Curiosities of Christian History

PROGRESS OF

chose plain coarse clothes and girdles. The monks went barelegged, and their hair was more or less shaven. In 529 St. Benedict, an Italian of noble birth, instituted a code of conduct for his monastery on Monte Cassino, a hill between Rome and Naples, and added manual labour for seven hours a day. St. Augustine, the apostle to the Anglo-Saxons, about 596, belonged to the Benedictine order, and so did St. Dunstan, about 930. The habit of the Benedictines consisted of a white woollen cassock, and over that an ample black gown and a black hood. The female houses had also a white under-garment, a black gown and black veil, with a white wimple round the face and neck.

AND WORSHIP

yrian monk had been sufficient to interrupt the eternal laws of the universe. The favourites of Heaven were accustomed to cure inveterate diseases with a touch, a word, or a distant message, and to expel the most obstinate demons from the souls or bodies which they possessed. They familiarly or imperiously commanded the lions and serpents of the desert, infused vegetation into a sapless trunk, suspended iron on the surface of the water, passed the Nile on the back of a crocodile, and refreshed themselves in a fiery furnace. These extravagant tales, which display the

PHY OF

bmit to any rule by which they will be exempted from the tyranny of caprice and of chance. They are glad to supply by external authority their own wan

OR BECOMI

noble youth, named Simon, about the same time was so struck by the transitoriness of wealth on seeing his father's dead body, that he also became a monk. Many were driven by sickness, poverty, shame, and remorse to do likewise. Those driven into monasteries by the fear of death were said soon to lose their firmness of purpose. Once St. Bernard, when visiting Count Theobald of Champagne, and seeing a crowd following a robber who was about to be executed, begged of the count to give up to him the criminal to be reformed, and Bernard converted him into an exemplary monk, who lived such for thirty years thereafter. Another monk, Bernard, who lived on a desert island near Jersey, made such an

SIDE OF M

er, and obviously before his time, who was uncompromising in his denunciations of the whole system. "There is," he said, "one and the same Divine life springing from fellowship with the Redeemer, in which all genuine Christians share, and a higher stage cannot exist." But in spite of all cavils the system held its ground down to the time of Luther. As Neander remarks: "The more the monks occupied themselves with their temptations, ins

AT MONTE CASS

nobles flocked to take up their abode. They acted as missionaries and almsmen to the poor. After fourteen years' presiding over the monastery, he had a last interview with his sister Scholastica, whom he survived forty days. A violent fever seized him, and he ordered his sister's tomb to be opened for him, and himself to be carried to the chapel of John the Baptist. Then, supported

OF MONKERY (

with luxurious monks, strangers to fasting and unused to vigils, revelling in the good things of life, and in their rich revenues; then abbots were lords and rulers living in princely state, and riding out on richly caparisoned palfreys. The old humility of the monastic life was lost; they took part in state intrigues, dictated laws to kings, shook the thrones of monarchs who had offended them, and began to aspire after worldly power and dominion. At l

IES OF MONASTER

d nothing to eat but the bark of trees and wild herbs; and what made matters worse, one of their number was sick, and the others could do nothing to relieve him. Three days they spent in prayer, seeking relief for their sick brother, when suddenly they saw a man standing at the door of the convent, whose horses were laden with sacks of provisions. The man told them that he had felt an indescribable impulse to go and assist with his means those who from love to Christ endured such privations in the wilderne

SETTLING IN A FO

tion, we fear not the threatenings of men who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Know that He will supply His servants abundantly with food even in a desert. And thou also, my friend, mayst be a partaker of these riches, if thou wilt renounce thy evil vocation and vow to serve the true and living God. Despair not of God's goodness on account of the greatness of thy sins, but be assured the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry, and the face of the Lord is against them that

E FEROCITY OF LOMBA

s daughter Rosamund, and used on solemn occasions to drink out of his skull, which had been made into a cup. One day Albuin commanded that the goblet should be handed to the Queen, calling upon her to drink gaily with her father. This horrible outrage was at a later time cruelly avenged by Rosamund. Paul Di

