Gtjkyu

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (September 2009) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary (using German): Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Exact name of German article]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template fr to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Cîteaux Abbey

Cîteaux Abbey (French: Abbaye de Cîteaux) is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France.^[1] Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO). Cîteaux, formerly spelled Cisteaux, is the mother house of the Cistercian order.

The abbey has about 35 members.^{[year needed]} The monks produce a cheese branded under the abbey's name, as well as caramels and honey-based candies.

History

16th-century perspective view of the abbey (engraving)

Cîteaux Abbey was founded on Saint Benedict's Day, 21 March 1098,^[2] by a group of monks from Molesme Abbey seeking to follow more closely the Rule of St. Benedict. They were led by Saint Robert of Molesme,^[3] who became the first abbot. The site was wooded and swampy, in a sparsely populated area.
The toponym predates the abbey, but its origin is uncertain. Theories include a derivation from cis tertium [lapidem miliarium], "this side of the third [milestone]" of the Roman road connecting Langres and Chalons sur Saône,^[4] or alternatively from cisternae "cisterns", which in Middle Latin could refer to stagnant pools of a swamp.^[5]

The second abbot was Saint Alberic, and the third abbot Saint Stephen Harding, who wrote the Charta Caritatis, that described the organisation of the order.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a monk of Cîteaux Abbey, left it in 1115 to found Clairvaux Abbey, of which he was the first abbot. His influence in the Cistercian order and beyond is of prime importance.^{[according to whom?]} He reaffirmed the importance of strict observance to the Rule of St. Benedict.

The great church of Cîteaux Abbey, begun in around 1140, was completed in 1193. The Dukes of Burgundy subsequently used it as their dynastic place of burial.

The influence of the Cistercian order grew very rapidly, owing much to Saint Bernard, and at the beginning of the 13th century the order had more than 500 houses. Cîteaux was then an important center of Christianity. In 1244, King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) and his mother Blanche of Castile visited the abbey.

During the Hundred Years' War, the monastery was pillaged in 1360 (when the monks sought refuge in Dijon), 1365, 1434 and 1438. In 1380, the Earl of Buckingham stayed at L'Aumône Abbey, a daughter house of Cîteaux located in the forest of Marchenoir whilst his army was quartered in the surrounding Forest.^[6]

In the beginning of the 16th century, the abbey was a strong community of about 200 members. The abbey was badly hit by the French Wars of Religion.

The abbey then slowly declined for the next century. In 1698, the abbey only had 72 professed monks.

In 1791, during the French Revolution, the abbey was seized and sold by the government.

In 1898, the remains of the abbey were bought back and repopulated by monks of other abbeys.

Other burials

• 
  Valdemar of Denmark (bishop) (1158 - 1236)

References

• Plouvier, M. and Saint-Denis, A. (eds.), 1998: Pour une histoire monumentale de Cîteaux, 1098-1998 (Commentarii cistercienses. Studia et documenta, 8), Cîteaux.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abbaye de Cîteaux.

• 
  Official site (in French)


• 
  History of Cîteaux Abbey (in French)

Pictures

• Photo


• Abbey Stamp


• Illumination of an Abbey Manuscript

Coordinates: 47°07′41″N 5°05′36″E / 47.12806°N 5.09333°E / 47.12806; 5.09333