Cistercians: The White Monks Who Built and Farmed!

The Cistercians are a special group of monks and nuns who decided to live a very simple life. They wear white robes, which is why people sometimes call them the 'White Monks'. They follow rules written a super long time ago by a monk named Saint Benedict. Think of them like a special club that started from another club called the Benedictines, but they wanted to do things even more simply!

A long, long time ago, in a place called Cîteaux in France, some monks wanted to live like the very first monks. So, they started their own monastery there in 1098. It was like starting a brand new school with stricter rules! A very important person named Bernard joined them and helped their group grow super fast all over Europe. It was like a popular game spreading everywhere!

These monks loved to work with their hands! They went back to doing hard farm work, like growing food and building things. They built beautiful churches and monasteries that are still around today and are famous for their cool designs.

They were also super smart about farming and using water power, helping everyone learn new ways to do things. They were like the inventors and builders of their time!

Yes, they did! Over many, many years, some Cistercians wanted to live an even simpler life. A group started a new kind of Cistercian life called the Trappists.

So now, there are two main kinds of Cistercians: those who follow the older, simpler rules (called Common Observance) and those who follow the even stricter rules (called Strict Observance or Trappists). Both groups still follow the original ideas!