Cistercian Abbeys: Simplicity of Life Essay

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They always stand on the border of a stream…These valleys, now so rich and productive, wore a very different aspect when the brethren first chose them as the place of their retirement. Wide swamps, deep morasses, tangled thickets, wild impassable forests, were their prevailing features" (Snell "Cistercian," 2009, p.1). It is a tribute to the craftsmanship of early monks that the extant monasteries became so hospitable.

One of the most famous abbeys, Clairvaux, even had fish ponds as well as orchards to provide food for the monks. Clairvaux was to provide the template for most abbeys to come. It was surrounded by a high wall, "nearly encircled by a stream of water, artificially diverted from the small rivulets which flow through the precincts, furnishing the establishment with an abundant supply in every part, for the litigation of the gardens and orchards, the sanitary requirements of the brotherhood and for the use of the offices and workshops," and the different buildings where the monks worshipped and lived were spaced purely by the needs of practicality and theology, not aesthetics (Snell, "Clairvaux," 2009, p.2) "The base court nearest to the outer wall contained the buildings belonging to the functions of the body as agriculturists and employers of labor.

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Advancing into the inner court, the building devoted to hospitality are found close to the entrance" to ensure hospitality yet separation from outsiders and visitors (Snell, "Clairvaux," 2009, p.2). Areas "connected with the supply of the material wants of the brethren" were detached from the church areas to separate the spiritual life of the monks from the body's needs (Snell, "Clairvaux," 2009, p.2). "The church refectory, dormitory and other buildings belonging to the professional life of the brethren surround[ed] the great cloister. The small cloister beyond… [was] the centre of the literary life of the community. The requirements of sickness and old age… [were] carefully provided for in the infirmary cloister and that for the aged and infirm members of the establishment" and the quarters of the novices (Snell, "Clairvaux," 2009, p.3). The daily life and lifecycle of the members of the abbey were also provided for within its confines, as well as basic daily needs.

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