From the Cloister to the City: Approaches to the Cistercian Land Management

Ana M T Martins

doi:10.1088/1755-1315/362/1/012087

Abstract

The first Cistercian monasteries appeared in Portugal in the 12th century. The Portuguese Cistercian monasteries were set to the image of Clairvaux, the Cistercian branch which they mostly came from and which defined the typology of the place. Cistercian foundations were usually built in valleys, but many Portuguese Cistercian monasteries are the result of affiliations rather than foundations. There is a great concentration of monasteries in the north and centre of the country as opposed to all the territory to the south of the river Tagus. History and strong climatic contrasts had their repercussion in the implantation of the Cistercian monasteries in this territory. However, implantation errors happened and, for that reason, it was possible to change the site (as permitted by the Cistercian legislation) that is the change of a monastery from one place to another (as was the case of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Salzedas or the Monastery of S. Pedro das Águias). In a Cistercian monastery, water was an essential resource, not only essential to everyday life, regarding hygiene and energy needs, but it also had a very specific meaning and symbolism. 12th-century Cistercian hydraulic system was something extraordinarily new and water was always a constant element in the choice of Cistercian implantation sites. Some monasteries were the origin of settlements, thus reaching some important features and dimensions. This was the cases of Odivelas, which was settled alongside the Monastery of S. Dinis de Odivelas. and of the city of Alcobaça or Valado dos Frades (former farm of the “Coutos” of Alcobaça). The monastic space can be understood as a territorial organism in the way that it adapts itself to the territory, thus modelling and altering it according to its needs. In fact, this paper aims at discussing this process regarding not only the specificities of Portugal, as a country, but also the specificities of the Cistercian land management since the 12th century: this is from the cloister to the city.

Highlights

The Cistercian Order was introduced in Portugal in the 12th century far from the urban context
The Portuguese Cistercian monasteries were set to the image of Clairvaux, the Cistercian branch which they mostly came from and which defined the typology of the place
This paper aims at discussing this process regarding the specificities of Portugal, as a country, and the specificities of the Cistercian land management since the 12th century: this is from the cloister to the city

Summary

Introduction

The Cistercian Order was introduced in Portugal in the 12th century far from the urban context. The first monastery is traditionally appointed, as the Monastery of S. João de Tarouca (1143-1144) according to Cocheril [1] despite playing the primacy with the Monastery of Lafões [2]. The new monasteries were deployed to the image of Monastery of Clairvaux, from which branch they come from and defining a typology of the place. The last Cistercian monastery to be built in Portugal was the Monastery of Nossa Senhora de Tabosa (1692).

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Conclusions