Aelred O'Donovan
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Aelred of Rievaulx (), also known as also Ailred, Ælred, or Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English
Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...
monk and writer who served as
Abbot of Rievaulx The Abbot of Rievaulx was the head of the Cistercian monastic community of Rievaulx Abbey, founded in 1131 by Walter l'Espec in North Yorkshire, northern England. The Abbots of Rievaulx were amongst the most powerful Christian leaders in northern ...
from 1147 until his death. He is venerated by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
as a saint and by some
Anglicans Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
.


Life

Aelred was born in
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
,
Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
, in year 1110, one of three sons of Eilaf, priest of St Andrew's at
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
, himself a son of another Eilaf, treasurer of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...
. Bell, "Ailred of Rievaulx (1110–1167)" In 1095, the Council of Claremont had forbidden the ordination of the sons of priests. This was done in part to end the inheritance of benefices. He may have been partially educated by Lawrence of Durham, who sent him a
hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
of
Saint Brigid Saint Brigid of Kildare or Saint Brigid of Ireland (; Classical Irish: ''Brighid''; ; ) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish ...
. Aelred's early education was probably at the cathedral school at Durham. Aelred spent several years at the court of King
David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...
in
Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at lea ...
, possibly from the age of 14, rising to the rank of ''echonomus'' (often translated "steward" or "
Master of the Household The Master of the Household is the operational head (see Chief operating officer) of the "below stairs" elements of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. The role has charge of the domestic staff, from the Royal Kitchens, the pages and footm ...
"). At some point during this period, Aelred became the target of personal harassment by a knight of the king's court, which came to a head in the king's presence and included a degrading sexual slur. Walter Daniel related this incident to demonstrate Aelred's forgiveness of the knight and his skill in conflict resolution, but around this time Aelred developed feelings of depression and alienation, and he left court at age twenty-four (in 1134) to enter the
Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
of
Rievaulx Rievaulx ( , ) is a small village and civil parish in Rye Dale within the North York Moors National Park near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England and is located in what was the inner court of Rievaulx Abbey, close to the River Rye, Yorkshire, ...
in Yorkshire.'"The Lives of the Saints," Rev. S. Baring-Gould, 1:178 (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914) In 1138, when Rievaulx's patron,
Walter Espec Walter Espec (died 1153) was a prominent military and judicial figure of the reign of Henry I of England. His father was probably William Speche (William Espec), who joined William the Conqueror in the Norman conquest of England. The senior Spec ...
, was to surrender his
Wark on Tweed Castle Wark on Tweed Castle, sometimes referred to as Carham Castle, is a ruined motte-and-bailey castle at the West end of Wark on Tweed in Northumberland. The ruins are a Grade II* listed building. History The castle, which was built by Walter Espe ...
to King David of Scotland, Aelred reportedly accompanied Abbot William of Rievaulx to the Scottish border to negotiate the transfer.Marsha L. Dutton, 'Introduction,' in Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Spiritual Friendship,'' Cistercian Fathers series 5 (Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 2010), p16; Aelred Squire, OP, ''Aelred of Rievaulx: A Study'' (London: SPCK, 1969), p24. He saw that his reluctance to part from his friends at court delayed his adopting his monastic calling. For Aelred, the source and object of true friendship is Christ.Houston, James M., "Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167, Friend and Counselor", ''Knowing & Doing'', February 2007
/ref> In 1142 Aelred travelled to Rome, alongside Walter of London, Archdeacon of York, to represent before
Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II (; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as Pope was controversial, and the first eight years o ...
the northern prelates who opposed the election of Henry de Sully, nephew of King Stephen as archbishop of York. The result of the journey was that Aelred brought back a letter from Pope Innocent summoning the superiors whom Aelred represented to appear in Rome the following March to make their deposition in the required canonical form. The resulting negotiations dragged on for many years. Upon his return from Rome, Aelred became novice master at Rievaulx. In 1143, he was appointed abbot of the new
Revesby Abbey Revesby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Revesby in Lincolnshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1143 by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln, and the first monks came from Rievaulx Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Mon ...
, a daughter house of Rievaulx in Lincolnshire. In 1147, he was elected abbot of Rievaulx itself, a position he was to hold until his death. Under his administration, the abbey is said to have grown to some 140 monks and 500 ''conversi'' and laymen. His role as abbot required him to travel. Cistercian abbots were expected to make annual visitations to daughter-houses, and Rievaulx had five in England and Scotland by the time Aelred held office. Moreover, Aelred had to make the long sea journey to the annual general chapter of the Order at Cîteaux in France. Alongside his role as a monk and later abbot, Aelred was involved throughout his life in political affairs. The fourteenth-century version of the ''
Peterborough Chronicle The ''Peterborough Chronicle'' (also called the Laud manuscript and the E manuscript) is a version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'' originally maintained by the monks of Peterborough Abbey, now in Cambridgeshire. It contains unique informa ...
'' states that Aelred's efforts during the twelfth-century papal schism brought about Henry II's decisive support for the Cistercian candidate, resulting in 1161 in the formal recognition of
Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...
. Aelred wrote several influential books on
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
, among them ''Speculum caritatis'' ("The Mirror of Charity," reportedly written at the request of
Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercia ...
) and ''De spirituali amicitiâ'' ("On Spiritual Friendship"). He also wrote seven works of history, addressing three of them to
Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...
, advising him how to be a good king and declaring him to be the true descendant of
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
kings. In his later years, he is thought to have suffered from the kidney stones and arthritis. Walter reports that in 1157 the Cistercian General Council allowed him to sleep and eat in Rievaulx's infirmary; later he lived in a nearby building constructed for him. Aelred died in the winter of 1166–7, probably on 12 January 1167 at Rievaulx.


