Cistercian Abbots By Monastery
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The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a
Catholic religious order In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute. Subcategories of religious orders are: * can ...
of
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
s and
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
s that branched off from the
Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...
and follow the
Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...
, as well as the contributions of the highly influential
Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercia ...
, known as the
Latin Rule The Latin Rule was a document with 72 clauses attributed to Bernard de Clairvaux and Hugues de Payens. It is also known as the "Specific Behavior for the Templar Order". It outlines the ideal behavior of a knight. The rule borrowed from the ''R ...
. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of their
cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. It was developed during the Early Middle Ages. The term may have originally referred to the hooded portion of a cloak, though contempor ...
, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines. The term ''Cistercian'' derives from ''Cistercium,'' the Latin name for the locale of Cîteaux, near
Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
in eastern France. It was here that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of
Molesme Molesme (, before 1997: ''Molesmes'')Décret du 22 décem ...
founded
Cîteaux Abbey Cîteaux Abbey ( ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of th ...
in 1098. The first three abbots were
Robert of Molesme Robert of Molesme (1028 – 17 April 1111) was an abbot, and a founder of the Cistercian Order. He is venerated as a Christian saint. Life Robert was born about 1029 near Troyes, a younger son of Thierry and Ermengarde, nobles of Champagne. ...
,
Alberic of Cîteaux Alberic of Cîteaux (died 26 January 1109), sometimes known as Aubrey of Cîteaux, was a French monk and abbot, one of the founders of the Cistercian Order. He is now honored as a saint. Life Alberic was a hermit in the forest of Collan in Fra ...
and
Stephen Harding Stephen Harding () (28 March 1134) was an English-born monk and abbot, who was one of the founders of the Cistercian Order. He is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. Early life Stephen was born in south-west England and, as a youth, ...
. Bernard helped launch a new era when he entered the monastery in the early 1110s with 30 companions. By the end of the 12th century, the order had spread throughout most of Europe. The keynote of Cistercian life was a return to literal observance of the Benedictine Rule. The reform-minded monks tried to live monastic life as they thought it had been in
Benedict Benedict may refer to: People Names *Benedict (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Benedict (surname), including a list of people with the surname Religious figures * Pope Benedict I (died 579) *Pope Benedict II (635– ...
's time; at various points they went beyond it in austerity. They returned to manual labour, especially agricultural work in the fields. The Cistercians made major contributions to culture and technology:
Cistercian architecture Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was heavily influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should avoid ...
has been recognized as a notable form of
medieval architecture Medieval architecture was the architecture, art and science of designing and constructing buildings in the Middle Ages. The major styles of the period included pre-Romanesque, Romanesque architecture, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture, Gothic. In ...
, and the Cistercians were the main force of technological diffusion in fields such as agriculture and
hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...
. Over the centuries, education and scholarship came to dominate the life of many monasteries. A reform movement seeking a simpler lifestyle began in 17th-century France at
La Trappe Abbey La Trappe Abbey, also known as La Grande Trappe, is a monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France. It is known for being the house of origin of the Trappists, to whom it gave its name. History The site of the famous La Trappe Abbey was for cen ...
, and became known as the
Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...
. They were eventually consolidated in 1892 into a new order called the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, abbreviated as OCSO. The Cistercians who remained within the Order of Cistercians are called the Cistercians of the Common Observance (OCist).


Cistercian practices

The abbot general is the leader of the "administrative machinery" of a Cistercian order. The burial practices for Cistercian monks involve complex rituals, and monks may be buried with or without shrouds.


No vow of silence

Cistercian monks and nuns have a reputation of cultivating solitude and silence; the great monastics have explained silence as "the language of liberation, enlightenment, or union with God." Some observers deduced, incorrectly, that Cistercians take a vow of silence. Watching over one's tongue is a general theme in the Rule of St. Benedict which, however, never required a
vow of silence A vow of silence is a vow taken to avoid the use of speech. Although the concept is commonly associated with monasticism, no religious order takes such a vow, and even the most austere monastic orders such as the Carthusians have times in their sc ...
.


Origins and early expansion


Foundation

In 1098, a
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
,
Robert of Molesme Robert of Molesme (1028 – 17 April 1111) was an abbot, and a founder of the Cistercian Order. He is venerated as a Christian saint. Life Robert was born about 1029 near Troyes, a younger son of Thierry and Ermengarde, nobles of Champagne. ...
, left
Molesme Abbey Molesme Abbey was a well-known Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Molesme, in Laignes, Côte-d'Or, Duchy of Burgundy, on the border of the Diocese of Langres, Dioceses of Langres and Diocese of Troyes, Troyes. History Molesme Abbey ...
in
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
with around 20 supporters, who felt that the
Cluniac Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter, Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Paul. The abbey was constructed ...
communities had abandoned the rigours and simplicity of the
Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by Benedict of Nursia, St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up ...
. Chief among Robert's followers included
Alberic Alberic (; ; , ) is a learned form of the name Aubrey. Notable people with the name include: People with the mononym * Alberic of Cîteaux (died 1109), one of the founders of the Cistercian Order * Alberic I, Count of Dammartin (died after ...
, a former
hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
from the nearby forest of Colan, and
Stephen Harding Stephen Harding () (28 March 1134) was an English-born monk and abbot, who was one of the founders of the Cistercian Order. He is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. Early life Stephen was born in south-west England and, as a youth, ...
, a young monk from England.Read, p 94 Stephen had experienced the monastic traditions of the
Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona () are a Catholic Church, Catholic monastic order of pontifical right for men founded by Romuald, St. Romuald. Its name is derived from the Holy Hermitage () in Camaldoli, high in the mountains of Tuscany, ...
and
Vallombrosians The Vallombrosians (alternately spelled Vallombrosans, Vallumbrosians or Vallumbrosans) are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa (), situated 30 km ...
before joining Molesme Abbey. On 21 March 1098, Robert's small group acquired a plot of
marshland In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...
just south of
Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
called Cîteaux (''Latin:'' "Cistercium". ''Cisteaux'' means reeds in
Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
. In Robert's absence from Molesme, however, the abbey had gone into decline, and Pope Urban II, a former Cluniac monk, ordered him to return. The remaining monks of Cîteaux elected Alberic as their abbot, under whose leadership the abbey would find its grounding. Robert had been the idealist of the order, and Alberic was their builder. Upon assuming the role of abbot, Alberic moved the site of the fledgling community near a brook a short distance away from the original site. Alberic discontinued the use of Benedictine black garments in the abbey and clothed the monks in white habits of undyed wool. Alberic forged an alliance with the
Dukes of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...
, working out a deal with
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
Odo I of Burgundy Odo I (d. 1101/2 Tarsus), also known as Eudes, surnamed Borel and called ''the Red'', was duke of Burgundy between 1079 and 1102. Odo was the second son of Henry of Burgundy and grandson of Robert I. He became the duke following the abdication ...
concerning the donation of a vineyard (
Meursault Meursault () is a Communes of France, commune in the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Etymology The oldest attested form of the toponym Meursault dates from 1094, as ''Mura ...
) as well as materials for building the abbey church, which was consecrated on 16 November 1106 by the
Bishop of Chalon sur Saône A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
. On 26 January 1108, Alberic died and was succeeded by Stephen Harding, the man responsible for carrying the order into its crucial phase.


