Two Relic-holders from Altars in the Nave of Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

Abstract

The Cistercian Abbey of Rievaulx owes its foundation to a mission from Clairvaux, sent to England under the direction of St. Bernard in 1131. Waverley Abbey in Surrey, and Tintern in Monmouthshire, daughter houses of L'Aumône, were already in existence, having been founded in 1128 and 1131, the first Cistercian houses in England. A beginning having thus been made in the South, it was no doubt a matter of policy that the order should be planted in the North also, and Rievaulx came into existence, the first of that splendid company of Yorkshire Cistercian houses which numbers Byland, Fountains, Jervaulx, Kirkstall, and Roche among its members. A benefactor was found in Walter le Spech or l'Espec, who gave in his charter of foundation nine carucates of land in Griff and Tilstone, and with this endowment the monastery was started, receiving no considerable increase of revenue till 1145, when the founder added Bilsdale to their lands. In spite of this Rievaulx must have grown quickly, for colonies went from it to inaugurate new monasteries at Melrose in 1136, Warden in the same year, Dundrennan in 1142, and Revesby in 1143. But a grant of a site at Rushen, given by Olaf, King of Man, could not be accepted for lack of any one to send to take possession.