An Outline of
the History of Christian Monasticism
Old and New Testament
Figures that Foreshadow Monasticism:
- Nazirites,
Elijah and other Prophets
- John the Baptist, 1st
century Essenes, the Virgin Mary, the daughters of Philip, Paul of Tarsus
Apostle
A.D. 250 - Paul of Thebes, Egyptian desert hermit
escaping persecution
(hermits) }
eremitic
A.D. 300 - Anthony of Egypt, Desert Father,
-
Gathered others into a community late 4th Century
A.D. 313 - Constantine the Great, The Edict of
Milan
-
Tolerance of Christian worship in the Empire
A.D. 320 - Pachomius of Egypt, early cenobitic
rule
-
Life in community under a master and a rule
A.D. 330 - Amoun and Macarius found monasteries in the Egyptian desert
A.D. 340 - Athanasius
escorts Ammon and Isidore,
disciples of Anthony, to Rome
A.D. 357 - Athanasius wrote The Life of Anthony or Vita
Antonii
-
Teaches two key precepts of monastic life:
A.
Imitation of Christ
B.
Following of Christ
- A monastic does not seek God
outside of community, and yet in the deep monastic solitude there can be found
a mystical union with other monastics
- Gregory of Nazianzan said
Athanasius’ biography of Anthony is a rule in story form.
A.D. 360 - Basil wrote a moderate rule of life in common
- Moderation and fellowship,
Aescetica
A.D. 360 - Martin of Tours, continental Celtics
-
Celtic link that carries the example to Ireland
-
Spread the Good News
A.D. 386 - Jerome founds Bethlehem monasteries
A.D. 401 - Augustine of Hippo writes On the Works of Monks
-
stresses the value of manual labor
A.D. 453 - Patrick is selected as a missionary to
Ireland
5th Century - Symeon the Stylite lives atop a Syrian
column
5th Century - Theodore of Egypt, succeeded Pachomius,
founded a middle way
-
Skete model was one of individual dwellings around a church
A.D. 520 - Benedict of Nursia, a hermit at
Subiaco, Italy
A.D. 530 - A
monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy
A.D. 535 - Writes
the Benedictine Rule ,
The Little Rule
} Benedictine
Early 7th Century – Scholastica, sister of Benedict, and the Benedictine Nuns
A.D. 563 - Columba and 12 monks to Iona to found a
monastery
-
Militia Christi regula
} Celtic
A.D. 590 - Columban to Luseuil, France, and
Bobbio, Italy
-
1 with 12 Celtic model, again
A.D. 597 - Augustine of Canterbury sent by Gregory
the Great
to the British
Isles
-
Brings the Benedictine Rule to England
-
Finds a well organized Catholic Church, though unique
A.D. 635 - Aidan founds Lindisfarne Monastery
A.D. 663 - Synod of Whitby
-
Imposes resolutions from Rome on Celtic churches
A.D. 731 - Venerable Bede writes The History of the English Church and People
A.D. 793 - Vikings
sack Lindisfarne
9th Century - Theodore the Studite, restored Basil’s
rule
-
Included a practical code
9th Century - Charlemangne seeks comformity of all
monastics in Europe
to the
Benedictine Rule
- He also seeks
the addition of the filioque to the
Nicene Creed
A.D. 909 - Berno founds monastery at Cluny
- Benedictines of
the Cluniac version
- Powerful and
wealthy
A.D. 936 - Abbot Laffredus of Farfa is murdered by
two monks
-
He tried to enforce Benedictine rule
A.D. 943 - Dunstan seeks reform of monasteries in
England
11th Century - Augustinian
Hermits, followers of the Rule of Saint Augustine
-
Named for Augustine of Hippo
-
Officially established by Pope Innocent IV in A.D. 1243
- Noteworthy Augustinians: The only English Pope, Adrian IV;
Thomas a Kempis; Desiderius Erasmus; Gregor Mendel; Martin Luther
- Mendicant Friars or “beggars”
A.D. 1084 - Bruno and the Carthusians,
Chartreuse region of France
-
Common church with separate huts
-
Solitude with community
A.D. 1098 - Robert de Molesme and the Cistercians
(Trappists)
-
Return to living the Benedictine Rule as written
-
Use of conversi or apprentices
-
Living in monasteries
-
Bernard of Clairvaux is a major figure,
founding
the monastery at Clairvaux in A.D. 1115
A.D. 1099 - First Crusade, Jerusalem is won
A.D. 1106 - Bernard d’Abbeville and the Tironensians,
Tiron, France
-
Benedictine reform (near Chartre)
-
Use of tirones or apprentices
-
Master craftsmen and artisans
-
Very influential in the British Isles
A.D. 1118 - Knights Templar organize in Jerusalem
A.D. 1120 - Norbert and the Premonstratensians,
Premontre, France
-
Remote communities given to manual labor
-
All churches were dedicated to Our Lady
-
Came to England in A.D. 1143
A.D. 1127 - Bernard of Clairvaux writes Apologia
-
A critique of the Cluniacs
A.D. 1128 - Knights Templar adopt the Cistercian
Rule
A.D. 1130 - Gilbert and the Gilbertines,
Sempringham, Lincolnshire, England
-
Only purely English order, began with a convent and cloister
-
Similar to Cistercian mission, an austere order
-
Later under the Rule of St. Augustine, modified
-
Men and women in the same community, but separate
A.D. 1154 - The Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel/Carmelites
- They claim
no founder
- Berthold organized the hermits living on Mt. Carmel
- Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
petitioned Rome for recognition, and they were given the Rule of St. Augustine
- Known for extreme
asceticism, and lived in priories (monasteries)
A.D. 1210 - Francis of Assisi, Italy, seeks papal
approval for Franciscans
-
Officially established by Pope Honorius III in A.D. 1223
-
Embracing poverty to bare witness to God
-
Clare and the Nuns (Poor Clares)
}
Mendicant
A.D. 1215 - Dominic de Guzman, Spain, seeks papal
approval for Dominicans
-
The Order of Preachers
-
Officially established by Pope Honorius III in A.D. 1216
-
Preaching and correcting theological errors
-
Thomas Aquinas is a Dominican
-
Major role in the Roman Inquisition, A.D. 1233
A.D. 1314- Knights
Templar disbanded
-
Succeeded as the Order of Christ in A.D. 1318
A.D. 1517 - Conventual
Friars, monastery based Franciscan reform
-
Lived in a stable house (conventus in
Latin), usually urban
-
Academic study was labor
A.D. 1520 - Matteo de Bascio and the Capuchin
Friars
-
Franciscan reform to more solitude and penance
-
Capuchines, nuns, founded A.D. 1538, Sisters of Suffering
-
Cloistered
A.D. 1534 - Ignatius Loyola and the Society of
Jesus/Jesuit
-
Hospital and missionary work
-
Largest RC order of men
(unless you add
up all the different Franciscans)
-
Originally “The Company of Jesus”
(in Latin cum-pane, “with bread”)
A.D. 1540 - The Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII
In Christ's love, Fr. Robert Pax
