His201 - Week 3

His201 - Week 3 Lecture 1

The growing Church - developing Authorization, rules and power

Why are monasteries important?

They become educational and political institution.

St Gregory the 1st (first monastic Pope)

Most Latin Fathers lived around the 4th century - lives of seclusion, lives of assisting and aiding the Church with it's mission - lives of commitment towards a one purpose. The Latin Fathers are all around the same age - why?

There's no longer the constant persecution from pagan rulers, not only emperors but governors in different localities. There are still the occasional governors or emperors who wanted to clamp down on Christianity - but generally speaking Christianity was given more room to move and to express itself. This meant fewer persecutions - so martyrdom still occurred and was still considered the highest stage in the spiritual ascent of a Christian soul. Martyrdom is simply happening less regularly - so individuals sought another outlet for the expression of their religious fate - solitude, chastity, these becomes the vows of the most devout. Furthermore, people were less pre-occupied about the pagans and the persecutions, people became more lax with the religious customs (rather like 21st century Christians some may say)

Gregory of Tours "decline in the moral fibre of the community"

People sought lives of contemplation and isolation to distance themselves from temptation and the lax morals of society. Or they could choose a life as a public servant.

asceticism (an abandonment of worldly items and pleasures - as defined by St Paul - sell all you have, give to the poor, and, come and follow) and penance.

For St Paul, such a choice also meant celibacy, fasting and constant prayer - by doing this you will find the inner tranquillity that will lead you to God. Can't forget the neo-platonic overtones here

Augustine's City of God and Confessions are all about reinforcing the importance of the Christian life

St Antony (c 251 – 356) born in Egypt - Father of Christian Monasticism - one of the first to take on the lifestyle of seclusion and isolation - a representative of very early monasticism - aided by a very flattering biography (or hagiography -a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a person who is a saint) ) Written by a Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, Athanasius of Alexandria (295-373)

Eremitic - a life of seclusions with followers/company (communal monastics - coenibitic - community life)

So what we have is the formation, apart from the Eremitic, of the communities of Monks who follow their leader and they work towards the goal which is the salvation of the soul.

Monach - original Greek term from which we get monasticism.

As more lives sought Monasticism, and more and more people joining monastic communities, different groups arose. With different goals, different numbers, and different organisation. There were no rules - practices varied between different monasteries.

Symeon Stylites the pole sitter.

Jerome- often credited with bringing the monastic life to the Western world, especially Rome.

Urban monasteries became quite popular, taking on a different life to the Eastern monasteries, they are more politically active, because they are in the urban center. Because they are in the middle of a city they don't have any farmland to live off, instead they live off the bounty of an altruistic wealthy patron.

So next to the rise of the Bishops - there was a growing rise in the virtuous communities - such was the virtuosity of these communities they demanded respect.

One problem of these early monasteries is that there was no established uniform rule or policy, and no one same sustained aim or objective. The only one aim they did share was to embrace and protect those seeking a spiritual life.

This changed with the arrival of St Benedict - he established 12 monasteries outside of Rome and ruled over them. He had to leave - as he could not contain the disorder in these 12 monasteries. So he fled to Monte Cassino, around the year 520, and he established another monastery. And it was around this time that he wrote the Rule What was the impact this had on monasticism?

It became a guide for how monastic communities should be organised and run. They should be independent, self-sustainable communities and there should be a community life, rather than a complete isolated life - all monks should participate in the community's affairs rather than keep to himself - and this authority was given to the Abbot.

This comes across as a bit of a stab at the urban monasteries which relied on the patron.

The Rule is not that severe. Benedict did not emphasise flagellation, there was emphasis on reaching a balance between strict asceticism and healthy communal living.

Benedict is not the only person to write a rule-book on monastic living - it's just that his book gained greatest dissemination through Charlemagne. Benedict himself did not think he was writing a rule for all posterity. This organisation of monasteries also gave them the stoke to become educational and political institutions. They were politically relevant because they were usually large organised communities sitting in cities. Monasteries demanded the respect of the community and were often called upon to help the community. They also became key educational institutions because of the Benedict ideals (Benedict himself did not specify this in his rules, but by placing so much authority on the Abbots, monasteries often consciously took on this responsibility of education) This added a new dimension to the organisation of the Catholic Church - the authority of the Church was only going to grow - the organised and admired structure of the monasteries inevitably led them to become important educational and political power-houses.