Ailred of Rievaulx
Encyclopedia
Aelred also Aelred, Ælred, Æthelred, etc., was an English writer, abbot of Rievaulx
Abbot of Rievaulx
The Abbot of Rievaulx was the head of the Cistercian monastic community of Rievaulx Abbey, founded in 1131 by Walter l'Espec in North Yorkshire, northern England...

 (from 1147 until his death), and saint.

Life

Aelred was one of three sons of Eilaf, priest of St Andrew's at Hexham
Hexham Abbey
Hexham Abbey is a place of Christian worship dedicated to St Andrew and located in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in northeast England. Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537, the Abbey has been the parish church of Hexham.-History:...

 and himself a son of Eilaf, treasurer of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

. He was born in Hexham
Hexham
Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

, Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...

, in 1110.

Aelred spent several years at the court of King David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

, rising to the rank of Master of the Household
Master of the Household
The Master of the Household is the operational head of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...

 before leaving the court at age twenty-four (in 1134) to enter the Cistercian abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 of Rievaulx
Rievaulx
Rievaulx is a small village and civil parish near Helmsley in North Yorkshire and is located in what was the inner court of Rievaulx Abbey, close to the River Rye. The inner court of the monastery contained buildings such as the brewhouse, bakehouse and guesthouse. Its name originated as Rye +...

 in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. He may have been partially educated by Lawrence of Durham
Lawrence of Durham
Lawrence of Durham was a 12th-century English prelate, Latin poet and hagiographer. Born in southern England, at Waltham in Essex, Lawrence was given a religious education, and excelled at singing and poetry composition. In his youth Lawrence joined Durham Cathedral Priory and became a...

, who sent him a hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...

 of Saint Brigid
Brigid of Kildare
Saint Brigit of Kildare, or Brigit of Ireland , nicknamed Mary of the Gael is one of Ireland's patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba...

.

Aelred became the abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of a new house of his order at Revesby in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 in 1142 and in 1147, abbot of Rievaulx itself, where he spent the remainder of his life. Under his administration, the abbey is said to have grown to some hundred monks and four hundred lay brothers. He made annual visitations to Rievaulx's daughterhouses in England and Scotland and to the French abbeys of Cîteaux and Clairvaux
Clairvaux
Clairvaux can mean the following:*Clairvaux, a former commune in France, now part of Ville-sous-la-Ferté. It is the home of**Clairvaux Abbey in France**Clairvaux Prison, France, on the site of the abbey*Saint Bernard of Clairvaux...

.

Aelred wrote several influential books on spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

, among them Speculum caritatis ("The Mirror of Charity", reportedly written at the request of Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...

) and De spiritali amicitia ("On Spiritual Friendship"). He also wrote seven works of history, addressing two of them to Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

, advising him how to be a good king and declaring him to be the true descendent of Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

 kings. Until the twentieth century, Aelred was generally known as a historian rather than as a spiritual writer; for many centuries his most famous work was his Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

.

Aelred's work, private letters, and his Life by Walter Daniel, another twelfth-century monk of Rievaulx, have led some writers to infer that he was homosexual. In writing to an anchoress in The Formation of Anchoresses, Aelred speaks of his youth as the time when she held on to her virtue and he lost his. Nevertheless, all of his works encourage virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...

 among the unmarried and chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....

 in marriage and widowhood and warn against any sexual activity outside of marriage; in all his works he treats of extra-marital sexual relationships as forbidden and condemns "unnatural relations" as a rejection of charity and the law of God. He criticized the absence of pastoral care for a young nun who experienced rape, pregnancy, beating, and a miraculous delivery in the Gilbertine community of Watton.

Aelred died on January 12, 1167, at Rievaulx. He is recorded as suffering from the stone (hence his patronage) and arthritis in his later years (Patrologia Latina 195). He is listed for January 12 in the Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology
The Roman Martyrology is the official martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.-History:...

 and the calendars of various churches.

Writings

For his efforts in writing and administration Aelred has been called by David Knowles the "St. Bernard of the North." Knowles, a historian of monasticism in England, also described him as "a singularly attractive figure … . No other English monk of the twelfth century so lingers in the memory."

