Cistercian – Digital Camino de Santiago

Caesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogue on Miracles (cont’d)

May 26, 2023January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

Introductions and updated translations by Josh Parks

About the Text

Note bene: The stories translated here concern themes of sin, death, and punishment, in particular hanging.

Drawn from the miracle collection compiled by Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach (c. 1180-1240), the stories below, presented as a dialogue between a novice and an experienced monk, illustrate some of the dangers pilgrims faced on the Camino de Santiago.

The first story points to the role of moral uprightness, common sense, and civil authorities in resisting those dangers. After a thief infiltrates a group of pilgrims and claims that one of their horses is his, a local judge devises a way to test his story. When the thief can’t remember which horse supposedly belongs to him, the group laughs at him and the judge sentences him to death. Notably, this is not technically a miracle story: the thief is defeated by his own ineptitude, not by the supernatural intervention of St. James. And yet the narrator frames it as an instance of God’s protection, and even emphasizes to the novice that sin’s punishment—such as the accuser’s death by hanging—always ultimately comes from God.

In the second story, unlike in the one above, the earthly justice system fails and St. James must miraculously intervene to save his pilgrims’ lives. After a pilgrim is falsely accused and convicted of theft, he is sentenced to death. But his son insists on taking his punishment and is hanged in his place. After sorrowfully completing his pilgrimage, the father returns and finds his son alive and well thanks to St. James’s intervention. This miracle then spurs more devotion, and the father and son return to Compostela out of gratitude. This story’s conclusion also offers a glimpse at how miracle stories spread: After being brought back by pilgrims to their hometowns, stories could travel through networks of monks and clergy.

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 6.25

Of the false pilgrim who was hanged by the just judgment of God, after blaming his crime of theft on a true pilgrim.

Not long ago, a group of pilgrims was traveling from Germany to the dwelling of St. James. One night, a false brother joined them. After they left the guest house in the morning, he followed them out to the city gate. He seized one of them by the hand, crying out that this one had stolen his horse. A judge ordered them to return to the guest house. All the pilgrims testified that the one whom the hostile man had attacked was a sincere and good man. The judge, acting wisely, ordered that, without the thief¹ present, the horses have their saddles and bridles taken off and be led into the stable. When this was done, he said to the thief, “Go in and lead your horse out.” He entered and led a horse outside, but it was not the one that he had said had been stolen at the gate, because at the time he had not looked at it closely enough. Then they all laughed at him, even the one whose horse had been brought out, and when they explained what happened to the judge, the deceitful man was hanged on a gallows. See now how God protects those who walk in innocence and punishes the evil of connivers?

Novice: I remember you said earlier that sin’s punishment is from God.

Monk: The prophet Amos is our witness that every punishment is from God, saying, “Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done?” (Amos 3:6). Or as the Lord says through Isaiah, “I am the Lord, I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil” (Isaiah 45:6-7). “Evil” here means punishment and tribulation, which seem evil to their sufferers, though they are good in themselves as creations of God. Now I will give you an example of how sin’s punishment is from God.

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 8.58

Of the man who was saved from hanging by St. James.

A certain citizen of Utrecht set out with his son to the dwelling of St. James. It happened—if I remember correctly—that in a certain place their host lost something, and he grew suspicious and accused the man of theft in front of the city’s judge. The man denied it and said, “God knows and St. James witnesses that I’ve never been a thief, nor a friend of a thief.” The judge did not believe his words, but condemned the innocent man to death by hanging. When the son saw that his father was condemned, and that the testimony of his brothers [i.e., fellow pilgrims] was doing him no good, he wept and cried and said to the judge, “I ask you, lord, that for the sake of God and St. James you would hang me and let my father go. For I know that he is innocent.” The judge, moved at last by the son’s tears and insistence, absolved his father and hanged him instead. His father went on with his companions in deep sadness. When they arrived at the dwelling of St. James, he prayed to him for his son’s soul. Later, when they returned to the place of the hanging, he said to his brothers, “Look, brothers: it’s my son. I beg you to stop for a minute while I take him down and bury him.” When the son heard his father’s voice, he replied, “Welcome, father, for I am still alive!” When he’d been taken down and asked about the cause of this miracle, he said, “St. James the Apostle has sustained me in his arms from the moment I was hanged on the gallows until now. I didn’t get hungry, I didn’t thirst, I felt no pain—nothing has been better for me in all the days of my life.” Immediately they both rushed to the Apostle, the son to perform his vow, the father to give thanks, and then they returned safely to Utrecht. This miracle was well-known and famous in that city, just as our fellow monk Wilhelm, who was the canon there, has told us.

