Valliscaulian Monasteries
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The Valliscaulian Order was a
religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...
of the Catholic Church. It was named after ''Vallis Caulium'' or ''Val-des-Choux'', its first monastery, located in
Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
. The order was founded at the end of the twelfth century and lasted until its absorption by the
Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
in the eighteenth century.


History

The order was founded towards the end of the twelfth century by Viard (also styled Gui), a lay brother of the Carthusian priory of Lugny, in the Diocese of Langres in Burgundy. Viard was permitted by his superior to lead the life of a hermit in a cavern in a wood, where he gained by his life of prayer and austerity the reputation of a saint. Odo (Eudes) III, Duke of Burgundy, in fulfilment of a vow made while on the
Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
, immediately upon inheriting his estates built a church and monastery on the site of the hermitage. Viard became prior in 1193, and framed rules for the new foundation drawn partly from the Carthusian and partly from the
Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
observance. In 1203, for the benefit of his soul, of his father's and his predecessors' the Duke Eudes gave all the surrounding forest to the brothers. He made a further gift in 1209. The gifts were confirmed by a bull of Pope Innocent III, 10 May 1211. The order was formally confirmed by Pope Innocent III, on 10 February 1205, in a rescript ''Protectio Apostolica'', preserved in the Register of Moray, in connection with the House of Pluscardyn. Further endowments were made by the Duke's successors, by the Bishops of Langres, and other benefactors. The tomb of the Dukes of Burgundy, now removed to Dijon, was originally erected at Val-des-Choux; in bas-reliefs of a blind arcading of its base are the only representations of the monks of Val-de-Choux. Among the annual gifts of the Dukes were twenty hogsheads of
Pommard wine Pommard wine is produced in the commune of Pommard in Côte de Beaune of Burgundy. The ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) Pommard is only used for red wine with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. There are no Grand Cru vineyards wit ...
. The monks supported themselves in part by salt-making in large stone tubs, for which manufacture they claimed exemption from the tax levied on salt works. The collection of income due them involved the community in endless litigation. By a Bull of Honorius III, 13 April 1223, the strict original rule established by Viard was relaxed somewhat. According to the '' Catholic Encyclopedia'', Pierre Hélyot states, that there were thirty dependent houses of the order, but only twenty are known by name. Seventeen of these were in France, the principal one being at Val-Croissant, in the Diocese of Autun; and the remaining three in Scotland. Beauly priory">Beauly_Priory.html" ;"title="ee Beauly Priory">Beauly priory Two local grange (monastic building)">grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...
s are recorded. All houses of the order were Priory">priories A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of monk ...
; references in the statues of 1268 and elsewhere show that priories of the order existed also in Germany. A complete list of the priors-general has been preserved, from the founder Viard, who died after 1213, to Dorothée Jallontz, who was also abbot of the Cistercian house of Sept-Fons, and was the last grand-prior of Val-des-Choux before the absorption of the Valliscaulian brotherhood into the Cistercian Order. In the middle of the eighteenth century there were but three brothers of the mother-house; the revenues had greatly diminished, and there had been no profession in the order for twenty-four years. Gilbert, Bishop of Langres, strongly urged the remaining members to unite with the Cistercians, whose rule they had originally, in great part, adopted. The proposal was agreed to, the change was authorized by a Papal Bull of Clement XIII in 1761, and Val-des-Choux was formally incorporated with Sept-Fons in March 1764, the parlement of Burgundy having ratified the arrangement. For the next quarter of a century the monastery flourished under its new conditions; but it was swept away in the French Revolution with the other religious houses of France. Of the three Scottish houses of the order, Ardchattan, Beauly and
Pluscarden Pluscarden Abbey is a Catholic Benedictine monastery in the glen of the Black Burn, southwest of Elgin, Moray, Scotland. It was founded in 1230 by Alexander II for the Valliscaulian Order. In 1454, following a merger with the priory of Urqu ...
, the first two became Cistercian priories, and the third a cell of the Benedictine
Abbey of Dunfermline Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reforma ...
, a century before the dissolution of the monasteries in Scotland.


The Valliscaulian Rule

According to
Hippolyte Hélyot Hippolyte Hélyot (1660–1716) was a Franciscan friar and priest of the Franciscan Third Order Regular and a major scholar of Church history, focusing on the history of the religious Orders. He was born at Paris in January 1660, supposedly of E ...
, the rule of the Valliscaulians, unlike that of the
Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
, was centered on the personal salvation of the monks, not of the world at large. The monks were housed in very small
cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...
, to which they could withdraw in order to be alone with God at times of prayer, study, and meditation. They surrendered all their possessions in order to avoid distractions from their spiritual exercises, which meant that they did not keep oxen or sheep or engage in cultivation of crops. They received small incomes, enough to supply the necessities of life and prevent the need for begging or outside employment. The admission of new monks was limited by the financial resources needed to sustain them. They wore the white mantle and the red cross of the
Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
. A more complete survey of the Valliscaulian rule is found in the Bull of Pope Innocent III, which is recorded in the Register of
Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...
. Some of its main features are the following: *“None of you are to possess any separate property. *“In assembling every day, the mass and the
canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In ...
shall be sung. . . . *“You shall hold a chapter every day, making twelve readings at the appointed times. *“You shall work together, and you shall eat together in the refectory, not using flesh or fat (''sagimine'')…. *“You shall live on your revenues (''redditibus''). *“You shall observe silence. Women shall not enter the inner bounds, nor shall you pass the outer bounds, except the prior on the business of the order…. *“You shall wear hair-shirts next your skins; those, however, who cannot endure these are not to be compelled to do so. You are on no account to put on
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
or
hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...
en garments, but to clothe yourselves in white dresses of coarse wool and fur (pelliceas). You shall all lie down in your tunics, with your girdles eltson, and shoes on. And besides this, you, my sons the monks, with your cowls on, nowhere and never resting upon mattresses. *“Your novices shall be in probation for a year. *“And you, my sons, the monks, from matins to the hour of labour, and from vespers to sunset, shall devote yourselves to reading, prayer, and contemplation nless exempted with the permission of the prior”


See also

* Christian monasticism * Rule of St. Benedict


Notes


External links


Pluscarden Abbey Official WebsiteVIDEO: Pluscarden Benedictine Abbey
{{Coord, 47, 46, 17, N, 4, 45, 14, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Catholic orders and societies