ABSTRACT
However impressive the manifold economic activities of Cistercian monasteries might have been, they were never more than a means to an end, a tool for ensuring that the monks would be able to lead a contemplative life and maintain proper observance of the rules of the Order. Far more important than working to create wealth were prayers, contemplation, preaching and listening to the sermons, and also reading, writing and copying manuscripts. Contrary to popular assumption, Cistercian monks were not anti-intellectual and were involved in a broad range of activities which can be described as knowledge creation, application and consumption. Much of that work - for example keeping annalistic records, copying liturgical books and preaching - was a continuation of old monastic traditions, but the Cistercians made their own distinctive contribution to Christo-centric and Marian spirituality and also, in the later middle ages, to relatively new developments such as university education. Even if white monks were hardly in the forefront of new intellectual advances, they were skilled in making effective use of the work of others for purposes close to their heart, such as preaching and formation of the novices.
