Monastery and Convent LifeLife in monasteries and convents involved physical labor as well as spiritual activities. In this twelfth-century French manuscript, a monk and a lay brother chop down a tree. Such work was a common part of monastic life because monasteries, especially those of the Cistercians, were often built in heavily forested wilderness areas. (Bibliothèque municipale, Dijon, France, Ms 173 f 41/The Bridgeman Art Library)