Cistercian reform

Harding framed the original version of the Cistercian constitution, soon to be called the ''
Carta Caritatis ''Carta Caritatis'' () is the constitution of the Cistercian Order. The document, approbated in 1119 by Pope Calixtus II, regulates relations among the Cistercian abbeys. The text was continually revised and adapted until 1155. In terms of canon ...
'' (''Charter of Charity''). Although it was revised on several occasions to meet contemporary needs, from the outset it emphasised a simple life of work, love, prayer and self-denial. The Cistercians soon came to distinguish themselves from Benedictines by wearing white or grey
tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...
s instead of black; white habits are common for reform movements.Hollister, p 209 Much of Cistercian reform took place against the rivalry with the famous Benedictine abbey of Cluny, where wealth and excess were said to have set in. Harding acquired land for the abbey to develop to ensure its survival and ethic. As to grants of land, the order would normally accept only undeveloped land, which the monks then developed by their own labour. For this they developed over time a very large component of uneducated lay brothers known as ''conversi''. In some cases, the order accepted developed land and relocated the
serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...
s elsewhere.


=Charter of Charity

= The outlines of the Cistercian reform were adumbrated by Alberic, but it received its final form in the ''
Carta caritatis ''Carta Caritatis'' () is the constitution of the Cistercian Order. The document, approbated in 1119 by Pope Calixtus II, regulates relations among the Cistercian abbeys. The text was continually revised and adapted until 1155. In terms of canon ...
'' (''Charter of Charity''), which was the defining guide on how the reform was to be lived. This document governed the relations between the various houses of the Cistercian order, and exercised a great influence also upon the future course of western monachism. From one point of view, it may be regarded as a compromise between the primitive Benedictine system, in which each abbey was autonomous and isolated, and the centralization of
Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...
. The Cistercians maintained the independence of individual houses: each abbey had its own abbot, elected by its own monks, and its own property and finances administered without outside interference. On the other hand, all the abbeys were subjected to the
General Chapter A chapter ( or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the reading of a chapter o ...
, the constitutional body which exercised vigilance over the order. Made up of all the abbots, the General Chapter met annually in mid-September at Cîteaux. Attendance was compulsory, with the abbot of Cîteaux presiding.Watt, p 52 He was to enforce conformity to Cîteaux in all details of monastic observance, liturgy, and customs. Cîteaux was always to be the model to which all the other houses had to conform.


Cistercian nuns

The first community of
Cistercian nuns Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order of the Catholic Church. History The Cistercian Order was initially a male order. Cistercian female monasteries began to appear by 1125. The first Cistercian monastery ...
,
Tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...
, was founded 1125 in the
Diocese of Langres The Diocese of Langres (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lingonensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Langres'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the ''département'' of Haute-Marne in France. The diocese is now a suffragan in ecclesiast ...
. Their number rose so quickly in the course of the next century that the historian and cardinal
Jacques de Vitry Jacques de Vitry (''Jacobus de Vitriaco'', 1160/70 – 1 May 1240) was a medieval France, French canon regular who was a noted theology, theologian and chronicler of his era. He was elected Latin Catholic Diocese of Acre, bishop of Acre in 1 ...
wrote: "Cistercian nunneries multiplied like stars in the sky." At their most populous point, there may have been over 900 women's monasteries, but not all were officially integrated into the order. One of the best known of Cistercian women's communities was the Abbey of Port-Royal, associated with the Jansenist controversy. In Spain and France, a number of Cistercian
abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...
es had extraordinary privileges.


International expansion

In the 1130s and 1140s, the Cistercians expanded into "an order of immense size" by incorporating independent religious communities.


France

In 1113,
Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...
joined the Cîteaux monastery along with 35 relatives and friends. Bernard's charisma greatly expanded the size of the order. In 1115, Count Hugh of Champagne gifted the order a tract of forested land located forty miles east of
Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...
. At the age of 25, Bernard founded the
Abbey of Clairvaux An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The co ...
with twelve other monks.Read, p 93, 95 At this time, Cîteaux had four daughter houses:
Pontigny Pontigny () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. Sight Its principal distinction is as the home of Pontigny Abbey. Communication channels The commune is crossed in a north-south direction ...
, Morimond, La Ferté and Clairvaux. The most foundations made by any Cistercian monastery came from Clairvaux.


