Aelred of Rievaulx Aelred (1110 – 12 January 1167), also Ailred, Ælred, when Rievaulx’s patron, Walter Espec, was to surrender Æthelred, etc., was an English writer, abbot of Rievaulx his castle at Wark to King David of Scotland, Aelred ac- (from 1147 until his death), and saint. companied Abbot William of Rievaulx to the Scottish border to negotiate the transfer. In 1142 Aelred trav- elled to Rome, alongside Walter of London, Archdeacon of York, to represent before Pope Innocent II a group 1 Life of northern prelates who opposed the election of King Stephen's nephew William as archbishop of York (the re- sult of the journey was that Aelred brought back a letter from Innocent summoning the superiors that Aelred rep- resented to appear in Rome the following March to make their deposition in the required canonical form; the result- ing negotiations would drag on for many years).[10] The fourteenth-century version of the Peterborough Chronicle states that Aelred’s efforts during the twelfth-century pa- pal schism brought about Henry II’s decisive support for the Cistercian candidate, resulting in 1161 in the formal recognition of Pope Alexander III.[11] Aelred wrote several influential books on spirituality, among them Speculum caritatis (“The Mirror of Charity,” reportedly written at the request of Bernard of Clairvaux) The ruins of Rievaulx Abbey on the River Rye in North Yorkshire and De spiritali amicitia (“On Spiritual Friendship”).[12] He also wrote seven works of history, addressing three of Aelred was born in Hexham, Northumbria, in 1110,[1] them to Henry II of England, advising him how to be a one of three sons of Eilaf, priest of St Andrew’s at good king and declaring him to be the true descendant of Hexham and himself a son of another Eilaf, treasurer of Anglo-Saxon kings. Durham.[2] In his later years, he is thought to have suffered from the Aelred spent several years at the court of King David I kidney stones and arthritis.[13] Walter reports that in 1157 of Scotland in Roxburgh, possibly from the age of 14,[3] the Cistercian General Council allowed him to sleep and rising to the rank of echonomus[4] (often termed 'stew- eat in Rievaulx’s infirmary; later he lived in a nearby hut. ard' or 'Master of the Household') before leaving the Aelred died in the winter of 1166–7, probably on 12 Jan- court at age twenty-four (in 1134) to enter the Cistercian uary 1167,[14] at Rievaulx. abbey of Rievaulx in Yorkshire.[5] He may have been par- tially educated by Lawrence of Durham, who sent him a hagiography of Saint Brigid. From 1142–3, Aelred was novice master at Rievaulx. In 2 Writings 1143, he became the first abbot[6] of a new daughter house of Rievaulx at Revesby in Lincolnshire. In 1147, he For his efforts in writing and administration Aelred was was elected abbot of Rievaulx itself, a position he was to called by David Knowles the “St. Bernard of the North.” hold until his death. Under his administration, the abbey Knowles, a historian of monasticism in England, also de- is said to have grown to some 140 monks and 500 con- scribed him as “a singularly attractive figure,” saying that versi and laymen.[7] His role also required an amount of “No other English monk of the twelfth century so lingers travel. Cistercian abbots were expected to make annual in the memory.”[15] visitations to daughter-houses, and Rievaulx had five in All of Aelred’s works have appeared in translation, most England and Scotland by the time Aelred held office.[8] in English, and all in French. Moreover, Aelred had to make the long sea journey to the annual general chapter of the Order at Cîteaux.[9] Extant works[16] by Aelred include: Alongside his role as a monk and later abbot, Aelred was involved throughout his life in political affairs. In 1138, Histories and biographies 1 2 5 SEXUALITY • These sermons mainly relate to the seventeen litur- gical days on which Cistercian abbots were required to preach to their community. • Several non-liturgical sermons survive as well, in- cluding one he apparently preached to the clerical synod at Troyes, 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 Isa- iah”), dedicating the work to Gilbert Foliot, who be- Aelred’s Life of Edward the Confessor, late 12th century illumi- came Bishop of London in 1163.[19] nated manuscript, British Library • Vita Davidis Scotorum regis (“Life of David, King of 3 Later reputation the Scots”), written c.1153.[17] Aelred was never formally canonised, but became the • Genealogia regum Anglorum (“Genealogy of the centre of a cult in the north of England which was Kings of the English”), written 1153–54. recognised officially by the Cistercians in 1476.