The Growth and Development of Monasticism in the British Isles

In our Introduction we stated that the Insular world was ‘monasticised’. At the same time, we wish to acknowledge that, at least for the Irish Church, there was no such thing as an over-arching monastic structure under which all religious activity was subsumed. We note that even the meaning of the term ‘monastery’ has been left open to question. In what follows, we examine evidence of a different character, namely that which reveals the promotion of the monastic ideal (expressed in various life-styles) as shown by writers of the three Insular regions. Where possible, we relate this type of evidence to the evidence for the existence of monks and monasteries at various times and in various places. Monastically-oriented texts are, by definition, the writings of an elite about an elite. Those practising the ‘perfect life’ are very few, yet their influence is great, or, more accurately, made to be great by the opinion-makers. These were the proponents of monastic spirituality, whose writings exercised an influence on the clergy concerned with a verbal translation of Christianity to a wider public, as well as on the artists who created objects that could convey specific meanings to the monk, cleric and lay person. Monasticism began in Egypt and Syria in the fourth century and rapidly spread westward. By the end of the fourth century it was known in Italy and Gaul. What began with individuals seeking salvation in the desert changed into a variety of social forms. Groups could be very small: a chaste widow living in her own home with her virginal daughter, a married couple living in continence by a shrine, a small group of men living in celibacy on an island. As early as Augustine’s day, monastic clergy were attached to episcopal churches, and thus began the long tradition of canons regular. Separate churches for monks and nuns, otherwise known as monasteries, also found early adherents. This was the case at Lérins, an island off the coast of France near present-day Cannes. In some cases monasteries for monks were contiguous to those for nuns – these were the so-called ‘double monasteries’. A separated community life – coenobitism – found its perfect model in the monastery and rule of Benedict of Nursia, who flourished in Italy around the middle of the sixth century.

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