This article is about the religious order also sometimes known as the Cistercians of the Common Observance. For the order founded in La Trappe Abbey and also known as the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, seeTrappists.
The termCistercian derives fromCistercium, the Latin name for the locale of Cîteaux, nearDijon in eastern France. It was here that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery ofMolesme foundedCîteaux Abbey in 1098. The first three abbots wereRobert of Molesme,Alberic of Cîteaux andStephen Harding. 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 inBenedict'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 has been recognized as a notable form ofmedieval architecture, and the Cistercians were the main force of technological diffusion in fields such as agriculture andhydraulic engineering.
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 atLa Trappe Abbey, and became known as theTrappists. They were eventually consolidated in 1892 into a new order called the Order ofCistercians of the Strict Observance, abbreviated as OCSO. The Cistercians who remained within the Order of Cistercians are called theCistercians of the Common Observance (OCist).
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."[6] Some observers deduced, incorrectly, that Cistercians take a vow of silence.[7] Watching over one's tongue is a general theme in the Rule of St. Benedict which, however, never required avow of silence.[8]
An illumination ofStephen Harding (right) presenting a model of his church to theBlessed Virgin Mary (Municipal Library, Dijon). Cîteaux, c. 1125. At this period Cistercian illumination was the most advanced in France, but within 25 years it was abandoned altogether under the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux.
On 21 March 1098, Robert's small group acquired a plot ofmarshland just south ofDijon calledCîteaux (Latin: "Cistercium".Cisteaux means reeds inOld French), given to them expressly for the purpose of founding theirNovum Monasterium.[11] During the first year, the monks set about constructing lodging areas and farming the lands of Cîteaux, making use of a nearby chapel forMass. In Robert's absence from Molesme, however, the abbey had gone into decline, andPope Urban II, a former Cluniac monk, ordered him to return.[12]
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.[13] Alberic forged an alliance with theDukes of Burgundy, working out a deal withDukeOdo I of Burgundy concerning the donation of a vineyard (Meursault) as well as materials for building the abbey church, which was consecrated on 16 November 1106 by theBishop of Chalon sur Saône.[14]
On 26 January 1108, Alberic died and was succeeded by Stephen Harding, the man responsible for carrying the order into its crucial phase.
Harding framed the original version of the Cistercian constitution, soon to be called theCarta Caritatis (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 greytunics instead of black; white habits are common for reform movements.[15] 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.[16]
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 asconversi.[17] In some cases, the order accepted developed land and relocated theserfs elsewhere.[15]
The outlines of the Cistercian reform were adumbrated by Alberic, but it received its final form in theCarta caritatis (Charter of Charity), which was the defining guide on how the reform was to be lived.[18][19] This document governed the relations between the various houses of the Cistercian order, and exercised a great influence also upon the future course of westernmonachism. 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 ofCluny.[20]
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 theGeneral Chapter, the constitutional body which exercised vigilance over the order. Made up of all the abbots, the General Chapter met annually in mid-September atCîteaux. Attendance was compulsory, with the abbot of Cîteaux presiding.[21] 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.[22]
The first community ofCistercian nuns,Tart, was founded 1125 in theDiocese of Langres.[23] Their number rose so quickly in the course of the next century that the historian and cardinalJacques de Vitry wrote: "Cistercian nunneries multiplied like stars in the sky."[24] 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 ofPort-Royal, associated with theJansenist controversy.[25] In Spain and France, a number of Cistercianabbesses had extraordinary privileges.[26][27]
In 1113,Bernard joined the Cîteaux monastery along with 35 relatives and friends.[29] Bernard's charisma greatly expanded the size of the order.[30] In 1115,Count Hugh of Champagne gifted the order a tract of forested land located forty miles east ofTroyes. At the age of 25, Bernard founded theAbbey of Clairvaux with twelve other monks.[31] At this time, Cîteaux had four daughter houses:Pontigny,Morimond, La Ferté and Clairvaux.
The most foundations made by any Cistercian monastery came from Clairvaux.[30]
Rein Abbey was founded in 1129 fromEbrach Abbey in Bavaria, which had been founded fromMorimond Abbey in France.[32] In 1129 MargraveLeopold the Strong ofStyria granted the Bavarian monks an area of land just north of what is today the provincial capitalGraz, where they foundedRein Abbey. At the time, it was the 38th Cistercian monastery founded; as of 2024, it is the oldest surviving Cistercian house in the world.[33][34] In 1133,Heiligenkreuz Abbey was founded near Vienna byMorimond monks;[35] it is (as of 2024) the largest men's abbey in Europe.[36]
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 thePremonstratensians ormendicants.[37] The first Cistercian house to be established in Britain, a monastery atWaverley Abbey, Surrey, was founded by William Gifford, Bishop of Winchester in 1128. It was founded with 12 monks and an abbot fromL'Aumône Abbey, in the South of France. By 1187 there were 70 monks and 120 lay brothers in residence.[38]
Tintern Abbey, founded in 1131
Thirteen Cistercian monasteries, all in remote locations, were founded in Wales between 1131 and 1226. The first of these wasTintern Abbey, which was sited in a remote river valley, and depended largely on its agricultural and pastoral activities for survival.[39] Other abbeys, such as atNeath,Strata Florida,Conwy andValle Crucis became among the most hallowed names in the history of religion in medieval Wales.[40] Their austere discipline seemed to echo the ideals of theCeltic saints, and the emphasis on pastoral farming fit well into the Welsh stock-rearing economy.[40]
The ruins ofMelrose Abbey, mother house of the Cistercians in Scotland
Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 by discontented Benedictine monks fromSt. 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, includingNewminster Abbey (1137) andMeaux Abbey (1151).[42]
Following theAnglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 1170s, the English improved the standing of the Cistercian Order in Ireland with nine foundations:Dunbrody Abbey,Inch Abbey,Grey Abbey,Comber Abbey,Duiske Abbey, Abington,Abbeylara andTracton.[45] This last abbey was founded in 1225 fromWhitland Abbey in Wales, and at least in its earliest years, its monks wereWelsh-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.[46] Most of these monasteries enjoyed either noble, episcopal or royal patronage. In 1269, theArchbishop of Cashel joined the order and established a Cistercian house at the foot of theRock of Cashel in 1272.[47] Similarly, the Irish-establishment ofAbbeyknockmoy inCounty Galway was founded byKing of Connacht,Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair, who died a Cistercian monk and was buried there in 1224.[48]
By 1152, there were 54 Cistercian monasteries in England, few of which had been founded directly from the Continent.[42] Overall, there were 333 Cistercian abbeys in Europe, so many that a halt was put to this expansion.[49] 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.[20] Bernard died in 1153, one month after his pupil Eugene III.[50]
In 1153, the first King of Portugal,D. Afonso Henriques (Afonso, I), foundedAlcobaça Monastery. 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.[51]
As a consequence of the wars between the Christians and Moors on theIberian Peninsula, the Cistercians established amilitary branch of the order inCastile in 1157: theOrder of Calatrava. Membership of the Cistercian Order had included a large number of men from knightly families, and when KingAlfonso VII began looking for amilitary order to defend theCalatrava, which had been recovered from the Moors a decade before, the Cistercian Abbot Raymond ofFitero 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 SpanishReconquista 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 ofpoverty, chastity, and obedience; specific rules of silence; abstinence on four days a week; the recitation of a fixed number ofPater Nosters daily; to sleep in theirarmour; and to wear, as their full dress, the Cistercian white mantle with the scarlet crossfleurdelisée.[52]
Calatrava was not subject to Cîteaux, but to Fitero's mother-house, theAbbey 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.[52]
The first Cistercian abbey in Bohemia was founded inSedlec nearKutná Hora 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 latePřemyslid and early Luxembourg state, as reflected in theChronicon Aulae Regiae. This chronicle was written by Otto and Peter ofZittau, abbots of theZbraslav abbey (Latin:Aula Regia, "Royal Hall"), founded in 1292 by theKing of Bohemia andPoland,Wenceslas II. The order also played the main role in the earlyGothic art of Bohemia; one of the outstanding pieces ofCistercian architecture is theAlt-neu Shul, Prague. The first abbey in the present day Romania was founded in 1179, atIgris (Egres), and the second in 1204, theCârța Monastery.
