Monasteries

Monasteries In the Middle Ages Christianity spread throughout Europe and became very influential and politically powerful.One of the main occupations schools trained for was work in the Church and monasteries were an important feature of the Church in the Middle Ages. Monasteries were religious sanctuaries where people dedicated themselves to a life prayer. In monasteries, monks and nuns vowed to live a life according to a set of religious guidelines and rules. They met around ten times a day to chant prayers, which they thought ensured the salvation of their community. Many monasteries also stored ancient knowledge and texts which enabled monks to be obtain a broad education. The system of monks living in monasteries is called Monasticism. Monasticism was a vital part of the Middle Ages. It began in the 2nd Century in North Africa and then spread to Europe and the Middle East. It spread to Europe through popular books about Egyptian hermits, devout Christians who isolated themselves from society. Hermits were the first to form Monasteries. One European monastery, L’Abbaye de Lerins, was very influential. It was founded in 410 on an island off the coast of Southern France. It produced learned and knowledgeable monks who got significant positions as bishops in the Church. This helped spread monasticism, as they now had the support from the Church, and linked monasteries to the organized Church. In the early 6th Century, the work of the Italian Benedict shaped the future of Monasticism. Benedict’s main achievement was his “Rule”, containing instructions to monks on how to be a faithful and loyal monk. Most religious communities founded in the Middle Ages adopted it because of it’s reasonableness and moderation. As a result, the Rule of Benedict became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom.