Bi'UtNAKD — The Charters of the Abhei/ of t)uiskc. 3 



III. — Introduction. 



The Cistercian modification of the Benedictine Rule is due to an English- 

 man, St. Stephen Harding, the parent house of Citeaux or Cistercium, near 

 Dijon in Burgundy, having been established for Benedictines in 1096 by St; 

 Eobert of Molesme. The Cistercian Rule took shape in 1107; and, like that 

 of the Cluniacs, although in different fashion, it was a departure from the 

 Rule of St. Benedict, in so far as it aimed at the close organization of the 

 communities which adopted it. A main feature of the unreformed Benedictine 

 system was the independence of each monastic house ; but the Cistercians 

 became an Order in the strict sense, under the pre-eminence of the abbot and 

 convent of Citeaux, and claiming exemption from the authority of the local 

 bishops. All Cistercian houses were administered in the same manner, and 

 the superiors were under obligation to attend yearly chapters, each convent 

 being moreover subject to visitations at the pleasure of the Abbot of Citeaux. 

 The four abbeys of La Ferte,' Pontignj-,- Clairvaux,' and Morimond were 

 accorded a position of special dignity, and were regarded as peculiarly the 

 " daughters of Citeaux." They were, in fact, the oldest of its daughter-houses. 



The Cistercian Rule was one of great austerity. The members of the order 

 wore neither linen nor furs, and from their dress of undyed wool were often 

 called the " White Monks." They lived on a vegetable diet, animal food being 

 forbidden in their establishments. As with the Benedictines, it was enjoined 

 by the Rule that the abbeys should be so located as to contain within their 

 precincts water-courses, mills, and gardens, so that they were independent of 

 supplies from without. It was often remarked in later times that the habit 

 of the Cistercians was to build their houses in valleys, as the Benedictines did 

 on hill-tops.* 



The system spread rapidly, the first English house being established in 

 1129 at Waverley in Surrey. The formal introduction of the order into 

 Ireland is due to St. Malachy of Armagh, who was the intimate friend of St. 

 Bernard, the famous abbot of Clairvaux (d. 1153). St. Malachy had noticed 

 with admiration the methods of the Cistercians at Clairvaux, and he sent 

 some Irish monks there to study its peculiarities and advantages. The lettei-s 



' In the diocese of Chalons in Burgundy. 



- About 12 miles from Autun, in the diocese of Auxerre. It was here that Thomas 

 Becket found asj'luni. 



^ This abbey, and that of Morimond, were in the diocese of Langres, and were founded 

 in the same year, 1115. St. Bernard was the first abbot of Clairvaux. 



* Cf. the old verse : 



Bernardus valles, colles Benedictus amabat, 

 Oppida Franciscus, magnas Ignatius urbes. 



