The Epistle of
Thurstan of York
The Letter of
Thurstan, Archbishop of York, to William of Corbeil, the Archbishop
of Canterbury and Legate of the Apostolic See, gives a very
colourful and sometimes amusing account of the events which set the
stage for the founding of Fountains Abbey. The Letter was written
in the last months of 1132. No less a person than Bernard of
Clairvaux proclaims the merits of the author, Archbishop
Thurstan:
The splendor of
your work and your reputation among men have combined greatly, as I
know, to your credit. Your deeds prove that yours is no undeserved
or empty reputation, for facts themselves bear out what hitherto
has everywhere been reported of you . . . I admire you. . .
.
Thurston not only
had a great understanding and appreciation of monastic life, as is
seen in this letter, but also a personal desire to embrace it, as
is evident from another letter addressed to him by St. Bernard.
Thurstan's Letter is brought forward as a witness to the fact that
the Cistercian Fathers sought to live the evangelical life
according to the monastic tradition expressed in the Rule of St.
Benedict.
Thurstan repeatedly
and explicitly states that this was the intent of the Founders of
Fountains Abbey:
. . . men who
were determined to correct their way of life according to the Rule
of St. Benedict, or rather, according to the truth of the
Gospel.(3)
These brethren
with many tears sought nothing but . . . that they might not be
impeded from living in evangelical peace and observing the Rule of
the Blessed Father Benedict.(4)
All of them are
seeking full observance of the Rule and of their profession and
likewise of the Gospel.(19)
. . . these men
who wish truly to obey the Gospel of Christ and the Rule of St.
Benedict . . .(20)
The Epistle of
Thurstan, Archbishop of York
To William his most
revered Lord in Christ's love, by the grace of God Archbishop of
Canterbury and Legate of the Apostolic See, Thurstan, by the same
grace, Archbishop of York, expresses the earnest desire that his
Lord might grow in Christ and never fall away.
1. It is the highest
honour of an ecclesiastical dignitary to give the best counsel to
the finest sons of the Church when they are in most difficult
situations. Wherefore, my venerable Lord and esteemed Father, we
have decided to bring to the attention of your Paternity an unusual
thing which has happened recently among us here at
York.
2. Indeed, it is
well known and certain to many men how great in the eyes of all is
the goodness and virtuous renown of the outstanding Monastery of
St. Mary's of York. Because it is without doubt true that when
riches increase, virtue begins to wane and be less constant, some
of the brethren of this monastery for the past half-year, moved by
divine inspiration I believe, have begun to be very concerned about
the manner and condition of their way of life. The gnawing of their
consciences, as they have testified, has caused them much distress.
For they fear that they would be wholly failing if they did not
live out in a holy way their awesome vows. Whence, these brethren
of York were struck with a very terrible fear in that they seemed
to carry out their profession in nothing, or, at least, in very few
things. They feared, indeed, lest they were running or had run, if
indeed not to damnation itself, at least in vain because of the
guilt that lay upon them for such great infidelity to their vows.
They believed it to be a crime, or rather insanity, to bear the
yoke of the Rule of St. Benedict not unto salvation but unto
condemnation.
3. Therefore,
disturbed by these things, these brethren undertook to make known
the concern that was burning in their hearts to their Prior,
Richard, revealing their fear concerning their transgressions. They
sought his help to correct the situation; and lest he fear to be of
help out of considerations of prosperity or adversity, they adjured
him by the Spirit of God and the Name of Christ. He was alarmed at
the novelty of the thing they offered. But although among his own
his position was the best, once he heard the quiet call to a better
life, he pondered seriously upon the doubtful promise of his
transitory good fortune. For a short time he took counsel within
himself, considering the alternatives, and then he made his
decision. He promised not only to help, but, indeed, to ally
himself with their desires. What then? Within a short time the
number increased to fully thirteen who were determined to correct
their way of life according to the Rule of St. Benedict, or rather,
according to the truth of the Gospel.
