Daily Medieval

The Rule of St. Benedict was very influential and led to the founding of many monasteries. It was also adopted by groups that started their...

Christine de Pizan (1364 - c.1430) was considered the first professional woman of letters in Europe, first writing after the death of her h...

Modern stereotypes about medieval feasts suggest images of boars with apples in their mouths and giant turkey legs. Without adequate preserv...

We are accustomed to a world of laws and regulations. Most social institutions have existed long enough that there are well-known expectatio...

When St. Benedict established the Rule of St. Benedict for the proper functioning and practices of monastic life, he could not have anticip...

When St. Benedict decided to create a place where men could quietly contemplate God, removed from the cares of the world, he chose a 1700-f...

Becoming a monk was not always a choice. Sometimes it was the default choice for someone with no skills that he could turn into a career, or...

American author Henry James took a six-week tour of France in 1883, in which he mentions the "chatty nun" who guided him through M...

Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset may be the best-known of English abbeys. Originally founded in 712 with the construction of a stone church, it...

Æthelwold, one of the Three English Holy Hierarchs, saintly figures who spurred the revival of monasticism in England, was a truly saintly m...

Canonical Hours were fixed times during the day for prayers. The Bible was the source for planning multiple times during the day for prayer....

When April, with her showers sweet, The drought of March has pierced to the roots... A poster for sale of Chaucer reading On this day...

Today is her feast day, as well as the anniversary of the St. Scholastica's Day Riot in Oxford. She was the twin sister of Saint Bene...

Benedict holding his Rule; you can see the raven that saved him from poisoned bread. In the discussion of time I mentioned Benedict of ...

A city without bells is like a blind man without a stick. —Rabelais Rabelais (c.1494-1553) was a little late for this blog, but his state...