Introductory Texts about the Cistercian Movement: Lekai on Beginnings

Lekai, Louis J. “Motives and Ideals of the Eleventh-Century Monastic Renewal.” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 4 (1969): 3–20. Scan here.

Lekai’s conventional and solid introductory essay on the origins of the Cistercian Order was published in 1969 and is still worth reading, especially for starters. He positions the beginnings of Cîteaux amidst the “troubled monastic scene of the eleventh century”. Although he wrote it 50 years ago, when the order was much stronger than it is today, he nonetheless thought of his own day as a state of emergency, with the order about to die [...read more]. In refreshingly sober language, he warns of manipulative historiography, which rushes forth with the “wish to see our notions verified, our intentions supported; we want to make the great figures of monastic history speak on our behalf.” Scholarly arguments are almost always more complicated than that, and historical inquiry cannot be relied upon to deliver the sound bytes desired by today’s disputes.

Cistercian origins remain uncomfortable today because, as Lekai states, the founders of Cîteaux contributed at least indirectly to the great milestones of the twelfth century: an institutionalized and cetnralized church, papal authority, segregation of the clergy from laity, the first triumphs of Canon Law, and celibacy. He also warns of seeking a pristine moment of perfection in Cistercian beginnings, reminding readers that the eleventh century was not at all a period of decline, but of the flourishing movement of Cluny and many other high-standing monastic movements. And although Lekai fraims the beginnings of Cîteaux amidst the usual cast of characters, he makes an interesting addition to the dramatis personae, in that he devotes several pages to hermits. Many forget its “enormous popularity, its quick spread geographically and its penetration of all strata of the existing society.” Because eremitism only played a minor role in the development of the Cisterican Order and has all but disappeared in the modern era, we forget this influence too easily.

Download the Lekai article here for a good introduction.