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Stephen Harding

Abbot of CîteauxAlso: Stephen of Cîteaux

An Englishman who came from Molesme with the founders of Cîteaux and succeeded Alberic as its abbot. Under him Bernard entered the house, the first daughter abbeys were founded, and the Charter of Charity bound them into an order.

A Brother Stephen is among the monks named in the legate’s letter that authorised the move from Molesme in 1098 (Exordium Parvum 2). The Exordium Parvum says that Alberic’s successor as abbot was Stephen, “English by birth”, who had come from Molesme with the others and loved the Rule and the place. In his time the monks forbade the duke of Burgundy to hold court in their church and reduced its furnishings to the plainest materials (Exordium Parvum 17).

Bernard of Clairvaux entered Cîteaux under Abbot Stephen, and it was Stephen who sent him to found Clairvaux (Vita Prima of Bernard 1.4.19 (PL 185, col. 237)) (Vita Prima of Bernard 1.5.25 (PL 185, col. 241)). The prologue of the Charter of Charity names Abbot Stephen and his brethren as the authors of the agreement that bound the daughter houses to Cîteaux (Carta Caritatis prologue).

In the timeline

  1. 1098 to 1115, estimated date
    The Cistercians and Bernard of Clairvaux

    In 1098 monks from Molesme found a “New Monastery” at Cîteaux to keep the Rule of Benedict to the letter, in poverty and by their own labour. Bernard joins with some thirty companions and becomes abbot of Clairvaux, and daughter houses multiply.

Primary sources

Exordium Parvum

First half of the twelfth century; date debated · Latin

First Life of Bernard (Vita Prima)

William of Saint-Thierry, Arnold of Bonneval and Geoffrey of Auxerre · c. 1147–1156 · Latin

The Charter of Charity

Twelfth century, in several stages; date debated · Latin

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