The Cistercians’ dedication to manual labour set them apart from their Benedictine counterparts and was seen as a defining feature of the Order. The Benedictines, in contrast, considered this as outdated, quirky and even inappropriate.
Benedictines were known for their liking for fine dining and a tendency to overindulge, the Cistercian and Carthusian monks were renowned for the severity of their diet and strict abstinence from meat.