By the end of the 13th century, the Cistercian houses numbered 500.[53] 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.[54] 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 theBlack Monks.[20]
Cistercian influence more than kept pace with the material expansion.[55] Bernard had become mentor to popes and kings, and in 1145, KingLouis VII's brother,Henry of France, entered Clairvaux.[56] That same year, Bernard saw one of his monks elected pope asPope Eugene III.[57] 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 wasAbbot of Saints Vincenzo and Anastasio outside Rome.[58]
A considerable reinforcement to the Order was the merger of theSavigniac houses with the Cistercians, at the insistence ofEugene III. Thirteen English abbeys, of which the most famous wereFurness Abbey andJervaulx Abbey, thus adopted the Cistercian formula.[42] InDublin, the two Savigniac houses of Erenagh and St Mary's became Cistercian.[44] It was in the latter case that medieval Dublin acquired a Cistercian monastery in the very unusual suburban location ofOxmantown, with its own private harbour called The Pill.[59]
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 themendicant orders,[20] in Ireland,[60] Wales[40] 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.[61] Two important papal bulls tried to introduce reforms: Clement IV'sParvus fons and Benedict XII'sFulgens sicut stella matutina. The General Chapter continued to battle against abuses.[20]
The now-ruinedMellifont Abbey, the centre of medieval Irish Cistercian monasticism and of the "Mellifont rebellion"
In Ireland, the information on the Cistercian Order after the Anglo-Norman invasion gives a rather gloomy impression.[62] Absenteeism among Irish abbots at the General Chapter became a persistent and much criticised problem in the 13th century, and escalated into theconspiratio Mellifontis, a "rebellion" by the abbeys of the Mellifont filiation.Visitors were appointed to reform Mellifont on account of themulta 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".[63]
In 1228, the General Chapter sent theAbbot of Stanley inWiltshire,Stephen of Lexington, on a well-documented visitation to reform the Irish houses.[64] A graduate of bothOxford andParis, 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 theCollege of St. Bernard in Paris in 1244.[65] 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.[66] 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.[67] Stephen dissolved the Mellifont filiation altogether, and subjected 15 monasteries to houses outside Ireland.[62] 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."[68] The arrangement lasted almost half a century, and in 1274, the filiation of Mellifont was reconstituted.[69]
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, includingHeiligengrabe andChorin; itsChorin Abbey was the first brick-built monastery in the area.[70] By this time, however, "the Cistercian order as a whole had experienced a gradual decline and its central organisation was noticeably weakened."[69]
In 1335, the French cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, was elected and consecratedPope Benedict XII. He was devoted to reducing the culture ofnepotism at the Vatican. He promulgated a series of regulations to restore the spirit of reform in the Cistercian Order.[71]
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 theHundred Years' War, 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 abbeysin commendam was widespread and led to the spiritual and material decline of many abbeys.[72]
Germany became the scene of violence and destabilization followingMartin Luther's efforts to separate from the Vatican. Though some abbeys lost monks who left religious life to marry, other Cistercian monasteries, such asLoccum Abbey andAmelungsborn Abbey, adopted theEvangelical Lutheran faith and continued religious life under solemn vows, being active in the present-day. For example, theEvangelical-Lutheran Cistercian Monastery of Amelungsborn has nine religious and a number of tertiaries.[1]
During theEnglish Reformation,Henry VIII'sDissolution 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.[73]
A revival of religious orders took place under theOxford Movement in theAnglican tradition. As such, there areAnglican Cistercian communities that remain active in the present day.[74]
The reformedCongregation of the Feuillants spread widely in France and Italy in the 16th century. The French congregation of Sept-Fontaines (1654) also deserves mention. In 1663Jean de Rancé reformed La Trappe (seeTrappists).[75]
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 electedRichelieu 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.[76]
TheProtestant Reformation, the ecclesiastical policy ofEmperor Joseph II, theFrench 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.[20]
In 1892, the Trappists left the Cistercians and founded a new order, named the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.[77] The Cistercians that remained within the original order thus came to be known as the "Common Observance".[20]
Cistercian architecture was applied based on rational principles.