Austria

Rein Abbey was founded in 1129 from
Ebrach Abbey Ebrach Abbey () is a former Cistercian monastery in Ebrach in Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, and the site of a young offenders' institution. History Abbey The abbey, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Nicholas, ...
in Bavaria, which had been founded from
Morimond Abbey Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of t ...
in France. In 1129 Margrave Leopold the Strong of
Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...
granted the Bavarian monks an area of land just north of what is today the provincial capital
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
, where they founded Rein Abbey. At the time, it was the 38th Cistercian monastery founded; as of 2024, it is the oldest surviving Cistercian house in the world. In 1133,
Heiligenkreuz Abbey Heiligenkreuz Abbey () is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz, Lower Austria, Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna Woods, Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden bei Wien, Baden in Lower Austria. It is the ol ...
was founded near Vienna by Morimond monks; it is (as of 2024) the largest men's abbey in Europe.


Britain

The order entrusted the oversight of the English, Welsh and (intermittently) Irish abbeys to two or more abbots-commissary, thereby abrogating the famous Cistercian system of filiation: not the mother abbeys, but the abbots-commisary had full powers of visitation. This variation on the original vertical descent of authority produced "a system of centralized national control" much closer to that of the
Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their religious habit, habit), is a religious order of cano ...
or
mendicants A mendicant (from , "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many instances members ...
. The first Cistercian house to be established in Britain, a monastery at
Waverley Abbey Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester. Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channels ...
, Surrey, was founded by William Gifford, Bishop of Winchester in 1128. It was founded with 12 monks and an abbot from
L'Aumône Abbey L’Aumône Abbey (, ; also known as , ) is a former Cistercian monastery in the commune of La Colombe, Loir-et-Cher, France, 34 kilometres north of Blois in the Forêt de Cîteaux, part of the Forêt de Marchenoir. History The abbey was found ...
, in the South of France. By 1187 there were 70 monks and 120 lay brothers in residence. Thirteen Cistercian monasteries, all in remote locations, were founded in Wales between 1131 and 1226. The first of these was
Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey ( ) is a ruined medieval abbey situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. ...
, which was sited in a remote river valley, and depended largely on its agricultural and pastoral activities for survival.Dykes, pp 76–78 Other abbeys, such as at
Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...
,
Strata Florida Strata Florida Abbey (; ) is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. After the region around St Davids was firmly occupied by the Norman ...
,
Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...
and Valle Crucis became among the most hallowed names in the history of religion in medieval Wales.Roderick, p 164 Their austere discipline seemed to echo the ideals of the Celtic saints, and the emphasis on pastoral farming fit well into the Welsh stock-rearing economy. In
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
,
Rievaulx Abbey Rievaulx Abbey ( ) was a Cistercian abbey in Rievaulx, near Helmsley, in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. It was one of the great abbeys in England until it was seized in 1538 under Henry VIII during the Dissolu ...
was founded from Clairvaux in 1131, on a small, isolated property donated by
Walter Espec Walter Espec (died 1153) was a prominent military and judicial figure of the reign of Henry I of England. His father was probably William Speche (William Espec), who joined William the Conqueror in the Norman conquest of England. The senior Spec ...
, with the support of
Thurstan :''This page is about Thurstan of Bayeux (1070 – 1140) who became Archbishop of York. Thurstan of Caen became the first Norman Abbot of Glastonbury in circa 1077.'' Thurstan or Turstin of Bayeux ( – 6 February 1140) was a medi ...
,
Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...
. By 1143, three hundred monks had entered Rievaulx, including the famous St Ælred. It was from Rievaulx that a foundation was made at
Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...
, which became the earliest Cistercian monastery in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Located in
Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...
, it was built in 1136 by King
David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...
, and completed in less than ten years. Another important offshoot of Rievaulx was
Revesby Abbey Revesby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Revesby in Lincolnshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1143 by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln, and the first monks came from Rievaulx Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Mon ...
in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
.
Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercians, Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operat ...
was founded in 1132 by discontented Benedictine monks from St. Mary's Abbey, York, who desired a return to the austere Rule of St Benedict. After many struggles and great hardships, St Bernard agreed to send a monk from Clairvaux to instruct them, and in the end they prospered. Already by 1152, Fountains had many offshoots, including
Newminster Abbey Newminster Abbey was a Cistercian abbey in Northumberland in the north of England. The site is protected by Grade II listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument status. Ranulph de Merlay, lord of Morpeth, and his wife, Juliana, daughter ...
(1137) and
Meaux Abbey Meaux Abbey (archaic, also referred to as ''Melsa'') was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1151 by William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle ( Count of Aumale), Earl of York and 4th Lord of Holderness, near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, ...
(1151).


