A Brief History of Monasticism

A Chapter by Owen

Monasticism began in the East with the Hellenistic ascetics. These men chose to purify their hearts, minds and souls by fleeing society. Typically this meant living alone, in a cave on the outskirts of a city. Eastern monasticism was originally eremitical, the solitary life of a hermit. Even the name monastic comes from the Greek word monos (monos) which means singly alone. Gradually, as more men became drawn to this solitary life, communities of ascetics developed, and rules were written to govern these groups called “cenobitic” from the Greek for common life, koinobion (koinobion). With the first community and rule the foundations of Western Monasticism were laid.

In the Egyptian desert during the third century, Saint Anthony attracted a large number of followers who began to live a “semi-eremitical” life. Anthony instructed these followers in the monastic life. From Palladius and John Cassian a fairly accurate picture of life under this system can be seen. Each monk lived either alone or with a small group (one, two or possibly five or six) of fellow monks. All monks of the community would come together on Saturdays and Sundays for prayer. Most monks were left completely to their own devices. Some junior monks would voluntarily bind himself to a senior monk for guidance. “The purely eremitical life tended to die out; but what took its place continued to be semi-eremitical.”[1]

The Egyptian monks seemed to practice competitive asceticism. When monks would gather, for weekly worship or special councils, if one monk should hear of another who fasted longer or slept less or prayed harder, they would strive to out do them. This feature was common to most Antonian monastic groups, but was especially prominent in Syria and Palestine.[2]

About the year 315,[3] Saint Pachomius was said to have collected thousands of hermits together and created the first (cenobitic) monastery at Tabenna, and wrote the first “Rule” to govern it.[4]By the time of his death he was the head of possibly between three and six monasteries.[5] Each monastery was divided into as many as thirty to forty “houses,” each having from thirty to forty monks.[6] Each house was further divided into groups of ten under a “foreman.”[7] “Only for the more solemn offices did the entire community assemble in the great church of the monastery.”[8] The life at Tabenna was very ordered, however, there was some freedom.

The fundamental idea of St. Pachomius’ Rule was to

establish a moderate level of observance which should

be obligatory to all, and then to leave it open to each,

and indeed to encourage each to go beyond the fixed

minimum...[9]

if his stamina and devotion allowed him to.

Pachomian monks also performed manual labor, where the Antonian monks mainly meditated and prayed, although there are references to Antonian monks basket or linen weaving.[10] Although Pachomian monks farmed, made shoes, clothes, and other goods, this was to provide the essentials of community life. Pachomius dictated that the work must be performed only for reasons of survival, and not for personal gain (either monetary gain or reputation).

Take heed lest ye strive to ornament the work of your

hands overmuch, and take ye the greatest possible care

that the grace of God and His gift may be in the work of

each one of you, so that the mind may not stumble towards

the praises of cunning wickedness, and the Calumniator may

not obtain his prey.[11]

As Knowles states, by the time Pachomius died in 346, “a perfect monastic order was in existence.” All of the basic architecture was present, walls, cells, a meeting area, and a church. Daily life was ordered, with prayer and labor alternating during each day. And the “spiritual discipline of chastity, poverty, and obedience” was in place, all under a firm, universally acknowledged control.[12]

The followers of St. Anthony used his advise and rules to advise their own followers. This advise became the basis for many later monastic groups in both the East and the West. In the West (the primary concern of this paper) Antonian eremiticism, expressed especially by St. Martin of Tours and John Cassian, had been imported in 339 by two Egyptian monks of St. Anthony’s monastery at Nitria, who had accompanied St. Athanasius to Rome.[13] Within fifty years Antonian monasticism was flourishing in the West: by 380 the Life of St. Anthony was translated into Latin.