IES TO MAKE THE MON

never bathed, courted derision and insult like a madman, and expressed his fear of hell in loud outcries. On the death of his abbot Benedict became his successor, and built a little hermitage on the bank of the river Aniane. Some monks tried to live with him, but found the regimen too severe; others succeeded better. He and his monks resolved to build a monastery between them. They had no oxen to drag the materials, and they did the work themselves. The walls were of wood, the roof thatched with straw, the vestments were coarse, the vessels of wood, but all of t

IN MONASTICIS

ith their earnings. When starving crowds came to his new settlement, he taught them to join in storing all the grain that could be spared till next harvest, and each made his portion support himself and supply a surplus, as a boon to the needy ones outside. The monastery was also turned into an industrial centre for library work. Louis t

TES HOME TO HIS OLD

ed with sacred occupations, the delectable refuge of my dwelling, your pious and holy dispositions-when I think of the holy band of so many soldiers of Christ, zealous in all Divine offices, and the shining examples of special excellence in particular brethren, and the sweet converse we had on the perfections of our celestial home-I tremble, I gaze, I languish, I cannot restrain my tears, and my breast is rent with many sighs. I am living amongst Catholics and followers of Christian worship. I am well received. All show me abundant kindness for the love of our Father Benedict and for the sake of your ow

RINKING WINE IN E

an, their first founder, to milk and water. Let others dispute whether Ceolwolphus thus dispensed with them by his new abbatical or old regal power, which he so resigned that in some cases he might resume it, especially to be king in his own convent. And indeed the cold, raw, and bleak situation of that place, with many bitter blasts from the sea and no shelter on the

IS DOUBTS ABOUT M

als. He asked sarcastically how the monks and clergy understood the text against entangling themselves with worldly affairs: whether those could be said to have forsaken the world who were incessantly striving to increase their possessions by all sorts of means-who used the hopes of heaven and the terrors of hell, the names of God and the saints, to extort gifts not only from the rich, but from the poor and ignorant, and by diverting property from the lawful heirs drive these to theft and robbery. "How," asked the King, "

GNE'S COURT TO B

rflowed with tears, and he said, "My Lord William, these are hard and bitter words, which have wounded my heart; nevertheless, since it is devout and reasonable, I will not oppose. If you had preferred the service of any other mortal king, I might have felt it an injustice; but as you wish to be a soldier of the King of angels, I consent. Only you must take with you some gift as a token and memorial of our friendship." With these words the King fell on his neck and wept bitter tears. William thereafter returned to Aquitaine; and visiting the monastery of St. Julian, at Brives, h

TO LIVE AT CO

nor thy orchards, nor thy gardens where the lily mingles with the rose. I shall hear no more those birds, who, like ourselves, sing matins and celebrate their Creator in their own fashion; nor those instructions of sweet and holy wisdom, which sound in the same breath as the praises of the Most High, from lips and hearts always serene. Dear cell!

SO MANY MONASTER

d left half dead, certainly we shall find by experience how much better it is to be near an inn than at a distance from one. For when sudden destruction comes upon us, how can we be carried to a stable if it be far off? So it is much better that there should be many such places than few, seeing how great is the danger, and how large is the number of persons exposed to it. And now, especially that men are so multiplied upon earth, it is not absurd that monasteries should

N A CO

the property and enforced discipline, being also confessor to the monks. He had his falconer and his forester, and his minstrels entertained company and travellers. He had officers under him, such as the prior, precentor, cellarer, sacrist, hospitaller, infirmarer, almoner, master of the novices, porter, kitchener, seneschal, etc., according to the size of the building; and these were usually elected by the convent and approved by the abbot. Under the monastery were abbeys, or smaller establishments, each governed by a prior, who had all the abbot's powers, e

IFE IN A

on to retire for a short time if they wished; then followed lauds, which were generally finished by 6 a.m., when the bell rang for prime. When this was finished, the monks continued reading till 7 a.m., when the bell was rung and they retired to put on their day-clothes. Afterwards the whole convent, having performed their ablutions and broken their fast, proceeded again to the church, and the bell was rung for tierce at 9 a.m. After tierce came the morning Mass, and as soon as that was over they marched in processi

