Abstract
XIIth century is characterised by the new tendencies in monastic attitude towards manual labour (opus manuum). For the Cistercian order the participation of it's monks in the cultivation of monasteries' lands became an integral part of the community's existence, which not only allowed monks to have their own independent food production, but was also tightly connected to their main spiritual mission and became the symbolical expression of their identity. That's why the Cistercians use agricultural metaphors and allegories more often than other monks. The attitude towards labour has, of course, influenced the interaction of their community with nature and the choise of monastic sites. The Cistercians have considerably contributed to the development of regions where their cloisters were founded. In the XIIth century the term laborare (to labour) also meant to ameliorate the world. According to the Cistercians, One was created to help God in the Creation and it was the agricultural work itself that gave One the possibility to transform the Nature in accordance with God's purpose.
Keywords
labour, nature, XIIth century, cistercians, Bernard of Clairvaux
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