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1. The Majesty of Monasticism
Preserving the Past for Perpetuity
Professor Will Adams
Valencia College

2. The Meaning of Monasticism
The word monk comes from the Greek word monos, meaning alone.
The earliest monks were men who left their homes to be alone in remote
places.
Monastic communities trace their origins to the early centuries of the
Christian era.
Some early Christians fled to the Egyptian deserts to live alone with God.
These Desert Fathers greatly influenced the development of monasticism,
both Eastern and Western.
At the heart of the monastic impulse is the rejection of the world, and the
recreation of paradise.

3. Monasticism’s Origins
In the late Roman period, many
religiously-minded people
abandoned “civilization” to go into
the wilderness or deserts to be
closer to God.
This deliberate abandonment of
worldly temptations is known as
asceticism.

4. Monasticism’s Origins
As individuals and as small
groups, these monks often sought
out remote locations away from
the large medieval cities others
flocked to.
They did this to be away from
the temptations of the world and
away from the marauding
German tribes.

5. Monasticism’s Origins
 Individuals were called hermits; they
lived in a place called a hermitage.
 However, not all monks wanted to live
alone.
 Many chose to live with others in
religious communities called
monasteries.
 Shown is St. Catherine’s at Mt.
Sinai, founded c. 550 C.E., which is
widely considered the first
monastery.

6. Monasticism’s Origins
These early monks turned away
from what was considered a
“normal life” for the time:
They prayed often.
They became chaste.
They fasted.
They gave up their worldly
goods.

7. Monasticism’s Origins
It was St. Anthony the Great
who organized and founded
the first monastery, St.
Catherine’s at Mt. Sinai in
Egypt.
Soon there were many
monasteries throughout
Egypt.

8. Monasticism’s Origins
However, it was St. Benedict of
Nursia who brought the practice
of monastic life to the West.
He established his monastery, the
first in Europe’s history, in
Italy, at Monte Cassino in 529
C.E.

9. Monasticism’s Origins
 It was St. Benedict’s sister, St.
Scholastica, who founded the first
convents for women, which gave
women the opportunity of a monastic
life.
 Women who lived in convents were
called nuns.
 This came from the Latin word
nonna, which means tutor.

10. Missionary Monks: Spreading Faith
 Catholic monks helped make the
medieval world more orderly, in fact
they provided the only source of
European order after Rome’s fall.
 Risking their lives, monks set out to
convert the pagan barbarians living
throughout Europe to Christianity, a
practice known as mission.

11. Missionary Monks: Spreading Faith
 Famous monks – who later became
saints – that took Christianity to
the pagan barbarian tribes of the
ancient world included:
St. Cyril, St. Methodius, St.
Paul, and St. Barnabus in the
East,
St. Patrick and St. Donan in the
West.

12. The Rule of St. Benedict
 Most significantly, St. Benedict
contributed a book of rules, known
as the Rule of St. Benedict, that
is accepted as the way western
monks should live to the present
day.
 Its seventy-three chapters outline a
life of “pax, ora et labora”, or “peace,
prayer and work”.

13. The Rule of St. Benedict
 The Rule saw monastic life as a
family.
The abbot was seen as the father.
The monks were brothers.
 Each day was divided into units of:
Group prayer
Private prayer
Sleep
Ritual reading
Manual labor

14. Monastic Itinerary: The Horarium
 Monks living in monasteries followed a
strict daily schedule that is rooted in
the Rule of St. Benedict’s focus on work
and prayer called a horarium.
 Prayer services took place frequently
throughout the day and at night.
 Between these services there were times to
sleep, eat and – most importantly –
work.

15. The Monastic Church & Cloister
 At the heart of every monastery or
abbey lay the church that was used
for communal prayer – both by the
monks or the parishioners,
 Surrounding that was a walled-in
space called a cloister that was used
for individual meditation and prayer
by the monks, as well as for work, as
gardens were often planted there..

16. A Monk’s Avowed Existence
 In order to live within the monastic
community, monks or nuns also had
to make vows to adhere to certain
codes.
 Monks vowed to observe:
 Poverty: they would own nothing.
 Obedience: they would follow the
directions of their abbot.
 Out of obedience also came a
commitment to chastity: avoiding sex.
 Many monks or nuns were also
required to take a vow of silence.

17. The Monastic Meditative Life
Monks spent a good part of their
lives in prayer – both public and
private.
Public prayer involved going to
church 8 times a day– in
addition to their work routine.
Private prayer happened
during work or in the few
quiet moments a monk might
enjoy during his day.

18. The Monastic Meditative Life
At meals, monks ate silently,
while listening to readings from
the Rule of St. Benedict.
This took place in the
monastery’s communal dining
hall, which is referred to as a
refectory.