Extant works by Aelred include:

Histories and biographies:
  • Vita Davidis Scotorum regis ("Life of David, King of the Scots"), written c.1153.
  • Genealogia regum Anglorum ("Genealogy of the Kings of the English"), 1153–54
  • Relatio de standardo
    Relatio de Standardo
    Relatio de Standardo , or De bello standardii , is a text composed probably in 1153 or 1154 by the Cistercian monk Ailred of Rievaulx, describing the Battle of the Standard, fought near Northallerton in 1138 between David I, King of Scotland, and a Norman army fighting in support of King Stephen...

    ("On the Account of the Standard"), also De bello standardii ("On the Battle of the Standard
    Battle of the Standard
    The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, in which English forces repelled a Scottish army, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire. The Scottish forces were led by King David I of Scotland...

    "), 1153–54
  • Vita S. Eduardi regis et confessoris "The Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor
    Edward the Confessor
    Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

    ," 1162–63.
  • Vita S. Niniani
    Vita Sancti Niniani
    The Vita Sancti Niniani or simply Vita Niniani is a Latin language Christian hagiography written in northern England in the mid-12th century. Using two earlier Anglo-Latin sources, it was written by Ailred of Rievaulx seemingly at the request of a Bishop of Galloway...

    ("The Life of Saint Ninian"), 1154–60
  • De miraculis Hagustaldensis ecclesiae ("On the Miracles of the Church of Hexham"), 1155ff.
  • De sanctimoniali de Wattun
    De Sanctimoniali de Wattun
    De Sanctimoniali de Wattun or the On the Nun of Watton is a 12th century miracle story, describing events which took place in Yorkshire in the mid-12th century at the nunnery of Watton, East Riding of Yorkshire. It is also called A Certain Wonderful Miracle.De Sanctimoniali de Wattun survives in...

    , also known as De quodam miraculo miraculum ("On the Nun of Watton" or "A Certain Wonderful Miracle"), c.1160

Spiritual treatises:
  • Speculum caritatis ("The Mirror of Charity")
  • De Iesu puero duodenni ("Jesus as a Boy of Twelve"), 1153–57
  • De spiritali amicitia ("Spiritual Friendship"), c.1160
  • De institutione inclusarum ("The Formation of Anchoresses"), 1160–62
  • Oratio pastoralis ("Pastoral Prayer"), c.1163–67.
  • De anima ("On the Soul"), c.1164-67

many sermons

All of Aelred's works have appeared in translation, most in English, but all in French.

Patronage

There was a high school named after St. Aelred (the more modern spelling of his name) in Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows is a small market town within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is situated about midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, to the east of St Helens, to the north of Warrington and to the south of...

, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 that closed in 2011, and also a primary school in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

. Formerly there was also a High School in Glenburn, Paisley named after St Aelred on Gleniffer Road.

Several gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

-friendly organisations have adopted Aelred as their patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

, such as Integrity
IntegrityUSA
IntegrityUSA is a U.S. not-for-profit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and straight friends. Integrity was founded by Dr...

 in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, National Anglican Catholic Church
National Anglican Catholic Church
The National Anglican Catholic Church of the United States is an independent fellowship which worships in the Anglican manner and in the Catholic tradition....

 in the northeast United States, and the Order of St. Aelred in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

Primary sources

  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "Opera." Corpus Christianorum
    Corpus Christianorum
    The Corpus Christianorum is a major publishing undertaking of the Belgian publisher Brepols devoted to patristic and medieval Latin texts. The principal series are the Series Graeca , Series Latina , and the Continuatio Mediaevalis...

     Continuatio Mediaevalis
    1, 2A, 2B, 2D. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 1971, 1983, 2001, 2005.
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "For Your Own People: Aelred of Rievaulx's Pastoral Prayer," trans. Mark Del Cogliano, crit. ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 73 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2008).
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "The Historical Works," trans. Jane Patricia Freeland, ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 56 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2005).
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "The Lives of the Northern Saints," trans. Jane Patricia Freeland, ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 71 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2006).
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "Mirror of Charity," trans. Elizabeth Connor, Cistercian Fathers series 17 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990).
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "Dialogue on the Soul," trans. C. H. Talbot, Cistercian Father series 22 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981).
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "Spiritual Friendship," trans. Lawarence Braceland, ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 5 (Collegeville: Cistercian Publications, 2010).
  • Aelred of Rievaulx, "Treatises and Pastoral Prayer," Cistercian Fathers series 2 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1971).

