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Consolidation: Rievaulx during William’s
abbacy (1132-45)
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‘Architect, founder, enlarger’ (1)
As the founding abbot of Rievaulx it was William’s responsibility to settle the new community, to organise the construction
of buildings and the cultivation of land. He had also to attract
recruits and benefactors to support the expansion and self-sufficiency
of the monastery.
William successfully fulfilled this role and
by his death in 1145 he had laid the foundations for the community
to prosper. William
was not simply renowned for his administrative capabilities but
was venerated for his holiness. His cult developed following
his death in 1145, and in 1250 a fine shrine was built in the west
wall of the chapter-house at Rievaulx to house William’s
remains.
The early days at Rievaulx were extremely busy
for the monks and lay-brothers had to work hard to prepare the
site for
monastic life and establish a self-sufficient community. According
to Cistercian legislation an oratory for prayer, a shelter for
the monks and another for any guests that might arrive were all
meant to be constructed before any community arrived at its new
site. These first buildings were probably built from wood by
an advance party of monks and lay-brothers. The rest of the community
would then have helped complete the remaining building work and
also to clear land for cultivation.
It is thought that Geoffrey
of Ainai, a senior monk of Clairvaux,
probably visited Rievaulx at some point in 1133 to advise the
community on the layout and design of the precinct, to ensure
that this complied
with the Cistercian ideals.(2) Geoffrey
also supervised the construction of the site at Fountains.
The layout of the precinct at Rievaulx was also affected by the
landscape, for the community had chosen
to settle on a terrace. As such the church could not be laid
out in the usual fashion, running from north to south, but had
instead
to be built from east to west. Rebuilding in stone began c. 1140
with the abbey church, and this first phase continued until the
1180s.
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