the cradle vault that continue in the elevation to the ground. The apse has two rows of windows that illuminate the central nave.
Ancy-le-Duc was a priory which ended in the early twelfth century . Its plant was similar to Cluny II: three ships , one transepto and five apses . Its elevation has cruciform pillars with circular pilasters embedded in the four sides, some continue to the vault and the others develop the arches formers of the wall of the central nave (model later used by the Cistercians). The vault of the central nave, like the lateral ones, was covered with vaults of edge , being able, thanks to this, to illuminate the central nave with great stained glass. The church of Vézelay was built in the same way as Ancy-le-Duc and in the drawing one can appreciate these details.
The origins of the order
The origins of the order reported them are Esteban Harding, third abbot of the order, in Exordium Parvo :

In 1073 , Robert de Molesmes, Benedictine monk, founded a new abbey in Molesmes in search of a rigorous asceticism. Molesmes lost his initial rigor and became a rich abbey with 35 priories that owed him obedience.
In 1098 , Roberto and several monks left Molesmes, dissatisfied with the lack of observance of the Rule of St. Benedict, to found a new monastery in Cîteaux where they strictly followed the rule, and the Order of Cîteaux was born.
They rejected tithes , the traditional system of maintaining feudal monastics.
It was forbidden to relate to women: For no reason … we or our converts are allowed to live with women … neither to talk, to create … nor … to wash clothes … I do not know allow the women to lodge inside the farms’ enclosure, nor to cross the door of the monastery. (in the Cistercian Exhortation and Summary of the Charter of Charity )

On how to administer it and on new foundations, it is reported in the Exordium Parvo : … should admit … lay converts who … would be treated … like them, except monasticism; also journeymen, for without their help they could not see … the exact fulfillment … of the precepts of the Rule. At the same time they thought they had to dispose of land … they also thought of buying fangs and canals to set up flour mills that would facilitate their hunting and fishing expenses; and included the raising of herds and other animals useful to their demands … and as they established farms in various places, they decided that it was the converts who took care of them, not the monks, because, according to the Rule, they must remain in the their cloisters … In addition … are Benedict built his monasteries … in secluded places … they promised to do the same; and as he sent twelve monks, besides the abbot, to the monasteries he founded, they decided to imitate his example.
The first four filial abbots founded and of great importance in the later development of the Order were: A Ferté in 1113 , Pontigny in 1114 , Morimond and Clairvaux in 1115 . The way to expand by affiliation between abbeys was established in the Letter of charity and unanimity , written by Stephen Harding in 1119 and approved in the first General Chapter of the order. Thus, the founding abbey receives the name of “mother” and its abbot of “father”; for its part, the new abbey is called “daughter” and the abbot is called “son”. The father abbot guides the abbot by means of a paternal-filial relationship.

In 1115 , St. Bernard was sent by Stephen Harding to found Claraval, from which he was abbot until his death in 1153 . Bernardo was very influential in his century, counselor of popes and kings, and attracted to the order many vocations and donations.

In 1135 , Bernardo needed to house more monks and decided to build Claraval II, the first great abbey in Cistercian style. He made it in stone to make it last. The asceticism and poverty of order were reflected in the simplicity of the forms of its architecture, avoiding all the superfluous. Of the original building there is only one building with the cellar on the ground floor and the converts dormitory on the first floor.

It was about 1139 , when the construction of the abbey of Fontenay , branch of Claraval began. Bernardo participated actively in its construction. Nowadays it is in good condition and is recognized as one of the best Cistercian buildings.

These first abbeys were built in Burgundian Romanesque style , which had reached all its fullness: (pointed vault dome and edge vault ). In 1140 , the Gothic style appears in the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Denis . The Cistercians quickly accepted some concepts of the new style and began to build in both styles, being frequent the abbeys where they coexist Romance and Gothic dependencies of the same time. Over time, the Romanesque was abandoned.

