Primary abbey in the context of the
Cistercian order
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
refers to the first
daughter houses of
Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey ( ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of th ...
. The four primary abbeys were
La Ferté (1113),
Pontigny
Pontigny () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
Sight
Its principal distinction is as the home of Pontigny Abbey.
Communication channels
The commune is crossed in a north-south direction ...
(1114),
Clairvaux (1115), and
Morimond
Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of th ...
(1115).
History
The primary abbeys, along with
Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey ( ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of th ...
, were the epicentres of wide-reaching affiliations across Europe. In the 12th and 13th centuries daughter and granddaughter houses arose, which attached to
Cîteaux as their mother house: this system of centralized control of the order was unknown before the
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
s. By the death of
St. Bernard of Clairvaux in 1153, there were in total 333 dependent houses, by the middle of the 13th century 647, and by 1675 742. Of these, 109 belonged to
Cîteaux, 16 to
La Ferté, 43 to
Pontigny
Pontigny () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
Sight
Its principal distinction is as the home of Pontigny Abbey.
Communication channels
The commune is crossed in a north-south direction ...
, 356 to
Clairvaux, and 214 to
Morimond
Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of th ...
.
From the later Middle Ages on, the influence of the primary abbeys became ever weaker, as national consciences became stronger.
References
Further reading
* Immo Eberl: ''Die Zisterzienser. Geschichte eines europäischen Ordens''. Lizenzausgabe. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2002, , S. 38ff, 47ff, 81f. (Unveränderter Nachdruck: Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2007, ).
*
Kaspar Elm, Peter Feige: ''Reformen und Kongregationsbildungen der Zisterzienser im Spätmittelalter und früher Neuzeit''. In: ''Die Zisterzienser. Ordensleben zwischen Ideal und Wirklichkeit''. Bonn 1980, {{ISBN, 3-7927-0681-4, S. 243–254.
Cistercian Order
Cistercian monasteries in France