Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/198

 i62 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE by the monks, whom all must obey, through whose hands all letters to the monks from without must pass, and who is urged to be severe and impartial in rebuking and punish- ing all offenses. The individual monk is to have absolutely no personal property, and the social classifications of the outside world are not to be regarded in the cloisters, where the monks are to rank only by seniority and as they may be promoted or degraded by the abbot. Each monastery is to be self-governing and independent except for the episcopal supervision of the bishop in whose diocese it is located; the Benedictine Rule contemplates no general grouping of monasteries into orders or provinces, no placing of one abbot above another. Numerous writers have united in extolling the Rule for its moderation and practicability, its avoidance of the extremes of asceticism found in Eastern monachism, its Roman genius for organization and regula- tion, its suitability to Western conditions and spirit, its psychological insight and lofty moral standards, its glorifi- cation of manual labor which slavery had cast into dis- repute in antiquity. The reader can easily test these: conclusions for himself and learn of the details of the 1 monks' life by reading in English translation this famous document under which lived so many men through many centuries. The monastery had the advantage of being an orderly community in the midst of a disordered world. When city, Monasteries trade, industry, emperors, and kings were all civ[nzation° f ^ a ^ nn S to hold society together, and only the great landholder seemed able to keep a certain local area and social group under his control, the Church showed its power to establish close settlements where a number of men lived in harmony and served one another. A corporation is likely to have an advantage over the in- dividual especially in economic matters. Moreover, public opinion venerated the monastery as the resort of holy men; it was often spared in war, and kept receiving bequests of land and other privileges. The monks were not supposed to be primarily agriculturists or preservers of ancient manu-