From Novice to Abbot: Bernard of Clairvaux’s Formative Years at Cîteaux

Bernard of Clairvaux underwent his formative monastic training at Cîteaux under Abbot Stephen Harding between 1112 (the year of him entering Cîteaux) and 1115 (the year he was sent to lead the founding of a monastery at Clairvaux). These years, as well as his youth, provide a critical lens for understanding Bernard’s later role as abbot of Clairvaux and his influence on the expansion of the Cistercian Order.

Noble Seals: Cistercian and Templar Devotion Through Heraldic Imagery

Medieval nobility in southern France adopted religious symbolism in their personal seals. How did two prominent families, who embraced different spiritual paths during the twelfth century's second half, testified on this in their seals?

The Monastic Legacy of La Brenne: How Medieval Monks Created France's Lake District

In the heart of central France lies one of Europe's most remarkable landscapes - a mosaic of over 2,500 shimmering ponds and lakes scattered across the rolling countryside of the Indre département. This is the Parc Naturel Régional de la Brenne, often called "the land of a thousand ponds." What makes this landscape truly extraordinary is its origin story - a tale of medieval ingenuity, monastic enterprise, and the profound transformation of an entire region through human determination and divine purpose.

Medieval monasteries in the Netherlands

"The historical development of monastic life in the present-day Netherlands made a late start in comparison with the surrounding countries, though ‘foreign’ abbeys from an early moment possessed immovable goods in the Netherlands, which often were organised in manors (‘courts’). However, the number of monasteries which actually settled in the Netherlands before 1100 was very modest. What are the facts?

Sacred Power: The Relics of the Knights Templar Chapel in Acre

In the heart of the Crusader stronghold of Acre, the Knights Templar established more than just a military base. They also founded the Knights Templar Chapel where they gathered a collection of relics. How did they use this remarkable collection to shape religious experience, assert political influence, and attract pilgrims from across the Christian world?

A possible Templar site at Westervelde near Norg, the Netherlands

In the hamlet of Westervelde, southwest of Norg, Drenthe, the Netherlands, there are many toponyms that contain the term "Tempel". Is there a link with the medieval Knights Templar?

Bernard de Clairvaux' youth - from squire to monk

Bernard de Clairvaux (1090/1091 - 1153), Cistercian abbot and theologian, is renowned for his sermons and letters that eloquently blend Christian mysticism with the ideals of knighthood. However, the first 21 years of his life (the years of legal minority) he lived as Bernard de la Fontaine the life of a member of the Burgundian nobility, being a squire himself in direct contact with knights. What is known of these early years?

The Augustinian canons of the Holy Sepulcher - stepping stone of the Templars

The election of Pope Leo XIV, a former Augustinian canon, has drawn renewed attention to the historical role of the Augustinian tradition within the Church. There is an often overlooked foundational influence on the origin, spiritual identity and structure of the medieval military orders. More particular, in the aftermath of the First Crusade (1096-1099) the Hospitallers as well as the proto-Knights Templar maintained a special relationship with Augustinian canons of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The characteristics of the Jerusalem Augustinian canons seem to have inspired the special character of the juvenile Templar Order. 

Did the medival Templars celebrate Pentecost?

The liturgical life of the Knights Templar during the Middle Ages is illuminated by their Rule, statutes, manuscript breviaries/ordinals, and commandery inventories. What is known on theTemplars celebrating Pentecost?