The exterior on the south side (from the churchyard)
The choice of the Pontigny site, in the Serein valley, away from the towns, enabled the monks to develop the abbey in accordance with the Benedictine Rule: a peaceful area that the religious could enhance through their work.
The sheer size of their church demonstrates their success, both spiritual and economic.
Dating from the mid 12th century, the Romanesque structure of the transept and apparently of the nave, was enlarged by a Gothic chevet worthy of a cathedral, completed in the early 13th century.
The quotation
“Let it be themselves,
they who are bidden by their preoccupation
with interior things
to scorn and disregard all outward things,
let it be themselves who do their own building […]
in producing an expression of poverty,
the beauty of holy simplicity.”
William of Saint-Thierry (+ 1148)
William of Saint-Thierry, A Letter to the Brethren at Mont-Dieu (also known as "Golden Epistle") 150: Sources Chrétiennes coll. no. 223, Paris, 1975 (3rd ed. 2004), pp. 260-263 (Patrologia Latina, t. 184, col. 332 A, mistakenly attributed to Guigues le Chartreux).
The picture
Map of the barns at Pontigny
J.-L. Benoit / Ch. Wissenberg
To go further
Unlike the other Benedictines, the first Cistercians did not want to depend on the work of others. Monks and, first of all, lay brothers worked the land, forests, vineyards, iron mines, etc. with their own hands, Most of those properties were donations of people who supported their life project.
The ‘barns’ quickly produced surpluses. These surpluses were sold in the towns, which were booming at the time, to buy more land and build imposing buildings for the monastery.
Glossary
Benedictine :
who follows the Rule of Saint Benedict (in Latin: Benedictus), often taking into account its adaptations; in this sense, Benedictines are often distinguished from Cistercians, who nevertheless also follow the Rule, but who claim a greater attachment to its original text.
Religious :
a person who has taken religious vows and is committed to following a rule of life recognised by the Church.
Transept:
in a cross-shaped church plan, the space corresponding to the arms of the cross and forming a transverse nave. Each part of this space, e..g. 'North transept'.
Chevet :
in a cross-shaped church plan, the space beyond the transepts. It contains the sanctuary, mainly the chancel, with the main altar of the church, sometimes surrounded by a deambulatory (or 'ambulatory') and radial chapels.
Nave:
in a cross-shaped church plan, the main space crossed by the transept; the central nave is often flanked by side aisles (collaterals).
Barn :
among the Cistercians in particular, an agricultural centre, originally run by lay brothers, often combining animal husbandry and agriculture. Some of these barns specialised in growing vines (cellars), and others in selling the abbey's produce (town houses).
William of Saint-Thierry:
Benedictine abbot of Saint-Thierry, then monk in the Cistercian abbey of Signy (Ardennes), where he died in 1148; friend of Bernard of Clairvaux, and author of theological and spiritual treatises.
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