To Touch the Middle Ages: Rieveaulx Abbey, Yorkshire
Slowly they filed in to the abbey ruins, garbed in the white and black robes of two different Cistercian communities. There were about 20 of them in total. Only twenty of them left of the once great Cistercian monastic communities that once dotted the countryside of northern England and southern Scotland.
The monks were at Rievaulx to chant vespers in honor of their founder, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In 1132 twelve monks from Clairvaux, France, founded the Rievaulx community. It soon became one of the most significant in northern England.
AlteCocker was there to watch the modern monks reenact and ancient ritual and imagine how it would have been when there really was a monastic community and services such as vespers were routinely chanted each day.
Today the Abbey is a ruin. The monastery founded by St. Bernard was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538 as part of the English Reformation. Henry, you may recall, founded the Anglican Church to legalize his divorce from Catherine of Aragon because she had failed to provide him with a male heir. Henry gave the Abbey to Thomas Manners, newly created Earl of Rutland. Manners systematically destroyed the it, using the stones for building projects of his own.
Only the gothic outlines of the once great abbey church remain. The spaces that once held glorious stained glass are gone now. There is no roof. What there is, however, is plenty of atmosphere. And the day AlteCocker was there, the atmosphere was enhanced by the service. For one brief moment, the Abbey was alive again. And then the service was over, and the moment passed.
The north of England and southern Scotland are dotted with abbey ruins, vestiges of the Middle Ages. There are, in fact, so many of them that one can get quickly jaded. "Oh, another ruined abbey. Let's go to something else today, PLEASE!"
During August 1998 AlteCocker spent 2 weeks home exchanging in North Yorkshire in the seaside town of Scarborough. When swapping, AlteCocker always checks with tourist information and the local newspapers to find out if there are any events going on in the area. When she heard monks were going to sing vespers in the ruins of Rievaulx, she had to go. What she witnessed was a scene right out of the Middle Ages--if the folding chairs set up for the worshippers among the ruins can be discounted.
The Rievaulx Abbey ruins are open year round. They are located north of York, 2 1/4 west of Helmsley near the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors national park. When you are done wandering around the ruins, don't forget to visit Rievaulx Terrace which overlook the ruins. Spectacular photographs can be had from the Terrace, which overlooks the Abbey.
When she checked the website for Rievaulx, there was no mention of another monk event, but there are other special events at the Abbey scheduled from time to time. Lovely day out!
The monks were at Rievaulx to chant vespers in honor of their founder, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In 1132 twelve monks from Clairvaux, France, founded the Rievaulx community. It soon became one of the most significant in northern England.
AlteCocker was there to watch the modern monks reenact and ancient ritual and imagine how it would have been when there really was a monastic community and services such as vespers were routinely chanted each day.
Today the Abbey is a ruin. The monastery founded by St. Bernard was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538 as part of the English Reformation. Henry, you may recall, founded the Anglican Church to legalize his divorce from Catherine of Aragon because she had failed to provide him with a male heir. Henry gave the Abbey to Thomas Manners, newly created Earl of Rutland. Manners systematically destroyed the it, using the stones for building projects of his own.
Only the gothic outlines of the once great abbey church remain. The spaces that once held glorious stained glass are gone now. There is no roof. What there is, however, is plenty of atmosphere. And the day AlteCocker was there, the atmosphere was enhanced by the service. For one brief moment, the Abbey was alive again. And then the service was over, and the moment passed.
The north of England and southern Scotland are dotted with abbey ruins, vestiges of the Middle Ages. There are, in fact, so many of them that one can get quickly jaded. "Oh, another ruined abbey. Let's go to something else today, PLEASE!"
During August 1998 AlteCocker spent 2 weeks home exchanging in North Yorkshire in the seaside town of Scarborough. When swapping, AlteCocker always checks with tourist information and the local newspapers to find out if there are any events going on in the area. When she heard monks were going to sing vespers in the ruins of Rievaulx, she had to go. What she witnessed was a scene right out of the Middle Ages--if the folding chairs set up for the worshippers among the ruins can be discounted.
The Rievaulx Abbey ruins are open year round. They are located north of York, 2 1/4 west of Helmsley near the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors national park. When you are done wandering around the ruins, don't forget to visit Rievaulx Terrace which overlook the ruins. Spectacular photographs can be had from the Terrace, which overlooks the Abbey.
When she checked the website for Rievaulx, there was no mention of another monk event, but there are other special events at the Abbey scheduled from time to time. Lovely day out!