Adventus – Cistercians of the Western Edge, Notes on Portuguese Origins

Abstract

In addressing the problem of Cistercian origins in Portugal, the dearth of surviving documentation relating to the earliest settlements of the order in the region leaves the historical sleuth with little option but to sift through fragmentary information often contained in sources of doubtful provenance. Nevertheless, although thrust into a world of uncertainty, at least one clear constant emerges, the obvious centrality of the mysterious holy man known as João Cirita, who appears to have been instrumental in the establishment of the order in the Iberian Far West. In contrast to some cautiously narrow twentieth century approaches, this paper takes a broad view of the evidential landscape and contemplates the legendary and the mythical alongside the documentary clues to investigate what can be known about this individual whose activities would have such profound impact on Portuguese Ecclesiastical History.