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A Cistercian monk (perhaps Stephen Harding) at the feet of an angel
© Bibliotheque Municipale, Dijon
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1. Narrative accounts of the early history of the Order
(a) Exordium Cistercii: a brief narrative of the early history of the Order, that ends in 1115.
(b) Exordium Parvum Cistercii: which is essentially the Exordium Cisterciensis Coeniobii: it includes the early history of Cîteaux, incorporating official letters and documents with narrative. The Exordium Parvum was expanded and revised in c. 1147, the version that we now have.

2. The Cistercian constitution, the Carta Caritatis (the Charter of Charity)
This was a pioneering document that established the constitutional framework of the Order; it outlined the federal arrangement of the abbeys which were bound in ties of unity and subject to annual visitation. Every abbey was to have a copy of this document. The Carta Caritatis was frequently updated; the earliest version, compiled c. 1114, is no longer extant. It was approved by Pope Calixtus II in 1119.

3. The Capitula (Statutes of the General Chapter)
These disciplinary decrees, thematically arranged, constituted the first code of law issued by the General Chapter. Whilst some of the statutes date from Stephen Harding’s abbacy (pre-date c. 1133-4), the process of development was gradual. The statutes of the General Chapter from 1116-1786 have been edited, in eight volumes, by Canivez.(1)

4. The Ecclesiastica Officia
A directory of regulations regarding liturgical and monastic life. It is not known when the first version was completed, although this was likely soon after 1119, during Stephen Harding’s abbacy. The Ecclesiastica Officia was essentially a reference book to ensure uniformity amongst the abbeys; it details how the liturgy should be celebrated and the house administered.(2)

5. The Usus Conversorum(3)
The customs relating to the lay-brothers. The Cistercians were the first to fully legislate for the lay-brothers. This twelfth-century text comprises of a prologue and twenty-three chapters that address clothing, communion etc. The first version of this work probably post-dates the earliest version of the Ecclesiastica Officia, and was likely compiled in the early 1120s.(4)

6. Compilations
(a) The Usages (Usus cisterciensium), c. 1133-5
(b) The Customs (Consuetudines cisterciensium), c. 1152
Both compilations included an historical prologue (either the Exordium Cistercii or the Exordium Parvum), a version of the Carta Caritatis (the Charter of Charity), the Capitula of the General Chapter, the Ecclesiastica Officia and the Usus Conversorum.

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