Further reading

  • Boquet, Damien, L'ordre de l'affect au Moyen Âge: Autour de l'anthropologie affective d'Aelred de Rievaulx. Caen: CRAHM, 2005.
  • Dutton, Marsha L.,"Friendship and the Love of God: Augustine's Teaching in the Confessions and Aelred of Rievaulx's Response in Spiritual Friendship", in American Benedictine Review 56 (2005), p. 3-40.
  • Dutton, Marsha L., "Sancto Dunstano Cooperante: Aelred of Rievaulx’s Advice to the Heir to the English Throne in Genealogy of the Kings of the English", in: Emilia Jamroziak and Janet Burton (ed.), Religious and Laity in Northern Europe 1000-1400: Interaction, Negotiation, and Power. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007, p. 183–195.
  • Dutton, Marsha L., "A Historian's Historian: The Place of Bede in Aelred's Contributions to the New History of his Age", in: Marsha L. Dutton, Daniel M. La Corte, and Paul Lockey (ed.), Truth as Gift: Studies in Cistercian History in Honor of John R. Sommerfeldt" (Cistercian Studies Series 204). Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 2004, p. 407–48.
  • Freeman, Elizabeth, "Aelred of Rievaulx’s De Bello Standardii: Cistercian Historiography and the Creation of Community Memories," in: Cîteaux 49 (1998), p. 5–28.
  • Freeman, Elizabeth, "The Many Functions of Cistercian Histories Using Aelred of Rievaulx’s Relatio de Standardo as a Case Study," in: Erik Kooper (ed.) The Medieval Chronicle: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on the Medieval Chronicle. Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, 1999, p. 124–32.
  • Freeman, Elizabeth, Narratives of a New Order: Cistercian Historical Writing in England, 1150–1220. Turnhout: Brepols, 2002.
  • Freeman, Elizabeth, "Nuns in the Public Sphere: Aelred of Rievaulx's De Sanctimoniali de Wattun and the Gendering of Authority", in: Comitatus 17 (1996), p. 55–80.
  • La Corte, Daniel M., "Abbot as Magister and Pater in the Thought of Bernard of Clairvaux and Aelred of Rievaulx", in: in: Marsha L. Dutton, Daniel M. La Corte, and Paul Lockey (ed.), Truth as Gift: Studies in Cistercian History in Honor of John R. Sommerfeldt (Cistercian Studies Series 204). Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 2004, p. 389–406.
  • Mayeski, Marie Anne, "Secundam naturam: The Inheritance of Virtue in Ælred’s Genealogy of the English Kings", in: Cistercian Studies Quarterly 37 (2002), p. 221–28.
  • Nouzille, Philippe, Expérience de Dieu et Théologie Monastique au XIIe Siècle: Étude sur les sermons d'Aelred de Rievaulx. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1999.
  • Powicke, Frederick M., "Ailred of Rievaulx", in Ways of Medieval Life and Thought. London, 1949.
  • Raciti, Gaetano. "The Preferential Option for the Weak in the Ælredian Community Model", in: CSQ 32 (1997), p. 3–23.
  • Ransford, Rosalind, "A Kind of Noah's Ark: Aelred of Rievaulx and National Identity", in: Stuart Mews (ed.), Studies in Church History 18 (1982), p. 137–46.
  • Sommerfeldt, John R., Aelred of Rievaulx On Love and Order in the World and the Church. Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 2006.
  • Sommerfeldt, John R., Pursuing Perfect Happiness. Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 2005.
  • Squire, Aelred, "Aelred and King David", in: Collectanea Cisterciensia 22 (1960), p. 356–77.
  • Squire, Aelred, "Aelred and the Northern Saints.", in: Collectanea Cisterciensia 23 (1961), p. 58–69.
  • Squire, Aelred, "Aelred of Rievaulx: A Study" (1960), in: Cistercian Studies series 50. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981.
  • Squire, Aelred, "Historical Factors in the Formation of Aelred of Rievaulx", in: Collectanea Cisterciensia 22 (1960), p. 262–82.
  • Yohe, Katherine, "Aelred’s Recrafting of the Life of Edward the Confessor", in: CSQ 38 (2003): p. 177–89.
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