242 



Eichard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, and great nephew of Walter de Clare 

 (founder of the Abbey), who, according to Leland, was buried in the Chapter 

 House of Gloucester. According to Grose, his right hand has five fingers and a 

 thumb. 



The number of monasteries, first and last, suppressed in England and 

 Wales, were 645. Of these monasteries, 101 — 75 monasteries and 26 convents- 

 were of the Cistercian Order, many of them pre-eminent for the beauty and 

 retirement of their situation and the splendour of their architecture, particularly 

 Byland, Kirkstall, Fountains (Yorks.) Furness, Whalley (Lan.), Buildwas (Salop), 

 Tintem (Mon.), Netley (Hants.), &c., &c. 



AU the Cistercian churches were upon a large scale. Pontigny was 351 feet 

 with transepts 162 feet ; Fountains, in Yorkshire, 358 feet, with transepts 186 

 feet ; Furness, 304 feet ; Rivaulx, 222 feet by 50 feet ; Netley, 200 feet by 60 feet 

 in width. One reason given by Mr. Pugin for these vast dimensions, is the total 

 separation of seculars from the community. But no doubt another important 

 reason would be the sublime effect which is given to music by the lofty nave and 

 majestic proportions of an ecclesiastical edifice erected in the style of our early 

 English architecture. The Cistercian abbeys were celebrated for the grandeur of 

 their divine music, which resounded in their churches night and day. The Offices 

 were celebrated in them with so much solemnity and devotion that it seemed as if 

 one heard there the voice of angels. 



Early in the year 1098, a little band of Benedictine monks, 21 in number, 

 including the Abbot, Prior, and sub-Prior, were seen issuing from the Abbey 

 gateway of Molesme, in the diocese of Langres, in France, with no other pro- 

 vision for their travels, than the vestments and sacred vessels for the celebration 

 of the most Holy Mysteries, and a large breviary for the due performance of the 

 divine office, their departure having been occasioned through being at variance 

 with the strict rule of their holy founder St. Benedict, and in defiance of the wishes 

 of their pious abbot, and the remonstrances of his fervent disciple, St. Stephen, 

 who was surnamed Harding, and was a Saxon born in England before the Norman 

 conquest. The band of fervent brethren proceeded on their march in bold and 

 solemn procession, deaf to the entreaty of those from whom they parted. Through 

 wild and rugged paths they journeyed on, chanting the divine praises until they 

 arrived at the forest of Citeaux, in the diocese of Chalons, in the province of Bur- 

 gundy. Here they beheld a vast solitude, chiefly inhabited by wild beasts that 

 found shelter in the thickets of underwood and brambles which luxuriated in the 

 parts left vacant by forest trees. Through it ran a small stream, which took its 

 rise from a fountain about five leagues (three miles one league), or 15 miles from 

 Dijon, called Sans-fonds, because it was so deep that no one had ever found the 

 bottom. The stream from this fountain sometimes overflowed its banks, and left 

 in the hollows of the adjacent lands stagnant pools, which fostered the growth of 

 bulrushes and various aquatic plants. From the features of its locality it derived 

 its name of Citeaux. 



