Abbeye de Noirlac, France

Saint Bernard watched over the founding of Noirlac Abbey, when the monks from Clairvaux left in 1136, to found the new Abbey of Noirlac. Their Abbot, Robert, lead them, who was himself closely related to Saint Bernard. Under the supervision of Saint Bernard, the most stringent rules of the Cistercian order were enforced. This was a frugal environment, in which adornment was a distraction and only the barest of essentials were allowed.

Noirlac is a Cistercian abbey and the Order was founded on the principles of rigour, humility, austerity and simplicity, where only the bare essentials were allowed or required. The architecture mirrors these principles and was built without any embellishments. It was built with a purity and starkness that leaves its structure exposed, perhaps the best description might be, less is more.

In 1132 Pope Innocent II exempted all the Cistercians from paying any tithes (taxes). This did not go down well with the monks of other orders and the monks of Noirlac were attacked during their harvest by the Benedictine monks of Bourge Dieu for this reason. The Archbishop Richard of Canterbury wrote to the Abbot of Citeaux reprimanding him for accepting this exemption.  Stating that it was justified in the early days when the Cistercian order was poor but that now it should be revoked.

Saint Bernard, in 1149, asked the King of France to help fund the new community of Noirlac. In 1150, construction of the Abbey buildings began. It did not however take the name Noirlac, until 1290.

Legend tells us that the name Noirlac came from a local incident where a man named Ebbon de Charenton, who was a local lord, drowned in a nearby lake.  In memory of this accident this lake as well as the Abbey, took on the name “black lake”, noir lac.

St. Bernard himself was rewriting the ideas of Monastic communities and interpreting the Rule of St Benedict in the harshest possible way. He conflicted with Abbot Suger of Saint Denis. Where Abbot Suger embraced the idea that art and stained glass windows were made in the honour of God, and were a spiritual aid that acted as a guide to enlightenment, Saint Bernard strongly believed that art would prove to be a distraction, stating that they would:

‘Admire the beautiful more than they venerate the sacred.’

He condemned the luxurious and excessive use of art, and we see this in the architecture, where only the minimal use of shapes was allowed.

The location chosen for the Abbey was a deserted, swampy area, which met the requirements for Cistercian rule. They would be able to reclaim and make use of the land. The Abbey was built of sandstone and is located between the central Massif and the River Cher.

The architecture of Cistercian monasteries is far easier to understand in France, where some of the buildings have fared much better with the passing of time, and without the need to survive Britain’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. Cistercian architecture takes the form of bare stonework, truncated columns and the minimal use of ornaments. It was never decorated, yet the architectural beauty of the vast open spaces and symmetrical use of structure, lends itself to a certain beauty in its austerity, and an honesty in its simplicity.

At Noirlac, the buildings for the monks and lay brothers were divided, as was common in Cistercian communities, with the east side containing the monks dormitory, chapter house and warming room, with the lay brothers residing on the western side, separated by the cloister.

Due to the unrest in France in the early 15th Century, at the time of the Hundred Years War, the Abbey fortified itself in order to be able to protect the community. A keep and a moat were created, to aid in its protection.

In 1791, the Abbey was taken by the French Government and became a National Asset. It was then used as a porcelain factory, before coming into the possession of the Cher Departmental Council in 1909. It served as a hospital during World War II, before being restored between 1950 and 1980.

The French medievalist Rene Crozet, wrote about Noirlac in 1932, describing it as a pure example of extreme Cistercian sobriety.

Today the Abbey Church no longer offers services. Instead, it often hosts concerts in its vast spaces, with exceptional acoustics, giving life and use once again to these ancient buildings, and making them a space for the community.

In the Village of Bruere-Allichamps where Noirlac Abbey stands there is a stone monument that marks the geographical centre of France since 1797. The stone column was laid by the Duke of Bethune Charost and was originally a 3rd century Roman milestone.