Aelred

AELRED OR ETHELRED OF RIEVAULX (1109 - 1166)

The son of a long line of married Northumbrian priests, Aelred was born and brought up in Hexham, and educated in Durham. He rose to a position of trust in the household of David I of Scotland, but decided to join the religious community at Rievaulx in North Yorkshire, eventually becoming abbot in 1147. The monastery flourished while he himself led a life of extreme asceticism, eventually being credited with the power of working miracles. He was made a saint in 1191.

Aelred's many written works include three books on spiritual friendship, a life of Edward the Confessor and an account of the saints of Hexham and the miracles wrought there (1155). His warm and sensitive attitude to male friendship, atypical of his times, has led to his becoming the patron saint of American gay Christians. Aelred also wrote Relatio de Standardo, an account of the Battle of the Standard (1138) which took place just north of Northallerton. Ironically his former patron, David I of Scotland was on the losing side in this struggle. This account, as well as being rather turgid at times, is regarded as less trustworthy than that of Richard of Hexham (q.v.). Among the biographies of Aelred is one which appears in the Nova Legenda Anglie by John de Tinmouth (John of Tynemouth). Rievaulx itself is now one of the most beautiful and impressive ruins in England.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
AELRED OR ETHELRED OF RIEVAULX (1109 - 1166) The son of a long line of married Northumbrian priests, Aelred was born and brought up in Hexham, and educated in Durham. He rose to a position of trust in the household of David I of Scotland, but decided to join the religious community at Rievaulx in North Yorkshire, eventually becoming abbot in 1147. The monastery flourished while he himself led a life of extreme asceticism, eventually being credited with the power of working miracles. He was made a saint in 1191. Aelred's many written works include three books on spiritual friendship, a life of Edward the Confessor and an account of the saints of Hexham and the miracles wrought there (1155). His warm and sensitive attitude to male friendship, atypical of his times, has led to his becoming the patron saint of American gay Christians. Aelred also wrote Relatio de Standardo, an account of the Battle of the Standard (1138) which took place just north of Northallerton. Ironically his former patron, David I of Scotland was on the losing side in this struggle. This account, as well as being rather turgid at times, is regarded as less trustworthy than that of Richard of Hexham (q.v.). Among the biographies of Aelred is one which appears in the Nova Legenda Anglie by John de Tinmouth (John of Tynemouth). Rievaulx itself is now one of the most beautiful and impressive ruins in England.
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