Constance Hoffman Berman, "The Cistercian Evolution: The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe"
English | 2010 | ISBN: 0812221028 | 336 pages | PDF | 23,9 MB
According to the received history, the Cistercian order was founded in Cîteaux, France, in 1098 by a group of Benedictine monks who wished for a stricter community. They sought a monastic life that called for extreme asceticism, rejection of feudal revenues, and manual labor for monks.