C O N T E X T 1 2 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 35 in England and the earliest pointed arches. Such arches would later indicate the progression from the Romanesque or Norman style to the transitional. The piers of Durham’s nave are still pure Romanesque, however: massive circular piers of stone decorated with bold, incised patterning. Overall the architectural effect of the cathedral is still very grand. In its day it must have been both shocking and breathtaking. But even in the 12th century, architecture, as it always does, attracted critics. The later Cistercian order considered that Durham Cathedral was both distracting for monks in worship and disrespectful to God, who was the ultimate creator. It was the Benedictines’ love of art and display in architecture, coupled with a life of practicality rather than austerity, which gave rise to the reforming fervour of the Cistercian order – a fervour which was to sweep across Britain with great strength from the mid-12th century. Founded in 1098 in Citeaux Abbey, Burgundy, the Cistercian order went from strength to strength. Many flocked to join the order, including Bernard of Fontaines, later St Bernard, who was the founding Abbott of Clairvaux. The new order was based upon the Rule of St Benedict, just as was the Benedictine order, but its regime was much stricter. It was to Clairvaux that many English monks and lay brothers were to journey during this dissatisfaction with the Benedictine order and the perception that they had grown too comfortable. It was at Clairvaux that monks could learn a more arduous, pared-back way of monastic life; ultimately reflected in Cistercian architecture. Rievaulx Abbey, founded in Yorkshire in 1133, was probably the most important Cistercian monastery in Britain during its peak. Its first monks were men who had made the journey to Clairvaux to study and live under St Bernard.When they returned to England, it was with a mission to colonise the north of the country with Cistercian monasteries. The architecture of Cistercian abbeys such as Rievaulx, Jervaulx and Fountains was overarchingly simple. The restrained treatment of surfaces and a characteristic spurning of decoration were its signature marks. The Cistercians placed great importance on manipulating light, height and space to achieve beauty in their churches. Abbey churches were neither to compete with God as creator, nor were they to distract the monks from their concentration on God during worship. The Cistercians deliberately sought out wild and isolated locations, and specifically forbade the building of monasteries near towns. This was in clear contrast with the Benedictines, who had often located themselves at the edge of larger lay communities. Rievaulx Abbey and the neighbouring Cistercian Fountains Abbey, which was also affiliated to Clairvaux and which was founded only a year after Rievaulx, were powerful organisations which grew in strength and dominance in the years after their founding. The architecture of both reflects well the spartan nature and beliefs of the Cistercians. In the words of John Betjeman, the style is ‘ascetic and earnest’, not ‘cheerful’ like the Benedictines’.1 Puritanical Cistercian architecture provides us with one of the truest examples of how architecture can reflect the aims and ideals of its creator(s). Both Rievaulx and Fountains adopted a severe style which relied on mass and proportion, light and shade, for its beauty. The Cistercians’ rejection of adornment of any kind has left us with a legacy of buildings stunning in their reliance on the use of simple stone to create spaces with an appearance of strength, light and beauty. The storeroom at Fountains, with its 300ft long, double nave of rib vaults, is a great example of this simple beauty. However, even the reforming zeal of the Cistercians was to weaken and change during the life of the order. By 1170 at Fountains the Cistercians had relaxed their insistence on unadorned, unembellished architecture. Some modest decoration began to be acceptable. This included motifs such as carved leaves, some sculpture and some decorating of the corbels supporting the stone vaults. This in itself is not as strange as it might seem, given that by this time the nation had adopted the early English style (1150–1250) which embraced mouldings and naturalistic carvings. However, it does show that the isolated Cistercians were becoming more aware of, and integrated into, worldly affairs such as architectural style. The transition, albeit slight, from the sparse and ascetic living conditions of the Cistercian monks to the very slightly more decorated surroundings, was to continue, however, until the reforming nature of the order had been diluted so much that the Cistercians lost their way. As the centuries progressed, the Cistercians became powerful, rich landowners. This became more and more obvious in their monasteries. At Rievaulx, for example, the monks rebuilt the eastern part of the church in the 1220s in a much more elaborate style than the rest of the original monastery. This three-storey element of the church was ostensibly built to house the tomb of St Aelred, their former leader, but the monks’ choir was also removed into this, more luxurious part of the church. Here the simple, massive architecture of the Romanesque was spurned in favour of piers constructed from many slender pillars, lending a decorative lightness to the church and complying with architectural fashion rather than with the puritan beliefs of the original Cistercians. The change in architectural style shown at Rievaulx indicated a much more comfortable way of life enjoyed by Cistercian monks. And it was not just at Rievaulx that this change was occurring. In 1521 the last incumbent of Forde Abbey in Dorset, Thomas Chard, was elected. He lived in great comfort, having added to the west of the cloisters what was effectively a large, grand country house, highly decorated in appearance. St Bernard of Clairvaux would have turned in his grave. Indeed, by the time that Henry VIII decided to dissolve the monasteries, Rievaulx was run by a very wealthy abbot, living in very comfortable accommodation and attended by only 21 monks, as opposed to the 1,000 it would have had during the peak of Cistercian popularity. Rievaulx’s small community of 22 owned 72 buildings and were waited on by 102 servants. Perhaps Henry VIII had a point. Certainly the same practicality and love of art, architecture and comfort which had disempowered the Benedictine monks all those years before, and which had given rise to the severe Cistercian order in the first place, was the same force that eventually contributed to the downfall of the Cistercians. The social, economic and religious changes which occurred within and to these two monastic orders can be tracked in the development and progress of their monastic architecture. Carole Fry, a director of AHC Consultants Further reading Tatton-Brown, T, and Crook, C (2006) The Abbeys and Priories of England 1 Betjeman, J (1972) A Pictorial History of English Architecture
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