Templar and Cistercian Refectories - Same Meal, Different Setting

Bernard de Clairvaux helped draft the Templar Rule, and the order's meals were built almost line for line on Cistercian custom: silence, scripture read aloud, equal rations. Yet the rooms where Templars ate rarely resembled a Cistercian refectory at all. What did the two orders actually build, and why did the buildings diverge?

Bernard de Clairvaux and the Making of a Respectable Knighthood

In 1129, a small band of knights secured papal favour and grew into one of medieval Europe’s wealthiest institutions. A 2012 thesis argues that the Cistercian Order, and one abbot in particular, made this possible. What exactly did Bernard de Clairvaux do for the Templars?

The Crucifix in Medieval Cistercian and Templar Practice - Popular Image and Fact

Two powerful medieval institutions, the Cistercian monks and the Knights Templar, are both popularly associated with the crucifix, a cross bearing the body of Christ. But when the sources are examined strictly, the evidence differs from the popular image. What does it actually tell us?

The Hidden Hydraulics of the Knights Templar

When we picture the Knights Templar, we summon white mantles, red crosses, and distant Crusader citadels. Rarely do we imagine them stooped over a sluice gate, calculating the fall of water across a millpond. Yet behind the warrior-monk stood a quieter figure: the hydraulic engineer. What did the Templars actually build with water?

Forests to Farmland - Drivers of the Age of Clearance in Medieval Europe

Between about 1050 and 1150 forests, heaths and marshes across western Europe gave way to fields, villages and monastic estates, the period French historians call les grands défrichements. Population growth, new tools, a warmer climate and ambitious lords are all named as causes. Which of these drivers does the evidence actually support?

Bernard's conversion - a family matter of spiritual and material importance

When the young squire Bernard de Fontaine, the later Cistercian abbot Bernard de Clairvaux, entered monastic life at Citeaux, he was not alone. At the time and later all members of his knightly family from the Duchy of Burgundy, rather than pursuing dynastic or political ambitions, embraced monastic life. Their story illustrates the importance of lay monks (monachi laici), men who entered religious communities as adults without clerical education or fluency in Latin, yet went on to hold positions of influence in monastic estates.

From Novice to Abbot: Bernard de Clairvaux’s Formative Years at Cîteaux

Bernard de Clairvaux underwent his formative monastic training at Cîteaux under Abbot Stephen Harding between 1112 (the year of him entering Cîteaux) and 1115 (the year he was sent to lead the founding of a monastery at Clairvaux). These years, as well as those of his youth, provide a critical lens for understanding Bernard’s later role as abbot of Clairvaux and his influence on the expansion of the Cistercian Order.

Noble Seals: Cistercian and Templar Devotion Through Heraldic Imagery

Medieval nobility in southern France adopted religious symbolism in their personal seals. How did two prominent families, who embraced different spiritual paths during the twelfth century's second half, testified on this in their seals?

The Cistercian links to the cult of Mary Magdalene

The cult of Mary Magdalene, as it is understood today especially in France, has its origins in various historical and religious developments over centuries. How did it develop and what role was played by the Cistercian Order?

The influence of the medieval Cistercians on the early Knights Templar

What was the extent of the influence of the Cistercians on the Templars?

How were the medieval Cistercians different?

The basis of the Cistercian way of life was traditional, in that they, like other monks, followed the Rule of St Benedict. Indeed, the reason given for the decision in 1098 to leave Molesme for Citeaux was the failure of that community to observe the Rule properly. So in what way did the Cistercians differ from the Benedictines?

Cistercians in the medieval Holy Land - a slow and limited start

In the West the development of the Cistercian organisation preceeded that of, and often coincided with, the Knights Templar. What was the case in the Holy Land?

The novel lifestyle of medieval Cistercians - more labour, less liturgy

"The Cistercian documents claim that the Cistercian way of life was based on a firm commitment to the Rule of St Benedict. The Rule laid down a daily timetable devoted to three occupations: the performance of the liturgy (the Opus Dei), manual labour, and reading. A novelty.

The Ciphers of the Cistercians

The medieval Cistercian numerals, or 'ciphers' in 19th-century parlance, were developed by the Cistercian monastic order in the early 13th century at about the time that Arabic numerals were introduced to northwestern Europe. They are more compact than Arabic or Roman numerals, with a single character able to indicate any integer from 1 to 9999. Is this cipher secret or occult?

The Hildegarde von Bingen - Bernard de Clairvaux link

In 1146 or 1147 Hildegarde von Bingen (French Hildegarde de Bingen), whose visions were still unpublished, wrote to Bernard de Clairvaux, who was busy preaching the Second Crusade. Her letter and his answer both survive, and both are short. What did she ask, and what did he reply?

Key Qualities of the Cistercian Order - Simplicity, Practicality and Self-sufficiency

"The promotion of the tenets of their faith on one hand and desire to return to the simplicity of early monasticism on the other, permitted the Cistercians (...) art and architecture. (...) As St Bernard envisaged the Earth as the work of Divine Architect, he himself as a head of his order, actively participated in many practical aspects of founding new Cistercian monasteries, including solving concrete architectural problems. (...) 

The Knights Templar - bleuprint of militarized fraternities

"Formed in the setting of the Chapter of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem from a brotherhood of Champenois and Burgundian knights, the Templars received their rule at the Council of Troyes in 1129. They inspired all the foundations that followed by showing the way to militarization of charitable fraternities. 

Map of medieval monasteries in the Netherlands published

In 2019 the Vrije Universiteit at Amsterdam, the Netherlands, published The Map of Monasteries. This map shows the monasteries of all orders which have been represented in the present-day Netherlands during the Middle Ages and Early Modern period (until 1800). 

The founding of a Cistercian abbey, a good investment

The founding of a Cistercian abbey was a comparatively cheap investment, in comparison to other monastic orders. The patrons, while seeking the spiritual rewards from charity, were also looking to develop their land. The Cistercians ventured into the wilderness to seek self sufficiency, a Cistercian abbey depended on cultivating a great expanses of wasteland, woodland and marshland.

The Rule of St. Benedict Compared with the Rule of the Templars

The Primitive Rule of the Templars had as a model the Rule of Saint Benedict, influenced greatly by the reformed Cistercian version. From this base it developed its own distinct code of military, spiritual, and everyday life. As a result, the Benedictine and Templar Rules bear considerable similarities.