How much actual labor did Cistercian Monks do on their lands?

They’re famous for reclaiming boggy, wilderness lands, metallurgy, and their stone working, but how much did the Brothers actually do compared to lay labors?

Did the Monks only work a token garden?

Its been an exhausting, exciting past few weeks at the archive, another 22 boxes of negatives were donated from the same massive collection I've been processing forever. Two exhibits solely written by me are in the works and we located an antebellum railroad bridge (never completed), a town that was burned by Confederates in the mountains (with associated graveyard) and are close to finding a Civil War era Powderworks/Armory that was destroyed in 1863. This is basically my life now

Week 8

In the weeks following Caporetto, the Italian Government begun the clunky process of developing some necessary innovations to face both the persistent state of war and the negative consequences of the military defeat: now that the line had been stabilized behind the Piave river, the central issue was to re-establish the troops' morale. Whether it had been shaken by the defeat or compromised by the defeatist (socialist or catholic) propaganda, both the Government (now led by V.E. Orlando) and the Army (now led by General A. Diaz) agreed that a coordinated approach was needed.

Besides some welcome improvements in the men's conditions (rations were increased and license duration was extended), the main steps were two:the institution of a propaganda service^1 and the introduction of social assistance measures especially catered to veterans.

By decree, on December 10^th , the Opera Nazionale Combattenti (National Combatants Project) was created, under personal initiative of the socialist reformer (of Bissolati area), interventionist and volunteer Aurelio Beneduce, who worked in close contact with Finance Minister F.S. Nitti. The purpose of the institute was twofold: improve the conditions of the combatants during the war and establish a pathway for their re-entering into civil society through state sponsored works (in the following months the Government will grant the ONC the right to purchase land portions at a favorable price for that purpose) and professional education.

It would take some time for the Institute to begin its activity, so that its operations would be limited to post war – and mostly focused on the agrarian problem, as the re-entering of veterans into the working force would be taken up by the National Veterans and Combatants Association. Later on the ONC would be reformed (1926) and became the core of the land clearing program of the Fascist Regime.

Much of this went on behind the curtains, as the Government's action took place for the most part outside of the Chambers – and even there sessions were frequently held in secret committee.

After one month (14^th of November to 12^th of December) the Italian Parliament had finally resumed session and the Government was ready to give his update to the Chambers. Prime Minster Orlando begun his discussion with a general overview of the military situation, that “had been in the current month improving significantly”; “having kept the line of the Piave river” was a “fact of incalculable military and moral value”. A brief description of the struggle of the Italian generations on the front was followed by rounds of applause. But Orlando wanted to express as well his “gratitude to the troops of France and England”, now deployed in line with the Italians.

The Government believed that, at first, “under imminent supreme threat, the only duty was to face it with one mind and all [the Nation's] energies” and that “the search for the causes of the unfortunate events could not [be allowed to] raise recriminations or determine hesitations”, which was not to say that the Government did not “feel its duty towards the Parliament” to “establish, as far as possible, with serene impartiality the objective truth of the events and their causes”. In fact Orlando announced his intention to update the Chambers on the evidence collected to that point.

Meanwhile though the economical situation needed to be addressed as well. Italy had suffered a significant commercial deficit even before the conflict; now the persisting situation had determined “a general increase of prices”^2 ; and such a state of things would not “change immediately for the mere proclamation of peace”; a fact that made necessary a “firmer and more resolute organization of the public offices and a better discipline over individual action. Whether the war continued or ended, the problems were going to be the same.”

While the Italian finances had given “proof of admirable resistance”, “more severe was the values and exchange situation”^3 . To keep the issue under control new governative provisions were announced to be detailed later.

The sacrifices required did not mean that the Government had no plans for veterans and combatants; Orlando therefore announced the offer to the soldiers' families of an insurance plan (for the small sum of 500 or 1,000 lire – for example the hefty American insurance was equivalent to about 50,000 lire), that could be paid off in full after the war for purchasing of land or working instruments.

On the positive side, “war had given impulse to various new industrial plants” and to turn this into a stable development it was necessary to focus resolutely on “the problem of the post-war”.

Finally Orlando moved to foreign politics, supporting the declaration of independence for the Polish Nation and celebrating the “freeing of Jerusalem”, “promise of liberation from a nightmare of oppression and violence”. But most relevant were the news of the Russian Revolution, with the “allies waiting before acknowledging a government [that would be] expression of the sincere and lasting will of the people” ad of course the “severe military consequences” of the Russian defection – which did not change the fact that the “means and men” still weighted on the Entente side. And to “share these means and respective needs” had been the “structuring principle” of the inter-allied Conference of Paris of last November 29^th . The “common effort of the Allies” would ensure that Italy wouldn't lack “materials and supplies for the prosecution of the war”.

