Martha Raup 1/28/06 HIST 04B Foothill College-Dr. Konnilyn
Feig

1. Monasticism.

What do you think was the purpose (s) of monasticism?

Analyze the role played by monks and nuns in early medieval society?

What does it mean when an historian writes: "monks became the heroes of
Christian civilization?" Do you agree? Why or why
not?

What is Monasticism?

First, I’ll begin with our
textbook definition: the word “monk” comes from the Latin word
“monachus, meaning ‘one
who lives alone’”.[1]  Not
surprising then is the Wikipedia definition of monasticism as “the
religious practice of renouncing all worldly pursuits in order to fully devote
one’s life to spiritual work.”[2]  Two
types of monasticism are distinguishable.
Eremitic monasticism fits the traditional definition, and it involves a
turning away from other’s company, and living the life of a hermit.
Cenobitic monasticism, on the other hand, was the kind practiced by the
Christian monks in the Middle Ages. It is characterized by a gathering
together, within a religious community, of men or women who devote themselves
to the spiritual life (as they define it).

How/When/Where Did it Arise?

Monasticism existed long before the
Christian monks began practicing it, around 400 years after the founding of
their faith.  St. Anthony is the
first well-know Christian monk, and for this he is called the “father of
monasticism”.[3]  As
a way of life, monasticism is apparently very hard to sustain for many people
over a period of time.  Not
surprisingly, then, most monks have preferred to live in a community of others.[4]

Who Were Some
of the Middle Age Monks?

St. Benedictine of Nursia is one of the
most remarkable of the monks from the Middle Ages.  In fact, sometime between 520 and 530,
St. Benedictine wrote a set of rules that “established the fundamental
form of monastic life in the western Christian church.  The Benedictine rule came to be used by
other monastic groups and was crucial to the growth of monasticism in the western
Christian world.”[5]  The
ideals of poverty, chastity, and obedience were promulgated in order to live a
life of moderation devoted to prayer (7 times a day!) and manual labor (since
“idleness was the ‘enemy of the soul’”).[6]  St.
Benedict’s aim was “to provide a spiritual father to support and
strengthen the individual’s ascetic effort and the spiritual growth that
is required for the fulfillment of the human vocation, Divinization.”[7]

Augustine was a monk sent by Pope
Gregory the Great to England
in 597 in an effort to convert the Anglo-Saxons of Britain to
Christianity.  After he converted
King Ethelbert, most of his subject’s followed suit.  Pope Gregory’s techniques of
conversion were characterized by his willingness to use persuasion rather than
force.  In fact, he encouraged the
monks and missionaries to permit the locals to retain their culture and even
their places of worship, as long as they worshipped the right God!  For example, Christmas was celebrated on
the same date when the winter solstice used to be honored.

St. Boniface (680-755) was another
famous monk from the Middle Ages.
He became known as the “Apostle of the Germans” for his
efforts to convert the Germans in Frisia, Bavaria, and Saxony to
Christianity.  This effort to
convert others to one’s faith is another distinguishing characteristic of
the monks at this time in history.

What Monastic
Orders Developed during the Middle Ages?

Other western European monastic orders
that emerged during the Middle Ages were the Cluniac order; the Cistercians;
the Dominicans; and the Franciscans.
The latter two groups “abandoned enclosure as a principle and with
the other friars became a feature in the town life of Europe
until the Reformation.”[8]  So
– monasticism changes a lot over the time frame we’re studying,
from solitary recluses to communal worshippers to workers in the world.

How did Monasticism Affect the Middle Ages?

What was most remarkable about the
monastic movement is that the monks and their monasteries (and nuns in their
cloisters, though less so) became the centers of learning, and the preservers
and producers of scholarship, in the Middle Ages.  Thomas Cahill goes so far as to say that
the Irish saved civilization, and by this he meant the Irish MONKS, who piously
produced manuscript after manuscript of copied and codified and collected
information from centuries past. “The monks became passionate scribes not
only of the Scriptures but also of other classical texts that were at risk of
being lost after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Celtic art forms were among the traditions that survived into the Irish
Christian era and would lead to the development of spectacular illuminated
manuscripts at the monks' hands.”[9] The earlier works of the Greeks and Romans were
transcribed or simply copied, and they were STUDIED by the monks, who grew in
learning and in this way became carriers of culture.

WHAT WAS MONASTICISM’S PURPOSE?

