Vauclair Abbey

Vauclair Abbey otherwise Vauclerc Abbey was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1134 by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux at the request of Barthélemy de Jur, bishop of Laon. It was located in what is now the commune of Bouconville-Vauclair, department of Aisne, France.

The monastery was built about 15 kilometers to the south of Laon in an east-west stretch of the Ailette river valley at the foot of the northern side of the Chemin des Dames, on a site already occupied by a church, in the present commune of Bouconville-Vauclair. The site was ceded to Bernard with all its rights and dependencies. On 23 May 1134 a group of monks from Clairvaux Abbey, headed by the Englishman Henry Murdac, its first abbot, took possession of the new abbey, the 15th daughter house of Clairvaux. Its favourable east-west orientation led Bernard to name it Vauclair , reversing the name of the mother abbey . Supported by gifts from rich families, the abbey quickly prospered and was given several estates and farms.

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