Monastaries, Abbeys, and Convents

These were cloistered (i.e., shut off from the worldly world) communities of men or women, living together in holy orders, under vows of poverty, chastity, obedience. Such celibate group homes were very popular during the Medieval period, with as many as one percent of the population in some areas living the monastic life. The concept was an ancient one. There seem to have been groups of Jews living in this fashion in the time of Jesus. As a Christian institution, monastacism grew steadily over the centuries and achieved its Golden Age during the Middle Ages. Many of the monks were priests, but most were simply "brothers," a lesser degree of religious status. Women had to be satisfied with being "sisters," more or less equal to the "brothers." In some cases some cases "lay brothers" and "lay sisters" were illiterate peasants, working the fields and remaining celibate in return for food and shelter. However, prayer, literacy, and learning were encouraged. The cloistered life was not attractive merely to the common folk, and many nobles joined the cloister (often bringing generous "doweries" with them). The leadership of monastaries (for the men) and convents (for the women), abbots and abbesses, were often persons of noble birth, and always of relatively great power. Abbeys were widely recognized as centers of piety, learning, and industry. Most of the innovations in agriculture during the Middle Ages appear to have been first developed by monastic communities, such as at Cluny. Over the centuries, kings and nobles donated land (often in their wills) to cloistered commmunities, in exchange for the prayers which they perceived their souls were desperately in need of. As a result, these institutions often became quite wealthy. Abbots and Abbesses (the heads of religious communities) presided over vast lands and were responsible for managing these properties as feudal landholders, even to the extent of being obliged to provide the king with men-at-arms and service as government officials. In some reginos Abbesses had votes in local parliaments, the only women of the age allowed to participate in government to that extent.