Novice: What you’re saying is amazing!

Monk: I will report another miracle of St. Thomas the Apostle, which I think is even better.

Notes

¹“Thief” (Latin: fur) here and below refers to the man who has accused another of theft, not the one who’s been accused. Scott and Bland translate this as “accuser” to avoid this confusion, but this obscures a nuance in the text: the narrator knows who the true “thief” is before any of the characters do.

References

Translations are based on the edition by Joseph Strange: Caesarii Heisterbacensis monachi Ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus miraculorum. 2 vols. Cologne, 1851. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

An English translation of the full text has been completed by Henry von Essen Scott and C.C. Swinton Bland: Dialogue on Miracles by Caesarius of Heisterbach. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

Caesarius of Heisterbach, excerpts from the Eight Books of Miracles

April 23, 2023January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

Introductions and translations by Josh Parks.

About the Text

Nota bene: The thirteenth-century stories translated below concern themes of sin, death, and punishment; the second story (Book 3.62) in particular describes a scene of severe self-harm.

The first story (Book 2.19) introduces a moneylender whose act of pilgrimage proves a failure. Despite the moneylender’s devotion to St. James, which includes an expensive pilgrimage to Compostela, his behavior remains greedy and selfish. When sickness drives him to the point of death, he appeals to St. James for mercy by pointing to his acts of devotion. But James responds that his sins still stand between him and salvation. James returns the money that the moneylender spent on the pilgrimage, even though he refuses it, and then James disappears. This story suggests that pilgrimages were not always straightforward acts of asceticism; for the rich they could also be luxurious displays of wealth. But this expensive kind of devotion, the narrator concludes, cannot undo the sins of greed and usury.

In the second story (Book 3.62), we see St. James watching out for the fate of even the most inexperienced and unworthy pilgrim. Gerard embarks on his pilgrimage on a whim, and the devil takes advantage of his ignorance by impersonating St. James and urging him to injure and then kill himself. Gerard’s companions flee and leave him for dead. But as the demons carry Gerard’s soul past a church, the real St. James intervenes and appeals to the Virgin Mary on Gerard’s behalf. Mary rules that his soul must be returned to his body, and the man awakens, safe but severely scarred from his ordeal. He then joins a monastery out of gratitude to the Lord and spends the rest of his life there. This story portrays pilgrimage as a place of spiritual warfare, where demons and saints battle over pilgrims’ souls, often with severe bodily consequences for the pilgrims themselves.

These stories were compiled by the Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach. While he is best known for the Dialogus miraculorum (Dialogue on Miracles, c. early 1220s), he also produced a collection known as the Libri VIII miraculorum (Eight Books of Miracles, c. 1225). It is from this latter collection that the following stories are drawn. The fundamental plot of 3.62 is not unique to Caesarius; it appears in different versions in other medieval miracle collections, including the Liber Sancti Jacobi.

Translation: Book 2.19

Of a moneylender, to whom St. James returned money when he died.

A certain moneylender lived in the city of Trier. One day, he was moved to visit the dwelling of St. James in Compostela. He spent five pounds of silver and lived luxuriously on his journey, and when he was back home, he did not give anything to the poor. Having returned home, he turned to moneylending as before.

After several years, he grew gravely ill, and since he feared to die, he frequently prayed to St. James, recalling his pilgrimages, works, and monetary gifts to him in his memory. “St. James the Apostle,” he said, “remember how I spent five pounds in your service.”

And when he had disturbed the apostle with these words, the blessed apostle appeared to him, stood before him, and said, “I am the apostle James, whose dwelling you visited with your money.”

Thrilled to hear this, the moneylender began to cry out and said with tears, “St. James the Apostle, help me!” He repeated this over and over.

