DE EERSTE CISTERCIËNSERS EN HET OUDE MONNIKSWEZEN

Abstract

Summary The early Cistercians considered themselves the true heirs of ancient monasticism in the way in which they practised the rule of Saint Benedict; in contradistinction to the then prevailing, traditional Benedictine monasticism, which was accused of having bartered part of this rule for their own customs. The Cistercians, when they first started, were men of their time and closely linked with social change, both from an economic and a spiritual point of view. The much emphasized differences between them and the Benedictines, namely the poverty of the monasteries and the austerity of the liturgy for the sake of manual labour, soon disappeared to a large extent. This was true in particular of the Cluniacs, whom the Cistercians continued to consider as their rivals. More important differences concerned the organization of both orders and the colour of their habits. This last point was something largely emotional: the black monks mostly accusing the white monks of pride and hypocrisy. These feelings of ...