Claude Vaussin

Abbot Claude Vaussin

Claude Vaussin SOCist (* 1608 in Burgundy ; † February 1, 1670 in Dijon ) was Abbot of Cîteaux from 1643 and 1645 to 1670 and as such also Abbot General of the Cistercian Order .

Elected Abbot General

On January 2, 1643, Dr. Vaussin, who came from an influential middle-class family in Dijon , had become a monk in Clairvaux and last worked as Prior of Froidmont , elected Abbot of Cîteaux at the age of less than 37 years. He succeeded Cardinal Richelieu , who had been elected abbot in 1635 in order to force a reform in the order.

The reform movement of the Strict Observance arose at the beginning of the 17th century and quickly found influential support at the French royal court. In 1634, Cardinal La Rochefoucauld helped the concept of strict observance to break through, which gave rise to constant disputes, disputes and trials for over half a century and led to the "dispute of the observances". The choice of Richelieu was controversial, especially the non-French congregations had refused to recognize him. They welcomed the election of a new Abbot General from the ranks of the Order, whose unity was threatened.

Observance dispute

Claude Vaussin did not belong to the Reform Party, which is why they challenged his election and had it declared invalid. Exams were arranged and ultimately a new election was arranged in which all the monks of Cîteaux were to take part. The elected abbot should initially only be able to be appointed by the reformers, as envisaged in La Rochefoucauld's regulations; but this provision was canceled and on May 10, 1645 Claude Vaussin was re-elected abbot against the votes of the Reform Party.

After recognition by the King and the Holy See, Vaussin took possession of Cîteaux in January 1649. The non-French abbeys thus saw the unity of the order as secured. The fight against the Abbot General was resumed after a short break by the adherents of the strict observance. At the General Chapter of 1651, the strict observance and its demands were largely recognized, but this was by no means sufficient for the reform party. She not only wanted recognition as her own vicariate or her own congregation, but also dominance in the order.

Visitations

Claude Vaussin used the visitation as a means to secure the monastic order. In 1648 he visited monasteries of his filiation in Provence and Gascony, in 1653 in Ile-de-France, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Brittany and Normandy. In 1654 he came via Switzerland to visit many monasteries in Upper Germany, Bohemia, Austria. With the National Chapter in Rottweil in 1654, which he chaired himself, he restored the endangered unity of the Upper German Congregation of the Cistercian Order and tied this Congregation closely to Cîteaux as the head of the order with corresponding provisions in the statutes. In the dispute with the representatives of the strict observance, Claude Vaussin could continue to rely on the abbots of the Upper German Congregation.

Vaussin was supported by Cardinal Mazarin , while the reformers found the support of the Queen Mother Anna of Austria . In the elections of new abbots in the primary abbeys Clairvaux (1653) and La Ferté (1655) Vaussin was able to enforce his candidates. From 1656 on, however, the adherents of strict observance finally seemed to gain the upper hand. Finally, in 1660 even the reform of La Rochefoucauld, which favored the reformers, was recognized as valid. Vaussin revoked the General Chapter, which had already been scheduled for 1661, and addressed the negative decision with the consent of the Royal Council of State directly to Rome. It had a positive effect for Vaussin that in 1661 the absolutist Louis XIV had taken over the government of the kingdom himself. In 1661 Claude Vaussin traveled to Rome himself. There he was ultimately successful, as Pope Alexander VII (1655-67) on January 16, 1662 revoked the controversial reform statutes of Cardinal La Rochefoucauld, called for a fundamental reform of the entire order with the participation of both observances and set up a special commission.

On the return journey from Rome to Cîteaux, Vaussin visited monasteries of the order in Tuscany and Lombardy, as on the outward journey. On his return Vaussin used the time of the review of the papal bull of 1662 to visit monasteries in Flanders. Finally, in July 1664, the papal bull was recognized in France. In 1664 Claude Vaussin traveled again to Rome, where representatives of the strict observance had also met to negotiate with the special commission. In 1665, after he had already seen success, he returned to France. The result of the deliberations of the special commission appointed by the Pope was the apostolic constitution of April 19, 1666, In suprema , which was also recognized in France. A general chapter was called on May 9, 1667 and the papal bull was proclaimed there. However, this chapter did not lead to an agreement between the two quarreling observances, but rather a continuation of the dispute with the protest of the representatives of the strict observance against the papal bull. A new general chapter, which was invited to 1670, should finally bring the solution, especially since Pope Clement IX. on Jan. 16, 1669 supported the position of his predecessor and thus Claude Vaussin. In preparation for the chapter, Claude Vaussin died at the age of 63 on February 1, 1670 in Dijon, after having been at the head of the order for more than 24 years. The general chapter was therefore revoked. The General Chapter of 1672 did not yet provide a solution either. It was not until 1683 that the long and bitter internal conflict came to an end, when the General Chapter finally recognized the autonomy of strict observance within the Cistercian Order.

Summary

In the dispute between the observances, Claude Vaussin was ultimately unsuccessful despite all efforts, but despite all the challenges and hostility he managed to preserve the unity of his supranational order, which was endangered if the strict observance were to win, in difficult times. The reform of the Cistercian liturgy is also connected with Claude Vaussin, with which the order approximated Roman customs in its liturgical books. In the end, his opponents did not refuse to recognize Claude Vaussin either, because he left behind a well-ordered monastery in Cîteaux, which had been renovated with the necessary construction work and whose economy had been put back on a solid foundation.

literature

• Louis J. Lekai: The Cistercians. Ideals and Reality (Kent / Ohio, 2nd ed. 1989)
• Louis J. Lekai (Ed.): Nicolas Cotheret's Annals of Cîteaux (Kalamazoo 1982)
• Louis J. Lekai (Ed.): Les Annales de Cîteaux de Nicolas Cotheret (II), in: Analecta Cisterciensia 41 (1985), pp. 42-315
• Thomas Nguyen-Dinh-Tuyên: Histoire des Controverses à Rome entre la commune et l'etroite observance de 1662 à 1666 , in: Analecta Cisterciensia 26 (1970), pp. 3-247

Web links

• Claude Vaussin in the Biographia Cisterciensis

predecessor	Office	successor
Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu	Abbot General of the Cistercian Order 1643 / 1645–1670	Louis II. Loppin