''De spirituali amicitiâ''

''De spirituali amicitiâ'' ("On spiritual friendship"), considered to be his greatest work, is a Christian counterpart of Cicero's ''De amicitia'' and designates Christ as the source and ultimate impetus of spiritual friendship."Saint Aelred of Rievaulx", Encyclopedia Britannica, January 8, 2020
/ref> On top of its intellectual foundation, Aelred draws on his personal experience to provide "specific and concrete"McGuire, ''Brother and Lover,'' 1994, p. 110 recommendations for creating and maintaining long-term friendships. According to Brian McGuire, "Aelred believed that true love has a respectable name and a rightful place in good human company, especially that of the monastery." This "emphasis on the centrality of friendship in the monastic life places him outside the mainstream of the tradition. In writing a special treatise dedicated to friendship and indicating that he could not live without friends, Aelred outdid all his monastic predecessors and had no immediate successors. Whether or not his need for friendship is an expression of Aelred's sexual identity, his insistence on individual friendships in the monastic life meant a departure from what is implied in the Rule of St. Benedict." Within the wider context of Christian monastic friendship, "it was Aelred who specifically posited friendship and human love as the basis of monastic life as well as a means of approaching divine love, who developed and promulgated a systematic approach to the more difficult problems of intense friendships between monks." It was likely at Durham that Aelred first encountered
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
's ''
Laelius de Amicitia ''Laelius de Amicitia'' (or simply ''De Amicitia'') is a treatise on friendship (''amicitia'') by the Roman statesman and author Marcus Tullius Cicero, written in 44 BC. Background The work is written as a dialogue between prominent figures of th ...
''. In Roman terminology ''
amicitia ''Amicitia'' is the Latin word for friendship, either between individuals, between the state and an individual or between states. It was "a technical term of Roman political life" from the 2nd century BC, when, according to Seneca, it was introdu ...
'' means "friendship" and could be between states or individuals. It suggested an equality of status and in practice it might only be an alliance to pursue mutual interests. For Cicero, ''amicitia'' involved genuine trust and affection. "But I must at the very beginning lay down this principle —friendship can only exist between good men. We mean then by the 'good' those whose actions and lives leave no question as to their honour, purity, equity, and liberality; who are free from greed, lust, and violence; and who have the courage of their convictions." In ''Confessions'',
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
identifies three phases of friendship: adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood. Adolescent friendships are essentially self-interested comradeship. Augustine then describes a close friendship he had as a young adult with a colleague. This was based on love and grew out of shared interests and experiences and what each learned from the other. The third mature phase for Augustine is transcendent, in that he loves others "in Christ": the focus is on Christ and the point of friendship is to grow closer to Christ with and through friends. In writing of adolescent friendship Augustine said, "For I even burnt in my youth heretofore, to be satiated in things below; and I dared to grow wild again, with these various and shadowy loves: my beauty consumed away, …pleasing myself, and desirous to please in the eyes of men. And what was it that I delighted in, but to love, and be loved?" Aelred was greatly influenced by Cicero, but later modified his interpretation upon reading
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
's ''Confessions''. In ''De spirituali amicitiâ'', Aelred adopted Cicero's dialogue format. In the Prologue however, he mirrors
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
's description of his early adolescence with the speaker describing his time at school, where "the charm of my companions gave me the greatest pleasure. Among the usual faults that often endanger youth, my mind surrendered wholly to affection and became devoted to love. Nothing seemed sweeter to me, nothing more pleasant, nothing more valuable than to be loved and to love."


