Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire & Humberside

The 10th and 11th Centuries were a time of reform in the monastic world.  In 1098, a group of monks left the Abbey of Molesme and built a new monastery near Dijon, which they called Cistertium or Citeaux today. The new monasterie’s reputation for discipline and simple living attracted recruits, which led to the establishment of sister monasteries and by 1119 there were 10 in total within France and a new Order was formally created, to be known as the Cistercian Order.

Rievaulx was a Cistercian Abbey. The Cistercians believed that they needed to separate their communities physically from the outside world, so they placed their monasteries away from other settlements and lived a self sufficient existence, renouncing all cash revenues and feudal ties.  Their economy was land based, and to achieve this without reliance on feudal labour, they introduced lay brothers who could work their estates whilst bound by monastic discipline.  This was open to all classes and for the laboring class this offered a way to access monastic life.

Each year the Abbot of every Cistercian house was required to attend a meeting at Citeaux, to enforce collective disciple and to enact statutes by which the development and direction of the Order was to be controlled.  There was a cellular structure in place, which was headed by Citeaux and each new monastery was the responsibility of the house which founded it.  The Abbot of the founding house was required to visit the daughter house annually. 

William of Malmesbury wrote: ‘The Cistercians are a model for all, a mirror for the diligent, a spur to the indolent’.

The Cistercian Order chose to wear un-dyed white robes and became known as the White Monks.  Their lay brothers wore brown habits to distinguish them.  Unlike other Orders, the Cistercians were forbidden to wear undershirts or breeches, and they must have been very cold in the winter.

Rievaulx was founded in 1132, when 12 monks from Clairvaux, led by their Abbot, William, settled in the valley by the River Rye. The Abbey initially prospered but by the early 14th Century many of the northern Abbeys found themselves in debt.  The troubles with Scotland didn’t help matters.  King Edward II was staying at Rievaulx  in 1322 when he was surprised by the Scots army at Shaws Moor, where the Battle of Byland was fought.  The English king was defeated and fled to York but the Scots army plundered Rievaulx before retreating. 

Today the site is in the care of English Heritage and represents only a portion of the 72 buildings which were here at the time of the Dissolution in 1538.  The monastery originally owned 92 acres, which were enclosed by walls on the east and west boundaries. The monastery also once contained the Abbey’s courts, meadows, orchards, gardens, fishponds, mills, service and industrial buildings, none of which survive today.