OF ENGLISH M

e great bell sounded they were to enter the church to receive the holy water. On the signal of another bell, they were to pray, and of another bell to sing, and afterwards to proceed to the altar to say or hear Mass. They were again to dress themselves and to return to the choir, to sit there till the bell summoned them to the chapter-house. On another signal, they were to resort to the refectory. After a certain hour no one was to speak till the children left the monastery; then when the bel

AND ARRANGEMEN

ks were allowed to dine. In the abbey church the cloisters were the consecrated ground. The navis ecclesi? was the nave or body of the church. The presbyterium was the raised choir on which the monks chanted. The vestiarium or vestry where the copes and clothes were deposited. The century or sanctuary was the place where debtors took refuge. The farm or grange was so called a grana gerendo-the overseer whereof was called the prior of the

ETWEEN MONKS

bouring parishes. I see it is very hard just to hit the joint, so as to cleave them asunder at an hair's breadth, authors being so divided in their opinions. But the most essential difference whereon we must confide is this-monks had nothing in propriety (exclusive property), but all in common; friars had nothing in propriety nor in common, but, being mendicants, begged all their substance from the charity of others. True it is they had cells or houses to dwell or rather hide themselves in, so the foxes have holes and the birds of t

FRIARS AND SE

sanctity of their order. Yet hard it was for them to persuade his Holiness to quit Peter's patrimony and betake himself to poverty, although a friar (Thomas Holden by name) did not blush to preach at Paul's Cross that Christ Himself, as first founder of their society, was a beggar-a manifest untruth, and easily confuted out of Scripture. For vast the difference betwixt beggin

WEEN ORDER

oulders and carried him to the middle; then suddenly stopped and asked if he had any money with him. "Only two reals," replied the Dominican. "Excuse me then, father," said the Franciscan; "you know my vow-I cannot carry money." And in he dropped him. It is stated in Surtees' "History of Durham" (vol. i., p. 42

SLIKED B

essing nothing whatever, living on the Gospel, displaying a true and voluntary poverty in their clothes and food, walking barefoot, girded with knotted ropes, and showing a noble example of humility to all

WANTED TO B

bot replied, "Thou art a spiritual man, and needest not food. We are carnal, and must eat because we work; but thou hast chosen the better part." The monk was then rather ashamed of his brave resolution. Another monk, John the dwarf, also wanted to be "without care, like the angels, doing nothing but praising God." So he threw away his cloak, left his brother the abbo

BBESS AT ARLE

wept around her. She found herself still worse on Sunday; and as it was her custom that her bed should only be made once a year, the servants of God begged permission to give her a softer bed, but she would not consent. On Monday, which was the day of St. Laurence, she lost all strength, and her breathing became difficult. At this sight the sad virgins of Christ poured forth tears and sighs. It being the third hour of the day, as the congregation in its affliction repeated the Psalms in silence, the holy mother in displeasure asked, 'Why do I not hear the chanting of psalmody?' The nuns replied that they could not sing through g

ERD, BECAME THE MO

sleep he sang some verses. On waking he remembered the verses, and told the bailiff what had happened. All who heard the verses believed he was inspired, and suggested to him fresh subjects, and he immediately turned them into sacred songs equally impressive. The abbess hearing of this, told C?dmon to become a monk and learn sacred history, which he did. He soon became famous for his extemporaneous versifications of all kinds of sacred subjects, such as the Resurrection, the future judgment, the Passion, and the heavenly kingdom. He is now known as the father of English poetry, and the metrical paraphrase now extant and known as "C?dmon" is a singular

ING TOO LONG

the sleeping monk, and cried, "You sleep well, brother!" He at once awoke, and they called out, "Why do you alone lie snoring here, while all your brethren are watching in the church?" And they belaboured him heavily as a warning. Meanwhile Alcuin lay trembling under the impression that his turn would come next, and ejaculated to himself that if he were only delivered he would never again love Virgil more than the melody of Psalms. The demons, after punishing the monk, then looked about, and found the boy completely covered up

HIS MONKS AGAINST I

sed him, and brought forward his innumerable crimes, the holy angels on the other hand showed the book which that monk had written in the house of God, and counted up the letters of that enormous volume as a set-off against the like number of sins. At length the letters had a majority of only one, against which, however, the demons in vain attempted to object any sin. The clemency of the Judge therefore spared the monk, commanded his soul to return to his body, and mercifully granted him