Ireland

In the spring of 1140,
Saint Malachy Malachy (; ; Modern ; ) (11th century in Ireland, 1094 – 2 November 1148 in Ireland, 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to t ...
, the archbishop of Armagh, visited Clairvaux, becoming a personal friend of Abbot Bernard and an admirer of Cistercian life. He left four of his companions to be trained as Cistercians, and returned to Ireland to introduce Cistercian monasticism there.Watt, p. 20
Mellifont Abbey Mellifont Abbey (, literally 'the Big Monastery'), was a Cistercians, Cistercian abbey located close to Drogheda in County Louth, Ireland. It was the first abbey of the order to be built in Ireland. In 1152, it hosted the Synod of Kells-Mellifo ...
was founded in
County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...
in 1142 and from it daughter houses of Bective Abbey in
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
(1147),
Inislounaght Abbey Inislounaght Abbey (Irish language, Irish: ''Mainistir Inis Leamhnachta'' - "monastery on the island of fresh milk"), also referred to as ''Innislounaght'', ''Inislounacht'' and ''De Surio'', was a 12th-century Cistercian settlement on the rive ...
in
County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
(1147–1148), Baltinglass in
County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...
(1148), Monasteranenagh in
County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...
(1148), Kilbeggan in
County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
(1150) and
Boyle Abbey Boyle Abbey () is a ruined Cistercian friary located in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. It was founded by Saint Malachy in the year 1161 but not consecrated until 1218 (work was interrupted by the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland and it wa ...
in
County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
(1161).Watt, p 21 Following the
Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the List of English monarchs, monarchs of England then claimed sovere ...
in the 1170s, the English improved the standing of the Cistercian Order in Ireland with nine foundations:
Dunbrody Abbey Dunbrody Abbey () is a former Cistercian monastery in County Wexford, Ireland. The cross-shaped church was built in the 13th century, and the tower was added in the 15th century. With a length of 59m the church was one of the longest in Irela ...
,
Inch Abbey Inch Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery on the outskirts of Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. By the year 800 a monastery existed at this location. Its name is derived from the Irish word ''inis'', meaning 'island', referring to ...
, Grey Abbey, Comber Abbey,
Duiske Abbey Duiske Abbey National Monument (Ireland), National Monument, also known as Graiguenamanagh Abbey, is a 13th-century Cistercian monastery situated in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny in Ireland. Duiske Abbey was founded by William Marshal, 1st ...
, Abington,
Abbeylara Abbeylara () is a village in the easternmost portion of County Longford, Ireland. It is located about three kilometers east of Granard on the R396 regional road. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. Its name is deri ...
and
Tracton Tracton () is a civil parish in southeast County Cork in Ireland. Lying roughly 7 kilometres south of Carrigaline, it lies within the Dáil constituency of Cork South-Central. The area is named after Tracton Abbey, a Cistercian monastery that ...
. This last abbey was founded in 1225 from
Whitland Abbey Whitland Abbey ( or simply ; ) was a country house and Cistercian abbey in the parish of Llangan, in what was the hundred of Narberth, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The town which grew up nearby is now named Whitland after it. It was widely known as ...
in Wales, and at least in its earliest years, its monks were Welsh-speaking. By this time, another ten abbeys had been founded by Irishmen since the invasion, bringing the total number of Cistercian houses in Ireland to 31. This was almost half the number of those in England, but it was about thrice the number in each of Scotland and Wales.Watt, p 50 Most of these monasteries enjoyed either noble, episcopal or royal patronage. In 1269, the
Archbishop of Cashel The Archbishop of Cashel () was an archiepiscopal title which took its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Following the Reformation, there had been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church ...
joined the order and established a Cistercian house at the foot of the
Rock of Cashel The Rock of Cashel ( ), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock, is a historical site located dramatically above a plain at Cashel, County Tipperary, Cashel, County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. History According t ...
in 1272. Similarly, the Irish-establishment of
Abbeyknockmoy Abbeyknockmoy () is a village and parish in County Galway, Ireland. It is known for the nearby ruins of the 12th century Cistercian abbey, established with the Kings of Connacht as its benefactors. The abbey was the burial site of King Cathal ...
in
County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
was founded by
King of Connacht The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named ...
,
Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair (Anglicised as Cathal O'Connor/O'Conor and Cathal the Red-handed O'Conor) (1153–1224), was a king of Connacht. He was the youngest son of the High King of Ireland Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair and brother to the ...
, who died a Cistercian monk and was buried there in 1224.Doran, p 53 By 1152, there were 54 Cistercian monasteries in England, few of which had been founded directly from the Continent. Overall, there were 333 Cistercian abbeys in Europe, so many that a halt was put to this expansion. Nearly half of these houses had been founded, directly or indirectly, from Clairvaux, so great was St Bernard's influence and prestige. He later came popularly to be regarded as the founder of the Cistercians, who have often been called Bernardines. Bernard died in 1153, one month after his pupil Eugene III.


The Iberian Peninsula

In 1153, the first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques (Afonso, I), founded
Alcobaça Monastery The Alcobaça Monastery or Alcobasa Monastery (, ''Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça'') is a Catholic monastic complex located in the town of Alcobaça, Portugal, Alcobaça (or Alcobasa, ), in central Portugal, north of Lisbon and south of Co ...
. The original church was replaced by the present construction from 1178. The abbey's church was consecrated in 1223. Two further building phases followed in order to complete the nave, leading to the final consecration of the medieval church building in 1252.Toman, p 98 As a consequence of the wars between the Christians and Moors on the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
, the Cistercians established a
military branch Military branch (also service branch or armed service) is according to common standard a subdivision of the national armed forces of a sovereign nation or state. Types of branches Unified armed forces The Canadian Armed Forces is the unifie ...
of the order in Castile in 1157: the
Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava (, ) was one of the Spanish military orders, four Spanish military orders and the first Military order (society), military order founded in Kingdom of Castile, Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bu ...
. Membership of the Cistercian Order had included a large number of men from knightly families, and when King
Alfonso VII Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century ( Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. ...
began looking for a military order to defend the Calatrava, which had been recovered from the Moors a decade before, the Cistercian Abbot Raymond of
Fitero Fitero is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. The Monastery of Fitero The Monastery of Fitero ( or ''Monasterio de Santa María de Nienzebas'') is a Cistercian monastery locat ...
offered his help. Lay brothers were to be employed as "soldiers of the Cross" to defend Calatrava. The initial successes of the new order in the Spanish
Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
were convincing, and the arrangement was approved by the General Chapter at Cîteaux and successive popes; the Knights of Calatrava were given a definitive rule in 1187, modeled upon the Cistercian rule for lay brothers, which included the evangelical counsels of
poverty, chastity, and obedience In Christianity, the three evangelical counsels, or counsels of perfection, are chastity, poverty (or perfect charity), and obedience. As stated by Jesus in the canonical gospels, they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect" (, ). ...
; specific rules of silence; abstinence on four days a week; the recitation of a fixed number of
Pater Noster The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...
s daily; to sleep in their
armour Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...
; and to wear, as their full dress, the Cistercian white mantle with the scarlet cross ''fleurdelisée''. Calatrava was not subject to Cîteaux, but to Fitero's mother-house, the Abbey of Morimond in Burgundy. By the end of the 13th century, the knights had become a major autonomous power within the Castilian state, subject only to Morimond and the pope. They had abundant resources of men and wealth, lands and castles scattered along the borders of Castile, and feudal lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals. On more than one occasion, the Order of Calatrava brought to the field a force of 1200 to 2000 knights – considerable in medieval terms. Over time, as the Reconquista neared completion, the canonical bond between Calatrava and Morimond relaxed more and more, and the knights of the order became virtually secularized, finally undergoing dissolution in the 18th–19th centuries. The first Cistercian abbey in Bohemia was founded in Sedlec near
Kutná Hora Kutná Hora (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The history of Kutná Hora is linked to silver mining, which made it a rich and rapidly developing town. The centre of Kutná Hora, i ...
in 1142. In the late 13th century and early 14th century, the Cistercian order played an essential role in the politics and diplomacy of the late Přemyslid and early Luxembourg state, as reflected in the '' Chronicon Aulae Regiae''. This chronicle was written by Otto and Peter of
Zittau Zittau (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, Upper Lusatian dialect: ''Sitte''; ) is the southeasternmost city in the Germany, German state of Saxony, and belongs to the Görlitz (district), district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost Districts of Germ ...
, abbots of the
Zbraslav Zbraslav (; ; Latin ''Aula Regia'') is a municipal district and cadastral area of Prague. The southernmost district of Prague, it lies on the Vltava River in the national administrative district of Prague 16. The former independent municipal ...
abbey (Latin: ''Aula Regia'', "Royal Hall"), founded in 1292 by the
King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...
and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, Wenceslas II. The order also played the main role in the early
Gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern Europe, Norther ...
of Bohemia; one of the outstanding pieces of
Cistercian architecture Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was heavily influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should avoid ...
is the Alt-neu Shul, Prague. The first abbey in the present day Romania was founded in 1179, at Igris (Egres), and the second in 1204, the
Cârța Monastery The Cârța Monastery () is a former Cistercians, Cistercian (Benedictine) monastery in the Țara Făgărașului region in southern Transylvania in Romania, currently an Lutheran, Evangelical Lutheran church belonging to the local Transylvanian ...
. By the end of the 13th century, the Cistercian houses numbered 500. In this period, the monks performed pastoral tasks in and outside of the monastery and began preaching and teaching, even though their movement originally forbade schools and parishes. At the order's height in the 15th century, it would have nearly 750 houses. It often happened that the number of lay brothers became excessive and out of proportion to the resources of the monasteries, there being sometimes as many as 200, or even 300, in a single abbey. On the other hand, in some countries, the system of lay brothers in course of time worked itself out; thus in England by the close of the 14th century it had shrunk to relatively small proportions, and in the 15th century the regimen of the English Cistercian houses tended to approximate more and more to that of the Black Monks.


