St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church
Encyclopedia
St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church is a medieval
Spanish
monastery
cloister
which was built in the town of Sacramenia
in Segovia
, Spain
, in the 12th century but dismantled in the 20th century and shipped to New York
in the United States
. It was eventually reassembled in North Miami Beach
, Florida
, where it is now an Episcopal church and tourist attraction
. It is one of the oldest buildings in the Western Hemisphere.
of Order of Cistercian, located in an area known as Coto de San Bernardo (St. Bernard land preserve), two miles from Sacramenia
province of Segovia (Spain
). The Monasterio was in a mountain region at 830 m over level sea, in the high plateau near of "Sierra de Guadarrama", the region have a extreme weather. He was pronounced "Bien de interes Cultural" on June 3 of 1931. The area have medieval churches, chapels, monasteries, walls, castles, with the natural landscape of the Duratón River Gorges.
In the traditional access there is an old path to the monastery, with the masonry ruins of a watermill
. The monastery was constructed how a defensive strength with a web of minor fortress in an area populated by Muslims.
The Cistercian monastery, Santa Maria la Real, was constructed during the years 1133-1141. The spanish legislation Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal
, encompassed a set of decrees from 1835-1837 that resulted in the expropriation, and privatization, of monastic properties in Spain
. Its Romanesque
abbey church remains one of the monuments of Sacramenia. Originally, it was named "Monastery of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels", but was renamed to honor Bernard of Clairvaux
upon his canonization. Use of the building as a Cistercian monastery lasted for almost 700 years until it was seized and sold off to be used as a granary and a stable during a period of social unrest in the 1830's.
The monastery was founded by Alfonso VII of León
in 1141, so it was built between the XII and XIII centuries, belonging to cistercian
romanesque architecture in Spain.
Alfonso VII of Castile, introduced the Cistercian in Spain, and founded of the monastery
in 1141 and settlement in the place the monks who came from France
. By this king, and after by Alfonso VIII of Castile, the monastery received several privilege
s in order to exempt rights of way tax for people and goods and freedom of movement to their grazing flocks.
The conquests and reconquests were followed by migrations for religious reasons that could cause the depopulation of entire areas.
Muslims populated the existing cities from the Roman Empire and Visigothic civilization. The area had a big Muslim population which resisted several times after the Christian reconquest, attempts of cultural assimilation. The monasteries they served, among other things, as centers of evangelization and colonization. From the muslim era, there are abundant irrigation systems, canals, ditches, castles.
The muslim people established their cities on the banks of rivers, because its economy was based on agriculture, emphasizing the cultivation of irrigated land. This is why people discarded in height and thus not effectively occupied areas of the Pyrenees, where merely controlling traffic of people and goods through fortified steps at the entrance to the valleys.
The noble and Christian clergy settle mostly in the north of today Spain, then little christian kingdoms, where they began to organize churches and monasteries around which the Christian communities would be developed. Religious communities revive trade among others, wool, salt trade, cultivation of the vine, pig and cattle livestock.
The differences between monks and residents caused altercations among others related to the passage of merchant caravan of mules, the exploitation of the salt, water use in the villages of the region, dominion over the villages and pastures, tithe, etc.
Some parts were rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in 1647, the abbey remained active in their monastic life until 1835. The monastery was closed down about 1836-1840 during Isabella II of Spain
's rule as a consequence of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal
. The Desamortización caused the exclaustration of the place, brought monastic life to an end and the main church was privatized.
In February 1836, the Mendizabal Confiscation ecclesiastical Act declared the sale of all property belonging to the regular clergy, and the proceeds were intended to amortize the debt. The decree was part of a program that sought to win the Carlist civil war to raise funds and troops to restore confidence in the credit of the State and in the long term, allow the tax reform. Mendizabal, in the preamble, setting out other basic objectives of the seizure: clean up the Hacienda reducing debt, getting access to the property of bourgeois sectors, which would improve production and revalue, and create a new social sector related to the system owners and to the side of queen Cristina.
Since abandoned, the cool environment in this remote rural area, maintaining farming and livestock in the place.
, the chapter house
and the refectory
of the monks. The rest of the monastic set, that is, the church and other facilities such as Cilla (mullion) remain privately owned in Spain, in Sacramenia village, although the temple can be visited on certain days.