About 370, St. Martin founded a monastery (hermitage) outside of Tours when he became Bishop of that city. St. Martin lived at this hermitage, with some eighty disciples living in cliff-caves above him. Senior monks meditated, while junior monks copied manuscripts. No other work was required. The monks wore coarse camel’s hair clothing, ate one meal per day, and rarely left their cells, except to eat or pray together.[14] As Sulpicius Severus says many of these ascetics were of noble rank, so the act of giving up soft clothes and possessions was harsh. Severus also says that many of these disciples later were made bishops because of their association with Martin. [15]

To the south at Marseilles about 415, John Cassian formed his own monasteries (one male and one female). Cassian’s writings, designed to instruct new-comers to the monastic life, allow some lapses in Egyptian asceticism. However his writings point to the superior asceticism of Egypt at all times.[16] According to Chadwick[17], Cassian’s writings, the Institutes and the Conferences, were intended to provide guidance for both eremitical and cenobitical monasteries. The Institutes were designed as a guide book for the training monastery. To Cassian, the cenobitical monastery was used to train those monks who were not yet ready for the life of a hermit. The Conferences were for those monks already in a hermitage or were planning to move from a cenobitical monastery to a hermitage.

About 500 a hermitage was founded in Italy. The founder was Benedict, son of a well-to-do, but not senatorial, country family.[18] Benedict had been sent to Rome for his formal education. Upon seeing the depravity and corruption within the city at this time, Benedict and his servant fled. Whether he intended to live as a hermit at this time is unclear. One source claimed that before Benedict founded the Subiaco hermitage, he stayed at Enfide “near a church dedicated to St. Peter, in some kind of association with “”a company of virtuous men”” who were in sympathy with his views of life.”[19] After performing a small miracle (the restoration of a broken pot) unwanted attention began to fall upon Benedict. To escape this attention, Benedict fled again this time alone, to the area around Nero’s palace at Sublacum. There he found a cave and began to live as a hermit. For three years Benedict lived alone, served only by an other hermit, Romanus. After this time disciples began to find their way to Benedict in such numbers that he felt the need to form monasteries for them.[20]

Before long the numbers of followers attracted negative attention to Benedict, and this caused him to flee again this time to the hill, Monte Cassino. Here Benedict founded his monastery, after destroying a temple to Apollo. Life at Subiaco caused Benedict to change his design for the monastery. Rather than creating a semi-eremitical hermitage with twelve houses, he created one cenobitical monastery.

It was at Monte Cassino the Benedict wrote his Rule, the cornerstone of Western Monasticism. The Rule borrowed from many sources of monastic life then current in Italy, most especially the writings of John Cassian, the Rule of St. Pachomius, the Rule of the Master, and the rules of St. Basil, the founder of Greek monasticism.[21] Basil formed a monastic community much life that of Pachomius, with a workshop and an orphanage, but without the harsh acts of asceticism.

Much of the practical organization of Monte Cassino can be found in Pachomius and Basil, while the spiritual organization seems to be Antonian. The monastery was regulated with specified times for every part of daily life: waking, praying, reading, working, eating, and sleeping were all regulated, with the abbot as the ruler. Asceticism, as mentioned in Cassian and the Life of St. Anthony, was not discouraged, but was stated to be a goal for highly advanced monks. Physically the life at Monte Cassino was not much harsher than anywhere else in the West. It was spiritually that Benedict was strict, a monk had to pray or meditate around eight hours per day, and work in the fields six and a half hours, with an hour for eating and eight and a half hours for sleeping.[22]

Even though this Rule was far less strict than any of the Egyptian related regulations, the Rule was not readily adopted. Aside from the foundation of Terracina, Benedict did not found any monasteries on the principles of the Rule. The Egyptian tradition was advancing due to the influence of the Irish monks from about 590. Also in 590 Monte Cassino was attacked and destroyed by the Lombards, those monks who escaped fled to Rome, taking the Rule with them.[23] In time the monks returned to Monte Cassino and with Papal support, began to spread. By the time of Charlemagne and his son, Louis, Benedictinism had spread into the Frankish kingdom. Charlemagne decreed all monks of the Empire should follow the Rule, but he died before he could bring about this acceptance. Under Louis councils were called, in 816, 817, and 818, of all the abbots of the Empire. These councils were led by Benedict of Aniane, who had collected many Eastern and Western Rules as well as a commentary on the Rule of Benedict itself. Benedict used these collections and a model of a perfect monastery, the Plan of St. Gall, to persuade the abbots to follow the Rule. Political problems kept the Caroligians from completing the Benedictinization of Europe, but much of the Empire, as well as England within a century began to follow the Rule.[24]

