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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Abbey of Citeaux</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03792a.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Founded in 1098 by St. Robert, Abbot of Molesme, in a deserted and uninhabited part of the Diocese of Chalons-sur Saone"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="03792a.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/c.htm">C</a> > Abbey of Cîteaux</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Abbey of Cîteaux</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>Founded in 1098 by St. Robert, <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">Abbot</a> of Molesme, in a deserted and uninhabited part of the Diocese of Châlons-sur Saône, today the <a href="../cathen/04794b.htm">Diocese of Dijon</a> (Côte-d'Or, <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a>), from which city it is four leagues distant. A small stream of water which overflowed its banks formed there a marsh covered with rushes and coarse grass called in the language of the country <em>cistels</em>, whence the name Cistell or Cîteaux (<a href="../cathen/09019a.htm">Latin</a> <em>Cistercium</em>). Here, in a place unknown to men and hitherto inhabited only by wild beasts, St. Robert and his companions, to the number of twenty-one, placed the foundations of the Order of Cîteaux, and commenced the literal observance of the <a href="../cathen/02436a.htm">Rule of St. Benedict</a>. St. Robert built the first <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03780c.htm">Cistercian Order</a>, which he named <em>Novum Monasterium</em> (new <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a>), to distinguish it from the <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> of <a href="../cathen/10433b.htm">Molesme</a> from which he and his brethren had come. The domain in which Cîteaux was situated belonged to <a href="../cathen/02376c.htm">Raynald, Viscount of Beaune</a>, who, with his wife Hodierna, gave it <a href="../cathen/15506a.htm">voluntarily</a> to <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> and the Virgin Mary. The name of Cîteaux, which this place formerly bore, soon supplanted that of <em>Novum Monasterium</em>, by which it is called in the "Exordium Cisterciensis Ordinis". The Duke of <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundy</a>, Eudes I, touched by the holy life of the <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks</a> of Cîteaux, encouraged the work and took upon himself the <a href="../cathen/11189a.htm">obligation</a> of defraying all the expenses. The new <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> was inaugurated on the feast of St. Benedict, 21 March, 1098. St Robert was elected <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">Abbot</a> of Cîteaux, but, recalled to Molesme a year afterwards, he was succeeded by St. Alberic, who gave the <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks</a> the white habit and placed the <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> immediately under the protection of the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Holy See</a>. Under St. Alberic's successor, <a href="../cathen/14290d.htm">St. Stephen Harding</a>, the number of subjects was increased by the arrival of <a href="../cathen/02498d.htm">St. Bernard</a> and his thirty companions, all young noblemen of <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundy</a>, and the order commenced to send out colonies. La Ferté (<em>Fermitas</em>), in the Diocese of <a href="../cathen/03566a.htm">Châlons</a> (today of <a href="../cathen/02144a.htm">Autun</a>), <a href="../cathen/12233a.htm">Pontigny</a> (<em>Pontiniacum</em>) in the Diocese of Auxerre, Clairvaux (<em>Claravallis</em>), in the <a href="../cathen/08789c.htm">Diocese of Langres</a> (today of <a href="../cathen/15067a.htm">Troyes</a>), and Morimond (<em>Morimundus</em>), in the same <a href="../cathen/08789c.htm">Diocese of Langres</a>, were the first four daughters of Cîteaux, which, in their turn, gave birth to many <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monasteries</a>. The <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a> of these houses were called the first four Fathers of the order, and the "Charter of Charity", work of St. Stephen, conferred upon them the right of visiting the Abbey of Cîteaux.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>Popes and kings bestowed many honours and privileges upon Cîteaux. This being the mother-abbey of the <a href="../cathen/03780c.htm">Cistercian Order</a>, the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> was recognized as head and superior general of the whole order. The office was elective, the incumbent to be chosen only from among the religious of the order, and only by the religious of the house of Cîteaux. Today the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> is elected by the general chapter, the religious of Cîteaux not participating. The election was formerly cumulative, that is, to the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> general belonged, <em>de jure</em>, full administration in spiritual and temporal matters, without waiting for the confirmation of the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Holy See</a>. Today this confirmation is required before the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> general can exercise his powers. The <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> of Cîteaux was also <em>ipso facto</em> prime counsellor (<em>primus consiliarius natus</em>) in the Parliament of <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundy</a>. He had the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">right</a> to be called to the assembly of States General of the kingdom and to that of the states of the Province of <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundy</a>. In the councils he sat immediately after the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> and had the same honours and prerogatives. He was regarded as the first of the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a>, "the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> of the <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a>". As head and superior general, he had the right, as he has today, to visit, either in person or by his delegate, all the <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monasteries</a> of the order, and during the visit to exercise all jurisdictional powers.