The apostle answered him: “Your sins stand in your way. I worked on your behalf as much as I could, and I achieved nothing. The demons bring many terrible accusations before the highest judge of things that you did. Justice has been weighed, and you have been judged deserving of eternal punishment. Look, I have in my hand the five pounds that you spent in my service. I give them back to you.”

But the moneylender shouted, “My lord, my lord, I don’t want to take them back!” The apostle wrapped the money in a little cloth, put it on the moneylender’s head, and disappeared. The moral of this story is that it is not possible to please God or his saints with costly alms that come from bad money. This story was told to me by a certain devout priest who said that he had come to know it accurately.

Translation: Book 3.62

The example of a pilgrim seduced to death by the devil, whose soul holy Mary, by the prayers of St. James, ordered to return to his body.

Lord Hugh of Damas, the abbot [of Cluny],¹ used to tell the story of a certain brother in his monastery. This brother’s name was Gerard, and when he was still a layman, he desired to hurry to the dwelling of St. James. And so he prepared the things necessary for the journey under the light of the day on which the journey was to be undertaken, while his concubine slept, defeated by the pleasures of the flesh.

And when he had gone a little way on the journey with his companions, the old enemy—the one who sometimes transfigures himself into an angel of light—desired to deceive him. This very enemy appeared to the pilgrim in the likeness of St. James and said to him, “You must know that because of the evil deeds you have done you will not be able to attain salvation unless you do what I am going to tell you. First, cut off your [genitals] and then kill yourself, and by doing this you will have an eternal reward.”

The man thought that he was really St. James the Apostle, and when he ordered him to do these things, he seized a piece of iron and cut off his [genitals]. And after that he wounded himself mortally by dragging it across his throat. When his companions heard that he was near death and saw him expelling his last breath—so that they saw him soaked in blood—they abandoned him and, frightened, fled with haste, lest someone think that they had killed him for the desire of money or some other reason.

Once the man had died, the devil took the soul of the one he had deceived, and he and his followers were more than a little delighted at their prize. But by the will of God, while they were passing near the church of St. Peter, St. James the Apostle came up to them with St. Peter and said to the group of demons, “Why have you taken the soul of my pilgrim?”

And when they had inflicted whatever evil they could on him and he had reached his end, St. James said to them, “You should know truly that you will not rejoice any more for his destruction, for under [the illusion of] hope for me you have led this ignorant one to death by the snare of your deceptions. And that which he has done in obedience to me, he has done earnestly. But if you fight against this, let us go to the judgment of the holy mother Mary.”

So they came to the holy mother of God, and when they asked what would please her, Mary herself, the virgin full of piety, judged that the soul ought to return to the body so that he could be purged of the evil deeds he had done through penance. And so this was done: by the merits of holy Mary, Peter, and James, the soul returned to the body.

It is said that the man, remembering, found himself safe and with only a bruise remaining to show where his neck had been cut. But his reproductive organs, which he had cut off himself, had not been restored to him, and nothing remained there other than a downward-facing hole through which he urinated. Therefore he left death behind as if he was waking from sleep, not forgetful of these benefits which divine mercy bestowed on him according to the saving intercession of the glorious virgin Mary and the apostles.

When he had been raised from the dead, he lifted his hands and his soul to the heavens of the Lord, and he praised the Lord and his saints for their great benefit to him. But when he had made his pilgrimage to St. James and then reached the aforementioned monastery of Damas [i.e., Cluny], he became a monk there, and he lived many days afterward to the end of his life devoted to the service of the Lord and his mother and his saints.

Notes

¹ “Dominus Hugo abbas Damiacensis“: In this case, Damiacensis seems to refer not to a location (such as Damietta in Egypt) but rather to the House of Damas, a French aristocratic family to which Hugh, abbot of Cluny, belonged.

References

Caesarius of Heisterbach. Die Fragmente der Libri VIII Miraculorum des Caesarius von Heisterbach. Edited by Aloys Meister. Rome 1901. For these specific stories, see Book 2.19, p. 92-93 and Book 3.62, p. 185-87.

Ruins of Heisterbach Abbey, pictured around 1900 (image via Library of Congress).

