Bernard of Clairvaux's letter to his young cousin Robert, written in the early 1120s CE, ignited a public controversy between the powerful Cluniacs and the upstart Cistercians over proper monastic practice and recruitment that smoldered throughout the twelfth century. This article examines how Cistercian polemics arose out of this new monastic competition to form Cistercian identity. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercians under his influence employed a rhetoric that drew on notions of space, age, and gender to present their rivals as worldly, feminine, and immature and themselves as mature and masculine warriors on the front lines of ascetic battle against the vices. In doing so, the Cistercians deployed a gendered concept of “childhood” and “youth” that shaped their understanding of monastic conversion and progression as maturation from a worldly, feminized child to a mature and masculine monk. By centering “childhood” as a category of analysis, this article demonstrates the importance of age to Cistercian constructions of monastic masculinity. The gender-crossing martial, nuptial, and maternal imagery for which the Cistercians are famous relied on constructions of the “child.” This article shows that “childhood” and “adulthood” are mutually constitutive, gendered categories and reveals that “childhood” is as important to constructing Christian masculinities as notions of “woman.”

中文翻译：

---

塑造男性修道士：性别、空间和 12 世纪西多会身份形成中想象的“孩子”

Clairvaux 的伯纳德 (Bernard of Clairvaux) 写于公元 1120 年代初，写给他年轻的表弟罗伯特 (Robert)，这引发了强大的 Cluniacs 和新贵的西多会 (Cistercians) 之间关于适当的修道院实践和招募的公开争论，这场争论在整个 12 世纪一直在酝酿。本文探讨了西多会争论是如何从这场形成西多会身份的新修道院竞争中产生的。克莱尔沃的伯纳德和受他影响的西多会采用了一种利用空间、年龄和性别概念的修辞，将他们的对手描绘成世俗的、女性化的和不成熟的，而他们自己则是在禁欲主义斗争的前线对抗现代主义的成熟和男性化的战士恶习。在这样做，西多会采用了“童年”和“青年”的性别概念，塑造了他们对修道院皈依和进步的理解，即从一个世俗的、女性化的孩子到一个成熟的、男性化的僧侣的成熟。通过将“童年”作为一个分析类别，本文证明了年龄对于修道院男子气概的西多会建构的重要性。西多会著名的跨性别军事、婚礼和母性意象依赖于“孩子”的建构。这篇文章表明，“童年”和“成年”是相互构成的、性别化的范畴，并揭示“童年”与“女人”的概念一样，对于构建基督教男性气质同样重要。这篇文章论证了年龄对于修道院男子气概的西多会建构的重要性。西多会著名的跨性别军事、婚礼和母性意象依赖于“孩子”的建构。这篇文章表明，“童年”和“成年”是相互构成的、性别化的范畴，并揭示“童年”与“女人”的概念一样，对于构建基督教男性气质同样重要。这篇文章论证了年龄对于修道院男子气概的西多会建构的重要性。西多会著名的跨性别军事、婚礼和母性意象依赖于“孩子”的建构。这篇文章表明，“童年”和“成年”是相互构成的、性别化的范畴，并揭示“童年”与“女人”的概念一样，对于构建基督教男性气质同样重要。