Posthumous reputation

Jocelyn of Furness Jocelin of Furness (fl. 1175–1214) was an English Cistercian hagiographer, known for his Lives of Saint Waltheof, Saint Patrick, Saint Kentigern and Saint Helena of Constantinople. He is probably responsible for the popular legendary associa ...
, writing about Aelred after his death, described him as "a man of the highest integrity, of great practical wisdom, witty and eloquent, a pleasant companion, generous and discreet. And with all these qualities, he exceeded all his fellow prelates of the Church in his patience and tenderness. He was full of sympathy for the infirmities, both physical and moral, of others." Aelred was never formally canonised in the manner that was later established, but he became the centre of a cult in the north of England that was officially recognised by Cistercians in 1476. As such, he was venerated as a saint, with his body kept at Rievaulx. In the sixteenth century, before the dissolution of the monastery, John Leland, claims he saw Aelred's shrine at Rievaulx containing Aelred's body glittering with gold and silver. Today, Aelred of Rievaulx is commemorated as a saint on 12 January, the traditional date of his death, in the latest official edition of the
Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...
, which expresses the official position of the Catholic Church. He also appears in the calendars of various other Christian denominations. Much of Aelred's history is known because of the ''Life'' written about him by Walter Daniel shortly after his death. For many centuries his most famous work has been his ''Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor.'' Aelred is remembered in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
with a
Lesser Festival Lesser Festivals are a type of observance in the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, considered to be less significant than a Principal Feast, Principal Holy Day, or Festival, but more significant than a Commemoration. Whereas Pr ...
and on the Episcopal Church calendar with a feast on 1''2'' January.


Discourses on sexuality

Aelred has been popular with small circles of gay Catholics since at least the 1970s, and during the same time period,
Brian Patrick McGuire Brian Patrick McGuire (born 2 November 1946, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American–Danish professor emeritus of history, lecturer and author. Family He is the son of sports journalist and publicity director of the San Francisco 49ers, Dan Fran ...
and his students discussed the possibility that Aelred might have possessed a homosexual orientation.McGuire, ''Brother and Lover'', 1994, p. 142 Within this context, "there is a movement among priests and religious who consider themselves to be gay in their sexual orientation to find in historical figures such as Aelred earlier expressions of their own identity." In 1980, the historian
John Boswell John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947December 24, 1994) was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality ...
characterized Aelred as a gay man in ''Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality,'' the landmark study into the relationship between the medieval Church and homosexuality. This opened up discussion of Aelred's sexuality to a wider audience, and triggered a debate that "has dragged on, often with vituperation." Critics of this hypothesis have generally used traditional literary-critical methods to argue that Aelred's writing contains conventional monastic language rather than homoerotic language, and include Elizabeth Freeman,Cambridge Companion to Cistercianism (2013) Jean Leclercq,LeClercq, Love of Learning and Desire for God, pp113-4 and
Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; ; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, ; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and novelist who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She has taught at Colum ...
.Companion to Aelred of Rievaulx, pp.211-214
Ruth Mazo Karras Ruth Mazo Karras (born February 23, 1957) is an American historian and Medieval studies, medievalist, whose academic research and publications are focused on the disciplines of Human sexuality, sexuality, religion and marriage in the late Mid ...
, an expert in medieval gender and sexuality, cites Aelred as an example of a man "for whom same-sex erotic relationships, even if chaste, were important." She also states that "depictions of a Middle Ages concerned only with spiritual issues as opposed to material, a culture whose people were so radically different from us that their bodies became irrelevant, have been superseded by recent scholarship." Brian McGuire, likewise, accepts Aelred as "a man who felt physically and mentally more drawn to other men than to women." Marsha L. Dutton states that "...there is no way of knowing the details of Aelred's life, much less his sexual experience or struggles." Nevertheless, Brian McGuire admits in his emotional biography of Aelred that "the absence of women, Aelred's confession of his own passion, and the knight's obscenities all indicate that Aelred at the court of King David lost his head, his heart, and perhaps his body to another young man." In modern times, several gay-friendly organizations have adopted Aelred as their
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
, including Integrity USA in the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...
, and the Order of St. Aelred in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Aelred's inclusion on the calendar of the Episcopal Church was initiated by Integrity USA in 1985, and he was approved by the House of Bishops with their full awareness that he was believed to be a gay man by Integrity. Two years later, Integrity canonized Aelred as their official patron, promising "to regularly observe his feast, promote his veneration and seek before the heavenly throne of grace the support of his prayers on behalf of justice and acceptance for lesbians and gay men."