Gossuinus, Life of Ascelina

April 24, 2022January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

About the Text

Below is a short excerpt from the Life of Ascelina, a visionary and prioress of the monastery of Lieu-des-Dames, close to Boulancourt, who lived from c. 1122 to 1195. The author Gossuinus lived as a monk at the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux, then Cheminon, and finally Boulancourt. He likely completed his work sometime around 1200 and dedicated it to the abbot Gerhard of Eberbach.

This brief summation of a miracle facilitated by Ascelina (only 30 words total in the original Latin) is not about pilgrimage itself, but rather about those left behind, in this case, “a certain wife.” The husband does not play a particular role in the story, except by his absence: Gossuinus notes that he has left for Compostela, perhaps implying that his absence left his wife vulnerable.

Often, sources on pilgrimage stress the dangers faced by the pilgrims themselves, who must contend with dangerous river crossings and inclement weather, not to mention possible attacks from bandits and wolves. Divine intervention and royal protections alike worked to preserve pilgrims from these dangers. In the Life of Ascelina, in contrast, the miracle does not center on the pilgrim, but on his wife, highlighting the hazards faced even in daily life by those “safe” at home.

Translation

A certain wife, whose husband had set out on pilgrimage to St. James, was liberated from an incubus demon, by which she was gravely attacked though she did not consent, thanks to a part of the veil and of a tallow candle from this handmaiden of God [i.e., Ascelina].

References

Mula, Stefano. “Gossuinus’s Vitae of Emelina and Ascelina. Edition from Florence, Laurenziana, MS. Ashburnham 1906.” Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses 62 (2011): 37-58. Here p. 54.

Caesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogue on Miracles

April 23, 2022January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

About the Text

Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach (c. 1180-1240) is well-known for his Dialogue on Miracles, a collection of short anecdotes that illustrate key points of Christianity, organized in 12 books on topics such as confession, temptation, demons, and visions. The work is presented as a dialogue between a curious novice and an experienced monk who provides stories as well as clarifications and interpretations. Some of these stories concern the pilgrimage to Compostela or mention the power attributed to St. James.

The first story translated here features two friends on pilgrimage whose bond is tested by the devil. This short account mentions various aspects of their pilgrimage: They have a long way to travel from Cologne, though their access to horses would speed up the journey. Godefridus carries a staff, a tool typically associated with pilgrims and useful for fending off wolves or dogs. Finally, the story elegantly captures both the camaraderie and the potential irritations of traveling the Camino with friends.

The second story presents an impressive display of miraculous power for the benefit of a confident soon-to-be pilgrim. Taken captive as part of a longstanding family feud, the man refuses to give his captors any significant funds and brashly declares that he has no intention of remaining locked up long: He has new shoes and plans to visit St. James in them. This episode echoes biblical accounts of miraculous deliverance (see, for example, Deut. 4:20, Jer. 11:4, Dan. 3).

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 5.39

On the devil, who tried to sow discord between two friends on pilgrimage

Two citizens of Cologne, wealthy and reputable men who were good friends, one named Sistappus and the other Godefridus, set off [on pilgrimage] together to St. James the Apostle. One day they were riding by themselves; the other brothers had gone ahead. At the entrance of a certain wood, the devil, jealous of their friendship and easy rapport, broke in half the heavy stick that Godefridus was carrying slung across his back. [Godefridus] looked around and saw no one else there, so he turned to his companion and cried out in agitation: “Hey, brother, why did you break my stick?” The other man denied having done so with an oath, and Godefridus, as he himself told me, was so enraged that he could scarcely restrain his hands from attacking him. At last, by the grace of God and the merits of the Apostle, he was restored to his senses. He expressed his regret to his beloved friend, and the source of all the discord – the devil – fled in dismay.