[20] As such, he was venerated as a saint, with his body kept at • Relatio de Standardo (“On the Account of the Stan- Rievaulx. In the sixteenth century, before the dissolu- dard”), also De bello standardii (“On the Battle of tion of the monastery, John Leland saw Aelred’s shrine the Standard"), 1153–54. at Rievaulx containing Aelred’s body glittering with gold and silver.[21] Today, he is listed for 12 January, the tra- • Vita S. Eduardi, regis et confessoris (“The Life of ditional date of his death, in the Roman Martyrology and Saint Edward, King and Confessor"), 1161–63. the calendars of various churches. • Vita S. Niniani (“The Life of Saint Ninian”), 1154– Much of Aelred’s biography is known because of the 60. Life written about him by Walter Daniel shortly after his death. • De miraculis Hagustaldensis ecclesiae (“On the Mir- acles of the Church of Hexham”), ca. 1155.[18] Until the twentieth century, Aelred was generally known as a historian rather than as a spiritual writer; for many • De quodam miraculo miraculi (“A Certain Wonder- centuries his most famous work was his Life of Saint Ed- ful Miracle”) (wrongly known since the seventeenth ward, King and Confessor. century as De Sanctimoniali de Wattun (“The Nun of Watton”)), c.1160 4 Patronage Spiritual treatises A high school named after St. Aelred (the more modern • Speculum caritatis (“The Mirror of Charity”), ca. spelling of his name) in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, 1142. in the United Kingdom, closed in 2011; a primary school in York is named for him. Formerly there was also a high • De Iesu puero duodenni (“Jesus as a Boy of Twelve”), school on Gleniffer Road in Glenburn, Paisley, named 1160–62. after St Aelred. • De spirituali amicitiâ (“Spiritual Friendship”), 1164–67. 5 Sexuality • De institutione inclusarum (“The Formation of An- choresses”), 1160–62. Aelred’s work, private letters, and his Life by Walter Daniel, another twelfth-century monk of Rievaulx, have • Oratio pastoralis (“Pastoral Prayer”), c.1163–67. led historians, such as John Boswell of Yale University and Brian Patrick McGuire of Roskilde University in • De anima (“On the Soul”), c.1164–67. Denmark, to suggest that he was homosexual.[22] All of his works, nevertheless, encourage virginity among the Sermons unmarried and chastity in marriage and widowhood and 3 warn against any sexual activity outside of marriage; in [14] This is the traditional date for his feast within the Cis- all his works in later life he treats of extra-marital sexual tercian Order, as celebrated on the authority of Walter relationships as forbidden and condemns “unnatural rela- Daniel, Vita A, ca. 57. tions” as a rejection of charity and the law of God. He [15] Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Pen- criticised the absence of pastoral care for a young nun guin Dictionary of Saints, 3rd edition. New York:Penguin who experienced rape, pregnancy, beating, and a mirac- Books, 1995. ISBN 0-14-051312-4. ulous delivery in the Gilbertine community of Watton. Several gay-friendly organisations have adopted Aelred [16] Some of Aelred’s works have apparently not survived, in- cluding his letters and his poetic eulogy to St Cuthbert. as their patron saint, such as Integrity[23] in the Episcopal The Rievaulx library catalogue also lists an otherwise un- Church in the United States of America, National Angli- known De fasciculo frondium, and Walter Daniel notes can Catholic Church in the northeast United States, and that he composed a liturgical homily on Luke 11:33 to be [24] the Order of St. Aelred. read on the feast day of St Edward the Confessor; Peter Jackson has recently identified and published what he be- lieves to be that sermon ('In translacione sancti Edwardi 6 Notes Confessoris: The Lost Sermon by Aelred of Rievaulx?', “Cistercian Studies Quarterly” 40 (2005): 45–82). See David N. Bell, ‘Ailred of Rievaulx (1110–1167)’, Ox- [1] Thurston, Herbert. “St. Ælred.” The Catholic Encyclo- ford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University pedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, Press, 2004 accessed 5 Aug 2013 1907. 20 September 2012 [17] King David died on 24 May 1153. [2] Bell, “Ailred of Rievaulx (1110–1167)" [18] This seems to be a sermon that Aelred preached at Hex- [3] It is unclear exactly when Aelred joined King David’s ham on 3 March 1155, when the relics of five former bish- court. However, David became king in 1124, when ops of Hexham were translated to new shrines. Aelred was 14, and in his lament for David Aelred says he had known David “from the beginning of his age”, which [19] Marsha L Dutton, 'Introduction', in Aelred of Rievaulx, might well imply that Aelred had been at the court from Spiritual Friendship, (Collegeville, MI, 2010), p21-2 around 1124.