Criticism

Elizabeth Freeman has argued that discussion of his alleged homosexuality has abounded atop misunderstandings of monastic language and mistaking his interest in Christian friendship for homosexuality. Aelred confessed in ''De institutione inclusarum'' that for a while he surrendered himself to lust, "''a cloud of desire arose from the lower drives of the flesh and the gushing spring of adolescence''" and "''the sweetness of love and impurity of lust combined to take advantage of the inexperience of my youth''." LeClercq characterizes this a 'literary exaggeration' common to monastic writing. Aelred also refers directly to the relationship of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
and
John the Apostle John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...
as a "marriage", which is aligned with Cistercian emphasis upon the
Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
, and the symbolism of love between man and God, expressed through a predominantly Virgilian and Ovidian topos. Aelred called this "marriage" an 'organ of experience', with nothing to do with romantic or sexual reality which were believed to be fundamentally contrary to monastic life.
Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; ; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, ; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and novelist who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She has taught at Colum ...
argues that this is reflected much more accurately by the concept of 'imaginatio' than 'amor' (romantic love): "It constituted the intimate link between being and the world, through which the person may assimilate the exterior world while also defining the self as a subject". McGuire notes that "in the ''Life of Waldef'', there is a colorful story about how a woman tried to tempt the budding Cistercian saint into bed, and how he resisted her. In the ''Life of Aelred,'' we find no such temptresses."


Patronage


Saint Aelred Catholic Church
located in
Bishop, Georgia Bishop is a town in Oconee County, Georgia, United States, known for its historical charm, community-focused events, and scenic rural setting. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 332. Part of the Athens-Clarke County metropolita ...
, part of The
Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or personal ordinariate of the Catholic Church for Anglicanism, Anglican (Episcopal) converts in the United States and Canada. Former members o ...
is named after him. *A Catholic
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
and church in
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
are named after him. *
Catholic church
in
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...
is named for him. * A
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
named after him in Glenburn, Renfrewshire, Scotland closed in 1990. * A secondary school named after him in
Newton-le-Willows Newton-le-Willows, often shortened informally to Newton, is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census was 24,642. Newton-le-Willows is on the ea ...
,
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
closed in 2011. * Since 2019 there is a hermitage named after him in
Jever Jever () is the capital of the district of Friesland (district), Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer, Jever Pilsener, which is produced there. The city is also a popular holiday res ...
, Lower Saxony, Germany (2012–2019 in
Schortens Schortens () is a town in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. Division of the town The town currently consists of the following districts: Schortens, Heidmühle, Grafschaft, Accum, Sillenstede, Schoost, Roffhausen, Middelsfähr, A ...
, also Lower Saxony).