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.[78] 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.[79]
Bernard condemned excessive decoration of monastic buildings as a distraction for monks.[80][81]
Cistercian architecture embodied the ideals of the order, and was in theory at least utilitarian and without ornamentation.[82][81] The same "rational, integrated scheme" was used across Europe to meet the largely homogeneous needs of the order.[82] Various buildings, including the chapter-house to the east and the dormitories above, were grouped around acloister, and were sometimes linked to the transept of the church itself by a night stair.[82] Usually Cistercian churches are cruciform, with a shortpresbytery to meet the liturgical needs of the brethren, small chapels in thetransepts for private prayer, and an aislednave that was divided roughly in the middle by a screen to separate the monks from the lay brothers.[83]
The building projects of the Church in theHigh Middle Ages showed that the era encourage colossal architecture, with vast amounts of stone being quarried; the same was true of the Cistercian projects.[84] Foigny Abbey was 98 metres (322 ft) long, and Vaucelles Abbey was 132 metres (433 ft) long.[84] 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.[85]
The Cistercians acquired a reputation as masters in administering ecclesial construction projects.[86] Bernard's own brother,Achard, is known to have supervised the construction of many abbeys, such asHimmerod Abbey in the Rhineland.[86] On one occasion the abbot of La Trinité atVendôme loaned a monk named John to theBishop of Le Mans,Hildebert de Lavardin, for the building of a cathedral; after the project was completed, John refused to return to his monastery.[86] 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.[87] An illustration from the 16th century shows monks working alongside other craftsmen atSchönau Abbey.[87]
In the purity of architectural style, the beauty of materials and the care with which the Alcobaça Monastery was built,[90] Portugal possesses one of the most outstanding and best preserved examples of Early Gothic.[93] Poblet Monastery, one of the largest in Spain, is considered similarly impressive for its austerity, majesty, and the fortified royal residence within.[91] The fortified Maulbronn Abbey in Germany is considered "the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastic complex north of theAlps".[92] 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.[92]
The mother house of the order, Cîteaux, had developed an advanced style of painting inilluminated manuscripts 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.Crucifixes were allowed, and later some painting and decoration crept back in.[94] 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."[95]
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 theKings of Portugal,Cîteaux for theDukes of Burgundy, andPoblet for theKings of Aragon. Corcomroe in Ireland contains one of only two surviving examples of Gaelic royaleffigies from 13th and 14th century Ireland.[96]
Successful farmers, the white monks introduced and propagated many improvements in medieval agriculture.[97] They developed an organised system for selling produce, cattle and horses, and notably contributed to commercial progress in Western Europe.[98] To the wool and cloth trade, which was especially fostered by the Cistercians, England was largely indebted for the beginnings of her commercial prosperity.[42]
From the beginning, the monks used a system oflay brothers 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.[99]
One Cistercian monk claims that, until theIndustrial Revolution, most of the technological advances in Europe were made in the monasteries.[100] 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."[101] 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.[102] The monks used their ownnumbering system, which could express all the numbers from 0 to 9999 in a single sign.[103]
The Cistercians helped facilitate the spread of waterwheel technology.
The Cistercian order was innovative in developing techniques ofhydraulic engineering for monasteries established in remote valleys.[79] In Spain, one of the earliest surviving Cistercian houses, theReal Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de Rueda inAragon, is a good example of such early hydraulic engineering, using a largewaterwheel for power and an elaborate water circulation system forcentral heating.
