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Cistercians in a changing world: early
successes
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Settle the Cistercians in some barren
retreat which is hidden away in an overgrown forest: a year
or two later you will find splendid churches there and fine
monastic buildings, with a great amount of property and all
the wealth you can imagine.
[Gerald of Wales, The Journey
through Wales, p. 104]
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During the first half of the twelfth century
the Cistercian Order blossomed in Britain while its monks and nuns
enjoyed a high reputation for sanctity. Their monasteries attracted
a number of recruits and donors, many being local people drawn by
what they had seen and heard at first hand. The Cistercians also
had a significant impact on the landscape, and were actively involved
in land clearance and reclamation, draining marshlands, clearing
woodlands and converting stagnant pools into running water. They
developed a highly efficient land-based economy which had at its
core the grange-system of farming. Through granges (agricultural
centres that were worked by the
lay-brothers) the White Monks exploited their lands directly,
cultivating and harvesting crops and rearing livestock. Even the
most vehement of the Cistercians critics acknowledged their
effective transformation of these desolate sites.
The White Monks were particularly
associated with sheep-farming and made a significant contribution
to wool production and the wool
trade. They were also at the forefront of technological innovations
in Britain, being amongst the first to use fulling mills, tanning
mills and the water-driven hammer forge; they may also have contributed
to the increased use of horse-power at this time. The Cistercians
in Britain developed the use of taps for the new walled lavatorium,
and twelfth-century taps survive at Kirkstall
Abbey. |