Bernardo’s influence on the expansion of order was decisive. Helped by the Pope and the bishops, with donations of kings and nobles, the 5 abbeys of 1115 passed to 343 in 1153 , date of the saint’s death. The most vertiginous expansion happened between 1129 and 1139, problems arose to maintain the spirit of the order and to control through the system of affiliation to the new abbeys.

Development after Bernardo de Claraval
The influence and expansion of the order continued, directed mainly to central Europe , England , Ireland , Italy and Spain . The Cistercians spread the French Gothic in these countries, through their new monasteries.

At the end of the 13th century , the members of Claraval reached 350 monasteries, Morimond over 200, Cister some 100, Pontigny over 40 and A Ferté 20.

The Hundred Years’ War ( 1337-1453 ) between England and France , originated an obscure period, and disorders and acts of vandalism greatly damaged the countryside. Approximately 400 Cistercian abbeys were greatly affected by acts of plunder and destruction.

In parallel, the Schism of the West ( 1378 – 1417 ), when there were two different Popes in Rome and Avignon , divided the abbeys into partisans of one and the other. They were forced to divide into national chapters , fragmenting the order into several different congregations, disappearing the uniformity of order and their common architecture.

The Protestant Reformation of Luther ( 1517 ) and the Anglican Reformation of Henry VIII ( 1531 ) suppressed the order in Germany and in England , respectively. In both cases the abbeys were confiscated.

The Council of Trent ( 1545 – 1563 ) and the Catholic Counter-Reformation justified that through architecture, painting and sculpture, it would impact the believers; they recommended the adornments and demonstrate the grandeur of the Church of Rome . All this originated the Baroque . In the eighteenth century , the Cistercians of central Europe adjusted their program to the new guidelines of the council and built baroque abbeys.

The aesthetics of the Cistercian

Church of Fontenay .
The Cistercian aesthetics sought from the beginnings to absolute poverty, showing no wealth at all. This supposes the antithesis of the order of Cluny, whose constructions were great.

In 1124 , Bernardo wrote Apologia to Guilherme , a strong criticism of what he considered the excesses of Cluny’s order. In this writing, Bernardo strongly rebuked the sculpture, the painting, the adornments and the excessive dimensions of the Cluniac churches. Starting from the Cistercian spirit of poverty and strict asceticism, he came to the conclusion that the monks, who renounced the goodness of the world, did not need any of this to think of the law of God.

The arguments used in his Apology were as follows:

On the paintings and adornments, he refused them in the monasteries and justified them in the parishes . These are the reasons you have set forth: Show them a beautiful picture of some saint. The brighter the colors, the more blessed it will seem to them. There is more admiration for beauty than veneration for holiness. Thus churches adorn themselves. We see the large, wonderfully carved bronze chandeliers. What is the purpose of such things? To gain the contrition of penitents or the admiration of the spectators? If sacred images mean nothing to us, why do we not save at least the painting? I agree. Let this be done in the churches because if it is harmful to the useless and covetous, it is not for the simple and the devout.

Capitens of Fontenay
Refusal of the sculptures in the monasteries . He argued: But in the cloisters, where the brothers are reading, what are these ridiculous monstrosities … half-men, ray tigers, fighting soldiers and hunters blowing their horns …. so … so wonderful are the various forms who surround us that it is more pleasant to read the marble than the books, and spend the whole day with these wonders that meditating on the law of the Good Lord.
Refusal of sumptuous churches in monasteries . On the churches of the order of Cluny, it lamented its excessive height, its length and its width disproportionate.
Refusal of the riches in the monasteries because they are not necessary and because the poor need them . He used this argument: But the monks who renounced the precious and enchanting things of this world to give themselves to Christ. Are we seeking money or better spiritual benefit? All these most wonderful costly vanities inspire people to contribute money rather than to pray and pray. They dress the church with golden stones and let their children go naked. The eyes of the rich feed on the destitute. Finally, are such things good for poor men? And for the monks, the spiritual men?
The fierce criticism that Bernardo made, mocking and passionate, took off on two axes. In the first place, voluntary poverty: these sculptures and adornments were a waste of money; they wasted the bread of the poor. Secondly, a mystic like him who sought the love of God permanently, also rejected the images in the name of a method of knowledge: the figurations of the imaginary dispersed attention, separated it from its only legitimate purpose, find God through Writing.

For Bernardo, aesthetics and architecture should reflect asceticism and absolute poverty led to a total dispossession that they practiced daily and which constituted the spirit of the Cistercian. Thus ended defining a Cistercian aesthetic whose simplification and nudity are intended to convey the ideals of order: silence , contemplation , asceticism and poverty .

The aesthetic was concretized in the stone construction of the first two abbeys, Claraval II and Fontenay with decisive intervention of Bernardo. He was the inspiration for both constructions, their formal solutions and their aesthetics.

Theological principles
In the mid-12th century, one of the leading churchmen of his day, the Benedictine Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis, united elements of Norman architecture with elements of Burgundian architecture (rib vaults and pointed arches respectively), creating the new style of Gothic architecture. This new “architecture of light” was intended to raise the observer “from the material to the immaterial” — it was, according to the 20th century French historian Georges Duby, a “monument of applied theology”. St Bernard saw much of church decoration as a distraction from piety, and in one of his letters he condemned the more vigorous forms of early 12th century decoration:

But in the cloister, in the sight of the reading monks, what is the point of such ridiculous monstrosity, the strange kind of shapely shapelessness? Why these unsightly monkeys, why these fierce lions, why the monstrous centaurs, why semi-humans, why spotted tigers, why fighting soldiers, why trumpeting huntsmen? …In short there is such a variety and such a diversity of strange shapes everywhere that we may prefer to read the marbles rather than the books.

These sentiments were repeated frequently throughout the Middle Ages, and the builders of the Cistercian monasteries had to adopt a style that observed the numerous rules inspired by Bernard’s austere aesthetics. However, the order itself was receptive to the technical improvements of Gothic principles of construction and played an important role in its spread across Europe.

This new Cistercian architecture embodied the ideals of the order, and was in theory at least utilitarian and without superfluous ornament. The same “rational, integrated scheme” was used across Europe to meet the largely homogeneous needs of the order. Various buildings, including the chapter-house to the east and the dormitories above, were grouped around a cloister, and were sometimes linked to the transept of the church itself by a night stair. Usually Cistercian churches were cruciform, with a short presbytery to meet the liturgical needs of the brethren, small chapels in the transepts for private prayer, and an aisled nave that was divided roughly in the middle by a screen to separate the monks from the lay brothers.

The mother house of the order, Cîteaux Abbey, had in fact developed the most advanced style of painting, at least in illuminated manuscripts, during the first decades of the 12th century, playing an important part in the development of the image of the Tree of Jesse. However, as Bernard of Clairvaux, strongly hostile to imagery, increased in influence in the order, painting ceased, and was finally banned altogether in the order, probably from the revised rules approved in 1154. Crucifixes were allowed, and later some painting and decoration crept back in.

Construction
The building projects of the Church in the High Middle Ages showed an ambition for the colossal, with vast amounts of stone being quarried, and the same was true of the Cistercian projects. Foigny Abbey was 98 metres (322 ft) long, and Vaucelles Abbey was 132 metres (433 ft) long. Monastic buildings came to be constructed entirely of stone, right down to the most humble of buildings. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Cistercian barns consisted of a stone exterior, divided into nave and aisles either by wooden posts or by stone piers.

The Cistercians acquired a reputation in the difficult task of administering the building sites for abbeys and cathedrals. St Bernard’s own brother, Achard, is known to have supervised the construction of many abbeys, such as Himmerod Abbey in the Rhineland. Others were Raoul at Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes, who later became abbot there; Geoffrey d’Aignay, sent to Fountains Abbey in 1133; and Robert, sent to Mellifont Abbey in 1142. On one occasion the Abbot of La Trinité at Vendôme loaned a monk named John to the Bishop of Le Mans, Hildebert de Lavardin, for the building of a cathedral; after the project was completed, John refused to return to his monastery.

