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Aelred was born in
1109 at Durham, and was sent to the Scottish court for an education that
would ensure his future as a noble and courtier. He succeeded, to the extent
of being made Master of the Household of the King of Scotland. Nevertheless,
he found success at the court of an earthly king unsatisfying, and at the
age of 24 he entered the Cistercian monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire.
Bernard of Clairvaux encouraged him to write his first work, The Mirror of
Charity, which deals with seeking to follow the example of Christ in all
things. In 1147 he became abbot of Rievaulx, a post which he held until his
death of kidney disease twenty years later at the age of 57.
His most famous work is called Spiritual Friendship (both it and the Mirror
have been published in English by the Cistercian Press).
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