sentences:  He gives a lengthy account of 742 ancient abbeys of monks, founded between the end of the 11th and the end of the 17th centuries.The genealogical and chronological tables, as well as the work itself, required a colossal labour of research and compilation.He was unable to publish the second volume, which was to have been devoted to Cistercian nunneries, and for which he had collected a great deal of material.