Influence with popes and kings

Cistercian influence more than kept pace with the material expansion. Bernard had become mentor to popes and kings, and in 1145, King
Louis VII Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young () to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and ...
's brother, Henry of France, entered Clairvaux.Read, p 118 That same year, Bernard saw one of his monks elected pope as
Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III (; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cist ...
. Eugene was an Italian of humble background, who had first been drawn to monasticism at Clairvaux by the magnetism of Bernard. At the time of his election, he was Abbot of Saints Vincenzo and Anastasio outside Rome.Read, p. 117 A considerable reinforcement to the Order was the merger of the Savigniac houses with the Cistercians, at the insistence of Eugene III. Thirteen English abbeys, of which the most famous were
Furness Abbey Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness, is a former monastery located to the north of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second-wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, behi ...
and
Jervaulx Abbey Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton in North Yorkshire, north-west of the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, dedicated to St Mary in 1156. It is a Grade I listed building. The place name ''Jervaulx'' is fir ...
, thus adopted the Cistercian formula. In
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, the two Savigniac houses of Erenagh and St Mary's became Cistercian. It was in the latter case that medieval Dublin acquired a Cistercian monastery in the very unusual suburban location of
Oxmantown Oxmantown was a suburb on the opposite bank of the River Liffey, Liffey from Dublin, in what is now the city's Northside, Dublin, Northside. It was founded in the 12th century by Hiberno-Norse Dubliners or "Ostmen" who either migrated voluntari ...
, with its own private harbour called The Pill.


