Cistercians

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Cistercian Order. The Order was founded at Citeaux in 1098 by St Robert of Molesme and others who wanted a form of Benedictinism stricter and more primitive than any then existing. After some precarious years St Bernard arrived as a novice in 1112, and the Order spread rapidly.

The Cisterican life was one of secluded communal intercession and adoration. Houses were erected only in remote situations; churches were plain, and manual work given its primitive prominence. The constitution developed in the 12th cent., and its basic documents (including the Carta Caritatis) took shape gradually in the process. A founding abbey had permanent oversight over abbeys which it founded; this was achieved through visitation by the abbot to ensure observance and discipline. Daughter-abbeys could make foundations of their own; thus lines of filiation developed. Cîteaux itself was visited by the abbots of its eldest daughters (the ‘protoabbots’). All Cistercian abbots were obliged to attend an annual General Chapter; in this was vested legislative, executive and judicial authority over the whole Order.

Starting with Castile in the 15th cent., foreign houses formed national congregations outside the control of Cîteaux. In the 17th cent. Cistercians, like other orders, were divided between reformers (the Strict Observance), who rejected all mitigations of the Rule, and those, led by Cîteaux, who wanted a minimum of change (the Common Observance).

In the 18th cent. Cistercians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire survived the Josephine edicts only by undertaking educational and parochial responsibilities. Soon afterwards the French Revolution destroyed not only all houses in France and the neighbouring lands, but also the structure of central authority. Government hostility to monastic life in the 19th cent. and wars and other crises in the 20th, led to massive closures and expulsions. The Abbot General of the Common Observance now presides over a union of about a dozen congregations of differing patterns of life.

The extinction of Cîteaux and the protoabbeys in 1790/91 left la Trappe as the only French male community of any order to survive. Twenty-four monks fled to Switzerland; they soon attracted recruits and founded communities in various countries. Some of these followed A.-J. le B. de Rancé's original reform, others the even more rigorous regime adopted by the Trappists in Switzerland, only partly relaxed when they returned to France. In 1892 the three Trappist congregations were united and in 1893 recognized as a new independent order; in 1902, after Cîteaux became their mother house, they were designated the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance or Reformed Cistercians. This Order is not the continuation of the Strict Observance destroyed in 1791, but the lineal descendant of de Rancé's reform of 1664 at la Trappe. Worldwide expansion strained the practice of uniformity, and under the new constitutions approved in 1990, cultural differences are recognized, but the regime of the Trappists remains austere. The two separate Cistercian Orders co-operate.

Cistercians , monks of a Roman Catholic religious order founded (1098) by St. Robert, abbot of Molesme, in Cîteaux [ Cistercium ], Côte-d'Or dept., France. They reacted against Cluniac departures from the Rule of St. Benedict. The particular stamp of the Cistercians stems from the abbacy (c.1109–1134) of St. Stephen Harding . The black habit of the Benedictines was changed to unbleached white and the Cistercians became known as White Monks. St. Bernard of Clairvaux is often regarded as their "second founder." Through a return to strict asceticism and a life of poverty, the Cistercians sought to recover the ideals of the original Benedictines. They expanded greatly, especially during St. Bernard's lifetime, and at the close of the 12th cent. there were 530 Cistercian abbeys. The life and writings of St. Bernard were their guiding influence. They considered farming the chief occupation for monks and led Europe in the development of new agricultural techniques. (In England the Cistercians were important in English wool production.) The Cistercians were the first to make extensive use of lay brothers, conversi, who lived in the abbey under separate discipline and aided the monks in their farm system. In the 13th cent. relaxation of fervor diminished Cistercian importance, and by 1400 they had ceased to be prominent, their place being taken by the Dominican and Franciscan friars. Of later reform attempts, the most important was the movement begun at La Trappe, France (17th cent.); those accepting the greater austerities were known popularly as Trappists , officially titled (after 1892) Cistercians of the Stricter Observance [Lat. abbr., O.C.S.D. ], as distinct from Cistercians of the Common Observance [Lat. abbr., S.O. Cist.]. Today the difference is not great. The unit of Cistercian life is the abbey. Its members compose a permanent communal entity, with the abbeys joined in loose federation. Houses of Cistercian nuns (founded beginning in the 12th cent.) have rules and customs paralleling those of the monks; they lead contemplative lives in complete seclusion from the world. A 17th-century reform of Cistercian nuns produced the remarkable development of Port-Royal . Famous Cistercian abbeys include Cîteaux, Clairvaux, Fountains, Rievaulx, and Alcobaa.

Bibliography: See M. B. Pennington, ed., The Cistercian Spirit (1970); C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism (1984).

Cistercians, religious order founded at Cîteaux in 1098. The Cistercians were introduced to Ireland in 1142 by St Malachy as part of his policy of church reform. From their first monastery at Mellifont in Co. Louth they expanded rapidly, establishing a further 26 houses by the end of the 12th century. This expansion, however, rested on an insecure base as Cistercian life was radically different from preceding forms of Irish monasticism. Problems created by increasing isolation from the rest of the order, tension between Gaelic and Anglo‐Irish monasteries, and lax observance in Gaelic houses culminated in the ‘conspiracy of Mellifont’ (1216–28). The Mellifont filiation was broken up and its houses assigned to English, Welsh, and French houses. It was restored in 1274.

By 1228 there were 34 Cistercian monasteries of either Gaelic or Anglo‐Irish foundation and the order had reached the peak of its expansion. Financial difficulties caused by speculation on wool prices and the gradual disappearance of the lay brother initiated a period of decline at the end of the 13th century. By the late 15th century, despite attempts at reform, conventual life had collapsed in many of the houses, with only Dublin and Mellifont having sizeable communities. A number of the monasteries were changed into secular colleges at the Reformation but most were dissolved between 1538 and 1542. A short‐lived attempt at restoration was made by Abbot Luke Archer of Holycross in the early 17th century. The order was re‐established in Ireland in 1832 with the foundation of Mount Melleray, Co. Waterford.

Colmán N. Ó Clabaigh

Cistercians (or ‘white’ monks) were a monastic order established in 1098 by Robert of Molesme at Cîteaux (Burgundy) in reaction to the perceived laxity of contemporary Benedictine monasticism. Their constitutions aimed at a literal observance of the Benedictine rule. Their estates were organized in self‐contained ‘granges’ staffed by lay brothers (‘conversi’) who, while not monks, followed a rule and wore a distinctive habit. After initial difficulties the Cistercians enjoyed phenomenal success, particularly during the life of St Bernard, who entered Cîteaux in 1112 and was abbot of its daughter house of Clairvaux.

In England and Wales the first abbey was founded at Waverley (Surrey) in 1128, followed shortly afterwards by Tintern and Rievaulx. By 1152 there were about 40, as well as communities in Scotland (such as Melrose) and Ireland.

Cistercian. The monastic Order founded at Cîteaux in Burgundy (1098) as an offshoot of the Benedictine rules. Cistercian architecture was international, and plans and elevations were severely simple. Chancels had straight, rather than apsidal, ends, and chapels attached to the transepts were also squared off. The earliest surviving complete Cistercian church is Fontenay (1139–47), while one of the finest is Pontigny (c.1160–1200), both in Burgundy. Impressive ruins of large establishments can be found in England at Byland, Fountains, Kirkstall, and Rievaulx in Yorks., Furness in North Lancs., and Greyabbey, Co. Down. Other Cistercian houses include Fossanova (Italy), Heiligenkreuz, and Zwettl (both Austria).

Bibliography

P. Braunfels (1972);
Fergusson (1984);
C. Norton & and Park (1986);
Stalley (1987);
Tobin (1996)

Cistercians. Roman Catholic monastic order, also called ‘White Monks’. The mother-house, Cîteaux (Lat., Cistercium) in Burgundy, was founded in 1098. In contrast to the comparative luxury of the monasticism of Cluny, then at its height, they were austere in diet, clothing, architecture, and liturgy.

In the 17th cent. a party of ‘Strict Observance’ emerged, advocating, among other rigours, total abstinence from meat. Its most important figure was A. de Rancé (d. 1700), abbot of La Trappe, whence is derived the name Trappists, applied from the 19th cent. onward to Cistercians of the Strict Observance.

Cistercian a member of an order founded as a stricter branch of the Benedictines, the reforms being particularly associated with the influence of St Bernard of Clairvaux, who was particularly critical of elaborate decoration in ecclesiastical buildings. The monks are now divided into two observances, the strict observance, whose adherents are known popularly as Trappists, and the common observance, which has certain relaxations.

The name comes (via French) from Cistercium, the Latin name of Cteaux near Dijon in France, where the order was founded.

Cis·ter·cian / sisˈtərshən/ • n. a monk or nun of an order founded in 1098 as a stricter branch of the Benedictines. The monks are now divided into two observances, the strict observance, whose adherents are known popularly as Trappists, and the common observance, which has certain relaxations. • adj. of or relating to this order: a Cistercian abbey.

Cistercian Order of monks founded (1098) in Citeaux, France, by Benedictine monks led by St Robert of Molesme. Saint Bernard was largely responsible for the growth of the order in the 12th century. In the 17th century the order split into two communities: Common Observance and Strict Observance, the latter popularly known as Trappists.

Cistercian pert. to (a monk of) the Benedictine order of Citeaux, founded 1098. XVII. — F. Cistercien, f. L. Cistercium Cîteaux, near Dijon, France (cf. medL. Cisterciensis); see -IAN.

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