Medieval Agriculture, the Southern French Countryside, and the Early Cistercians: A Study of Forty-three Monasteries

A study of medieval agriculture, of the rural world of southern France, & of the early corporate farms of the new religious order of Citeaux, founded in Burgundy in 1098 & imported into southern France in the mid-12th century. It also assesses the Cistercians¿ contributions to southern-French economic development in the 12th & 13th centuries. The study shows that the Cistercians in that region did not acquire lands for their huge, newly consolidated farms -- the granges -- through clearance & reclamation of unoccupied lands as traditional accounts suggest, but rather through the careful purchase & reorganization of holdings which had often had a long history of cultivation. Illustrations.Berman, Constance is the author of 'Medieval Agriculture, the Southern French Countryside, and the Early Cistercians: A Study of Forty-three Monasteries', published 2007 under ISBN 9781422374498 and ISBN 1422374491.