Thus it was that Benedictinism came to dominate European monasticism. But within a century of the uniting of most of the European monasteries under the Rule, groups began to form that were critical of the way the Order was operated. Cluny was being formed, soon the Grand Chartreuse, and Cīteaux would arise.

Works Cited

Budge, Ernest A. Wallis. The Paradise of the Holy Fathers, London: Chatto & Windus, 1907.

This is a translation of a 14th century copy of a 7th century compilation of the history of early monasticism, written by the monk Anan-Isho. It includes the Life of Saint Anthony, by Athanasius; the Book of Paradise, by Palladius; and the History of the Monks at Tabenna; among other works important for the study of monasticism.

Butler, Cuthbert. Benedictine Monachism, Cambridge: Speculum Historiale, 1961.

Dom Butler’s great work on the ideal and character of Benedictine monasticism is still considered of the best on the subject. Not only does Butler discuss the history of Benedictine monasticism, he also discusses the pre-cursors to Benedict.

Chadwick, Owen. Western Asceticism, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958.

Collection of sections of The Sayings of the Fathers, the Conferences of Cassian and the Rule of Saint Benedict, translated into English. Although the complete conferences are not included, enough is included to give a fair idea of Cassian’s purpose and thoughts.

Compendium of the History of the Cistercian Order, Gethsemani, Ky: Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), 1944.

This brief general history of the Cistercians from the foundation until the 20th century, was written by an anonymous Trappist monk at Gethsemani, and includes some valuable information about pre-Cistercian monasticism.

Knowles, David. Christian Monasticism, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1969.

Brief look at the history of Christian Monasticism from it’s origins to the Twentieth Century.

Knowles, David. From Pachomius to Ignatius, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966.

This brief book was a series of lectures on the constitutional history of the monastic orders. As such it contains a great deal of information on the governance of the orders.

Severus, Sulpitius. The Life of Saint Martin,

[1]Butler, pg. 13.

[2]IBID, pg. 15.

[3]IBID, pg. 14.

[4]Compendium, pg.3-4.

[5]Pachomius. pg. 3. Knowles says that Pachomius could have been the head of as many as 5000 monks.

[6]Butler, pg. 14.

[7]Pachomius. pg. 4. My theory is that the monks were grouped based on work: 10 farmers, 10 blacksmiths, 10 shoemakers, etc.

[8]Butler, pg. 14.

[9]IBID, pg 15.

[10]IBID, pg. 15. Butler says this was the type of work easiest to perform in the cells.

[11]Budge, pg. 310.

[12]Pachomius, pg 3.

[13]Butler, pg. 17.

[14]IBID, pg. 18.

[15]Severus. chap. 10.

[16]Butler, pg. 18-19.

[17]Chadwick, pg. 191.

[18]Butler, pg. 2.

[19]Compendium, pg. 6. This claim did not have a reference, and I’ve not been able to corroborate it with other sources.

[20]IBID, pg. 6-7. Although I have not been able to corroborate this, the author wrote it with such assertiveness that I have taken it for fact.

[21]Butler, pg. 162-166. Compendium, pg. 8-9. Chadwick, pg. 27-28.Christian Monasticism, pg. 33-34. Butler claims that there was not a large amount of borrowing form sources other than scripture and Cassian to a degree, the Compendium mentions considerable borrowing but not the Regula Magistri, Chadwick and Knowles accept major borrowing from the R.M. This is possibly because Butler was writing in 1924, the anonymus father in 1943, and the debate on the R.M did not grow until the mid-1960s.

[22]Chadwick, pg. 28.

[23]IBID, pg.28-29.

[24]Pachomius, pg. 7-9.

next chapter