3rd–6th centuries: Early Christian Monasticism
The concept of monasticism is ancient and is found in many religions and philosophies. Early Christian monasticism drew its inspiration from the examples of the Prophet Elijah and John the Baptist, who both lived alone in the desert, and above all from the story of Jesus’ time in solitary struggle with Satan in the desert before his public ministry.
St. Anthony the Great (ca. 251–356) was the first well-known Christian to withdraw to the desert.
The earliest Desert Fathers lived as hermits; they were rarely completely isolated but often lived in proximity to one another.
Soon, loose-knit communities began to form, and there was a progression from hermits living alone (“anchorite”) to monks (“cenobite”) living in community under one abbot.
St. Benedict (480–ca. 547) wrote a Rule for monks which became the principal rule for monks in the western church.
12th century: Founding Vision of Cîteaux
The founders of Cîteaux (the first Cistercian monastery) centred their ideals on the desire for authentic monastic simplicity and evangelical poverty. They believed that this renewal could be found in a more literal interpretation of St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries.
1112: Bernard of Fontaines-les-Dijon and thirty of his relatives joined the monastery of Cîteaux.
1115: The exceptionally charismatic and talented young Bernard was sent to begin a new Cistercian foundation, Clairvaux, in Burgundy. Hereafter he would be known throughout the Christian world as Bernard of Clairvaux. St. Bernard was one of the most commanding leaders of the first half of the 12th century as well as one of the greatests spiritual masters of all times.
12th century: The First Cistercian Nuns
The first Cistercian monastery for women was established at Tart in the diocese of Langres (now Dijon) in 1125 by nuns from the abbey of Jully, a dependence of Molesme, where St. Humbeline, sister of St. Bernard, lived and died. St. Stephen Harding established Tart as Cîteaux’s own daughter house and entrusted it to the pastoral care of the abbot of Cîteaux. From then on, individual monasteries of women as well as whole federations of nuns sought to ally themselves with the Cistercian monks first in France and then in Spain, where the royal monastery of Las Huelgas was founded in 1180.
12th–15th centuries: Flourishing, Fervour, and Reform
After its birth, the Cistercian Order flourished to such an astonishing degree that within a century it included a very large number of monasteries across Europe. But inevitably it began to experience the normal alternations between periods of greater fervour and fidelity to the original spirit, followed by periods of reduced vitality. These fluctuations made it necessary to introduce reforms to revitalize and restore the original ideals of the Order. The General Chapter met annually to review the progress of the communities, and to assure the integrity of Cistercian life and the uniformity of fundamental observances.
15th–19th centuries: Reformation Era and Regional Congregations
In the aftermath of the division of Christendom following the Protestant Reformation, and with the rise of nationalism, the monasteries of the Order gradually divided into national groups. The Congregations that were formed in various regions towards the first half of the 1440s sought to revive the Cistercian spirit, but much of this had faded by the first half of the nineteenth century. Instead, these congregations were obliged to adapt their lifestyle to the norms of contemporary reform movements happening within the Church.
17th–19th centuries: The Strict Observance
In the seventeenth century various reform movements emerged within the Cistercian Order in France, which came to be known as the Strict Observance. Because of the prominent role played by Abbot Armand de Rancé of the monastery of La Trappe in France, the monasteries and the monks and nuns that followed this reform were often referred to as Trappists. In 1892 these monasteries were formed into a separate order — the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance.