Cistercians in Portugal from Order to Congregation: an architectonic point of view

Abstract

The Cistercian Order was introduced in Portugal, in the 12th century and its monasteries were from the beginning associated with the development of the nation and the objectives of occupation and administration of the territory. The new monasteries were deployed to the image of Monastery of Clairvaux, from which branch they provide, defining a typology of the place. However, in 1567, occurs the separation of the Portuguese Cistercians from the obedience to Clairvaux, with the creation of the Autonomous Congregation of Alcobaça. In the genesis of Cistercian architectural austerity is a new perspective on art that comes with the treaty of St. Bernard‟s “Apologia to Abbot William” (1125) resulting from a quarrel between Cistercians and Cluniacs, on the interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict. The Romanesque and then the Gothic, adjusted to the characteristics of the place, are the answer to the demands of the Cistercians, translating their spirituality. We must highlight the importance of the Cistercian Order, not only in Romanesque proliferation but also in the introduction of the Gothic, in Portugal, through the Monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça (1153). Portuguese Cistercian monasteries became worthy exemplaries of the European Cistercian architecture, although over time having been adapted, enlarged and transformed according to the styles of each epoch. After the extinction of the Orders (1834), underwent numerous transformations and the Cistercians moved out from Portugal to not come back. However, their architectural legacy, object of recoveries and rehabilitations, evoking the ideals and the Cistercian spirituality, does not let us forget of the importance of the Cistercian Order in Portugal. Order that originated a Congregation, that accompanied the first moments of the nationality, the maturation and the affirmation of a country, culminating with their extinction, but leaving their architectural legacy and memory alive.