Cîteaux Abbey (French: Abbaye de Cîteaux|links=no pronounced as /fr/) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France.[1] It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of the Strict Observance).
The abbey has about 35 monks.[2] The community produces a cheese branded under the abbey's name, as well as caramels and honey-based candies.
Cîteaux Abbey was founded on Saint Benedict's Day, 21 March 1098,[3] by a group of monks from Molesme Abbey seeking to follow more closely the Rule of St. Benedict. The Abbey was supported by Renaud, Vicomte de Beaune, and Odo I, Duke of Burgundy.[4] They were led by Saint Robert of Molesme,[5] who became the first abbot. The site was wooded and swampy, in a sparsely populated area. The toponym predates the abbey, but its origin is uncertain. Theories include a derivation from cis tertium [''lapidem miliarium''], "this side of the third (milestone)" of the Roman road connecting Langres and Chalons sur Saône,[6] or alternatively from cisternae "cisterns", which in Middle Latin could refer to stagnant pools of a swamp.[7]
In the year 1111, the monastery produced the illuminated manuscript now known as the Cîteaux Moralia in Job.[8]
The second abbot was Saint Alberic, and the third abbot Saint Stephen Harding, who wrote the Carta Caritatis that described the organisation of the order. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who would later be proclaimed Doctor of the Church, was a monk of Cîteaux Abbey and left it in 1115 to found Clairvaux Abbey, of which he became the first abbot. Saint Bernard would also be influential in the subsequent rapid growth of the Cistercian order.
The great church of Cîteaux Abbey, begun in around 1140, was completed in 1193. The Dukes of Burgundy subsequently used it as their dynastic place of burial.
By the beginning of the 13th century the order had more than 500 houses and Cîteaux became an important center of Christianity. In 1244, King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) and his mother Blanche of Castile visited the abbey.
During the Hundred Years' War, the monastery was pillaged in 1360 (the monks sought refuge in Dijon), in 1365, 1434 and 1438. In 1380, the Earl of Buckingham stayed at L'Aumône Abbey, a daughter house of Cîteaux located in the forest of Marchenoir whilst his army was quartered in the surrounding Forest.[9]
In the beginning of the 16th century, the abbey was a strong community of about 200 members. However, it suffered badly in the French Wars of Religion and slowly declined for the next century. In 1698, the abbey only had 72 professed monks. In 1791, during the French Revolution, the abbey was seized and the property sold off by the government.
In 1898, the remains of the abbey were bought back and repopulated by Trappists.
| width=5% | N° | width=20% | Beginning | width=20% | End | width=55% | Name |
| 1 | 21 March 1098 | 6 July 1099 | Saint Robert of Molesme | ||||
| 2 | July 1099 | 26 January 1108 | Saint Alberic | ||||
| 3 | 1108 | September 1133 | Saint Stephen Harding | ||||
| 4 | 1133 | before 1134 | Guy de Trois-Fontaines | ||||
| 5 | 1134 | 16 December 1150 | Blessed Raynaud de Bar | ||||
| 6 | before 1151 | 31 March 1155 | Goswin de Bonnevaux | ||||
| 7 | April 1155 | September 1161 | Lambert de Morimond | ||||
| 8 | September 1161 | 21 April 1163 | Blessed Fastrède de Cambron | ||||
| 9 | May 1163 | 17 October 1168 | Saint Gilbert le Grand | ||||
| 10 | November 1168 | 28 July 1178 | Alexandre de Cologne | ||||