Decline and attempted reforms

For a hundred years, until the first quarter of the 13th century, the Cistercians supplanted Cluny as the most powerful order and the chief religious influence in western Europe. But then in turn their influence began to wane, as the initiative passed to the
mendicant order Mendicant orders are primarily certain Catholic religious orders that have vowed for their male members a lifestyle of poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preaching, evangelization, and ministry, especially to less we ...
s, in Ireland,Lalor, p 200 Wales and elsewhere. Relaxations were gradually introduced into Cistercian life with regard to diet and simplicity of life. Also, they began accepting the traditional sources of income that monks in comparable orders used: like rents, tolls, and benefices. The agricultural operations were blessed by success. Wealth and splendour characterized the monasteries, so that by 1300, the standard of living in most abbeys was comparable, if not higher, than the standards middling nobles enjoyed. Two important papal bulls tried to introduce reforms: Clement IV's ''
Parvus fons The ''Parvus fons'' (Latin for ''small beginnings'') is a papal bull issued by Pope Pope Clement IV, Clement IV on June 9, 1265, to strengthen the general chapter of the Cistercians. The bull – also known as "Clementina" among Cistercian historia ...
'' and Benedict XII's ''
Fulgens sicut stella matutina ''Fulgens sicut stella matutina'' ('Shining like the morning star'; Song of Songs 6:10) is a papal bull issued by Pope Benedict XII in Sorgues on July 12, 1335, to initiate a reform of the Cistercian Order, which had been founded in 1119. The bul ...
''. The General Chapter continued to battle against abuses. In Ireland, the information on the Cistercian Order after the Anglo-Norman invasion gives a rather gloomy impression.Richter, p 154 Absenteeism among Irish abbots at the General Chapter became a persistent and much criticised problem in the 13th century, and escalated into the ''conspiratio Mellifontis'', a "rebellion" by the abbeys of the Mellifont filiation.
Visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...
s were appointed to reform Mellifont on account of the ''multa enormia'' that had arisen there, but in 1217 the abbot refused their admission and had lay brothers bar the abbey gates. There was also trouble at Jerpoint, and alarmingly, the abbots of Baltinglass, Killenny, Kilbeggan and Bective supported the actions of the "revolt".Watt, p. 53 In 1228, the General Chapter sent the Abbot of Stanley in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
, Stephen of Lexington, on a well-documented visitation to reform the Irish houses. A graduate of both
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and a future Abbot of Clairvaux (to be appointed in 1243), Stephen was one of the outstanding figures in 13th-century Cistercian history, having founded the College of St. Bernard in Paris in 1244. He found his life threatened as a result of the Irish visitations: his representatives were attacked and his party harassed, while the three key houses of Mellifont, Suir and Maigue had been fortified by monks to hold out against him.Watt, p. 56 However, with the help of his assistants, the core of obedient Irish monks and the aid of both English and Irish secular powers, he was able to envisage the reconstruction of the Cistercian province in Ireland. Stephen dissolved the Mellifont filiation altogether, and subjected 15 monasteries to houses outside Ireland. In breadth and depth, his instructions constituted a radical reform programme: "They were intended to put an end to abuses, restore the full observance of the Cistercian way of life, safeguard monastic properties, initiate a regime of benign paternalism to train a new generation of religious, isolate trouble-makers and institute an effective visitation system." The arrangement lasted almost half a century, and in 1274, the filiation of Mellifont was reconstituted.Richter, p. 155 In Germany the Cistercians were instrumental in the spread of Christianity east of the Elbe. They developed grants of territories of 180,000 acres where they would drain land, build monasteries and plan villages. Many towns near Berlin owe their origins to this order, including
Heiligengrabe Heiligengrabe is a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The municipality counts 13 villages (''Ortsteil''): Blandikow, Blesendorf, Blumenthal, Grabow bei Blumenthal, Herzsprung, Jabel, Königsberg, Li ...
and
Chorin Chorin () is a municipality in the district of Barnim in Brandenburg, Germany. It is most famous for its cloister and for being situated within the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve. It is famous for its medieval Brick Gothic Chorin Abbey and ...
; its
Chorin Abbey Chorin Abbey (Kloster Chorin) is a former Cistercian abbey near the village of Chorin in Brandenburg, Germany. It was founded by the Ascanian margraves in 1258 and had far-reaching influence on the northern edge of the Ascanians' sphere of inf ...
was the first brick-built monastery in the area.Richie, p. 21 By this time, however, "the Cistercian order as a whole had experienced a gradual decline and its central organisation was noticeably weakened." In 1335, the French cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, was elected and consecrated
Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII (, , ; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was a cardinal and inquisitor, and later, head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death, in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope and reformed monasti ...
. He was devoted to reducing the culture of
nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
at the Vatican. He promulgated a series of regulations to restore the spirit of reform in the Cistercian Order. By the 15th century, however, the Cistercians had fallen on dark days. The General Chapter lost virtually all its power to enforce its decrees, and the strength of the order which derived from this uniformity declined. Wars, among them the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
, and a lack of leadership did damage. Many of the monasteries were controlled by dynasties who appointed their relatives to leadership positions, and pocketed the abbeys' profits. The system of placing abbeys ''
in commendam In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastica ...
'' was widespread and led to the spiritual and material decline of many abbeys.


Protestant Reformation

Germany became the scene of violence and destabilization following
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
's efforts to gain independence from the Vatican. Many abbeys lost scores of monks, as these left religious life in order to marry. Monastic property was confiscated by nobles who saw an opportunity to profit from the chaos. During the
English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...
,
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw the confiscation of every single monastery in that country, a disaster not only for the Cistercians. Some historians believe that the suppression of the English monasteries may have stamped out an industrial revolution.David Derbyshire, 'Henry "Stamped Out Industrial Revolution"', ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' (21 June 2002); cited by Woods, p 37.


After the Reformation

The reformed
Congregation of the Feuillants The Feuillants were a Catholic congregation originating in the 1570s as a reform group within the Cistercians in its namesake Les Feuillants Abbey in France, which declared itself an independent order. In 1630 it separated into a French branch (t ...
spread widely in France and Italy in the 16th century. The French congregation of Sept-Fontaines (1654) also deserves mention. In 1663 Jean de Rancé reformed La Trappe (see
Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...
s). In the 17th century another great effort at a general reform was made, promoted by the pope and the king of France; the general chapter elected Richelieu to be (commendatory) abbot of Cîteaux, thinking he would protect them from the threatened reform. In this they were disappointed, for he threw himself wholly on the side of reform. A formidable battle ensued, making it clear that Italian and Central European abbeys did not want to go the way of the Trappists. Civic politics also played a role in the conflict. The
Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
, the ecclesiastical policy of
Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...
, the French Revolution, and the revolutions of the 18th century almost wholly destroyed the Cistercians. But some survived, and from the beginning of the last half of the 19th century there was a considerable recovery. In 1892, the Trappists left the Cistercians and founded a new order, named the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. The Cistercians that remained within the original order thus came to be known as the "Common Observance".


Influence


Architecture

Cistercian architecture Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was heavily influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should avoid ...
has made an important contribution to European civilisation. Cistercian foundations were primarily constructed in Romanesque and
Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
during the Middle Ages; although later abbeys were also constructed in
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
and
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
. The Cistercian order had no fixed building rules but rather Cistercian prohibitions regarding building practices, including the prohibition of decoration as signs of poverty and simplicity, as seen in early Cistercian architecture. Furthermore, the order itself was receptive to the technical improvements of Gothic principles of construction and played an important role in its spread across Europe.Toman, p 10 Bernard condemned excessive decoration of monastic buildings as a distraction for monks. Cistercian architecture embodied the ideals of the order, and was in theory at least utilitarian and without ornamentation.Lalor, p 1 The same "rational, integrated scheme" was used across Europe to meet the largely homogeneous needs of the order. Various buildings, including the chapter-house to the east and the dormitories above, were grouped around a
cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...
, and were sometimes linked to the transept of the church itself by a night stair. Usually Cistercian churches were cruciform, with a short presbytery to meet the liturgical needs of the brethren, small chapels in the
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...
s for private prayer, and an aisled
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
that was divided roughly in the middle by a screen to separate the monks from the lay brothers.


