Tintern Abbey was founded by Walter fitz Richard de Clare the Anglo-Norman lord of Chepstow, in 1131.  It was the second Cistercian Abbey in Britain and the first in Wales. Over the previous half-century the Normans had introduced Benedictine priories into England, founded as dependencies of large abbeys in England or France. Some of the impetus for this was to use religion to control the populace—first the Saxons in England, and then the Welsh in Wales, not an uncommon move for unpopular conquerors. Very often the monks who joined these abbeys were not native to the country in which the abbey was placed. Tintern was always closely associated with the lords of Chepstow, who were often generous benefactors. The most invlved was Roger Bigod, great-grandson of William Marshal. He undertook the rebuilding of the church in the late 13th century, Read more…

As we talked about last week, one of the hallmarks of the Cistercians was their desire for a simpler life in a remote place where they could be self-sufficient, and for that they needed land and a location that was far from town life. In Wales, they found both those qualities in abundance. They were intent on reforming what they saw as excesses within the Benedictine order, particularly the Cluniac movement in France which they thought was too materialistic. In addition, because the Cistercians arose in France, they had no ties to the Norman Church, to Canterbury specifically, which was the seat of England’s Archbishop, or to the English king. That meant that both the Norman lords who conquered portions of Wales and the Welsh princes who fought them off did not feel that by endowing a Cistercian abbey they Read more…

Wales was home to many different monastic orders in the Middle Ages. As we’ve talked about this season, at first these saints founded monasteries and convents throughout Wales without the formalization of belonging to a particular worldwide order. In these early monastic communities, starting in the 5th century, the participants were seeking to model the life of Jesus Christ, who owned nothing and devoted his energies toward others. In founding these early monasteries, there was a very clear communal awareness and self-denial at odds with the human inclination toward self-interest and self-promotion. Over time, in other places (as in Wales), in the first centuries of Christianity, individual saints developed their own rules. The Rule of St. Augustine had the greatest following initially and gave rise to the Augustinian Order, which still exists today. These rules were further formalized in the Read more…