| 11 | December 1178 | 27 November 1180 | Guillaume de Toulouse | ||||
| 12 | before 1181 | March/April 1184 | Pierre de Pontigny | ||||
| 13 | September 1184 | 1 January 1186 | Bernard de Fontaines | ||||
| 14 | before 1186 | August 1189 | Guillaume II de la Prée | ||||
| 15 | August 1189 | 11 January 1190 | Thibaut | ||||
| 16 | January 1190 | 3 January 1194 | Guillaume III | ||||
| 17 | January 1194 | March/April 1194 | Pierre II | ||||
| 18 | April/May 1194 | 1200 | Guy II de Paray | ||||
| 19 | September 1200 | 12 March 1212 | Arnaud Amaury | ||||
| 20 | March/April 1212 | March/April 1217 | Arnaud II | ||||
| 21 | 3 April 1217 | 8 January 1218 | Saint Conrad of Urach | ||||
| 22 | before 1219 | 1236 | Gauthier d'Orchies | ||||
| 23 | 11 November 1236 | 1238 | Jean de Boxley | ||||
| 24 | 1238 | 1243 | Guillaume IV de Montaigu | ||||
| 25 | July 1243 | 1257 (uncertain) | Boniface | ||||
| 26 | 1257 1258 | May 1262 | Guy III de Bourgogne | ||||
| 27 | May/June 1262 | 1266 | Jacques de Cîteaux | ||||
| 28 | 1266 | 9 October 1284 | Jean II de Ballon | ||||
| 29 | October 1284 | 2 January 1294 | Thibaut II de Saucy | ||||
| 30 | January 1294 | 30 November 1299 | Robert II de Pontigny | ||||
| 31 | 9 October 1294 | 30 November 1299 | Rufin de la Ferté | ||||
| 32 | late 1299 | 1303 | Jean III de Pontissier de Pontoise | ||||
| 33 | Milieu 1303 | 28 July 1315 | Henri | ||||
| 34 | August 1315 | 6 January 1317 | Conrad II de Metz | ||||
| 35 | January 1317 | 13 February 1337 | Guillaume V | ||||
| 36 | 19 February 1337 | 8 June 1359 | Jean IV de Chaudenay | ||||
| 37 | 9 July 1359 | 23 March 1363 | Jean V le Gentil de Rougemont | ||||
| 38 | late March 1363 | 20 December 1375 | Jean VI de Bussières | ||||
| 39 | before 1376 | 9 July 1389 | Gérard de Bussières | ||||
| 40 | August 1389 | 18 April 1405 | Jacques II de Flogny | ||||
| 41 | 1405 | 21 December 1428 | Jean VII de Martigny | ||||
| 42 | 1429 | 30 April 1440 | Jean VIII Picart d'Aulnay | ||||
| 43 | 1440 | 25 November 1458 | Jean IX Vion de Gevrey | ||||
| 44 | late 1458 | 22 July 1462 | Guy IV d'Autun | ||||
| 45 | 1462 | 24 March 1476 | Humbert-Martin de Losne | ||||
| 46 | late April 1476 | 20 November 1501 | Jean X de Cirey | ||||
| 47 | 1501 | 25 October 1516 | Jacques III Theuley de Pontailler-sur-Saône | ||||
| 48 | 1516 | 10 September 1517 | Blaise Légier de Ponthémery | ||||
| 49 | 16 September 1517 | 25 April 1521 | Guillaume V du Boissey | ||||
| 50 | 29 April 1521 | 26 March 1540 | Guillaume VI Le Fauconnier | ||||
| 51 | 30 March 1540 | 26 December 1559 | Jean XI Loysier | ||||
| 52 | 6 January 1560 | 19 June 1564 | Louis I de Baissey | ||||
| 53 | 1/2 July 1564 | 23 October 1571 | Jérôme de la Souchère | ||||
| 54 | 12 December 1571 | December 1583 | Nicolas I Boucherat | ||||
| 55 | June 1584 | 21 August 1604 (uncertain) | Edmond de la Croix | ||||
| 56 | October 1604 | before May 1625 | Nicolas II Boucherat | ||||
| 57 | 3 June 1625 | 30 November 1635 | Pierre III Nivelle | ||||
| 58 | 19 November 1635 | 4 December 1642 | Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu | ||||
| 59 | 2 January 1643 | 1 February 1670 | Claude Vaussin | ||||
| 60 | 29 March 1670 | 6 May 1670 | Louis II Loppin | ||||
| 61 | 20 July 1670 | 15 January 1692 | Jean XII Petit | ||||
| 62 | 27 March 1692 | 4 March 1712 | Nicolas III Larcher | ||||
| 63 | 20 May 1712 | 31 January 1727 | Edmond II Perrot | ||||
| 64 | 21 April 1727 | 14 September 1748 | Andoche Pernot des Crots | ||||
| 65 | 27 November 1748 | 25 April 1797 | François Trouvé |