The Cistercians “made it a point of honour to recruit the best stonecutters”, and as early as 1133, St Bernard was hiring workers to help the monks erect new buildings at Clairvaux. It is from the 12th century Byland Abbey in Yorkshire that the oldest recorded example of architectural tracing is found. Tracings were architectural drawings incised and painted in stone, to a depth of 2–3 mm, showing architectural detail to scale. The first tracing in Byland illustrates a west rose window, while the second depicts the central part of that same window. Later, an illustration from the latter half of the 16th century would show monks working alongside other craftsmen in the construction of Schönau Abbey.

Because of the variety found in Cistercian communities, French historian Marcel Aubert concluded that, while there was a Cistercian spirit in architecture, there was never a Cistercian architectural style.

Engineering
The Cistercian order was quite innovative in developing techniques of hydraulic engineering for monasteries established in remote valleys. In Spain, one of the earliest surviving Cistercian houses, the Real Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de Rueda in Aragon, is a good example of such early hydraulic engineering, using a large waterwheel for power and an elaborate water circulation system for central heating. Much of this practicality in Cistercian architecture, and indeed in the construction itself, was made possible by the order’s own technological inventiveness. The Cistercians are known to have been skilled metallurgists, and as the historian Alain Erlande-Brandenburg writes:

The quality of Cistercian architecture from the 1120s onwards is related directly to the Order’s technological inventiveness. They placed importance on metal, both the extraction of the ore and its subsequent processing. At the abbey of Fontenay the forge is not outside, as one might expect, but inside the monastic enclosure: metalworking was thus part of the activity of the monks and not of the lay brothers. … It is probable that this experiment spread rapidly; Gothic architecture cannot be understood otherwise.

Much of the progress of architecture depended on the mastery of metal, from its extraction to the cutting of the stone, especially in relation to the quality of the metal tools used in construction. Metal was also used extensively by Gothic architects from the 12th century on, in tie rods across arches and later in the reinforced stone of the Rayonnant style. The other building material, wood, was in short supply after the drastic deforestation of the 10th and 11th centuries. The Cistercians acted with particular care in the careful management and conservation of their forests.

Legacy
The Cistercian abbeys of Fontenay in France, Fountains in England, Alcobaça in Portugal, Poblet in Spain and Maulbronn in Germany are today recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The abbeys of France and England are fine examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The architecture of Fontenay has been described as “an excellent illustration of the ideal of self-sufficiency” practised by the earliest Cistercian communities. The abbeys of 12th century England were stark and undecorated – a dramatic contrast with the elaborate churches of the wealthier Benedictine houses – yet to quote Warren Hollister, “even now the simple beauty of Cistercian ruins such as Fountains and Rievaulx, set in the wilderness of Yorkshire, is deeply moving”.

In the purity of architectural style, the beauty of materials and the care with which the Alcobaça Monastery was built, Portugal possesses one of the most outstanding and best preserved examples of Early Gothic. Poblet Monastery, one of the largest in Spain, is considered similarly impressive for its austerity, majesty, and the fortified royal residence within.

The fortified Maulbronn Abbey in Germany is considered “the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastic complex north of the Alps”. The Transitional Gothic style of its church had a major influence in the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe, and the abbey’s elaborate network of drains, irrigation canals and reservoirs has since been recognised as having “exceptional” cultural interest.

In Poland, the former Cistercian monastery of Pelplin Cathedral is an important example of Brick Gothic. Wąchock abbey is one of the most valuable examples of Polish Romanesque architecture. The largest Cistercian complex, the Abbatia Lubensis (Lubiąż, Poland), is a masterpiece of baroque architecture and the second largest Christian architectural complex in the world.

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