And another great moment had been marked “with the declaration of war of the US against Austria-Hungary”; saluted with another round of applause. After which Orlando remarked the Italian sentiment of “brotherly solidarity with the great American Republic”, enhanced by the “magnificent enthusiasm of the American Red Cross” in bringing comfort to the Italian recent misfortune; but also the “ideal nature” that the conflict was taking, rising “above the particular interests of the single Nations”. The goal was no longer “a peace, any peace, even empty, apparent” but a “lasting, definitive peace, that would erase forever the chance of renewal of such violence and atrocities that had threatened mankind with a return to abject brutality”. And the Italian people, while ready and content with such a peace, conscious that “any people that in a similar hour would have deserted its place, would have signed its dishonorable end, proclaimed itself then, and forever, proud of fighting for the righteous cause and secure in its faith in the triumph of freedom and justice”.

I wrote an article on Robert E. Howard and Robert H. Barlow - Howard being a pulp writer most famous for the creation of Conan the Barbarian, and Barlow remembered both as a Nauhatl scholar and as H. P. Lovecraft's literary executor. Lovecraft is the primary connection between the two - but there are some other, subtler ties to that, and it's in part because of Barlow that so much of Howard's letters and poetry have survived. Besides Lovecraft and both sharing the same name, both men also committed suicide rather young. (Hence the famous phrase "Three Bobs can keep a secret if two are dead.")

...my life the last year or two seems to be comprised of reading dead men's letters and trying to put them into context.

It's been estimated that 78% of (I think it's just middle class?) Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Do any reliable numbers for this statistic exist for the Great Depression? And are there any reasons to believe we may be heading into some sort of extreme depression?

Maybe an economics question, but Student Loan debt is roughly 1.4T at last estimate that I'm aware of. Since it for the most part can't be discharged through bankruptcy, is there a way for that bubble to burst and what happens when it does?

Healthcare premiums are, last I heard, expected to rise in the vein of 30-35% or more. Income inequality in America is pretty high, and growing. Combined with a lot of other things, it feels fairly doom and gloom for your average American. What are some reasons for this? Is it because of globalization and increased automation? Is there a reason to believe it gets better?

I've heard that automation simply means that we need to shift what type of jobs we have, and that unemployment will not be an issue because more jobs will be created - is there anything to support this? And should underemployment go down as it does happen? Is underemployment a reliable statistic to use for such a thing? I guess a better way of putting is: will automation result in a mass displacement or replacement of human workers, and what happens if we're being replaced and can't find a good way to support ourselves?

EDIT: Senator Sanders has criticized the official unemployment rate vs the U-6 unemployment rate - are either of these in a place where we need to be concerned about our economic health?

Some may remember me posting last week about finishing up a piece of original research on the US Subs of WWI for the undergraduate program I'm in at the moment.

It was a success, and I don't think I've edited a paper that much before. It's my child, and a topic that's near and dear to my heart (my dad served on Nuclear subs) so it was a blast getting to research and write it. Hopefully, it's a topic I'll be able to revisit.

Now to finish my paper for my Marine Policy class...

Frequent topics: Nazis, Norsemen, Ninjas, and Nukes?

"Why did we bomb Hiroshima & Nagasaki?" was just posted. At least that often gets asked with different aspects and angles a lot of the time. Unlike twins.

As far as Reddit's own search can find, we just got the 21st posting of the question about what happened if the eldest children of a lord or monarch (it varies) were twins. Occurance number 20 was yesterday.

Does anyone have boilerplate handy for the "not to discourage further questions" notice? [[META] "Check the FAQ" and Other Non-responses] has /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov quoting

Hi there! This is an interesting question, and hopefully someone will come along who knows the answer, but in the mean time, you might be interested in the response written by /u/Thisisafakeusername in [this answer](linktoaspecificanswernotjusttoageneralthread), which is somewhat similar to your own. It addresses [one sentence summary of the piece].

but that doesn't have anything about "further questions" and doesn't apply if that does in fact answer the current question. (Also, I think it asserts too much about how interesting the question is and how much one hopes that someone will write more on it.)

Also, is there any nice way to express how to use Reddit search and Google search? Comrade Marshal there suggests that it comes off sounding snarky. Should it maybe be added to the FAQ, where someone might say "for suggestions on how to look for previous answers, you can go [here]"? How do things get there?

(Omitting a rant on repeated questions, since I'm just a random lightly skimming reader. I'm just a bit astonished the mod team haven't put their collective underwear on their collective heads and said "wibble". I may be too picky and obnoxious.)