Engineering and construction

The building projects of the Church in the
High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
showed that the era encourage colossal architecture, with vast amounts of stone being quarried; the same was true of the Cistercian projects.Erlande-Brandenburg, p 32–34 Foigny Abbey was long, and Vaucelles Abbey was long. Monastic buildings came to be constructed entirely of stone, right down to the most humble of buildings. In the 12th and 13th centuries, even Cistercian barns consisted had stone exteriors. The Cistercians acquired a reputation as masters in administering ecclesial construction projects.Erlande-Brandenburg, p 50 Bernard's own brother, Achard, is known to have supervised the construction of many abbeys, such as
Himmerod Abbey Himmerod Abbey (Kloster Himmerod) was a Cistercian monastery in the community of Großlittgen in the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Manderscheid in the district of Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the Eifel, in the valle ...
in the Rhineland. On one occasion the abbot of La Trinité at
Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest Communes of France, commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of th ...
loaned a monk named John to the
Bishop of Le Mans The Diocese of Le Mans (Latin: ''Dioecesis Cenomanensis''; French: ''Diocèse du Mans'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo, but had previ ...
, Hildebert de Lavardin, for the building of a cathedral; after the project was completed, John refused to return to his monastery. However, the monks did not construct their edifices alone. As early as 1133, Bernard was hiring workers to help the monks erect new buildings at Clairvaux.Erlande-Brandenburg, p 101 An illustration from the 16th century shows monks working alongside other craftsmen at
Schönau Abbey Schönau Abbey may refer to: * Schönau Abbey (Nassau), Benedictine monastery founded in 1126 * Schönau Abbey (Odenwald), Cistercian monastery founded in 1142 *, Cistercian nunnery founded in 1189 See also * Frauenchiemsee, called Schönau in ...
.


Legacy

The Cistercian abbeys of Fontenay in France,
Fountains A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...
in England, Alcobaça in Portugal,
Poblet Poblet Abbey, otherwise the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet (), is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Catalonia (Spain). It was founded by Cisterc ...
in Spain and
Maulbronn Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...
in Germany are today recognised as
UNESCO World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
. The abbeys of France and England are fine examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The architecture of Fontenay has been described as "an excellent illustration of the ideal of self-sufficiency" practised by the earliest Cistercian communities. The abbeys of 12th century England were stark and undecorated – a dramatic contrast with the elaborate churches of the wealthier Benedictine houses – yet to even the Cistercian ruins, such as in Fountains and Tinturn Abbey, attracted many tourists, pilgrims and poets. In the purity of architectural style, the beauty of materials and the care with which the Alcobaça Monastery was built, Portugal possesses one of the most outstanding and best preserved examples of Early Gothic. Poblet Monastery, one of the largest in Spain, is considered similarly impressive for its austerity, majesty, and the fortified royal residence within. The fortified Maulbronn Abbey in Germany is considered "the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastic complex north of the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
". The Transitional Gothic style of its church had a major influence in the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe, and the abbey's elaborate network of drains, irrigation canals and reservoirs has since been recognised as having "exceptional" cultural interest. In Poland, the former Cistercian monastery of Pelplin Cathedral is an important example of
Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...
.
Wąchock Abbey Wąchock Abbey () is a Cistercian abbey in Wąchock, Poland. Located near the larger town of Starachowice in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains of south-eastern Poland, Wąchock is best known for the architecture of this Roman Catholic site. The abb ...
is one of the most valuable examples of Polish Romanesque architecture. The largest Cistercian complex, the Abbatia Lubensis (
Lubiąż Lubiąż () (German: Leubus) is a village (former city) on the east bank of the Odra (Oder) River, in the administrative district of Gmina Wołów, within Wołów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately ...
, Poland), is a masterpiece of
baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...
and the second largest Christian architectural complex in the world.


Art

The mother house of the order, Cîteaux, had developed an advanced style of painting in
illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...
s during the first decades of the 12th century. However, as Bernard of Clairvaux's influence increased, decoration gradually diminished in Cistercian manuscripts. He had a strong aversion to the extensive use of imagery. Decorations were finally banned altogether in the order. Any wall paintings that may have existed were presumably destroyed.
Crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...
es were allowed, and later some painting and decoration crept back in. Bernard criticized abbey churches for their "immoderate length, their superfluous breadth, the costly polishings, the curious carvings and paintings which attract the worshipper's gaze and hinder his attention." He loathed the fantastical, often deformed beasts used in medievial church decoration. Weaker monks would be tempted "to spend the whole day in wondering at these things rather than in meditating the law of God." Nonetheless, many Cistercian abbey churches housed the tombs of royal or noble patrons, and these were often elaborately carved and painted. Notable dynastic burial places were Alcobaça for the
Kings of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Thro ...
, Cîteaux for the
Dukes of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...
, and
Poblet Poblet Abbey, otherwise the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet (), is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Catalonia (Spain). It was founded by Cisterc ...
for the
Kings of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...
. Corcomroe in Ireland contains one of only two surviving examples of Gaelic royal
effigies An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...
from 13th and 14th century Ireland.Doran, p 48


