Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/784

UONASTICISM. 700 MONASTICISM. Irish monk of the eud of the sixth century, drew up a monastic rule that because of its strictness has been the model of many subseiiuenl austere Orders. Perpetual silence, complete abstinence from (lesh meat, daily fasting, labor, reading, prayer, poverty, humility, and chastity are the essence of his prescriptions. The monastic rule which had most influence in the West, however, was that of Saint ]5eiie- dict, who about 529, after a youth passed as a soli- tary, gathered some monks vlio had been attract- ed to his solitude at Subiaco and founded the Monastery of iIonte Cassino. Tliis became the mother hoiise of Western monasticism. Bene- dict founded seven other monasteries (among them one for women under the direction of his sister. Saint Scholastica, at Piombiarole, about five miles from llonte Cassino), and deservedly bears the name of patriarch of the monks of the West. Benedict's rule is cliaracterized by a wide and wise discretion. To secure the end more certainly, those wlio desired to walk in the path iif the Gosjiel counsels imder his guidance prom- ised a lifelong obedience. "Tliis was the first introduction of a profession for life according to the rule: and it was known to the monk who Avished to fight under the law that as the rule sa3's 'From that day it was not lawful for him to withdraw his neck from the yoke of tlic rule.' The result of this introduction was twofold: on the one hand it estal)lisbed Hriiily the perpetuity of the cloistral family life, that stability in the community which has since become the charac- teristic mark of monasticism; and on the other hand for the only will of the abbot or superior, it substituted ;i code of laws by which his gov- ernment was to be giiided." (Gasquet. ) Never- theless the rule itself shows that though Saint Benedict required obedience to his code of regu- lations, he never intended to forbid other eus- tom.s and i)racticcs. In fact, he expressly refers his followers to the rule of Saint Basil and others for further guidance. The immediately succeeding centuries saw a wonderful development of monasticism in the West. The monasteries became the home of learning. Monks were the teachers of the world, and went forth as missionary preachers into Kngland, Germany, and the nations of Northern and Central Europe. Agriculture as well as civilization became their care, and the first seri- (ms attempt to do ;iw;iy with serfdom was under their rule. l'Miiciiti(Pii for women develiipcd first in the convents ;ind then spread to their sisters in the world, until women were better educated than at any jireceding period in history. In the in(masteries and cimvcnts expert nursing of the sick and wounded and the first germs of modem clinical medicine developed. Many members of royal families became monks and nuns, and the first glimmer of understanding between different orders of society afipcareil. According to the rule of Saint Benedict, each monastery was separate and wholly distinct, with an independent life of its own. The first Rcrious attempt at union was made at a great assembly hclil at Aix-la-("ha|«'lle in HI", under the guidance of Saint Benedict of Aiiiane. Here rules for the U'ttcr regulation of monaslic life were passed. Benedict had great inlluence with the Kmperor I,ouis the Pious, the son of Charle- magne. He planni-d to secure the most absolute uniformity among the monks of all monasteries, and was seconded in his ellort by the sovereign. Benedict was chosen as general. This assembly causea a reawakening of the monastic spirit throughout Europe, and affected also England, where the Concordia Keguluris, which prescribed one set of monastic customs for the whole of England, was adopted. In the next century oc- curs the greatest name in monastic history, that of Cluny. The ideal of Cluny was the existence of one great central monastery, with dependen- cies spread over many lands and funning a va.st feudal hicrarch_y. The subordinate monasteries were dependents in the strictest sense. Their superiors were not called abbots, but ju'iors. The superior of every house, however great, was the nominee of the Abbot of Cluny ; the profes- sion of every member was made in the name and with the sanction of the Abbot of Cluny. Cluny remains, in spite of the defects of its feudal character, one of the chief factors in the histdiy of the eleventh century. 'The authority of Peter the Venerable, the conlcm]iurary of Saint Ber- nard, was recognized by '2000 de|K'iidcnt monas- teries. The Cistercian system of inoiiasticism is the next feature of historical development. It was founded by Saint Stephen Harding, an Eng- lishman, who early left his own country to live in France. He adopted the rule of Saint Bcne- ilict; the heads of other houses were abbots, but attached to the mother house by the obligation of yearly assembling at Citeaux, while the Abbot of Citeaux had the right to visit all other mon- asteries, and, while forbidden to interfere with the management of their temiioralities without the consent of the community, could insist on re- forms in discipline if he deemed them necessary. The greatest of the Cistercians was Saint Mer- nard, who founded, with thirty-two young nobles, the itonastery of Clairvaux. During the Cru.sades eanie the organization of religious bodies for definite pious purposes whose members were bound by the usual obliga- tions of monasticism, yet did not withdraw en- tirely from the world. The Knights of Saint .lohii (see Saint .Toiix ok .Tehisai.km. Kmoiit.s ol'). the Knights Templars (q.v. ). and the Teu- tonic Knights li].v. ) are the best known of these. Incited by their examjile. or as a result of the same spirit, many non-inilitaiy religious Orders were founded during ;ind just after the Crusades, with the |)Virpose iif delinili' work to be accom- plished outside of tile monasteries. The fourth Lateran Council decreed that no further religious Orders should be founded, yet the first quarter of the thirteenth century saw the rise of two great mendicant Orders, tho.se of Saint Francis (see Franciscans) and of Saint Dominic (see Dominicans). The members of these Orders, in spite of their vow of absidiite poverty, soon became prominent in the Cluiich and in the universities, and as poets, iireacliers, jihilosophers, writers, scientists, and teachers. The next great advance in mimasticism was the foundation of the .lesuits (q.v.). a leaching, preaching missionary Order with a special vow to go wherever they should be sent by the Pope. Their institute has proved the model on which most modern religious congregations have been based. .Monasticism has been, at least in the West, in eiiiistant development, always growing more closely in touch with the shifting environment in which it was placed in the course of time. The