The document discusses Medieval monasteries and monks during the Middle Ages. It provides details on: 1) The first Medieval monasteries followed the Benedictine Rule established in 529AD. Major monastic orders included the Benedictines, Cistercians, and Carthusians who differed in their religious practices. 2) Monastery life consisted of daily worship, reading, and manual labor with monks working to maintain the monastery farm and provide services to the community. 3) Monks took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and followed strict routines of prayer and work while renouncing worldly possessions. Their clothing typically included a tunic, belt, scapula, and

1. By Ellen BUCKLEY

2. The Medieval monastery was established during the Middle Ages. The first
type of Medieval monastery adhered to the Benedictine Rule, established by St.
Benedict in 529AD. Different orders of monks were also established during the
Middle Ages. The major orders of Medieval monks were the Benedictines,
the Cistercians and the Carthusians. These monastic orders differed mainly in
the details of their religious observation and how strictly they applied their
rules. In the twelfth century four hundred and eighteen monasteries were
founded in England; in the next century, only about a third as many. In the
fourteenth, only twenty-three monasteries were founded in England.
Medieval monks

3. Medieval monastery life consisted of a regular round of worship, reading, and
manual labor. Every day was divided into eight sacred offices, beginning and
ending with services in the monastery church. The first service came usually
about two o'clock in the morning; the last, just as evening set in, before
the monks retired. In addition to their attendance at church, the monks spent
several hours in reading from the Bible, private prayer, and meditation. For
most of the day, however, they worked hard with their hands, doing the
necessary washing and cooking for the monastery, raising the necessary supplies
of vegetables and grain, and performing all the other tasks required to maintain
a large establishment like the monastery A Medieval monastery was a farm, an
inn, a hospital, a school and a library.
Medieval Monastery Life

4. Orders of Medieval Monks in the Middle Ages
The first Medieval monks adhered to the Benedictine Rule which was established by St.
Benedict in 529AD. Different orders of Medieval monks were also established during
the Middle Ages. The major orders of Medieval monks were:
The Benedictine Monks - the Black Monk
The Cistercian Monks - the White monk
The Carthusian Monks - the silent monks
The Dominican Monks
The Franciscan Monks
Augustine Monks, including the Gilbertines
Types of medieval monks

5. Washing and cooking for the monastery
Raising the necessary supplies of vegetables and grain
Reaping, Sowing, Ploughing, Binding and Thatching, Haymaking and
Threshing
Producing wine, ale and honey
Providing medical care for the community
Providing education for boys and novices
Copying the manuscripts of classical authors
Providing hospitality for pilgrims
Daily life of a monk

6. The Three Vows of the Medieval Monks
Different orders had different vows. The three vows of the Benedictine monks were:
The Vow of Poverty
The Vow of Chastity
The Vow of Obedience
Medieval Monks chose to renounce all worldly life and goods and spend their lives working under
the strict routine and discipline of life in a medieval monastery The reasons for becoming a monk,
their clothes and the different orders are detailed in medieval monks This section specifically applies
to the daily life of the monks.
the Vows monks took

7. §A tunic, tied around the waist with a cloth or leather belt
§Over the tunic was a scapula. A scapula was a garment consisting of a long wide piece
of woolen cloth worn over the shoulders with an opening for the head;
§A cowl was attached to the scapula ( the cowl is the hood worn especially by a monk )
§The front of the scapula was secured with a small piece of rectangular cloth that
snapped the sides together
§Hair shirts - some monks imposed suffering on themselves by wearing hair shirts under
their habits
§Some monks would also wear a cross upon a chain
around their necks
What did monks wear?