Writings

For his efforts in writing and administration Aelred was called by David Knowles the "St. Bernard of the North." Knowles, a historian of monasticism in England, also described him as "a singularly attractive figure," saying that "No other English monk of the twelfth century so lingers in the memory." All of Aelred's works have appeared in translation, most in English and in French; the remaining three volumes of his sermons are being translated into English and will appear from Cistercian Publications in 2018–2020. There are already available in French in a five-volume edition. Extant works by Aelred include: ;Histories and biographies *''Vita Davidis Scotorum regis'' ("Life of David, King of the Scots"), written c. 1153. *''Genealogia regum Anglorum'' ("Genealogy of the Kings of the English"), written 1153–54. *'' Relatio de Standardo'' ("On the Account of the Standard"), also ''De bello standardii'' ("On the
Battle of the Standard The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King Davi ...
"), 1153–54. *''Vita S. Eduardi, regis et confessoris'' ("The Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor"), 1161–63. *'' Vita S. Niniani'' ("The Life of Saint Ninian"), 1154–60. *''De miraculis Hagustaldensis ecclesiae'' ("On the Miracles of the Church of Hexham"), ca. 1155. *''De quodam miraculo miraculi'' ("A Certain Wonderful Miracle") (wrongly known since the seventeenth century as '' De Sanctimoniali de Wattun'' ("The Nun of Watton")), c. 1160 ;Spiritual treatises *''Speculum caritatis'' ("The Mirror of Charity"), ca. 1142. *''De Iesu puero duodenni'' ("Jesus as a Boy of Twelve"), ?1160–62. *''De spirituali amicitiâ'' ("Spiritual Friendship"), 1164–67. *''De institutione inclusarum'' ("The Formation of Anchoresses"), ?1160–62. *''Oratio pastoralis'' ("Pastoral Prayer"), c. 1163–67. *''De anima'' ("On the Soul"), c.1164–67. Sermons * These sermons mainly relate to the seventeen liturgical days on which Cistercian abbots were required to preach to their community. * Several non-liturgical sermons survive as well, including one he apparently preached to a clerical synod, presumably in connection with a journey to the general chapter at Cîteaux, and one devoted to Saint Katherine of Alexandria. * In 1163-4 he also wrote a 31-sermon commentary on Isaiah 13–16, ''Homeliae de oneribus propheticis Isaiae'' ("Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah"), submitting the work for evaluation to
Gilbert Foliot Gilbert Foliot (Wiktionary:circa, c. 1110 – 18 February 1187) was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at C ...
, who became bishop of London in 1163.Marsha L. Dutton, 'Introduction,' in Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Spiritual Friendship,'' transl.. Lawrence Braceland, Cistercian Fathers series 5 (Collegeville, MI, 2010), p21-2


Works


Critical editions

* Aelred of Rievaulx, '"Opera omnia." ''
Corpus Christianorum The Corpus Christianorum (CC) is a major publishing undertaking of the Belgian publisher Brepols Publishers devoted to patristic and medieval Latin texts. The principal series are the ''Series Graeca'' (CCSG), ''Series Latina'' (CCSL), and the ' ...
Continuatio Mediaevalis'' 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3, 3A. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 1971, 1989, 2001, 2012, 2005, 2015, 2017. *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''For Your Own People: Aelred of Rievaulx's Pastoral Prayer'', trans. Mark DelCogliano, crit. ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 73 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2008). ranslation of ''Oratio Pastoralis''