HE TWO ABBOT

he centre of a large village; while Reichnau was on an island, with strong fortifications and safe from attack. For fifteen years the two monasteries were at feud, each seeking occasion to take advantage and overcome its opponent, and engaged in constant skirmishes. Each of the abbots was proud, ambitious, and eager to crush his enemy. The abbot of Reichnau one day tried to draw Ulric, and advanced almost to the gates, but failed to bring on an engagement. After long fencing, a traitor was found in the abbey of Reichnau. As the abbot of Reichnau was making a journey to obtain a personal interview with the P

O THE GREGORIAN

y Turstin rushed unexpectedly into the chapter-house with a body of soldiers. The monks fled into the church and to the altar, and the soldiers pursued them, piercing the crosses, images, and shrines of the saints with darts and arrows, and even speared a monk while embracing the altar. The monks stoutly defended themselves with the benches and candlesticks; and

THOSE WHO PILLAGE

ies in the church, fearing that instant ruin threatened the monastery. Some of the monks went forth with tears to entreat the assailants to desist, and lawful satisfaction would be given; but the bandits, maddened with fury and blind with rage, insulted the envoys and dragged them from their palfreys, and fired the houses near the church. It was only through God's mercy that the wind changed at the right moment and drove the flames in another direction. The monks' lodgings, with the books and ecclesiastic

MONKS TO LI

y and night the Psalms of David. They objected to all innovations. Therefore the abbot and twelve monks withdrew; and having received a gift from the Duke of Burgundy, built a monastery at Citeaux in the diocese of Chalons, and lived there in strict rule. But the Pope being referred to, ordered the Abbot Robert to return to Moleme, which he did, and a substitute was appointed to be abbot of Citeaux. The impulse given by Abbot Robert at Citeaux drew there a great concourse of monks, and sixty-five monasteries were soon after founded, all subject to the superior abbot of Citeaux. The monks of the Cistercian order wea

A MONK'S

rest to him, were appointed by the prior to be especial mourners, sitting all night on their knees at the dead man's feet. Then were the children of the ambry, sitting on their knees in stalls on either side of the corpse, appointed to read David's Psalter all night through incessantly till eight in the morning, when the body was conveyed to the chapter-house, where the prior and the whole convent met it, and there did say their dirge and devotion; and then the dead corpse was

MONKS WER

, when all the brethren were to run to the chamber, for this was one of the two occasions when it was permitted to them to depart from their usual measured pace, the other being in the event of fire. If Mass should be celebrating or any regular office, all who were without the choir were to hasten, and those within were to remain. If the monks were in the refectory, the reading was to be instantly suspended, and the monks were to haston. The Litany was then to be chanted and the prayers, according to the progress of his agony. The custom of showing penitence by spreadin

OR RICH MEN M

powerful; and therefore we conform to His ordination in honouring them so far as relates to this order. Secondly, because of the infirmity of the rich, who, if they are not honoured, grow indignant, and so become more infirm and worse, and a burden to us and to other poor; whereas we ought not to be a scandal to the weak and a cause of their becoming weaker still, but should rather provoke them to good. Thirdly, because a greater

ULCATED BY THE M

e, telling them that they should really resolve never to offend God this way, whatever might be the consequence. They made this solemn promise; and, strange to relate, from that hour people flocked to their shops, and they soon prospered exceedingly. Another narrative was about one Rocherus, a high dignitary in the church at Magdeburg, who was playing at chess, when a servant boy entered and whispered to the butler that a poor sick woman was at the gate, and sent him to beg just a little wine. Rocherus overhearing this, ordered that some wine should be given to her; but the butler said there was none unless he opened a new cask. Rocherus ordered him

NG A FELLOW-M

lay it aside." "Nay, holy father," said Jerome; "when clad in this habit I can walk more easily amid the oaks and brushwood; nor would any other be suitable to a penitent." "Oh, but," said the Pope, "you shall be no longer in the woods and desert; you shall remain here with us, and from a hermit become a cardinal." The hermit at