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 10.7

Of a countryman shut in a furnace in Hemersbach who was freed by St. James

Near Cologne, two generations of country families had carried on a very bitter feud. One side was weaker, and its members moved to the neighboring castle of Hemersbach. From there, they inflicted considerable losses on their opponents. One day, they seized one of them, and three of their number sought to extort money from him, saying, “If you don’t give us money, we will punish you.” To which the man replied, “I have three obolos [coins of small value]. Buy cakes with them and eat them, for you will get nothing more.” And having faith in God and St. James, he added, “I have five marks at home in my chest and some new shoes, in which I am going to seek the shrine of St. James; I will not give you that money. On St. Stephen’s Day, I am going to set out, and I will leave you before daybreak.” They were amazed at the boldness of his words but bound him with fetters and put him in the furnace, appointing eight men to guard him that night. Once, and then again a second time, they asked him if he was still there, and each time heard him reply, “Yes, I’m still here.” But when they asked the same question for the third time, they got no response because the power of faith had already led him out of the closed furnace. Much has been said about hope in earlier chapters; but the following will set forth the virtue of charity.

References

An English translation of the full text has been completed by Henry von Essen Scott and C.C. Swinton Bland: Dialogue on Miracles by Caesarius of Heisterbach. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

Santa María de Oia

December 10, 2019January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

This monastic community is first attested in the historical record in 1137, in a privilege given by the monarch Alfonso VII. The Mosteiro de Santa María de Oia became affiliated with the Cistercian Order in 1185.

The Order itself was still relatively new at this time; the first house at Cîteaux had been founded less than a century ago in 1098, and it took time for the Cistercians to develop a unified sense of identity and effective bureaucratic mechanisms. Historian Constance Berman even argues that the Cistercians did not emerge as an organized and cohesive Order until the third quarter of the twelfth century (rather than the early twelfth century as previously assumed, and still maintained by some other scholars). Furthermore, Berman argues that “apostolic gestation” (in which new Cistercian houses are founded by a small group of monks sent out from a “mother house”) was not the primary method by which the Cistercians expanded; rather, their incorporation of preexisting monastic communities explains their rapid spread across Europe. In any case, Oia, like Sobrado, is an example of a preexisting monastery that was later incorporated into the Cistercian Order.

Location

Located on the Galician coast, Oia needed to be able to withstand pirate incursions. During the thirteenth century, the community constructed new church and monastery buildings that provided greater fortification against attacks.

An image showing the Mosteiro de Santa María de Oia's location right on the coast.

References & Further Reading

Berman, Constance. The Cistercian Evolution: The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.

Burton, Janet, and Julie Kerr. The Cistercians in the Middle Ages. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2011.

“Historia.” Concello de Oia.

Jamroziak, Emilia. The Cistercians in Medieval Europe, 1090-1500. New York: Routledge, 2013.

Real Mosteiro de Oia: Official website.

Cistercian General Chapter Statutes

December 5, 2019January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

Overview

The Cistercian monastic order was established in France and soon spread throughout medieval Europe. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) is the best-known Cistercian abbot, famous for propagating the Order’s particular brand of austere and mystical piety. Beginning in the 1130s, the Cistercians established a presence on the Iberian peninsula.

Abbots from across the Order met annually at Cîteaux for General Chapter meetings to discuss important matters, introduce new rules and regulations, and handle disciplinary issues. Initially, these meetings included only the abbots of Cîteaux, La Ferté, Pontigny, Morimund, and Clairvaux, but as the Cistercian Order expanded, so did General Chapter attendance. Abbots who lived near Cîteaux were expected to attend every year, while those who lived further away were obliged to attend less often (but still regularly). Like many pilgrims on the Camino, Galician abbots traveled long distances through France and northern Spain and depended on hospitality and infrastructure along their routes–abbots generally stopped in at other Cistercian monasteries to spend the night.

Cistercian Monasteries in Galicia

General Chapter meetings resulted in the production of statutes, which communicated issues that had been discussed and decisions that had been made. Many General Chapter statutes refer or are relevant to Cistercian monasteries in Galicia.

Translation: General Chapter Statutes on Galician Monasteries

1190, Statute #67/#48: “The abbot of Armenteira, who first neglected to come to Clairvaux when summoned, and then contemptuously refused to come to the General Chapter, is suspended from the office of the abbacy until he comes to Clairvaux, where he will spend six days in levi culpa [in light punishment], one of which he will fast on bread and water, and until he presents himself at the next Chapter, where he will explain his reasons for all this.”

Clairvaux, one of the oldest and most famous Cistercian houses, was the “mother house” of Armenteira, meaning that it had been responsible for founding Armenteira as a Cistercian monastery.