Translations

*Walter Daniel, ''Vita Ailredi Abbatis Rievall.'' Ed. and transl. Maurice Powicke (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950). [Translation reprinted with a new introduction as ''The Life of Aelred of Rievaulx and the Letter to Maurice''. Translated by F. M. Powicke and Jane Patricia Freeland, Introduction by Marsha Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series no. 57 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1994.)] *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''On Jesus at Twelve Years Old,'' trans. Geoffrey Webb and Adrian Walker, Fleur de Lys series 17 (London: A. R. Mobray and Co., Ltd., 1955). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Treatises and Pastoral Prayer,'' Cistercian Fathers series 2 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1971). ncludes ''De Institutione inclusarum,'' "De Jesu," and "Oratio Pastoralis."*Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Dialogue on the Soul,'' trans. C. H. Talbot, Cistercian Father series 22 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Vita Niniani'', translated by Winifred MacQueen, in John MacQueen, ''St. Nynia'' (Edinburgh: Polygon, 1990) eprinted as (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2005) *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Mirror of Charity,'' trans. Elizabeth Connor, Cistercian Fathers series 17 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''The Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor,'' translated by Jerome Bertram (Guildford: St. Edward's Press, 1990) eprinted at Southampton: Saint Austin Press, 1997 * Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Spiritual Friendship'', trans. Mark F. Williams (London: University of Scranton Press, 1994). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''The Liturgical Sermons I: The First Clairvaux Collection, Advent—All Saints'', translated by Theodore Berkeley and M. Basil Pennington . Sermons 1–28, Advent – All Saints. Cistercian Fathers series no. 58, (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2001). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''The Historical Works,'' trans. Jane Patricia Freeland, ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 56 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2005). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''The Lives of the Northern Saints,'' trans. Jane Patricia Freeland, ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 71 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2006). *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Spiritual Friendship,'' trans. Lawrence Braceland, ed. Marsha L. Dutton, Cistercian Fathers series 5 (Collegeville: Cistercian Publications, 2010). *Aelred of Rievaulx, "The Liturgical Sermons: The First Clairvaux Collection, Advent-All Saints," transl. Theodore Berkeley and M. Basil Pennington, Cistercian Fathers series 58 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2001). *Aelred of Rievaulx, "The Liturgical Sermons: The Second Clairvaux Collection, Advent-All Saints," transl. Marie Anne Mayeski, Cistercian Fathers series 71 (Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 2016). *Aelred of Rievaulx, "The Liturgical Sermons: The Durham and Lincoln Collections," transl. Kathryn Krug, Lewis White, et al., Ed. and Intro. Ann Astell, Cistercian Fathers series 58 (Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, forthcoming 2019). *Aelred of Rievaulx, "The Liturgical Sermons: The Reading Collection, Advent-All Saints," transl. Daniel Griggs, Cistercian Fathers series 81 (Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 2018). *Aelred of Rievaulx, "Homilies on the Prophetic Burdens of Isaiah," trans. Lewis White, Cistercian Fathers series 83 (Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 2018). * (fr.) Aelred de Rievaulx, ''Sermons. La collection de Reading (sermons 85-182)'', trans. G. de Briey(+), G. Raciti, intro. X. Morales, Corpus Christianorum in Translation 20 (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2015) *Aelred of Rievaulx, ''Writings on Body and Soul'', ed. and trans. Bruce L. Venarde, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 71 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021)


Notes


References

* *Burton, Pierre-André, ''Aelred de Rievaulx (1110–1167): De l'homme éclaté à l'être unifié. Essai de biographie existentielle et spirituelle.'' Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2010. *Burton, Pierre-André, ''Aelred de Rievaulx (1110–1167): An Existential and Spiritual Biography'', translated by Christopher Coski. Cistercian Studies series no. 276, (Collegeville: Cistercian Publications, 2020). *Sommerfeldt, John R., ''Aelred of Rievaulx: Pursuing Perfect Happiness.'' Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 2005.