DER OF

efulness by mixing with mankind and helping them by active duties. Hence they established their houses in or near great towns, and acted like home missionaries, teaching and preaching; and they cultivated science as well as religion. There soon grew up four leading orders of friars-Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustines. The Do

ELLA OF TH

m go and visit a sister in the convent who wore a turban as a headdress. "That sister," said the angel, "is holier than thou art. Though always in tribulation both night and day, she is always mindful of God, and never troubled in mind, as you are." Pyoterus went to the convent and asked to see the sisters. All were brought and presented to him. But he said, "One is still missing." "Nay, holy father," said the abbess, "all are here, except the poor scullion, who is a fool." "Let me see her," said the hermit. Then

BROTHERS AT SEMPR

ir presence. No gossiping or talebearing was allowed. The lay brothers were never to enter the nuns' enclosure save in case of fire, thieves, etc. The nuns and sisters washed the linen of the canons, but not of the lay brothers, who had to do their own. The women were permitted to sew for the men, but not to cut out, make, or mend their breeches for them. The head prioress and nuns, on their annual journey round the nuns' houses, were to have an escort of a canon and a lay brother to protect them and supply necessaries. There was to be no more conversation between them than was absolutely necessary, and the men were enjoined to retire to a respectful distance whenever the women had to descend from their travell

US VISITIN

creature of God, which he was unable to restore to life again. The abbot smiled benignly, and imposed a very light penance for the offence. St. Benno, born at Hildesheim and Bishop of Meissen, was an enthusiastic reviver of church music. When the Pope excommunicated his king, Benno ordered two of his canons to throw the keys of his minster into the river Elbe. He was intensely conscientious and mindful of the feelings of others. One evening, as he was walking in the fields near Meissen, meditating and praying, he was distur

ECOMING W

little articles of property. It is said that in the abbey of St. Tron, about 1200, each monk had a locked cupboard behind his seat in the refectory, wherein he carefully secured his napkin, spoon, cup, and dish. Even the bedclothes were not safe. Then so many went about traversing every corner of Christendom, beard

E NUNS OF BAS

the scandal thereby created. The Pope sent commissioners, who felt it their duty to hold a solemn inquiry into the allegations against their dissipated and ungodly lives. The ladies demurely listened to the papal commissioner, and then retired without saying a word; but a few minutes later they each and all returned, armed with every kitchen implement they could find, and belaboured right and left the commissioners, who in their terror fled, leaving the papal bull behind them, and with their clothes torn off their backs. This appalling treason shocked the papal authorities, who ordered the sisters to be expelled and stripped of their possessions. One or two of the sisters who professed to be shocked at their companions begged to be allowed to remain till they could get their

ALING ANOTHE

ent me aforetime that which I needed, and this brother too will be a blessing to me." And having sustained this tribulation a long time, his strength failed, and he was dying. And many brethren stood around looking upon him; and seeing among them the brother who had for so long a time stolen his bread, he called him to his side and kissed his hands,

F DECIDING ON CR

rose not, he surrendered himself to the will of the Emperor. A body accordingly was brought into a neighbouring bath. The Emperor, the ministers, the whole council, and a wondering multitude adjourned to this place. Polychronius presented a sealed paper, which was opened and read; it declared his creed, and that he had been commanded in a vision to hasten to Constantinople to prevent the Emperor from establishing heresy. The paper was lai

DING FOR PRISO

goldsmiths who were imprisoned, and compelled to work beyond their strength, in order to complete some royal ornaments which she required. By accident her little son one day strayed into the prison, whereupon the prisoners seized him and threatened that, as they were tired of life and reckless of consequences, they would first kill the child and then themselves, unl

IANS ACQUIRED A

ad given the order a house at Paris, from the windows of which they saw another more extensive and convenient mansion and site in the neighbourhood. Soon afterwards this house opposite was found to be haunted by spirits and goblins, which made a great noise in the night, rattling their chains, and sending forth the most horrid yells and groans. Amongst other hideous things a green monster appeared ever

AT REVISITING

oot and begging his bread. His power equalled that of Charles V., and all men had their eyes on him. That morning, on his march, he had sung the famous war hymn, which Heyne compares to the Marseillaise, and the Emperor was about to resist him, as he said in his imperial rescript, "though at the peril of his own blood, of his dignity, and of the fortune of the empire." The triumphant innovator was recalled to himself for an instant

