Cistercian Congregations in Italy
The Cistercian Congregation of Italy. — Alexander VI, in 1497, established the union of the Cistercian monasteries of northern Italy into a Congregation, called S. Bernardo; but it only became effective through a new intervention by Julius II (1501). It was also known as the Lombard Congregation. Urban VIII approved its statutes in 1631, and the presiding abbot of the Congregation held the first place in the General Chapter of Cîteaux, after the four primary abbots. Among the Congregation’s monasteries were the famous Tre Fontane in Rome and, from 1560 onward, S. Croce in Gerusalemme. The seat of the presiding abbot was at Chiaravalle Marche.
Meanwhile, the General Chapter of the Order in 1613 decreed the union of the Cistercian monasteries in central Italy and the Kingdom of Naples, which had not joined the Lombard Congregation, and Gregory XV made this decision effective in 1623; thus the Roman Congregation was born.
Finally, Urban VIII in 1632, following a decision of the General Chapter of the Order in 1605, gave effect to the union of the Cistercian monasteries of Calabria and Lucania, establishing the Congregation of the Madonna of Calabria, or of Flori, or Florense.
Meanwhile, a particular Cistercian reform began in France through the efforts of John de la Barrière, centered at the abbey of N.-D. de Feuillant. It was approved by Sixtus V in 1586 and by Clement VIII in 1592 and erected as a Congregation. The founder obtained a Roman residence near the Diocletian Baths (1598), where the church of S. Bernardo alle Terme was later built. Urban VIII, in 1630, divided this new Congregation into two independent branches: the Cistercians of Notre-Dame-de-Feuillant in France and the Reformed of S. Bernardo in Italy (43 monasteries), popularly called “Bernardoni.” In Rome, besides the church of S. Bernardo, they had the general procuracy at S. Vito and the church of S. Pudenziana.
The French Revolution and the subsequent severe political upheavals caused the almost complete ruin of the Lombard Congregation and led to the closure of many other monasteries. For this reason, Pius VII in 1802 united the surviving Italian houses with the Roman Congregation, now called the Cistercian Congregation of Italy, dedicated to S. Bernardo. The seat of the presiding abbot is at S. Croce in Gerusalemme.
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Cistercian Architecture
The spirit of austerity that underpins the Cistercian reform is deeply reflected in the appearance of the churches built by the Order. The rules even contain numerous provisions to this effect: all sculptural decoration and symbolic representation were to be banned, vertical development was to be limited, and the entire construction was to be marked by the utmost economy, with bells reduced in number and size. The coincidence of the early development of Gothic architecture in France was a decisive factor for the architecture of the new churches, which drew upon its structural arrangements, such as the pointed arch already adopted at Cîteaux. More particularly, the monks adhered to the Burgundian style as being simpler and less adorned, while for the general layout they looked back to ancient Benedictine models, beginning with S. Gallo.
The earliest Cistercian churches thus exhibit great simplicity in their Latin-cross or, more often, Egyptian-cross plan, with three naves covered by ribbed vaults supported by compound piers, from which half-columns on the side of the central nave continue up to the imposts of the vaults themselves. At the intersection of the nave and transept rises the central tower, serving as a bell tower to allow the officiating monks to ring the bells, since the choir is situated in front of the high altar. The apse generally has a square plan.
To the left of the church and in direct communication with it stands the large cloister, which serves as the hub connecting all the conventual buildings: chapter house, refectory, study rooms, etc.
This scheme is followed in such churches as Chiaravalle Milanese, Fossanova, and S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane.
Given the wide diffusion of the Cistercian reform, the Order influenced all European religious architecture of the 12th century, not only as disseminators of forms in neighboring lands but also in countries beyond the Channel and even in Scandinavia.
At the beginning of the 13th century, various architectural trends began to emerge within the Order itself as local styles superimposed upon traditional forms, sometimes resulting in further structural simplifications, as in southern Lazio.
In Burgundy, however, the monks followed the stylistic developments of Gothic taste, not only in structural forms—which they indeed refined with technical skill—but also in decorative motifs, some of which they adopted. A new wave of Gothicism thus spread into northern and central Italy, as attested by the abbey churches of S. Galgano and S. Martino al Cimino, where a greater sense of verticality is combined with a more refined decorative sensibility, and that of S. Andrea in Vercelli, which also features flying buttresses.
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Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists)
Abbot Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de Rancé. Painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud — Abbey of Notre-Dame de la Trappe.