4. Therefore, on the
Vigil of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, our beloved brother,
Prior Richard, on whom almost the whole care of the monastery
rested, taking with him his Subprior, Gervaise, who was well known
among his brethren for his religious spirit, went to their Lord
Abbot and frankly made known to him the whole matter as it had
developed. The Lord Abbot, a man who, in his own way and according
to his own lights, is decent and good, but, however, overly simple
and unschooled, was terrified by the miracle of this new spirit. He
denied that he could change in his monastery the ancient rites and
the usual practices which generally obtained throughout the whole
world. But the Prior, as a man well read, responded: "Father, we do
not seek to introduce anything crude or new. We must undertake with
all our strength to observe by God's grace the true and age-old
service of our blessed Father Benedict, or rather, the more ancient
Gospel of Christ, which precedes all vows and rules. We do not seek
to detract in any way from the rest of the monks. We are not
envious of their practices. We know that in every place one Lord is
served. We fight under one King. Both in the public square and in
the cloister the same grace of God prevails and wins out. For Job
is stronger on his dungheap than Adam in Paradise. Whatever the
blessed Benedict established, the whole of it was designed by the
Providence of the Holy Spirit, so that nothing more useful, more
holy, or happy can be conceived. As he knew and taught that
idleness was the enemy of the soul, he arranged that certain times
should be given to reading and to fervent prayer and that certain
times be given to labor and to work, in such wise that at one time
the soul would be fruitfully employed, at another, the body, and
thus both would be saved from weariness. And, moreover, he added
this, 'Coarse jests and idle words or words that move to
laughter, these we exclude
forever from every part of the cloister. For such speech we do not
permit the disciple to open his mouth.' And in another place he
says: 'At all times a monk should be zealous for silence, but
especially during the night hours.' How diligently this decree has
been observed is not unknown to anyone who knows our practices. For
while some are going to church after collation, others step aside
to jest and to exchange useless and garrulous talk, as if the evil
of the day were not sufficient, unless there were added to it that
of the night."
5. He added many
things, moreover, concerning the delicate food, the sweet and
expensive variety of drinks, the expensive quality of the clothes.
"This was not the taste of our blessed Father Benedict; it was not
what he taught. He did not attend to the colour of the clothes but
to the needed warmth. He did not look after the tastiness of the
vegetables. Rather, necessity was hardly satisfied by frugality.
St. Benedict acknowledges as his own only those who live in the
monastery under a rule and an abbot. So, venerable Father, if you
will allow, we will hasten back to the purity of the Gospel, to
evangelical perfection and peace. For we see that nothing or very
little shines forth in our conduct and in our actions which was
taught by Christ. We are filled with concupiscence, we are angry,
we quarrel, we steal from others, we go to court to get our goods
back, we defend ourselves with fraud and lies, we follow the ways
of the flesh and its desires, we live for ourselves, we please
ourselves, we fear being overcome, we glory in overcoming others,
we oppress others and seek to avoid being oppressed, we envy others
and we glory in our own perfections, we take our pleasure, grow fat
on the sweat of others, and the whole world does not suffice for
our wickedness. It seems as if the Gospel had perished and become
impossible for us.
6. "We think of the
monks of Savigny and Clairvaux who recently came to us. The Gospel
so clearly shone out in them that it must be said it would be more
useful to imitate them than to recite it. When, indeed, their holy
life is seen, it is as if the Gospel were being relived in them.
They alone do not seek their own. They alone possess nothing by
which they would seek to prefer themselves to their brethren. They
alone do not seek the harm of their neighbours. They are content to
cultivate a little land and to use some cattle. And these things,
indeed, they do not desire to have except insofar as God wills it.
Because when God wills to take them away from them they donot seek
to keep them. For them, if I be not mistaken, it is fitting to say:
'The world is crucified to us and we to the world.' For them it is
fitting to say: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us,' because they have no trespasser from whom
they wish to demand anything. Happy, indeed, are men such as these
whose clothing, food, and whole way of life savour of the Gospel.
Their portion is God alone. They know, insofar as it is humanly
possible, how to be filled with the love of God and neighbour.
