Daily Medieval

Inspired by Francis of Assisi , Clare of Assisi  (16 July 1194 - 11 August 1253) founded a new order for women, the "Order of Poor Ladi...

Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians calls a woman's hair her "glory" and says it must be covered, because no one shou...

In 1073CE, a young man entered the Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv. The Monastery was only about 20 years old at the time—founded by Theodosi...

Double monasteries, such as the one mentioned in this post , was a monastery that combined two communities, one of men and one of women. The...

It occurs to me that, in order to explain the importance of Pietro De Crescenzi, I should explain the thousand years that preceded him. With...

The Culdees were Christian ascetics in Ireland (later spreading to Scotland, Wales, and England). The name comes from Irish Céilí Dé , "...

First, some background. In what is now eastern Belgium there was a territory called Hasbania. In French it is now referred to as Hesbaye. Th...

William I, Duke of Aquitaine, founded Cluny Abbey in 910. Built in the Romanesque style, it had a basilica that was the largest in the world...

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...

Willibald spent ten years at Monte Cassino, sharing the experiences of his wide travels and helping to shape the monastic experience for Mo...

Fulda is a town in Hesse, Germany. In 744 CE, a disciple of St. Boniface named St. Sturm built a monastery there, intended to be the largest...

The 6th century British monk St. Gildas, also known as Gildas the Wise, is known by different biographies with wildly different claims and d...

Christianity came to Britain early. Tertullian and Origen, writing in the early 3rd century, mention Christian figures there. What is now Ch...

St. Ruadán was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Born in Tara and educated at Clonard by Finnian , he later founded his own monastery o...

While explaining oblates I mentioned that there was a group called "Third Orders." "Third Order" signifies a lay member...

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...

An important function of medieval monasteries was the creation and copying of manuscripts. Copying religious and secular works for the edifi...

Brendan of Clonfert was born 484CE in County Kerry, southwest Ireland. Fostered by a nun, at the age of six he was sent to St. Jarlath's...

"Mortgage" is a Late Middle English word from Old French, and literally means "dead pledge"; folk etymology will say the...