The Tironensian Order or the Order of Tiron was a medieval
monastic order
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important rol ...
named after the location of the
mother abbey (Tiron Abbey, french: Abbaye de la Sainte-Trinité de Tiron, established in 1109) in the woods of
Thiron-Gardais (sometimes ''Tiron'') in
Perche
Perche () (French: ''le Perche'') is a former province of France, known historically for its forests and, for the past two centuries, for the Percheron draft horse breed. Until the French Revolution, Perche was bounded by four ancient territorie ...
, some 35 miles west of
Chartres
Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as de ...
in
France). They were popularly called "Grey Monks" because of their grey robes, which their spiritual cousins, the monks of
Savigny, also wore.
History
Founder
The order, or congregation, of Tiron was founded in about 1106 by the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
Bernard de Ponthieu, also known as Bernard d'Abbeville (1046–1117), born in a small village near
Abbeville
Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital o ...
,
Ponthieu
Ponthieu (, ) was one of six feudal counties that eventually merged to become part of the Province of Picardy, in northern France.Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principalities 888-987 Its chief town is Abbeville.
History
Ponthieu pl ...
.
["Saint Bernard de Thiron", Nominis]
/ref>
Tonsure
Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...
d at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomer ...
around the year 1070, Bernard left the order in 1101 when his nomination as abbot of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe was disapproved by Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...
and Pope Paschal II
Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...
. From then on Bernard lived first as a hermit on the island of Chausey[ between ]Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the la ...
and Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Al ...
.
Adelelmus of Flanders was a hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
at Saint-Nicolas in Maine. He joined Bernard on Chausey and under his guidance founded the nunnery of . He then founded a monastery in honor of St. Nicholas for men. His relics are at Etival.
Bernard next relocated to the woods of Craon, near Angers, with two other rigorist monks: Robert d'Arbrissel, future founder of the controversial Abbey of Fontevraud, and Vitalis de Mortain, later the founder of the Congregation of Savigny
The monastic Congregation of Savigny (Savigniac Order) started in the abbey of Savigny, situated in northern France, on the confines of Normandy and Brittany, in the Diocese of Coutances. It originated in 1105 when Vitalis of Mortain established ...
in 1113. Following the example of the Desert Fathers
The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The is a collection of the wisdom of some of the ear ...
, all three men and their followers (men and women) lived detached from the world, in great poverty and strict penance.
Tiron Abbey
The foundation of Tiron Abbey by Bernard of Abbeville was part of wider movements of monastic reform in Europe in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries.[Geoffrey Grossus ''The Life of Blessed Bernard of Tiron'', (Ruth Harwood Cline, trans.), The Catholic University of America Press, (2009)] Bernard's intention was to restore the asceticism and strict observance of the Rule of St. Benedict
The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...
in monastic life, insisting on manual labour.
In 1107 he and his friend Geoffrey (later Abbot of Tiron), build a small house in a solitary place near Fougeres. A community began to form there. Although the area provided grazing for livestock, it was not well-suited for growing grain or grapes. The monks built workrooms before they began clearing land for fields. During the famine of 1109–1111 the abbey welcomed many displaced persons. It sheltered whole families, including skilled craftsmen. Bernard encourage them to produce goods for sale and the monastery community prospered.
The success of the community aroused the jealousy of the Cluniac monks of Saint-Denis of Nogent-le-Rotrou. He moved his monastery to land in Thiron-Gardais granted to him by Bishop Ivo of Chartres,["S. Bernard and his Foundation", ''The Benedictines of Caldey'', The Abbey, Isle of Caldey, 1912, p. 122]
/ref> and placed it under the protection of the cathedral canons of Chartres, instead
of a secular overlord. This assured that decisions affecting the abbey were made by a corporate religious body.
Tiron had a school; and after Bernard's death, built houses so that lay women could reside within its walls under the care and protection of the monks.[ Roger de Port was buried here.
]
Tironensian Order
Tiron was the first of the new religious orders to spread internationally.["Tironensian", Monastic Wales]
/ref> Within less than five years of its creation, the Order of Tiron owned 117 priories and abbeys in France, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
In 1113 Robert FitzMartin granted the Tironensians land and money to found the order's first house in Wales, St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire, which was established on the site of a clas (early Celtic church), which dated back to at least 600 AD. Closed during the Dissolution of the monasteries, much of the stone was quarried for other uses.["St Dogmaels Abbey's influence remains after 900 years", BBC News south West Wales, March 31, 2013]
/ref>
In Scotland, the Tironensians were the monks and master craftsmen who built and occupied (until the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
) the abbeys of Selkirk (later re-located to Kelso) (1128), Arbroath (1178), Kilwinning
Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Par ...
(1140+), and Lindores Abbey
Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a reduced ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about north of the village of Lindores and is a scheduled ancient monument.
The abbey ...
, and Newburgh. The first two abbots of Selkirk became, in turn, abbots at Tiron. During the tenure of William of Poitiers as abbot, Tiron established abbeys and priories along the north–south trade routes from Chartres to the navigable Seine and Loire rivers. Under him, the abbey owned at least one ship that traded in Scotland and Northumberland.[ Tiron adopted a system of annual general chapters. In 1120, Abbot William decreed that abbots from overseas need only attend once in every three years. Arnold, Abbot of Kelso, founded the cathedral church at St Andrews.Barrow, G.W.S., ''The Kingdom of the Scots'', Edinburgh University Press, 2003]
In France, the order was integrated into the new Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
Congregation of St Maur in 1627.
See also
* Caldey Priory
*Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Twe ...
* Kilwinning Abbey
* Pill Priory
* St Dogmaels Abbey
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* Bulletin de la Société archéologique d'Eure-et-Loir, ''Spécial Inventaire Monumental, Édifices religieux du Canton de Thiron-Gardais'', No 30, 3e trimestre 1991
* Dom Jacques de Bascher, ''La Vita de saint Bernard d'Abbeville, abbé de Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers et de Tiron'', Revue Mabillon No 278, 1979
External links
Official site of Thiron-Gardais (France), section Histoire
{{Authority control
Tironensian Order
Catholic orders and societies
1106 establishments in Europe
1100s establishments in France
1152 deaths
Year of birth unknown