__NOTOC__ John of Ford (c. 1140 – 21 April 1214) was the prior of 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 ...

monastery of Forde, then from 1186 abbot of its daughter house of Bindon, and between 1191 and 1214 the abbot of Forde. He was a friend and ally of King John during the

papal interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...

, receiving remuneration from the king. While prior he wrote a biography of the local

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...

Wulfric of Haselbury Wulfric of Haselbury (c. 1080 20 February 1154) was an anchorite and miracle worker in Wiltshire and Somerset, England, frequently visited by King Stephen. His feast day is 20 February. Life Wulfric was born at Compton Martin, ten miles sou ...

(the ''Vita Wulfrici anchoretae Haselbergiae''), and while abbot he completed the series of sermons on the '' Song of Songs'' begun by

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

and continued by

Gilbert of Hoyland Gilbert of Hoyland (11??–1172?) (Gilbert of Hoyt) was a twelfth-century abbot of Swineshead Abbey, the Cistercian monastery in Lincolnshire, between about 1147 and his death in 1172. Swineshead had been a member of the monastic order of Savigny, ...

with 120 sermons on his own from the fifth chapter through the end of the book. In the centuries after his death in 1214, however, John of Ford was almost entirely forgotten. His 120 sermons survive in only a single manuscript.Bernard McGinn, ''The Growth of Mysticism'' (1994), 305–09.

Notes

Modern editions

*John of Ford, ''Sermons on the Final Verses of the Song of Songs'', 7 vols, Cistercian Fathers series nos. 29, 39, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1977–1984) *John of Forde, ''The Life of Wulfric of Haselbury, Anchorite'', Translated with an Introduction and Notes by

Pauline Matarasso Pauline may refer to: Religion *An adjective referring to St Paul the Apostle or a follower of his doctrines *An adjective referring to St Paul of Thebes, also called St Paul the First Hermit *An adjective referring to the Paulines, various reli ...

. Cistercian Fathers series no. 79, (Trappist, KY; Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications; Liturgical Press, 2011)

Sources

*C. J. Holdsworth. "John of Ford and the Interdict." ''

English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, and wo ...

'', 78:309 (1963), 705–14. *C. J. Holdsworth. "John of Ford and English Cistercian Writing, 1167–1214." ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', Fifth Series, 11 (1961), 117–36.

Notes

Modern editions

Sources

Further reading