Stephen of Lexinton

The Collège des Bernardins founded by Stephen of Lexinton in Paris

Stephen of Lexinton (also Étienne de Lexinton ) (* around 1198 in Laxton ( Nottinghamshire ); † 1258 in Ourscamp Monastery ) was an Anglo-French clergyman. From 1243 to 1256 he was abbot of Clairvaux monastery .

Origin and entry into the Cistercian order

Stephen was arguably the second eldest son of the English nobleman Richard of Lexinton and his wife Matilda. The family belonged to the gentry and was named after the Laxton estate in Nottinghamshire , where Stephen was believed to be born. Stephen studied the liberal arts in Paris. On May 23, 1215 he received from King John Ohneland a spiritual benefice at Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. He then studied theology at Oxford with Edmund of Abingdon . This probably encouraged him not to pursue an academic career, but to join the Cistercian order. Lexinton left Oxford with six other students around 1221. Together they entered as monks at Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight .

Ascent to the abbot of Clairvaux

As early as 1223 Stephen was elected abbot of Stanley Abbey in Wiltshire , a daughter of Quarr and a branch of Savigny . On behalf of the General Chapter of the Order , Stephen made a visit to the Cistercian monasteries in Ireland in 1226 after it became known that spiritual discipline had collapsed in Mellifont Abbey and its daughter monasteries. Stephen solved this difficult task so well that in 1229 he was elected abbot and head of the Savigny congregation . In the spring of 1241 he was together with his brother John of Lexinton on the way to Rome to the council that Pope Gregory IX. had convened. During the sea voyage, their ships in the Mediterranean Sea were attacked by a fleet of the Roman-German Emperor Friedrich II in the sea ​​battle of Giglio . The imperial fleet was able to board numerous enemy ships and take many prelates prisoner, so that the council did not come about. However, Stephen escaped capture along with his brother John. In 1243 he was elected abbot of Clairvaux monastery , one of the four primary abbeys of the Cistercian order. Wilhelm, his predecessor as abbot, was imprisoned by the emperor in the battle of Giglio and died in prison.

Abbot of Clairvaux

Stephen felt, through his own training and experience in Ireland, that the novices of the Order needed better theological training and instruction of the principles and ideals of the Cistercian Order. That is why he took up the plan that Abbot Evrard, one of his predecessors, had drawn up to set up a school of the Cistercian order in Paris. Both the General Chapter and the Pope agreed to the project, and so in 1247 the construction of a college began , which, after its location in Cardonetum, was initially called Chardonnet and later Collège des Bernardins . The first students began their studies in 1250 in the college, which remained under the supervision of the Abbots of Clairvaux, who also appointed the headmasters. The school was only part of Stephen's concept. In 1245 he convinced the general chapter of the order to introduce a training and teaching concept for the Cistercians based on the model of the Dominican order. The general chapter decided that, if possible, every abbot should establish a school for his monks. Building on this, a specialized theology course should be offered in every religious province , which should be open to gifted monks.

Deposition and death

In particular, the plan to send monks from the monasteries to the university towns aroused strong resistance from some religious sections. This resulted in the General Chapter removing Stephen as abbot in 1256. The pretext for this was the claim that he had received a papal privilege that contradicted the rules of the order. However, Stephen had influential friends, including Cardinal John of Toledo, a Cistercian . He supported Stephen's concept and stood up for him. Finally, Pope Alexander IV ordered Abbot Guy III. de Bourgogne of Cîteaux strict to reinstate Stephen in his office. However, to avoid a dispute between the Pope and the General Chapter of the Order, and perhaps at the behest of Stephen himself, the French King Louis IX turned. to the Pope and urged that the dismissal should stand. Stephen retired to the Ourscamp monastery in Picardy, where he died a little later.

Aftermath

Stephen left numerous letters that are a valuable source for the history of the Cistercian Order. Above all, however, his training and teaching concept worked despite all resistance. The Chardonnet had increasing student numbers, and before the end of the 13th century there were separate Cistercian schools at the universities of Oxford , Montpellier and Toulouse , modeled on Paris.

literature

• B. Griesser: Stephen's letter-book, Registrum Epistolarum Stephani de Lexinton . In: Analecta Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis , 2 (1946), 1-118
• B. Griesser: Stephen's letter-book, Registrum Epistolarum Stephani de Lexinton. In: Analecta Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis , 8 (1952), pp. 181-378 ·
• CH Lawrence: Stephen of Lexington and Cistercian university studies in the thirteenth century. In: Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 11 (1960), pp. 164-178 ·

Web links

• CH Lawrence: Lexinton, Stephen of (c.1198–1258). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004