1191, Statute #4: “Concerning the abbots of Armenteira and La Espina, who abandoned their abbeys without the consent of the Father Abbot, and do not want to return to his command and will: This case is committed to the abbot of Clairvaux, who should visit those regions, and he should correct and castigate as he sees expedient, with the help and counsel of his fellow abbots.”

Armenteira is in Galicia, while La Espina is in Castile and León. The “Father Abbot” refers to the abbot of the mother house, in this case, Clairvaux.

1191, Statute #11: “Concerning the monk of Xunqueira [Junqueira], who is said to have his own horses and various other items: this is committed to the abbots of Escaledieu and Boulbonne. By the authority of the Chapter, they should correct and castigate as they see expedient once they have diligently investigated the truth of the matter. And the money which he offered to his own abbot should be returned to its rightful owner. If it turns out that he acquired this money by evil means, then he should receive the penalty for property ownership and theft.”

Cistercian monks were forbidden from owning personal property (and of course from stealing); this monk of Junqueira has exhibited egregious behavior.

1196, Statute #27: “Because of his inhumane treatment of a Spanish abbot, who spent the night outside the entrance of his monastery, the abbot of Bourras should spend three days in levi culpa, one of which fasting on bread and water, and forty days suspended from his office.”

Abbots from Galicia had a long way to travel before arriving at Cîteaux. They relied on the hospitality of Cistercian monasteries along the way, such as Bourras Abbey, which would have been on the route commonly taken by abbots from Spain. Here, the abbot of Bourras in France is disciplined for his extremely poor treatment of an unnamed Spanish abbot.

1197, Statute #19: “The abbot of Aubepierres [in the Limoges diocese, France], who provided less-than-charitable hospitality for abbots traveling to the Chapter, should spend three days in levi culpa, one of which fasting on bread and water.”

Aubepierres Abbey also lay along the route often taken by abbots from western Spain. This statute chastises the abbot of Aubepierres for insufficient hospitality.

1207, Statute #31: “The petition of the abbot of Sobrado to transfer the abbey of Val de Dios to a better location will be heeded.”

1208, Statute #17: “The abbot of Xunqueira, who did not come to the Chapter last year, and who was ordered to attend this year but refused, shall observe the penalty prescribed for this; if he does not present himself at Cîteaux by Easter, then he should understand that he is deposed. The abbot of Melón should give him notice of this.”

1213, Statute #41: “Concerning the abbot of Oia, who has become ill and remained behind on the way [to the General Chapter meeting], and is said to be weighed down by old age: This case is committed to the abbot of Clairvaux.”

1257, Statute #40: “The abbot of Sobrado, who did not express sufficient cause for his delay away from the General Chapter, should be suspended from office for six days and nevertheless should present himself at the next General Chapter.”

References

We have translated from Waddell’s edition for the twelfth-century statutes and from Canivez’s editions for later statutes. In some cases, two numbers are given for a statute (e.g. “Statute #67/#48”); the first reflects how the statute is numbered in Canivez, the second how it is numbered in Waddell.

Canivez, Joseph-Marie, ed. Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis, 8 vols. Louvain: Bureaux de la Revue, 1933-41. Edition in Latin of Cistercian statutes from 1116 until 1786.

Waddell, Chrysogonus, ed. Twelfth-Century Statutes from the Cistercian General Chapter. Cîteaux: commentarii cistercienses, 2002. Updated Latin edition of twelfth-century statutes with useful English commentary.

Secondary Works

D’Emilio, James. “The Cistercians and the Romanesque Churches of Galicia: Compostela or Clairvaux?” In Perspectives for an Architecture of Solitude: Essays on Cistercians, Art and Architecture in Honour of Peter Fergusson. Edited by Terryl Kinder. Turnhout: Brepols and Cîteaux, 2004. 313-327.

Santa María de Sobrado

November 21, 2019January 19, 2024amelia.kennedy

Sobrado Abbey (known in Galician as “Mosteiro de Santa María de Sobrado dos Monxes” and in Castilian as “Monasterio de Santa María de Sobrado de los Monjes”) was initially founded in the tenth century by Count Hermengildo and his wife Paterna. It became affiliated with the Cistercian Order as a daughter house of Clairvaux in 1142, making it one of the Order’s earlier houses on the Iberian peninsula.

