Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) Cistercian abbot

Aelred of Rievaulx was an English Cistercian monk, abbot from 1147 until his death (20 years later) . He best known as a writer. Both Anglicans and Catholics regard him as a saint.

His early education was probably at the cathedral school in Durham. From about the age of 14 he spent time at the court of King David I of Scotland in Roxburgh, rising to the rank of echonomus (steward or master of the Household)…

He left the court aged 24, in 1134, to enter the Cistercian abbey of Rievaylx in Yorkshire.
He was the son of Eilaf, a priest, so he was forbidden, when he became an adult, by the 1095 Council of Claremont, ordination as a priest so he became a monk.
( This was done in part to prevent the inheritance of benefices.)

In 1142 he travelled to Rome. On his return he became novice master at Rievaulx. In 1143 appointed abbot of the new Ravesby Abbey. 1147 elected abbot of Rievaulx, a position he held until his death in 1167.

All of Aelred’s works have appeared in translation, most in English and French.
( See Writings)

David Knowles, a historian of monasticism in England , describes him, for efforts in writing and administration, as the St. Bernard of the North, a singularly attractive character, no other English monk of the twelfth century so lingers in the memory.