f the twelfth century, the world of the Schools, and the world of Citeaux was complimentary, not antagonistic. It is hard not to think that his theological studies had been a contributing factor in the search that led him to Citeaux; his sermons and treatises are evidence of the fact that his experience of the monastic life provided an ideal situation for theological meditation, while his duties as abbot saw to it that these meditations were communicated to others."

Isaac of Stella was an English-born Cistercian who studied in the schools before entering monastic life and becoming abbot of Stella in 1147. His liturgical sermons inject a speculative philosophical inquisitiveness into imaginative meditations on scenes from Scripture. Isaac combined the increasingly technical vocabulary of the cathedral schools with the spiritual tradition of the monastery. Dialectic is here combined with meditative reflection.