POLITE LETTE

onastery from the others by making it the asylum of literature and the arts. He endowed the institution with his Roman library, containing the accumulations of half a century. Not only were the monks incited by his example to the study of classical and sacred literature, but he trained them likewise to the art of carefully transcribing manuscripts of rare and precious works. He introduced also the arts of bookbinding, gardening, and medicine. He employed

ITERATURE ABO

he deceased person, and still remain most graphic pictures of the habits of the age. The ingenuity of the authors, when they lived long after their hero, was taxed in order to crowd into the narrative every incident which could sustain the craving for the marvellous and romantic, and these were the inventions of the composer. The Lives were written in the language of the people, and the supply seemed to be equal to the demand. They moulded the creed of all the common people, and th

IN THE MONASTE

to be the most learned man of his time; and one day a presumptuous emperor's chaplain went up to him, saying, "Most learned sir, you know everything; pray tell us what God is doing now." Notker at once replied, "He is doing now what He is always doing, and what He will soon do to thee. He is exalting the humble and abasing the proud." A chronicler says that this chaplain, in departing in the Emperor's train, was thrown from his horse and disfigured for life. Notker was a great musician, and set the best hymns to music for use in all the Western Churches. Ratpert also composed sacred songs and a chronicle of the abbey. Tutilo was skilful as an

MANUSCRIPT

e whole seemed to be the produce not of human but of angelic hands. The fervour of the abbots in that tenth century in employing writers to preserve valuable books by multiplying copies can never be sufficiently praised. Tangmar, in his Life of St. Berward of Hildesheim, says that he established scriptoriums, not only in the monasteries, but in divers places, by means of which he collected a copious library of books, both of divines and philosophers. In fact, the

NSHIP OF

assics. St. David, the patron saint of Wales, is said to have begun shortly before his death to transcribe the Gospel of St. John in letters of gold with his own hand. In this constant practice sprang up the art of illumination, so vainly imitated by the artists of the present day, not from want of genius, but from want of something almost indescribable in the conception and execution-a tone and preservation of colour, and especially of gilding, which was essentially peculiar to the old monks, who must hav

RIES AS MUS

ious stones. In the monastery of Ripon were four gospels written on a purple ground in letters of gold, inclosed in a golden casket. The furniture for St. Ina's famous chapel in Glastonbury was of silver and gold of great value, the covers of the gospels were of gold, and the priests' vestments interwoven with gold and cunningly ornamented with precious stones. In the treasury of the abbey of the Isle Barbe, the horn of Roland was preserved; in the abbey of St. Denis the chessboard and men used by Charlemagne. In the abbey of Rheinau was a wooden cross nine inches high, cu

EMBROIDERY

Renild, besides works of embroidery and weaving, were said to have written with their own hands the four gospels, the whole Psalter, and many other books of Scripture, which they ornamented with liquid gold, gems, and pearls. C?saria, abbess of Arles, and her nuns wrote out many Divine books during the time that was spent between psalmody and fasting, vigils and readings. Heloise and her nuns proposed difficult questions o

AT MISSA

mentation. The new style then consisted of interlaced fretwork or entwined branches of white and gold on a background of variegated colours. Irish monasteries excelled the British about that age in this kind of work, and the Anglo-Saxon youths went to Ireland to obtain a mastery of the favourite styles. St. Dunstan was himself an expert illuminator. A fine specimen, called St. Cuthbert's Gospels, was executed by a bishop of Lindisfarne about 721, and is now in the Cottonian Library. The finest specimen of English illumination of the tenth century is the Duke of Devonshire's "Benedictional," executed by the Bishop of Winchester in 984

IN MUSIC AND

gifted with pleasing manners, and was courteous towards his brother monks. He was abstemious himself, but generous to others; always alive for vigils, and incredibly modest. He did not plume himself with worldly ostentation on his noble birth, but obeyed the rules with unhesitating humility, and was always pleased to do the lowest offices required of the monks. For many years he was in the habit of cleaning the brethren's shoes, washing their stockings, and cheerfu