The Cistercians are known to have been skilledmetallurgists, and knowledge of their technological advances was transmitted by the order.[104] 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 inChampagne, from the mid-13th century to the 17th century, also using the phosphate-rich slag from their furnaces as an agricultural fertiliser.[105] 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.[106]
Liturgical celebration in the CistercianAbbey of Acey in France
By far the most influential of the early Cistercians wasBernard of Clairvaux. 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."[107] Bernard was an ascetic and intellectual, which he demonstrated in his sermons onGrace,Free will and theSong of Songs.[56] He was quick to recognise heretical ideas, and in 1141 and 1145 respectively, he accused the celebrated scholastic theologianPeter Abelard and the popular preacherHenry of Lausanne of heresy.[56] He was also charged with the task of promulgating Pope Eugene's bull,Quantum praedecessores, and his eloquence in preaching theSecond Crusade recruited many to the cause.[108]
Although Bernard'sDe laude novae militiae was in favour of theKnights Templar,[109] the English Cistercian AbbotIsaac of Stella, nearPoitiers, preached against the very same group as a "new monstrosity."[109] In the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, many Cistercian authors wrote on spiritual topics.[110] The "four evangelists" of the movement are: Bernard,William of Saint Thierry,Aelred of Rievaulx, andGuerric of Igny. During the Middle Ages, they were often read by monks from other orders, for example theCarthusians.[111] Besides Bernard, the others were only re-discovered in the 20th century.[112]
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.[113]
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^Lutter, M-C. (2012). Locus horroris et vastae solitudinis? Zisterzienser und Zisterzienserinnen in und um Wien.Historisches Jahrbuch,132, pp. 141-176.
^Jamroziak, Emilia (2024). "Cistercians and the Care of Souls from the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century". In Ōnuki, Toshio; Melville, Gert; Akae, Yūichi; Takeda, Kazuhisa (eds.).Pastoral care and monasticism in Latin christianity and Japanese buddhism (ca. 800-1650). Vita regularis Abhandlungen. Münster: LIT.ISBN978-3-643-15497-2.
^Jaritz, Gerhard (1985). "The Standard of Living in German and Austrian Cistercian Monasteries of the Late Middle Ages". In Elder, E. Rozanne (ed.).Goad and Nail. Studies in medieval Cistercian history. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications. p. 57.ISBN978-0-87907-984-0.A study [Watzl 1978] done for the Lower-Austrian abbey of Heiligenkreuz demonstrates that in the first half of the fifteenth century, no fewer than 201-207 days of the year saw extra food.
^Merton, Thomas; Grimes, William R.; Merton, Thomas (2019). O'Connell, Patrick F. (ed.).Medieval Cistercian history. Initiation into the monastic tradition / Thomas Merton. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. p. 217.ISBN978-0-87907-043-4.
^Alcuin Schachenmayr and Polycarp Zakar:Union And Division: The Proceedings of the Three Trappist Congregations at their General Chapter in 1892. In: Analecta Cisterciensia 56 (2006) 334–384.
^Bernard of Clairvaux."Bernard of Clairvaux: Apology".Internet Medieval Sourcebook.Fordham University. Retrieved12 May 2025....in cloisters, where the brothers are reading, what is the point of this ridiculous monstrosity, this shapely misshapenness, this misshapen shapeliness? What is the point of those unclean apes, fierce lions, monstrous centaurs, half-men, striped tigers, fighting soldiers and hunters blowing their horns? ... In short, so many and so marvelous are the various shapes surrounding us that it is more pleasant to read the marble than the books, and to spend the whole day marveling over these things rather than meditating on the law of God.
^McGinn, Bernard (1977). "Introduction". In McGinn, Bernard (ed.).Three treatises on man: a Cistercian anthropology. Cistercian fathers series. Kalamazoo, Mich: Cistercian Publications. p. 27.ISBN978-0-87907-024-3.
Gimpel, Jean,The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages New York, Penguin, (1976)[ISBN missing]
Hollister, C. Warren (1992) [1966].The Making of England, 55 BC to 1399. Volume I ofA History of England, edited by Lacey Baldwin Smith (6th ed.).Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.ISBN978-0-669-24457-1.
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.[ISBN missing]
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)[ISBN missing]
Tobin, Stephen.The Cistercians: Monks and Monasteries in Europe. The Herbert Press, LTD (1995).ISBN1-871569-80-X.
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