France: Coloured woodcut of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 - 20 August 1153) writing a sermon, 12th century. Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val d'Absinthe, about 15 km southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. According to tradition, Bernard founded the monastery on 25 June 1115, naming it Claire Vallée, which evolved into Clairvaux.