Born in Hexham, Northumberland, Ailred
(or Aelred) was
brought up at the court of King David of Scotland. In 1134 he became a monk at
Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire and in
1142 the novice-master, writing about the experience in Speculum Caritatis
at the command of St Bernard of Clairvaux himself. 1143-7 he became the first
abbot of Revesby in Lincolnshire and 1147-67 the Abbot of Rievaulx. He was a
great administrator and scholar amongst whose historical writings were Genealogia
Regum Anglorum and Vita et Miracula S. Edwardi Regis et Confessoris
(Life of Edward the Confessor). In c.1155-7 he composed De Bello
Standardii (on the Battle of the Standard, 1138), a work intended to
glorify Walter Espec, the founder of Rievaulx and one of the leaders of the
English army. A near contemporary account of Ailred’s own career was written
by the monk Walter Daniel.
Bibliography
-
Howlett, R., 1886. Chronicles and Memorials of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry
II and Richard I, vol II (London, Rolls Series), 181-99
- Powicke, F.M. (ed.), 1950. Walter Daniel’s Life of Ailred, Abbot of
Rievaulx (London)
