Cistercians, a monastic order founded by the Benedictine abbot Robert of Champagne, in France, who, after repeated attempts—at first in the forest of Molesme—at a reformation of the secularised monastic life, established in 1098, in the forest of Cîteaux (Cistercium), a small hamlet near Dijon, along with twenty companions, a monastery for the purpose of carrying out the strictest observance of the rule of St Benedict. By command of the pope Robert returned in 1099 to Molesme, where he died in 1108; but his successor, Alberic (who died in 1109) succeeded in gaining the pope's favour and the confirmation of the order, and drew up the Instituta Monachorum Cisterciensium, which represented the new foundation as the only true Benedictism. His successor, Stephen Harding, ruled in the same spirit, and still further stamped the order with its distinctive character of austerity. Yet Cîteaux was near extinction when the famous St Bernard, together with thirty companions, joined the Cistercians in 1113. Two years afterwards he became the first abbot of Clairvaux, which thenceforward was the centre of the influence he wielded throughout Europe. In 1119 the Abbot Stephen issued a new rule, the 'Charter of Charity,' for the monks of the order, which was already augmented by two additional monasteries. It gained great accessions in Spain and Portugal, as well as in France, where the Cistercians now also bore the name of Bernardines. Before the end of the 12th century the order had 800 abbeys in different countries of Europe, and by the middle of the 13th its establishments had reached the number of 1800. But as riches increased, the old austerity and unity decayed; the Spanish abbots seceded, and even in France and Italy arose separate congregations, such as the Feuillans and the Trappists. The Cistercians did little for the progress of the sciences; but they rendered valuable service in the development of agriculture, and in the 12th and 13th centuries they were consistent promoters of Gothic architecture.
The Cistercians were distinguished from the order of Clugny (q.v.) by their severer rule and stricter poverty, avoiding everything like splendour in their churches, even gold and silver crosses; by being submissive to the jurisdiction of the bishops, at least till after the death of St Bernard; by not meddling with the cure of souls; by wearing a white robe with a black scapulary; and by their peculiar form of government, which was introduced by Innocent III. in 1215 into all the monastic orders. In England their earliest establishment was Waverley Abbey (1128), near Farnham, in Surrey. The number of Cistercian abbeys in England in the reign of Henry VIII. was 75, besides 26 Cistercian nunneries. In Scotland there were 11 abbeys and 7 nunneries. Among the English abbeys were Woburn, Tintern, Furness, Fountains, Kirkstall, and Rievaulx; among the Scottish, Melrose, Dundrennan, Kinloss, Glenluce, Culross, Deer, Balmerino, and Sweetheart or New Abbey. The chief French abbeys, 'the four eldest daughters of Citeaux,' as they were called, were La Ferté, Pontigny, Clairvaux, and Morimond, the last of these having itself 700 dependent benefices. Port Royal des Champs was the most celebrated of the Cistercian nunneries. Riches and indolence brought this powerful order, as well as others, into decay. Even before the Reformation many of their convents had ceased to exist. The French Revolution reduced the Cistercians to a few convents in Spain, Poland, Austria, and Saxony. The last remnant of the order in France was expelled in 1880. At Mount St Bernard, near Coalville, Leicestershire, they have a 'mitred' abbey built by Pugin the elder. See Manriquez, Annales Cistercienses (4 vols. Lyons, 1642); The Cistercian Saints of England (ed. by Newman, 1844); Sharpe, The Architecture of the Cistercians (1874); Janaschek, Origines Cisterciensium (1877); also the articles BENEDICTINES, MONACHISM.