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The conversi, or lay brothers formed a distinctive part of the Cistercian order, taking vows as monks, but working as agricultural labourers on the order's estates. This comprehensive study of the lay brothers explores the origins of the institution, the background of the men who made up the brethren and their motivations, their place within the order and attitudes of the monks and other monastic authors towards them, as well as the work they actually performed. Further chapters look at the architectural and material world of the conversi, the reputation gained by the lay brothers for disobedience and revolt and the decline and end of the institution of conversi within the order.