19. Laboring in The Lord’s Name
 When they were not engaged in prayer,
monks worked at a wide range of
activities.
 First and foremost, they farmed the
land and made huge advances in
agriculture during the medieval period.
 Monasteries sought to be self-sufficient,
so the monks became proficient at
producing vegetables, livestock, and wine.

20. Laboring in The Lord’s Name
 Additionally, monks and nuns
cared for the sick.
 Although medieval knowledge of
disease and treatment were limited
by modern standards, monks and
nuns ran hospitals, which used
knowledge of Roman and Greek
medicine to treat the sick or dying.

21. Laboring in The Lord’s Name
 For use in treating illness, they
cultivated medicinal herbs in cloister
gardens.
 The knowledge of these herbs was gleaned
from Classical texts.
 Examples of medicinal plants grown are:
 Coriander: Used to treat fever
 Anise: Used to reduce sweating
 Rosemary: Used to stimulate memory
 Yarrow: Used to treat headaches

22. Laboring in The Lord’s Name
 They preserved knowledge by copying books.
 Some say that monks actually saved
civilization itself in Western Europe by
preserving what little learning remained from
the Classical world of ancient Greece and
Rome.
 This took place in a space called a
scriptorium, where monks copied out books by
hand.
 The illustrated texts they produced are
called illuminated manuscripts.

23. Laboring in The Lord’s Name
They taught, drawing on their
wealth of Classical knowledge.
Young clergymen were taught the
Bible and theology at their
schools.
The first European universities
were run by monks and nuns.
The first European university
was Italy’s University of Bologna,
founded around 1088 C.E.

24. Laboring in The Lord’s Name
 Some monks even fought.
 The Knights Templar were an order of
fighting monks, dedicated to conquering
and holding the Holy Land in Israel
for Christianity, against the invading
Ottoman Turks.
 These Crusaders also brought back
knowledge of Eastern wisdom, like
calculus and the architectural pointed
arch.

25. Ecclesiastical Experimentation
 Because a monastery could rely on
its fellow monasteries for support, it
was possible for them to experiment.
 New farming techniques, equipment
and products were the result, and
that new knowledge was shared with
other monasteries and convents.

26. Ecclesiastical Experimentation
 As previously mentioned, monks produced
large quantities of wine, for sacramental
and other uses.
 A French monk, named Dom Perignon,
is credited with inventing Champagne.
 Champagne was created by accident when
Dom Perignon added additional sugar to
the bottle as the wine fermented.

27. Innovation: Crop Rotation
The three-field system
probably originated on a
monastic farm.
Land would be divided into
thirds.
One third would have one crop,
another third a second, and
the last third would be fallow.
Over three years the crops
and fallow land rotated.

28. Innovation: The Heavy Plow
 The combination of education,
farming knowledge and shared risk
helped to spark medieval invention.
 Nailed horseshoes and horse-collars
made it possible to replace slow oxen
with plow horses, capable of much
more work.
 This made it possible for Europeans
to avoid famine.

29. Medieval Monastic Expansion
Monasteries were very
successful.
As more people joined them,
they established new abbeys
that were connected to others
of the same order.
This allowed a sharing of
resources, skills and
information.

30. Monumental Monastic Architecture
 Medieval monastic orders, like the
Benedictines, Augustinians,
Cluniacs and Cistercians generated
great wealth which they used to
build impressive buildings to the
glory of their God – cathedrals
and abbeys that reached for Heaven
itself.

31. The Dominant Monastic Orders
Eventually, two orders came to
dominate the Christian West: the
Cluniacs and the Cistercians.
Cluniacs were known for the
opulence of their abbeys, while the
Cistercians were known for
eschewing that style entirely.

32. The Cluniac Monastic Order
The Cluniacs built beautiful
abbeys and decorated them with
gorgeous stained glass and
magnificent ornaments.
It was one Cluniac, abbot, Abbot
Suger, who is said to have
invented the Gothic form of
architecture when he renovated the
Abbey of St. Denis in 1135 C.E.
The Gothic style is defined by
its use of stained glass and
Eastern-inspired pointed arches..

33. The Cistercian Monastic Order
 The Cistercians resented the
Cluniacs’ show of wealth and built
grand, but unadorned abbeys.
 They believed that their austere
lifestyle and extreme denial of
Earthly pleasure put them in better
touch with God.
 They dominated the wool trade of
medieval Europe.

34. The Other Monastic Orders
 New monastic orders assumed new roles.
 In Britain alone, there were 11 groups
operating.
 Augustinians
 Benedictines
 Carmelites
 Carthusians
 Cistercians
 Cluniacs
 Dominicans
 Franciscans
 Gilbertines
 Premonstratensians
 Tironensians
 All follow the Rule of St. Benedict.

35. Conclusions & Consequences
Monasticism was a vital feature
of medieval life.
Monks preserved and extended
knowledge.
They provided what little social
welfare was available.
They created wealth and helped
make the height of medieval
civilization possible.