The monastery's cloisters and its outbuildings were purchased by William Randolph Hearst
in 1925. In order to be transported to the USA, the structures were carefully dismantled with each piece being numbered and packaged in wooden crates lined with hay. The total shipment comprised 11,000 crates. However, some of the information contained in this labeling was lost when the shipment was quarantined in the USA because of a break-out of hoof and mouth disease in Segovia. During the quarantine, the crates were opened and the hay filling was burned as a measure to prevent the spread of the disease. Afterwards, the content of the crates was not replaced correctly. William Randolph Hearst was ultimately unable to pursue his plan of rebuilding the monastery because of financial difficulties and the pieces were stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York until they were purchased in 1952 by Raymond Moss and William Edgemon, who eventually reassembled them at the site of a small plant nursery north of Miami
, where the buildings became a tourist attraction known as the Ancient Spanish Monastery.
The historic building was took charge of rebuiding in 1964 by Raymond Moss and William Edgemon, completing the original set with other pieces of different spanish buildings, like the large-scale carved stone coats of arms round of the cloister, which belong to the House of Albuquerque and come from the monastery of San Francisco de Cuellar, also in the province of Segovia, whose chapel was erected in the fifteenth century by Beltran de la Cueva, favorite of Henry IV of Castile and the first Duke of Alburquerque to be earmarked for family vault, which were also sold in the twentieth century after the secularization of the monastery.
Reassembling the buildings took 19 months and cost almost 1.5 million dollars. Some of the stones remained unused in the process.
, which later was split into the Dioceses of Central
, Southeast
and Southwest
Florida. Financial difficulties forced the three dioceses to sell the monastery, it was purchased by Colonel Robert Pentland, Jr., who gave it to the Episcopal parish
of St. Bernard de Clairvaux.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
which was built in the town of Sacramenia
Sacramenia
Sacramenia is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 540 inhabitants....
in Segovia
Segovia (province)
Segovia is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Burgos, Soria, Guadalajara, Madrid, Ávila, and Valladolid....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, in the 12th century but dismantled in the 20th century and shipped to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was eventually reassembled in North Miami Beach
North Miami Beach, Florida
North Miami Beach is a Miami suburban city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Originally named Fulford in 1926 after Captain William H. Fulford of the United States Coast Guard, the city was incorporated in 1927 as Fulford, but was renamed North Miami Beach in 1931. The population was...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where it is now an Episcopal church and tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
. It is one of the oldest buildings in the Western Hemisphere.
History from 1133-1925
The Royal Monastery of Saint Mary in Sacramenia was a AbbeyAbbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of Order of Cistercian, located in an area known as Coto de San Bernardo (St. Bernard land preserve), two miles from Sacramenia
Sacramenia
Sacramenia is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 540 inhabitants....
province of Segovia (Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). The Monasterio was in a mountain region at 830 m over level sea, in the high plateau near of "Sierra de Guadarrama", the region have a extreme weather. He was pronounced "Bien de interes Cultural" on June 3 of 1931. The area have medieval churches, chapels, monasteries, walls, castles, with the natural landscape of the Duratón River Gorges.
In the traditional access there is an old path to the monastery, with the masonry ruins of a watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
. The monastery was constructed how a defensive strength with a web of minor fortress in an area populated by Muslims.
The Cistercian monastery, Santa Maria la Real, was constructed during the years 1133-1141. The spanish legislation Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal
Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal
The Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal, more often referred to simply as La Desamortización, encompasses a set of decrees from 1835-1837 that resulted in the expropriation, and privatization, of monastic properties in Spain....
, encompassed a set of decrees from 1835-1837 that resulted in the expropriation, and privatization, of monastic properties in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Its Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
abbey church remains one of the monuments of Sacramenia. Originally, it was named "Monastery of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels", but was renamed to honor Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
upon his canonization. Use of the building as a Cistercian monastery lasted for almost 700 years until it was seized and sold off to be used as a granary and a stable during a period of social unrest in the 1830's.
The monastery was founded by Alfonso VII of León
Alfonso VII of León
Alfonso VII , born Alfonso Raimúndez, called the Emperor , became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. Alfonso first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother Urraca, once his mother vested him with the direct rule of Toledo in 1116...
in 1141, so it was built between the XII and XIII centuries, belonging to cistercian
Cistercian architecture
Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was headed by Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux , who believed that churches should avoid superfluous ornamentation so as not to distract from the religious life...
romanesque architecture in Spain.
Alfonso VII of Castile, introduced the Cistercian in Spain, and founded of the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in 1141 and settlement in the place the monks who came from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. By this king, and after by Alfonso VIII of Castile, the monastery received several privilege
Privilege
A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...
s in order to exempt rights of way tax for people and goods and freedom of movement to their grazing flocks.
The conquests and reconquests were followed by migrations for religious reasons that could cause the depopulation of entire areas.
Muslims populated the existing cities from the Roman Empire and Visigothic civilization. The area had a big Muslim population which resisted several times after the Christian reconquest, attempts of cultural assimilation. The monasteries they served, among other things, as centers of evangelization and colonization. From the muslim era, there are abundant irrigation systems, canals, ditches, castles.
