Monasteries & Abbeys in Europe

Like Christianity itself, Christian monasticism originated in the Middle East. Inspired by the example set by Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, many Christians in the early centuries of the Common Era pursued solitary lifestyles. Called hermits or anchorites, these “Desert Fathers” lived alone in sparsely populated areas such as the Egyptian desert, places that allowed them to focus their attentions on religious devotion, prayer, and contemplation. Some adopted idiosyncratic approaches; in the 5th century, for instance, one Syrian anchorite, Simeon Stylites, reportedly spent almost forty years living atop a pillar.

Clustering in particular areas, the anchorites sometimes formed communities known as lauras, meeting together for religious services while spending the rest of their time alone. The argument that these individuals should actually live communally was subsequently made by Saint Pachomius of Egypt in the early 4th century, thus establishing a new approach – often called cenobitic monasticism – that would have major repercussions for Christian history.

Pachomius’ cenobitic monasticism soon spread to Palestine, Syria, and ultimately to Europe, where some societies enthusiastically took up the practice. Ireland for instance became a hub for spreading monastic lifestyles elsewhere in Western Europe, with the Irish Saint Columban establishing monasteries in Gaul (modern France) in the 590s and 600s and his countryman Saint Aidan founding the famous monastery at Lindisfarne in England in the 630s.

As Christianity spread northward among communities speaking Slavic, Germanic, and Finnic languages, so new monasteries formed during the Early Middle Ages. A particularly important monastic complex developed on Mount Athos in Greece during the 10th century, eventually becoming home to monks from various Orthodox Christian traditions.

Attempting to standardise monastic practices, sets of rules were set forth for monks to follow. One of the most prominent Christians to outline one such set of rules was Saint Benedict of Nursia, who lived in Italy during the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The Rule of Benedict emphasised a life of prayer and manual labour, with monks living communally and sharing their belongings. Benedict was sufficiently influential that in 1964 the Pope declared him to be the patron saint of all Europe.

The monastic order who followed Saint Benedict’s example became known as Benedictines and were one of several Roman Catholic groups active in medieval Europe. In the early 10th century, an influential reform movement stemming from the Benedictine Cluny Abbey in France produced the Cluniac Order, while a second Benedictine reform movement, this time stemming from France’s Citeaux Abbey, produced the Cistercians late in the 11th century. Each of these orders had its own particular approach to the monastic life and could often be identified by specific dress codes.

Several quasi-monastic military orders also formed in medieval Europe, their members taking monastic-style vows on issues like poverty and chastity. The early 12th century saw the emergence of both the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights Templars, the former focusing more on providing medical care and the latter on military objectives in the midst of the Crusades against Islamic forces in the Holy Land. The late 12th century saw the formation of the Teutonic Order, who later led a crusade against pre-Christian communities in the Baltic region. Many medieval buildings associated with these military orders still exist across Europe.

As the Middle Ages proceeded, several mendicant orders appeared, members of which were called friars. Unlike monastic orders, the mendicants took vows of poverty that often required begging for alms, and typically travelled to evangelise and assist the needy, rather than remaining within a closed monastery. The most prominent of these mendicant orders were the Franciscans, founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1210, and the Dominicans, established by Saint Dominic in 1216. As with older monastic orders, these mendicant groups often produced reform movements whose members felt that the existing orders were failing to live up to their original intentions. It was for this reason, for example, that the Capuchins branched off from the Franciscans during the 16th century.

Religious houses were Europe’s main centres of learning and scholarship during the Middle Ages. Not only did they preserve the work of older writers such as Homer and Plato, but they were also places for the production of new material, whether beautiful illustrated manuscripts or important new writings on theology, hagiography, and history.

In addition, monastic orders played an important role in the medieval cult of saints, often producing holy relics to entice pilgrims to their monasteries – something that could prove a lucrative source of revenue. Religious houses also often owned considerable tracts of land, allowing hem to become incredibly wealthy. Some of this wealth was redistributed through charitable endeavours, with monasteries and convents providing alms to the poor as well as medical services to local communities and travelling pilgrims.

Monastic wealth was also ploughed into building projects, with new structures reflecting changing fashions. While the Romanesque style of architecture was popular across much of Europe during the 11th and 12th centuries, from the late 12th century the Gothic style began to spread, enabled by knowledge of more advanced construction techniques. Although allowing the religious houses to build beautiful structures and assist the needy, this wealth also brought problems, contradicting many of the ideals on which monastic orders had formed while also generating resentment from the broader population.

Arising in the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation posed a major challenge to the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church across much of Europe. Emphasising active participation in the world, Protestantism was generally critical of monasticism. In Denmark, for instance, most monasteries were closed in the Lutheran Reformation of the 1520s and 1530s, while in England and Wales, King Henry VIII’s split from Rome led to the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. With Protestantism in the ascendant, monasticism came to an end across much of northern Europe, with monastic buildings repurposed for other uses.

The Roman Catholic Church responded with the Counter-Revolution. Among the changes it introduced was the formation of the Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus, in the 1540s. The Jesuits were termed “clerics regular,” meaning that they were largely ordained priests rather than monks, however they still lived a communal life bearing similarities to that of the monastic orders. They would play a particularly important role in spreading Roman Catholicism in Asia and the Americas during the early modern period.

Further trouble came for Europe’s monasteries in the 18th century. Anti-Jesuit sentiment became increasingly widespread and in Austria, Emperor Joseph II closed many monasteries as wasteful. More violent was the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789, when France’s religious orders were dissolved and many of its medieval monasteries ransacked. Growing numbers of French monks and nuns fled abroad, including to Britain, where improved religious tolerance facilitated the spread of new Roman Catholic religious houses in the 19th century.

Elsewhere in the continent, religious houses faced other problems. In much of Southeast Europe, largely Orthodox Christian peoples like the Serbians and Greeks came under the Islamic rule of the Ottoman Empire, during which time their monasteries often served as centres of anti-colonial resistance. The Agia Lavra monastery was the site at which the Greek Revolution against Ottoman rule symbolically began in 1821, while Crete’s Arkadi Monastery played a major role in the island’s anti-Ottoman revolt of 1866.

During the 20th century, monastic communities in much of Central and Eastern Europe persevered despite opposition from Marxist governments. Following the collapse of state socialism in the region, many monasteries experienced a revival, often being embraced as repositories of national and cultural identity. Several, such as the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria and the Studenica Monastery in Serbia, became UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Meanwhile, in Western Europe the decline of Christianity saw a concomitant decline for most religious houses. Conversely, the arrival of Asian religions with their own monastic traditions – most notably Buddhism and Hinduism – has resulted in the creation of new types of monastery on European soil.