Further reading

*Boquet, Damien, ''L'ordre de l'affect au Moyen Âge: Autour de l'anthropologie affective d'Aelred de Rievaulx''. Caen: CRAHM, 2005. * Christensen, Katherine, "Walter Daniel's Life of Aelred of Rievaulx: The Heroism of Intelligence and the Miracle of Love," in Jason Glenn (ed), ''The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture: Reflections on Medieval Sources'' (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2012) * *Dutton, Marsha L.,"Friendship and the Love of God: Augustine's Teaching in the ''Confessions'' and Aelred of Rievaulx's Response in ''Spiritual Friendship''", in '' American Benedictine Review'' 56 (2005), p. 3–40. *Dutton, Marsha L., "A Model for Friendship: Ambrose's Contribution to Aelred of Rievaulx's ''Spiritual Friendship'', '' The American Benedictine Review'' 64 (2013): 39–66. *Dutton, Marsha L., "A Historian's Historian: The Place of Bede in Aelred's Contributions to the New History of his Age", in: Marsha L. Dutton, Daniel M. La Corte, and Paul Lockey (ed.), ''Truth as Gift: Studies in Cistercian History in Honor of John R. Sommerfeldt'' (''Cistercian Studies Series'' 204). Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 2004, p. 407–48. *Dutton, Marsha L., "Sancto Dunstano Cooperante: Aelred of Rievaulx’s Advice to the Heir to the English Throne in Genealogy of the Kings of the English," in: Emilia Jamroziak and Janet Burton (ed.), ''Religious and Laity in Northern Europe 1000–1400: Interaction, Negotiation, and Power.'' Turnhout: Brepols, 2007, p. 183–195. *Freeman, Elizabeth, "Aelred of Rievaulx’s De Bello Standardii: Cistercian Historiography and the Creation of Community Memories," in: ''Cîteaux'' 49 (1998), p. 5–28. *Freeman, Elizabeth, "The Many Functions of Cistercian Histories Using Aelred of Rievaulx’s Relatio de Standardo as a Case Study," in: Erik Kooper (ed.) ''The Medieval Chronicle: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on the Medieval Chronicle''. Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, 1999, p. 124–32. *Freeman, Elizabeth, ''Narratives of a New Order: Cistercian Historical Writing in England, 1150–1220''. Turnhout: Brepols, 2002. *Freeman, Elizabeth, "Nuns in the Public Sphere: Aelred of Rievaulx's De Sanctimoniali de Wattun and the Gendering of Authority", in: ''Comitatus'' 17 (1996), p. 55–80. *Garrison, John, “One Mind, One Heart, One Purse: Integrating Friendship Traditions and the Case of Troilus and Criseyde,” in ''Medievalia et Humanistica'' 36 (2010), p. 25–48. *La Corte, Daniel M., "Abbot as Magister and Pater in the Thought of Bernard of Clairvaux and Aelred of Rievaulx", in: Marsha L. Dutton, Daniel M. La Corte, and Paul Lockey (ed.), ''Truth as Gift: Studies in Cistercian History in Honor of John R. Sommerfeldt'' (''Cistercian Studies Series'' 204). Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 2004, p. 389–406. *Mayeski, Marie Anne, "Secundam naturam: The Inheritance of Virtue in Ælred’s Genealogy of the English Kings", in: ''Cistercian Studies Quarterly'' 37 (2002), p. 221–28. *McGuire, Brian Patrick, ''Brother & Lover: Aelred of Rievaulx.'' New York, Crossroad, 1994. *Nouzille, Philippe, ''Expérience de Dieu et Théologie Monastique au XIIe Siècle: Étude sur les sermons d'Aelred de Rievaulx''. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1999. *Powicke, Frederick M., "Ailred of Rievaulx", in ''Ways of Medieval Life and Thought''. London, 1949. *Raciti, Gaetano. "The Preferential Option for the Weak in the Ælredian Community Model", ''CSQ'' 32 (1997), p. 3–23. *Ransford, Rosalind, "A Kind of Noah's Ark: Aelred of Rievaulx and National Identity", Stuart Mews (ed.), ''
Studies in Church History ''Studies in Church History'' is an academic journal published annually by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Ecclesiastical History Society. It comprises papers and communications delivered at the Ecclesiastical History Society's confere ...
'' 18 (1982), p. 137–46. *Sommerfeldt, John R., ''Aelred of Rievaulx on Love and Order in the World and the Church'' (Mahwah, NJ: Newman Press, 2006). *Squire, Aelred, "Aelred and King David", ''Collectanea Cisterciensia'' 22 (1960), p. 356–77. *Squire, Aelred, "Aelred and the Northern Saints.", ''Collectanea Cisterciensia'' 23 (1961), p. 58–69. *Squire, Aelred, ''Aelred of Rievaulx: A Study'', Cistercian Studies 50 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1969). *Squire, Aelred, "Historical Factors in the Formation of Aelred of Rievaulx", ''Collectanea Cisterciensia'' 22 (1960), p. 262–82. *Yohe, Katherine, "Aelred’s Recrafting of the Life of Edward the Confessor", ''CSQ'' 38 (2003): 177–89.


Bibliographies

*Burton, Pierre-André. ''Bibliotheca Aelrediana Secunda: Une Bibliographie Cumulative (1962 996)''. Fédération Internationale des Instituts d'Études Médiévales. Textes et Études du Moyen Âge, 7. Louvain-la-Neuve (France), 1997. *Dutton, Marsha L. "Aelred of Rievaulx." Oxford Bibliographies in Medieval Studies. New York, 2013. www.oxfordbiblographies.com. *Hoste, Anselm. "Bibliotheca Aelrediana: Survey of Manuscripts, Old Catalogues, Editions and Studies concerning St. Aelred of Rievaulx." Steenbrugge, 1962. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aelred Of Rievaulx 1110 births 1167 deaths 12th-century Christian saints 12th-century English writers 12th-century writers in Latin 12th-century Christian mystics Abbots of Rievaulx Pre-Reformation Anglican saints Anglo-Saxon saints Christian hagiographers Cistercian mystics English Cistercians Medieval English historians English sermon writers Medieval English saints Writers from Hexham English Roman Catholic saints LGBTQ and Anglicanism Medieval LGBTQ history Anglican saints Yorkshire saints 12th-century English historians 12th-century Christian abbots