Adhering to God alone, they so fully leave behind all temporal
things except for a poor contemptible habit, they desire nothing
over which a neighbour could become angry."
7. "Therefore,
Father, never let it seem to be impossible to hold fast to the Rule
of St. Benedict, as long as God gives us such examples as these who
go before us in the way of holiness and virtue so that we may
follow them. If, indeed, because of the nearness and the noisiness
of the people we are not able wholly to follow them, let us at
least advert to our way of life and profession according to our
Rule, and moreover, to the fact that we are not monks but rather
dead men."
8. In this manner,
the Lord Prior, Richard, spoke with their Lord Abbot, Geoffrey,
concerning the reformation of their monastery. The Lord Abbot did
not receive these words with joy because it is difficult to change
long standing practices.
9. Nevertheless,
confessing himself to be unlearned and less perspicacious, he asked
if he might be more fully informed in writing as to how such things
could be accomplished in his monastery. Prior Richard willingly
accepted this and was not slow in fulfilling it. He wrote that they
ought to conform to what the Rule permitted in speech, clothes, and
food. He so carefully explained the arrangement and order of the
monastery that it seemed as if the Rule could be observed in the
city hardly less perfectly than in a desert. Knowing secular
affairs well, he arranged their temporalities with such fidelity
that he in no way departed from evangelical justice. Everything
concerning the incomes from churches and tithes, in regard to the
investment of which monks are usually held to be more
reprehensible, was to be undertaken and done with the legitimate
and canonical advice of the bishops, and they were to be used only
for the poor, the pilgrims, and for guests. He decreed that the
monks were to live by agriculture and the rearing of
cattle.
10. When the rumor
of all these things began to reach the others 1 the anger of the
rest of the community burst forth in a jealous rage' They thought
that this man and his companions should be sent into! exile or
thrown into prison.
11. After meeting
with them many times in different places for friendly talks, the
Lord Abbot saw that only with difficulty could he change what his
predecessors seemed to have upheld. Nevertheless, wishing in this
matter to use good counsel, he put off a full reply until after the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Meanwhile some of the
brethren, vainly fearing that they were to be constricted by more
than the regular discipline, began, out of envy toward the Prior
and the others, to plot like the Pharisees. If the benignity of
some had not brought about a delay, immediate persecution would
have burst out.
12. At the same time
the rumour of the internal strife spread among the people outside.
We heard this talk among the people, but the truth of the matter
remained hidden. Then Prior Richard, bringing with him the Subprior
and the Secretary of the monastery, came to make the truth of the
situation known to us. They sought the clemency of St. Peter and of
ourselves in order that they might begin without delay to undertake
to observe what they had vowed. They said their need was pressing,
especially because the brethren had so conspired that if any one of
them said anything about his profession he would be excommunicated.
Some of the companions of the Prior, shaken by fear or self- love
or vanity, so turned back because they could not otherwise find
peace, that they confessed it as a fault that they had said
anything about observing their profession.
13. Therefore, I,
Thurstan, by the grace of God, Archbishop of York, heard these
servants of Christ who, according to the command of St. Benedict,
wished to prefer nothing to the love of Christ. I feared to offend
in them Christ's grace if I did not receive their just petition
with pastoral concern. It pertains to the primary responsibilities
of a bishop to provide for monks a sacred peace and to comfort the
oppressed in their need. Therefore, taking the advice of holy men,
I convoked the Lord Abbot Geoffrey and the Prior Richard with his
Subprior to a suitable place in order that with some other holy men
I might peacefully receive the petition of the brethren and the
reply of the Abbot.
14. These brothers,
with many tears, sought nothing but what they had previously asked,
namely, that they might follow the poor
Christ in voluntary
poverty, that they might carry the Cross of Christ in their own
bodies, that they might not be impeded from living in evangelical
peace and observing the Rule of the blessed Father Benedict. To do
this, they earnestly sought the permission and the paternal help of
their Lord Abbot. And, indeed, the Lord Abbot with tears confessed
that their undertaking was something very much needed and he
promised that he would not stand in the way of their desire, which
was holy, but without the consent of his chapter he dared not
promise anything in regard to the assistance they
sought.
