Stephen of Lexington (or "de Lexington", "Lexinton", "Lessington") (born c. 1198, d. 21 March, probably in 1258), was an English Cistercian monk, abbot, and founder of a college in Paris.
Stephen came from a prominent family of royal officials and clerics. His father Richard was a royal judge; his brothers John Lexington and Robert of Lexinton were judges and royal officials, while his brother Henry of Lexington became Bishop of Lincoln. [1]
Stephen was a disciple of Saint Edmund of Abingdon (1175-1240); supposedly he was one of seven students brought by an abbot to hear Edmund preach, all of whom "renounced the world". He became a Cistercian monk at Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight, but not long after was elected abbot of Stanley Abbey in Wiltshire, where he hosted visits from St. Edmund. In 1228 he was appointed visitor in Ireland, where he deposed several abbots, replacing them with English monks, and sending a number of monks to abbeys in France. In 1229, he was elected abbot of Savigny Abbey, a prominent Cistercian house, where he made many improvements. [1]
In 1231, he visited Savigny's daughter houses in England and issued new regulations for them. [2] In 1238 he reformed Redon Abbey by order of Pope Gregory IX. On his way to a papal council in 1241 he was saved from capture in a naval battle by the efforts of his brother John, [1] who was on his way to the same council as a representative of King Henry III.
On 6 December 1243 he was elected abbot of Clairvaux Abbey, the abbey founded by Bernard in 1115 that was the ultimate parent of most of the Cistercian establishments. Stephen obtained permission from the pope in 1244 to found a Cistercian college in Paris, le Collège des Bernardins, [3] and by 1247 had founded the Cistercian College of St. Bernard, with Alphonse, Count of Poitiers, King Louis IX's brother, as patron. [4] John of Mirecourt, Konrad of Megenberg, [5] and Pope Benedict XII were scholars there in the 14th century.
In 1250, he had the body of Aletha, mother of St. Bernard, moved to Clairvaux. He was removed from his position as abbot in 1255 in an internal political struggle within the order; Stephen had the support of Pope Alexander IV, but the order was supported by King Louis IX and Stephen retired to the Abbey of Orcamp near Noyon where he died on 21 March, perhaps in 1258. [1]
Stephen's letters during his visitation in Ireland were published in a Cistercian publication in 1946; an English translation was published by Cistercian Publications in 1982. [6]
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist., venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through the nascent Cistercian Order.
Pope Eugene III, born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become pope. In response to the fall of Edessa to the Muslims in 1144, Eugene proclaimed the Second Crusade. The crusade failed to recapture Edessa, which was the first of many failures by the Christians in the crusades to recapture lands won in the First Crusade. He was beatified in 1872 by Pope Pius IX.
Cîteaux Abbey is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Cistercian order. Today, it belongs to the Trappists.
The Cistercians, officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard himself, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or cowl worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines.
Sir John Lexington was a baron and royal official in 13th century England. He has been described as having been Lord Chancellor, but other scholars believe he merely held the royal seals while the office was vacant or the chancellor was abroad. He served two terms, once from 1247 to 1248, and again from 1249 to 1250.
Henry Murdac was abbot of Fountains Abbey and Archbishop of York in medieval England.
The Abbey of Fontenay is a former Cistercian abbey located in the commune of Marmagne, near Montbard, in the département of Côte-d'Or in France. It was founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1118, and built in the Romanesque style. It is one of the oldest and most complete Cistercian abbeys in Europe, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. Of the original complex comprising church, dormitory, cloister, chapter house, caldarium, refectory, dovecote and forge, all remain intact except the refectory and are well maintained. The Abbey of Fontenay, along with other Cistercian abbeys, forms a connecting link between Romanesque and Gothic architecture.
William of Saint-Thierry, O. Cist was a twelfth-century Benedictine, theologian and mystic from Liège who became abbot of Saint-Thierry in France, and later joined the Cistercian Order.
Tre Fontane Abbey, or the Abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, is a Roman Catholic abbey in Rome, held by monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, better known as Trappists. It is known for raising the lambs whose wool is used to weave the pallia of new metropolitan archbishops. The Pope blesses the lambs on the Feast of Saint Agnes on January 21. The wool is prepared, and he gives the pallia to the new archbishops on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the Holy Apostles.
Henry of France, bishop of Beauvais (1149–1161), then archbishop of Reims (1161–1175), was the third son of King Louis VI of France and Adelaide of Maurienne.
Peter, usually known as Peter of Tarentaise, was a Cistercian monk who served as the archbishop of Tarentaise from 1141 until his death.
Henry of Marcy, or Henri de Marsiac, was a Cistercian abbot, first of Hautecombe in Savoy (1160–1177), and then of Clairvaux, from 1177 until 1179. He was created Cardinal Bishop of Albano by Pope Alexander III at the Third Lateran Council in 1179.
Savigny Abbey was a monastery near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux (Manche), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of the Congregation of Savigny, who were Benedictines; by 1150 it was Cistercian.
Henry of Lexington was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln.
Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in northern France (Ile-de-France), situated in Cernay-la-Ville, in the Diocese of Versailles, Yvelines.
Robert of Lexinton or Lessington was a British judge and administrator.
The Cistercian Abbey of Rewley was an Abbey in Oxford, England. It was founded in the 13th century by Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall. Edmund's father, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, founder of Hailes Abbey, had intended to establish a college or chantry of three secular priests to pray for his soul, but his son Edmund substituted 'six Cistercian monks, having more confidence in them.' If this was the original plan, it was soon enlarged. In 1280 he offered the general chapter of the Cistercian order to found a college (studium) for Cistercians at Oxford, and the chapter accepted the offer, and decreed that the college should have the same privileges as the college of St. Bernard at Paris, and that it should be under the Abbot of Thame, as the other was under the Abbot of Clairvaux. The following year the chapter decreed 'out of due respect to the Earl of Cornwall' that the Abbot of Thame should be empowered to appoint an Abbot of his own choice for the house of study at Oxford, and that there should be a daily memory of the late Earl of Cornwall at Mass at the college (studium) of Oxford, according as the Abbot of the place shall ordain.
Cambron Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in Belgium, in Cambron-Casteau in the municipality of Brugelette in the Province of Hainaut. It was on the River Blanche, a tributary of the Dendre, about nine kilometres to the south-east of Ath. Dissolved in 1782, parts of the abbey still survive as ruins.
Richard was an English Benedictine and Cistercian, the first abbot of Fountains.
Guy de Bourgogne, O.Cist., was a French monk, Abbot, and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Hunt, William (1893). "Lexinton, Stephen de". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.