Agriculture, technology, and commerce

Successful farmers, the white monks introduced and propagated many improvements in medieval agriculture. They developed an organised system for selling produce, cattle and horses, and notably contributed to commercial progress in Western Europe. To the wool and cloth trade, which was especially fostered by the Cistercians, England was largely indebted for the beginnings of her commercial prosperity. From the beginning, the monks used a system of
lay brothers Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...
and employees to operate their farms; monks and priests were busy with their liturgical and sacramental duties. The lay brothers formed a body of men who lived alongside of the choir monks, but separate from them, not taking part in the canonical office, but having their own fixed round of prayer and religious exercises. They were not ordained, nor did they have a voice in the monks' chapter. One Cistercian monk claims that, until the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, most of the technological advances in Europe were made in the monasteries. According to the medievalist Jean Gimpel, their high level of industrial technology facilitated the diffusion of new techniques: "Every monastery had a model factory, often as large as the church and only several feet away, and waterpower drove the machinery of the various industries located on its floor."Gimpel, p 67. Cited by Woods. Waterpower was used for crushing wheat, sieving flour, fulling cloth and tanning – a technological achievement in use in practically all of the order's monasteries. The monks used their own numbering system, which could express all the numbers from 0 to 9999 in a single sign. The Cistercian order was innovative in developing techniques of
hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...
for monasteries established in remote valleys. In Spain, one of the earliest surviving Cistercian houses, the Real Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de Rueda in
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
, is a good example of such early hydraulic engineering, using a large
waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...
for power and an elaborate water circulation system for
central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...
. The Cistercians are known to have been skilled
metallurgists Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
, and knowledge of their technological advances was transmitted by the order.Woods, pp 34–35 Iron ore deposits were often donated to the monks along with forges to extract the iron, and within time surpluses were being offered for sale. The Cistercians became the leading iron producers in
Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
, from the mid-13th century to the 17th century, also using the phosphate-rich slag from their furnaces as an agricultural fertiliser.Gimpel, p 68; cited by Woods, p 35 The forge at Fontenay abbey, for instance, is not on the margins of the abbey grounds, but within the monastic enclosure itself. Cistercian innovations may have shaped the very course of Gothic architecture.


Theology

By far the most influential of the early Cistercians was
Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercia ...
. He attracted vocations, served as a papal envoy, and attracted international attention to the movement: he was "one of the most influential churchmen of his time." Bernard was an ascetic and intellectual, which he demonstrated in his sermons on
Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...
,
Free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...
and the
Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
. He was quick to recognise heretical ideas, and in 1141 and 1145 respectively, he accused the celebrated scholastic theologian
Peter Abelard Peter Abelard (12 February 1079 – 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet. This source has a detailed description of his philosophical work. In philos ...
and the popular preacher
Henry of Lausanne Henry of Lausanne (variously known as of Bruys, of Cluny, of Toulouse, of Le Mans and as the Deacon, sometimes referred to as Henry the Monk or Henry the Petrobrusian) was a French heresiarch of the first half of the 12th century. His preaching b ...
of heresy. He was also charged with the task of promulgating Pope Eugene's bull, ''
Quantum praedecessores ''Quantum praedecessores'' is a papal bull issued on 1 December 1145 by Pope Eugenius III, calling for a Second Crusade. It was the first papal bull issued with a crusade as its subject.Paul Halsall (1996)Eugene III: Summons to A Crusade, Dec 1, 1 ...
'', and his eloquence in preaching the
Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...
recruited many to the cause.Read, p. 119 Although Bernard's ''De laude novae militiae'' was in favour of the
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
,Read, p. 180 the English Cistercian Abbot
Isaac of Stella Isaac of Stella, O.Cart, also referred to as Isaac de l'Étoile, (c. 1100, in England – c. 1170s, Étoile, Archigny, France) was a Cistercian (and later Carthusian) monk, theologian and philosopher. Life Born in England, after studies in Pa ...
, near
Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
, preached against the very same group as a "new monstrosity". In the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, many Cistercian authors wrote on spiritual topics. The "four evangelists" of the movement are: Bernard, William of Saint Thierry,
Aelred of Rievaulx Aelred of Rievaulx (), also known as also Ailred, Ælred, or Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk and writer who served as Abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death. He is venerated by the Catholic Church as ...
, and Guerric of Igny. Besides Bernard, the others were only re-discovered in the 20th century.


Cistercians today

Many Cistercian monasteries make produce goods such as cheese, bread, and craft products. In the United States, some abbeys support themselves through agriculture, forestry and real estate. European Trappist monasteries are known for their beer.


See also

*
List of Cistercian monasteries The Cistercians are a Catholic religious order of Enclosed religious orders, enclosed monks and nuns formed in 1098, originating from Cîteaux Abbey. Their monasteries spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, but many were closed during t ...
*
Monastic sign languages Monastic sign languages have been used in Europe from at least the tenth century by Christian monks, and some, such as Cistercian and Trappist sign, are still in use today—not only in Europe, but also in Japan, China and the US. Unlike deaf sign ...
*
Cistercian numerals The medieval Cistercian numerals, or "ciphers" in nineteenth-century parlance, were developed by the Cistercian monastic order in the early thirteenth century at about the time that Arabic numerals were introduced to northwestern Europe. The ...


References


Literature

* * * Dodwell, C.R.; ''The Pictorial arts of the West, 800–1200'', (1993), Yale UP, * * *Gimpel, Jean, ''The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages'' New York, Penguin, (1976) * *Lekai, Louis (1977). ''The Cistercians: Ideals and Reality''. The Kent State University Press, 1977. ISBN 978-0-873-38201-4. *Logan, F. Donald, ''A History of the Church in the Middle Ages''. * *Rudolph, Conrad, "The 'Principal Founders' and the Early Artistic Legislation of Cîteaux", ''Studies in Cistercian Art and Architecture'' 3, Cistercian Studies Series 89 (1987) 1–45 *Rudolph, Conrad, ''Violence and Daily Life: Reading, Art, and Polemics in the Cîteaux Moralia in Job'' (1997) *Tobin, Stephen. ''The Cistercians: Monks and Monasteries in Europe''. The Herbert Press, LTD (1995). . * *Watt, John, ''The Church in Medieval Ireland''. University College Dublin Press; 2nd Rev. ed. (1998). .


External links

*
Website on Cistercian Order, Architecture and History (''Italian'')
Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

EUCist News, a blog about current Cistercian research in English and German
(Latin)
Center for Cistercian and Monastic StudiesEuropean route of Cistercian abbeys
{{Authority control Catholic monastic orders