15. And so the Lord
Abbot returned to the monastery with his monks. In the meantime
there was peace and a day was established on which I would come to
their chapter and, with some religious who would come with me,
would treat with the Abbot on this matter. Meanwhile, the rest of
the brethren displayed their envy with increasing cruelty as these
men sought more manifestly to carry out their desire. They called
in some men from the Great Abbey and some monks of Cluny who were
dwelling in the neighborhood. And in their presence and with their
approval they deprived these monks, as men who had profaned and
deserted the common order, of every dignity and responsibility in
the monastery, for, after the Abbot, the greatest responsibility in
the monastery had been in their hands. All of this happened in the
interim.
16. On the
established day, early in the morning, I prepared to come to the
chapter of the monks. I had almost arrived at the very
door–with me there were a number of wise and religious men:
Hugh, the Deacon; William, the Prior of the Clerks Regular of
Cisbarne; William, the Treasurer; Hugh, the Archdeacon; Serlo, the
Canon; Alfred, my Chaplain and Canon; and Robert, the Chaplain of
the Hospital. We had left our horses outside the inner gate with a
few men.
17. Then, as I have
said, as we were about to enter the door of the chapter, the Lord
Abbot met us at the door with his monks, who fairly filled the
chapter room. He forbade me to enter unless some of the clerics who
were with me were sent away. I was scarcely able to reply that I
ought not to enter upon such an affair without my clerics who were
good and wise men and their friends, when, behold, the whole
chapter resounded with shouting and terrible cries. It seemed that
I was faced with the seditious outburst of drunken and debauched
men rather than with the humility of monks, of which nothing was
there. Many rose up, and swinging their arms as if
they would charge to the
attack, cried that they would leave if I entered. I said: "God is
my witness, that I came as a Father, with no thought of inflicting
harm on you, desiring only that there be peace and Christian
fraternity among you. Now, in truth, because you have sought to
take away from me what pertains to the episcopal authority and
office, I, in like manner, take from you what you need. I place
your church under interdict." Then one of them, Simon by name,
said: "We would prefer to have our church a hundred years under
interdict." To this all assented and cried in upraised voices:
"Seize them!" Seizing the Prior and his companions, they began to
pull them away, wishing, as they had decided among themselves,
either to throw them into prison or to send them into exile. The
latter, indeed, having no other hope of escaping their hands, clung
to me, looking for the peace of Peter and our peace. So we ran to
the church, and they, all the way, screamed and cried: "Seize the
rebels! Apprehend the traitors!" Thus we escaped into the church.
The Abbot and the rest of his monks returned to their
chapter.
18. While this was
going on, the men of the Abbey stood around the closed doors and
the entrance gates as if lying in ambush. We (as I must truly
confess), fearing an attack from the monks, took care to bar, from
within, the door of the church which opened on the cloister.
Meanwhile, the news spread abroad and people gathered, but no
untoward thing was said or done by them.
19. Since,
therefore, nothing could be done to establish concord among the
monks, we returned home, taking with us the group: twelve priests
and a subdeacon. Several of them are learned men. All are seeking
full observance of the Rule and their profession and likewise of
the Gospel. And so they dwelt as guests in the house of St. Peter,
our residence. They are in no wise deterred from their proposal by
the violence they have suffered. However, the brethren of the
abbey, on their part, carry on without restraint, and the
Abbot–I know not for what reason–has gone off on a
journey.
