At the same time, moderation did not preclude a
disciplined existence based on the ideals of poverty,
chastity, and obedience.
Benedict’s rules divided each day into a series of
activities, with primary emphasis on prayer and manual
labor. Physical work of some kind was required of all
monks for several hours a day because idleness was
“the enemy of the soul.” At the very heart of commu-
nity practice was prayer, the proper “work of God.”
While this included private meditation and reading, all
monks gathered together seven times during the day
for common prayer and chanting of psalms. A Benedic-
tine life was a communal one; monks ate, worked,
slept, and worshiped together.
Each Benedictine monastery was strictly ruled by an
abbot, or “father” of the monastery, who held com-
plete authority over the monks; each monk owed
unquestioning obedience to the will of the abbot. Every
Benedictine monastery also owned lands that enabled
it to be a self-sustaining community, isolated from and
independent of the world surrounding it. Within the
monastery, however, monks were to fulfill their vow of
poverty: “Let all things be common to all, as it is writ-
ten, lest anyone should say that anything is his own or
arrogate it to himself.”^4 By the eighth century, Benedic-
tine monasticism had spread throughout the West.
Although the original monks were men, women
soon followed suit in withdrawing from the world to
dedicate themselves to God. The first monastic rule for
Western women was produced by Caesarius of Arles
for his sister in the fifth century. It strongly empha-
sized a rigid cloistering of these women, known as
nuns, to protect them from dangers.
Monasticism played an indispensable role in early
medieval civilization. Monks became the new heroes of
Christian civilization. Their dedication to God became
the highest ideal of Christian life. Monks copied Latin
works and passed on the legacy of the ancient world to
Western civilization in its European stage. Moreover,
the monks played an increasingly significant role in
spreading Christianity to all of Europe.MONKS AS MISSIONARIES The British Isles, in particular,
became an important center of Christian culture and
missionary fervor. After their conversion, the Celts of
Ireland and Anglo-Saxons of England created new cen-
ters of Christian learning and in turn themselves became
enthusiastic missionaries.
By the sixth century, Irish monasticism was a flour-
ishing institution with its own unique characteristics.
Unlike Benedictine monasticism, it was strongly ascetic.Monks performed strenuous fasts, prayed and medi-
tated frequently under extreme privations, and con-
fessed their sins on a regular basis to their superiors. In
fact, Irish monasticism gave rise to the use of peniten-
tials or manuals that provided a guide for examining
one’s life to see what sins, or offenses against the will of
God, one had committed (see the box on p. 159). A great
love of learning also characterized Irish monasticism.
The Irish eagerly absorbed both Latin and Greek culture
and fostered education as a major part of their monasticThe Book of Kells.Art historians use the termHiberno-Saxon
(Hibernia was the ancient name for Ireland) orInsularto refer
to works produced primarily in the monasteries of the British
Isles, especially Ireland. The best example of Hiberno-Saxon art
isThe Book of Kells, a richly decorated illuminated manuscript
of the Christian gospels. Though owned by the monastery of
Kells, the work was produced by the monks of lona, who
combined Celtic and Anglo-Saxon abstract designs with
elaborate portrayals of human figures and animals. A twelfth-
century priest who viewed it observed: “Look... keenly at it
and you... will make out intricacies, so delicate and subtle, so
exact and compact, so full of knots and links, with colors so fresh
and vivid, that you might say that all this was the work of an
angel, and not of a man.” This introductory page from the
Gospel of Matthew shows Jesus with four angels.ªThe Board of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland/The Bridgeman Art Library158 Chapter 7Late Antiquity and the Emergence of the Medieval WorldCopyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
`Ìi`ÊÜÌ
ÊÌ
iÊ`iÊÛiÀÃÊvÊ
vÝÊ*ÀÊ* Ê
`ÌÀÊ
/ÊÀiÛiÊÌ
ÃÊÌVi]ÊÛÃÌ\Ê