Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"In 1098, a small band of monks, dissatisfied with what they saw as the easy living of their Abbey of Molesme in Burgundy, left to form a new monastery. The monks wished to follow a stricter adherence to the rules of St. Benedict and were led by their abbot, Robert of Molesme, who had been unsuccessful in reforming the monks at the abbey. . . . The Cistercian Order gained influence in the twelfth century when Bernard, abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux, intervened in the papal schism of 1130-1138. As Bernard's influence grew, so did that of Cistercian Order. Then, in 1145, in what was seen as triumph of the order, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Aquae Siviae near Rome was elected Pope Eugene III. Between 1130 and 1145, nearly 100 Cistercian monasteries were founded throughout Europe, Conservative as they were, Cistercian monasteries are credited with playing an important role in the spread of improved farming techniques." [1001 Days]