The zeal to uncompromisingly observe the Rule of St. Benedict, which rejects anything superfluous, resulted in the emergence in the 11th century of a renaissance monastic movement which took a stance against the wealth and somewhat sophisticated lifestyle that some monasteries had adopted.
The need to regain the figure of the monk as someone dedicated to prayer, hard work and caring for pilgrims led to the birth of the Cistercian Order. Based on the teachings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the Cistercian monastic order spread across the whole of Europe.
The Catalan-Aragonese monarchs entrusted the monks with the foundation of important centres endowed with huge tracts of farmland which stimulated the economy and demographic status of their new lands.
In Catalonia, communities were established in Poblet, Santes Creus and Vallbona de les Monges in response to the need to colonise the under-populated lands conquered from the Saracens and located in the New Catalonia.
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