20. Wherefore, we
beseech your paternity, in Christ, to defend with your authority
the interests of these monks who desire to change to a stricter and
more austere life. If, in fact, their Abbot comes to you, guide him
back to peace with your God-given authority and wisdom, and warn
him not to impede the holy resolution of his sons. If he has
already come and gone, we ask that through the present messenger
you send letters to him, exhorting him not to stand pertinaciously
against these men, who wish truly to obey the Gospel of Christ and
the Rule of St. Benedict, but rather to give them his assistance
and the opportunity to do as they desire. The Abbot and his monks
ought at least in this to imitate the Egyptians and the
Babylonians, who allowed the Israelites to go in quest of the Land
of Promise. Indeed, when Jacob secretly fled from Laban's
domination, Laban, after a cruel persecution, let him return to his
fatherland. In truth, they are not to be thought deserters but
prudent men who wish to leave a place where there is greater
liberty to sin, desiring one where they can live more safely in
communion with God. Indeed, Christ himself threatens them! Did he
not rebuke the Pharisees in that they themselves did not enter, and
would not permit others to enter? It is indeed known to all that
the Rule of St. Benedict commonly, and it might be said almost
everywhere in the world, has lost its proper place and observance
in almost everything. Really, no one can be sufficiently amazed
that some dare to promise before God and his saints with such
solemnity that which they will daily neglect, or, if I might speak
more truly, will be compelled not to observe. What the prophet says
fits them perfectly: "This people honours me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me." And, as the Apostle says: "They
confess with their voice to know God but in their deeds they deny
him."
21. Perhaps it is
true that many act in this way. Frequency makes for audacity.
Truly, I must say in sorrow, it is deceived, it is wholly deceived,
this audacity of the monks, because a multitude of sins does not
grant impunity to the sinners. Wherefore, those who wish to observe
the Rule of their profession are not to be impeded but to be
protected. They are not to be reprehended when, for this reason,
they hasten to change their place, for God is not chosen for the
sake of a place. The place is chosen for the sake of God. St.
Benedict clearly testifies that in every place it is the same Lord
God who is served, the same King for whom the battle is fought. In
the Conferences of the Fathers, the hermit Joseph said very clearly
that man was more faithful to his profession who went where he
could more fully live out the precepts of the Lord of faith. And,
indeed, "He who helps us in our needs and in our tribulations helps
us to seek a holy situation." If I be not mistaken, they should be
considered Pharisees and heretics who do not fear nor permit others
to fear what Truth himself has said: "Unless your justice
exceedsthat of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter
the kingdom of heaven." For, if an angel from heaven preaches other
than that which must be preached, let him be anathema. And he
preaches a Gospel other than Christ's Gospel who tries to impede
men who seek angelic peace and the observance of the Rule of their
profession. Whoever he be, he must be totally refuted, as Truth
himself says: "If your right eye scandalize you, tear it out and
cast if from you." Nothing in the body causes more pain when it is
wounded, or is more carefully taken care of, than the eye.
Nevertheless, when it becomes an impediment, it must be spiritually
torn out. For this is the prudence of the serpent, to free the
head–that is, the mind– from all folly that can wound
the soul.
22. Because of the
scandal of the weak, who have less ability to discern the truth, we
ask Your Holiness and all who wish to hear this petition of ours,
to endeavour, insofar as it is possible, to restore peace between
the Abbot of York and these brothers. We ought to recall what
happened in the affair of the Molesme monks, which is quite
similar. The Cistercians went forth to establish and found a most
perfect way of life which has set the whole Church at wonder. The
Lord Hugh, of venerable memory, the Archbishop of Lyons, with true
Christian piety praised the extraordinary purity of their life.
They faithfully undertook a renewal of the Holy Rule and a total
living of it. And then, when complaints of the jealous came to the
knowledge of the Apostolic See, Pope Urban II issued a decree to
the effect that as long as the Abbot returned to his duties as
Abbot in his former monastery, none of the others who wished to
persevere in a full living of the Rule should suffer any impediment
or molestation. Indeed, it is clearer than light that in their
wonderful way of life the truth of the whole Gospel shines
forth.
23. We have been
very long, and perhaps tiresome, in this letter. But, although it
will not please them, it seemed that the situation of the monks
remaining at St. Mary's should be clearly set forth, lest only the
opinion of these jealous men be known, which should not be the
case.
24. May Your
Holiness prosper in Christ.
