monasticism 497NURSIA, the aims of Western monasticism were defined
by the BENEDICTINERule. It was based on a desire to lead
a life of perfection and sanctification. This necessitated
poverty, withdrawal from family life and society, physical
work, intellectual activity or study, and obedience to the
abbot. With the foundation of CLUNYin 910, this type of
reformed Benedictine monasticism spread throughout
Christian Europe. PRAYER and living according to the
monastic rule produced SALVATION, not only to the indi-
vidual monk, but also to all of Christian society. Cluniac
monks did no work and left that to a lesser group of
worker monks known as conversi.
At the end of the 11th century, other reform move-
ments came into being. The CISTERCIANS,CARTHUSIANS,
and other minor orders put a renewed stress on ASCETI-
CISM and simplicity of worship. Cistercians such as
BERNARD OFCLAIRVAUXremained active and influential
in worldly affairs. In the 13th century the MENDICANT
orders, especially the FRANCISCANS and the DOMINI-
CANS, were founded to be involved in daily social and
religious life, especially in the cities and universities.
They had their own rules and lived inside or near the
new cities.
Monasticism continued throughout the rest of the
Middle Ages. The image of the monk suffered, however,
as many monasteries grew rich and compliance with the
rigors expected of the monastic life was less frequently
observed. REFORM movements only partially corrected
these perceived abuses, and heretics such as the followers
of John HUSand the LOLLARDSwere strongly opposed to
such rich religious institutions.BYZANTINE MONASTICISM
Monasticism occupied an important place in the Byzantine
religious and sometimes political world. Orders of monks
such as those in the West did not exist. In the Greek
Orthodox and Eastern Churches, Byzantine monasticism
stressed the place of the individual within the monastic
community. The collective was less important. With a few
exceptions, such as the monasteries at Mount Athos,
Byzantine monks did not withdraw from earthly affairs,
and abbots or monks frequently and explicitly served in
secular and political life. They often clashed with the
emperor and were ardent in their opposition to union or
compliance with the Western Church and the PAPACY.
The rise of monasticism was one of the most impor-
tant and most characteristic phenomena of medieval soci-
ety. Monasteries were endowed with lands, lordships, and
rents. They were economic units and sources of revenues,
besides being centers of religious life.
See also ANCHORITES AND ANCHORESSES; BASIL OF
CAESAREA;BONIFACE,SAINT;BRUNO THE CARTHUSIAN,
SAINT;CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE;CELESTINE V, POPE,
AND THECELESTINE ORDER; COLUMBIA, SAINT; COLUMBAN,The 12th-century Benedictine abbey of Sant’Antimo, south of Siena in Tuscany in Italy, supposedly founded by Charlemagne
(Courtesy Edward English)