Cistercian

Dictionary: Cis·ter·cian (sĭ-stûr'shən) pronunciation

n.
A member of a contemplative monastic order founded by reformist Benedictines in France in 1098.

[French Cistertien, from Medieval Latin Cistercium, Cîteaux, a village of eastern France, site of an abbey.]

Cistercian Cis·ter'cian adj.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Cistercian

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Member of a Roman Catholic monastic order founded by St. Stephen Harding (1098) at Cîteaux (Latin, Cistercium), Burgundy, by Benedictines dissatisfied with their abbey's laxity. Cistercians were severely ascetic, rejected feudal revenues, and engaged in manual labor. Uniform rules applied to all houses, and all abbots were to meet annually at Cîteaux. St. Bernard de Clairvaux founded 68 abbeys in his lifetime. Discipline declined as the order grew, and Cistercians disappeared from northern Europe after the Reformation. The order underwent reforms in the 16th – 17th century; members of the reformed order are popularly known as Trappists after the abbey of La Trapp. Until the 1960s, they slept, ate, and worked in perpetual silence. The original order, which underwent more moderate reforms, also survives.

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Architecture and Landscaping: Cistercian

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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 & Park (1986)
Stalley (1987)
Tobin (1996)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

WordNet: Cistercian

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: member of an order of monks noted for austerity and a vow of silence
Synonym: Trappist

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	bernardine
	Fountains Abbey (structure, England)
	Tintern

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Copyrights:

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Architecture and Landscaping. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Copyright © 1999, 2006 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more