</p> <p>Cîteaux has been a nursery of <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> and illustrious personages. From St. Robert to Blessed Guy III, twenty-three <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a> are <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">venerated</a> in the order as <a href="../cathen/04171a.htm">saints</a> and blessed. Lambert (1155-61), Gilbert (1163-67), Alexander (1168-75), and Arnaud I (1201-12) are recognized for the eminent services rendered to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> and to the kings. Six <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a> of Cîteaux were <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honoured</a> with the Roman purple. Henri (1304-16) and Jean IV de Martigny (1405-28) were illustrious for their <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> in the ecumenical councils. Guy d'Autun (1460-62), Hymbert Martin de Losne (1462-76), Jean IV de Cirey (1476-1501) were the <a href="../cathen/06147a.htm">courageous</a> defenders of the order against the practice of <em>Commendam</em>. Others signalized themselves by their <a href="../cathen/15753a.htm">zeal</a> for the restoration of discipline and by their reformatory tendencies: Edme I de la Croix (1585-1604), Nicholas II Boucherat (1604-25), Claude Vaussin (1643-70), John XII Petit (1670-92), Nicholas Larcher (1692-1712). But its past glory and the regularity which still existed at the end of the eighteenth century could not save Cîteaux. It is remarkable, however, that with the exception of one <a href="../cathen/09093a.htm">lay brother</a>, none of the religious of Cîteaux accepted the pension of the State. On 4 May, 1791, the <a href="../cathen/01010a.htm">abbey</a> was sold for the first time as national <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a>. The sixty-second and last <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a> was Dom Francis Trouve (1748-90). Having lost all hope of saving his <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a>, he begged <a href="../cathen/12131a.htm">Pius VI</a>, 25 July, 1790, to transfer his powers to Dom Robert Schlecht, <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">Abbot</a> of Salmansweiler, a precaution which left life and hope to the other provinces. Dom Trouvé died 27 April, 1797.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/10487b.htm">monks</a> of Cîteaux created the vineyards of Clos-Vougeot and Romanée, the most celebrated of <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundy</a>. In 1791, the <a href="../cathen/01010a.htm">abbey</a>, which possessed 9800 acres of land, was sold for 862,000 pounds, and this money was used in turn for various purposes. In December, 1841, it was sold to an Englishman, Arthur Young, a disciple of Fourier, for the purpose of establishing there a phalanstery, which, however, failed completely in 1846. The Abbé Joseph Rey, founder of the Brothers of St. Joseph, purchased it in 1846, established a colony for agricultural purposes there, and opened a <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a> for the reception and <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">education</a> of young delinquents and abandoned children. The colony was suppressed in 1889, and on 2 October, 1898, the Order of Reformed <a href="../cathen/03780c.htm">Cistercians</a> took possession again of Cîteaux, and <a href="../cathen/15721b.htm">Dom Sebastien Wyart</a> became the sixty-third <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbot</a>, after an interruption of 107 years. He was succeeded (Oct., 1904) by Dom Augustin Marre, Abbot Igny, <a href="../cathen/08025a.htm">titular</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/04286c.htm">Constance</a>, and General of the Order of Reformed <a href="../cathen/03780c.htm">Cistercians</a>, who, having his residence at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, appointed for the government of Cîteaux an auxiliary, Dom Robert Lescand, titular <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">Abbot</a> of Saint-Aubin and Prior of the house of Cîteaux.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes">Exordia Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis (Fr. tr., Paris, 1884); Le Nain, Essai de l'histoire de Cîteaux (Paris, 1696-97); Paris, Nomasticon Cisterciense (Paris, 1669); Janauschek, Originum Cisterciensium (Vienna, 1897), I; L'Union Cistercienne (Hautecombe, 1892--); Menologe Cistercien, par un moine de Thymadeuc (Saint-Brieuc, 1898); Histoire abregee de l'Ordre de Cîteaux, par un moine de Thymadeuc (Saint-Brieuc, 1898).</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Gildas, M.</span> <span id="apayear">(1908).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Abbey of Cîteaux.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03792a.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Gildas, Marie.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Abbey of Cîteaux."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 3.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1908.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03792a.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Larry Trippett.</span> <span id="dedication"></span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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