The muslim people established their cities on the banks of rivers, because its economy was based on agriculture, emphasizing the cultivation of irrigated land. This is why people discarded in height and thus not effectively occupied areas of the Pyrenees, where merely controlling traffic of people and goods through fortified steps at the entrance to the valleys.
The noble and Christian clergy settle mostly in the north of today Spain, then little christian kingdoms, where they began to organize churches and monasteries around which the Christian communities would be developed. Religious communities revive trade among others, wool, salt trade, cultivation of the vine, pig and cattle livestock.
The differences between monks and residents caused altercations among others related to the passage of merchant caravan of mules, the exploitation of the salt, water use in the villages of the region, dominion over the villages and pastures, tithe, etc.
Some parts were rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in 1647, the abbey remained active in their monastic life until 1835. The monastery was closed down about 1836-1840 during Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
's rule as a consequence of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal
Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal
The Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal, more often referred to simply as La Desamortización, encompasses a set of decrees from 1835-1837 that resulted in the expropriation, and privatization, of monastic properties in Spain....
. The Desamortización caused the exclaustration of the place, brought monastic life to an end and the main church was privatized.
In February 1836, the Mendizabal Confiscation ecclesiastical Act declared the sale of all property belonging to the regular clergy, and the proceeds were intended to amortize the debt. The decree was part of a program that sought to win the Carlist civil war to raise funds and troops to restore confidence in the credit of the State and in the long term, allow the tax reform. Mendizabal, in the preamble, setting out other basic objectives of the seizure: clean up the Hacienda reducing debt, getting access to the property of bourgeois sectors, which would improve production and revalue, and create a new social sector related to the system owners and to the side of queen Cristina.
Since abandoned, the cool environment in this remote rural area, maintaining farming and livestock in the place.
History 1925-1964
The historic monastery building is in most part in the United States, this is, the facultyFaculty
Faculty may refer to:In education:* Faculty , a division of a university* Faculty , academic staff of a university or collegeIn other uses:...
, the chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
and the refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
of the monks. The rest of the monastic set, that is, the church and other facilities such as Cilla (mullion) remain privately owned in Spain, in Sacramenia village, although the temple can be visited on certain days.
The monastery's cloisters and its outbuildings were purchased by William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
in 1925. In order to be transported to the USA, the structures were carefully dismantled with each piece being numbered and packaged in wooden crates lined with hay. The total shipment comprised 11,000 crates. However, some of the information contained in this labeling was lost when the shipment was quarantined in the USA because of a break-out of hoof and mouth disease in Segovia. During the quarantine, the crates were opened and the hay filling was burned as a measure to prevent the spread of the disease. Afterwards, the content of the crates was not replaced correctly. William Randolph Hearst was ultimately unable to pursue his plan of rebuilding the monastery because of financial difficulties and the pieces were stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York until they were purchased in 1952 by Raymond Moss and William Edgemon, who eventually reassembled them at the site of a small plant nursery north of Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, where the buildings became a tourist attraction known as the Ancient Spanish Monastery.
The historic building was took charge of rebuiding in 1964 by Raymond Moss and William Edgemon, completing the original set with other pieces of different spanish buildings, like the large-scale carved stone coats of arms round of the cloister, which belong to the House of Albuquerque and come from the monastery of San Francisco de Cuellar, also in the province of Segovia, whose chapel was erected in the fifteenth century by Beltran de la Cueva, favorite of Henry IV of Castile and the first Duke of Alburquerque to be earmarked for family vault, which were also sold in the twentieth century after the secularization of the monastery.
Reassembling the buildings took 19 months and cost almost 1.5 million dollars. Some of the stones remained unused in the process.
History 1964-date
The property was purchased by Bishop Henry I. Louttit in 1964 for the Episcopal Diocese of South FloridaEpiscopal Diocese of South Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of South Florida was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, which was created in 1922 out of what had been the Missionary Jurisdiction of Southern Florida, sometimes called the Missionary District of Southern Florida. which had been split off in...
, which later was split into the Dioceses of Central
Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida is a diocese in Florida in Province IV of the Episcopal Church. It is bounded on the north by the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the dioceses of Southeast Florida and Southwest Florida and on the west by the...
, Southeast
Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which extends from Key West on the south, to Jensen Beach on the north and inland to Clewiston on the west. Major cities in the diocese are Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach...
and Southwest
Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in Florida which extends from Marco Island on the south, to Brooksville on the north, and inland to Plant City, Arcadia and LaBelle on the east...
Florida. Financial difficulties forced the three dioceses to sell the monastery, it was purchased by Colonel Robert Pentland, Jr., who gave it to the Episcopal parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of St. Bernard de Clairvaux.