Location

Background on the Cistercians

According to the traditional foundation narrative, Cistercian monasticism dates to 1098, arising from a conscious effort to reform monastic life and return to a “purer” adherence to the sixth-century Benedictine Rule. The Cistercians are known for eschewing the luxuries that had become common in eleventh-century monasteries and for their austere artistic and architectural style, which lacked elaborate ornamentation. As the foundation narrative goes, in 1098, Robert, abbot of Molesme, and a group of followers abandoned their abbey to start a new community that was more isolated and more obedient to the Rule. They founded this new community at Cîteaux, though they struggled during their early years. Bernard (1090-1153) joined the monastery with a group of friends in 1112, and his activity a prolific writer, preacher, and abbot of the newly founded Cistercian house Clairvaux appears to have rejuvenated the Order, spurring its expansion over the subsequent decades.

In addition to simplicity and austerity, the Cistercians valued manual labor such as work in the fields. As the Benedictine Rule instructed: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul. The brethren, therefore, must be occupied at stated hours in manual labor.” Monks, however, did not do all the work necessary for running the monastery themselves; Cistercians are well-known for their acceptance of lay brothers (conversi), often drawn from lower social classes than the monks, who performed necessary physical labor for the survival and success of the monastic community.

Over the course of the twelfth century, the Cistercian Order expanded significantly from its original house at Cîteaux, establishing monasteries in Scandinavia, the British Isles, Eastern Europe, and Iberia. Some new houses were established from scratch by existing “mother” houses, which sent monks to the new “daughter” houses and also equipped them with necessary manuscripts. Others, including Sobrado and Oia in Galicia, were already established monastic communities that were then incorporated into the Cistercian Order (though they were still integrated into the Cistercian filiation network; Clairvaux became the mother house of Sobrado). Abbots of mother houses were required to visit their daughter houses to ensure that they were following correct Cistercian practices.

The Cistercian General Chapter was the highest authority in the Order; every September, abbots convened at Cîteaux for General Chapter meetings to discuss problems, petitions, and new rules and regulations. Abbots from nearby foundations were required to attend annually, while those coming from faraway were obliged to attend less often. Thanks to Cistercian filiation networks and General Chapter meetings, the Order generally upheld an impressive level of standardization and organization across a broad geographical area.

No system is perfect–the Cistercian General Chapter often rebuked abbots who failed to attend Chapter meetings and in 1257 chastised the abbot of Sobrado, “who did not express sufficient cause for his delay away from the General Chapter.” The abbot was suspended from office for six days and instructed to attend the next Chapter meeting.¹

Image of the interior of the chapter house, showing columns and vaulted ceiling. — The chapter house.

Santa María de Sobrado

Several rooms survive from the Middle Ages, including the late twelfth- or thirteenth-century chapter house, the twelfth-century chapel of St. John the Baptist, and the thirteenth-century kitchen.

Located next to the refectory, the kitchen was in use from its construction in the thirteenth century until the desamortización in the nineteenth (also known as the “Spanish confiscation,” desamortización denotes the seizure of Church assets by the Spanish government). In the center of the kitchen, four large columns surround and support the chimney.

Image inside the 13th-century kitchen at Santa María de Sobrado, including a large chimney. — The 13th-century kitchen.

¹ Canivez, Statuta, vol. 2, Year 1257, #40, 432.

References & Further Reading

Primary Sources

Canivez, Joseph-Marie, ed. Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis, 8 vols. Louvain: Bureaux de la Revue, 1933-41.

Secondary Works

Burton, Janet, and Julie Kerr. The Cistercians in the Middle Ages. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2011.

“Cistercian Life.” The Cistercians in Yorkshire. Project directed by Sarah Foot.

D’Emilio, James, ed. and trans. Culture and Society in Medieval Galicia: A Cultural Crossroads at the Edge of Europe. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

Jamroziak, Emilia. The Cistercians in Medieval Europe, 1090-1500. New York: Routledge, 2013.

Ordóñez, Santiago. Sobrado dos Monxes: Primer monasterio cisterciense de España. León: Edilesa, 1998.