The purpose of monasticism kind of
depends on whose point of view we’re talking about!  For the monks, living in a cloistered
community (for that’s how most of the monks lived) was clearly a way to
worship their God, and to become closer to their ideal image and their highest
aspiration.  However, there were
certainly secondary purposes served also.
A banding together of brothers is humanity’s classic way of
surviving adversity, and the Middle Ages had this a ‘plenty.  With mass migrations of entire tribes of
people, with roving knights and dominating kings, with a constant struggle for
simple survival in addition to the quest for security – it’s no
wonder the monastery was appealing!

For society, the purpose of the
monastic movement is a little more speculative.  However, it’s no great stretch of
the imagination to realize that everyone benefits when some people do what they
do best (read, write, learn, pray, heal, help, obey), and let others do what
they do best (conquer territories, till fields, birth babies, make shoes).  After all, this is what specialization
and division of labor is all about!
And it’s a time-worn winning concept – as long as there is
enough “surplus” to go around.
And in the Middle Ages, there WAS enough to feed the hermits and the
monks.  After all, they were
perfecting themselves and thereby preserving the passage of the serfs and lords
into heaven.  That is, the work of
the monks was socially sanctioned, and culturally approved.

What’s
Religion Got to Do with It?

What would have happened WITHOUT the
monks and monasteries?  Well
that’s probably a very good question, and one that no one really knows
the answer to.  However, I could
hazard an opinion.  On the one hand,
it’s likely that there would have been SOME type of “civilizing
force” to carry out the cultural duties of the transmission of knowledge,
and the elevation of spirits, and the education of individuals in the ways and worshipping
of the community. For instance, one of the remarkable things about Charlemagne
is the extent to which he promoted some of the same civilizing influences.  Some even say he started a Carolingian
Renaissance.

Nevertheless, the monks are the ones
who almost single-handedly passed on the Greek and Latin lessons from previous
generations, and in this way they created the base upon which the European and
Western civilization stands.

What Role Did Monks and Nuns Play in Early Medieval Society?

The monks and nuns of the early medieval
period were, quite simply, the carriers of culture.  Culture is defined as: “The
totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs,
institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.”[10]
Naturally, the monastic orders were not the ONLY carriers of culture,
but they certainly performed a role that was sorely lacking.  They kept learning alive.  They taught schools.  They aided the poor, and housed and fed
the needy.  Most of all, the copied
the manuscripts, and translated the Latin texts, and taught the newly converted
Christians how to BE Christian.

One aspect of monasticism that I found
astonishing was that “Christian monasticism was and continued to be a lay
condition – monks depended on a local parish church for the sacraments.[11]

What Made Monks the Medieval Heroes?

In earlier generations, the venerated
Christians were the martyrs – the ones who were killed or punished for
their beliefs.  “Christians in
the first three centuries A.D. were crucified in the same manner as Roman political prisoners or eaten by lions as a
circus spectacle. They are recognized as martyrs because they preferred dying
for their faith to apostasy (renunciation of faith).”[12]  The
monks in the monasteries, and the nuns in the cloisters, were offering a role
model that was more encouraging, and ennobling.  Of course, it helped that the crucifiers
were not after them anymore!  Still,
it’s a significant step forward when one’s spiritual ideal lives a
life that approximates what an ordinary individual is capable of doing.  And that’s just what the monks
did.  They lived a contemplative,
studious, serious, and successful life that enriched their communities as well
as themselves.

[1]  Spielvogel,
Jackson J.  Western Civilization,
A Brief History, Volume I To 1715; Thompson Learning, Inc; Belmont CA,
2005; p. 119.

[2] This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Monasticism".  Accessed 1/25/06.

[3]
Wikipedia, Ibid.

[4]
Spielvogel, p. 120.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid, p.
121

[7] This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Rule of St Benedict". Accessed 1/27/06.

[8]
Wikipedia,Monasticism Ibid.

[9] Friend,
Pat. “Book Review: How the Irish Saved Civilization”. http://www.allaboutirish.com/library/bookrev/rev-saved.shtm.  Accessed 1/28/06

[10] The
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright
© 2004, 2000 by Houghton
Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.  http://www.answers.com/topic/culture.
Accessed 1/28/06.

[11] This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Christian monasticism". Accessed 1/27/06.

[12] This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Martyr".
Accessed 1/28/06