Laszlo Ferenczi, PhD

Monastic manors and the landscape impact of Cistercian estate management: A landscape archaeological and historical ecological study on Plasy Abbey

There is a common assumption that medieval Cistercian monastic communities played a significant role in transforming their environments by clearing woodlands, diverting river courses, constructing fishponds, colonizing new lands. They were also renowned for their pastoral economy – collecting land grants and pasture rights to sustain their considerable livestock. This image of the order is based mostly on some well documented estates in Western Europe, while in those regions, which were peripheral to Cistercian expansion, the environmental impact of the order remains uncharted. Our paper draws on state-of-the-art methodologies (such as LiDAR, pXRF spectrometry, soil isotope analysis), in order to critically assess Cistercian landscape impact, revising the above outlined interpretation and offering a more nuanced narrative. In particular, the presentation will provide insight into the results of a recently accomplished research project (GAČR, grant No. 21-25061S) that focused on the estate of Plasy in Western Bohemia. This will be discussed in a comparative context, relying on a selection of examples from other regions and countries (Hungary, Poland) to illustrate local diversity, and the various types of spatial-environmental information available for landscape archaeological research.