FREE ESSAY ON MEDIEVAL MONASTICISM

MEDIEVAL MONASTICISM

MEDIEVAL MONASTICISM
There is little doubt that the monastic ideal exercised a powerful influence on the
communities in which monasteries were found.
It has been estimated that there were around 340 religious houses and about 15,000 men
and women in religious orders in the last quarter of the twelfth century in England and
Wales. Rievaulx and the other surviving Yorkshire abbeys are testimony to the major
building work then under way in that part of the European community. Abbots such as
Ailred became influential 52figures in the church (Coleman, 1993). Italian abbots were
automatic members of kings' councils, simply because of their station, their influence,
and their service.
Though not the first monastery founded to serve Christian beliefs, and not even the first
founded by St. Benedict, Monte Cassino was founded in 529 by Saint Benedict of Nursia on
the site of an Apollonian temple, northwest of Naples, and was to become the best known.
Monte Cassino became the home of the Benedictine Order and was for many centuries the
leading monastery in western Europe. It was destroyed by Lombardsin 590, by Saracens in
884, and by earthquake in 1349, and was rebuilt each time. The present buildings are in
the style of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Judged by the standards of the time, the Benedictine rule imposed no great amount of
austerity or asceticism. It required the provision of adequate food, clothing, and
shelter for the monks. Depending on the season of the year and the festival celebrated,
the monks each day devoted a period of four to eight hours to celebrating the Divine
Office and one period of seven or eight hours to sleep; the remainder of the day was
divided about equally between work (usually agricultural) and religious reading and
study. The abbot was given full patriarchal authority over the community, but was himself
subject to the rule and was required to consult the members of the community on important
questions. During the lifetime of Benedict, his disciples spread the order through the
countries of central and western Europe; it soon became the only important order in those
lands, remaining so until the founding of the Austin Friars in the 11th century and of
the mendicant orders in the 13th century.
During the 11th and 12th centuries it was a center of learning, particularly in the field
of medicine. The famous medical school at Salerno was established by Monte Cassino monks.
Regardless of order, nearly all monasteries provided community services lacking in their
local areas. They were the centers of learning in a time when illiteracy was the norm.
They provided rest and shelter for travelers, and counseling and solace for any who
asked. It was the nature of a monastery to be self-supporting. With the attention given
to prayer and introspection, it was necessary to attend to the matters of survival in the
most efficient way possible, leaving as much time as possible for spiritual or scholarly
pursuits.
That the order was (and remains) influential is indicated by the sheer numbers of leaders
and those who were "sainthood eligible" generated through it: Gregory I was the first of
50 Benedictines who have occupied the papal throne; some others were Leo IV (800?-55);
Gregory VII; Pius VII; and Gregory XVI (1765-1846). St. Augustine, the disciple of
Gregory the Great who took the Benedictine rule to England late in the 6th century,
became the first of a long list of Benedictine archbishops of Canterbury. As early as
1354 the order had provided 24 popes, 200 cardinals, 7000 archbishops, 15,000 bishops,
1560 canonized saints, and 5000 holy persons worthy of canonization, a number since
increased to 40,000, and it had included 20 emperors, 10 empresses, 47 kings, 50 queens,
and many other royal and noble persons. The order had 37,000 monks in the 14th century;
in the 15th century it had 15,107. The Reformation drastically reduced the numbers of the
Benedictines, but today, 1400 years after its founding, the order not only still exists,
but is quite active in diverse areas of the world.
Present-day Christians are often cautioned, "Don't be so heavenly minded that you're no
earthly good." The admonishers could have taken their cue from these active, caring,
involved monasteries.