The roots of the great monastic movement which continued for nearly
the whole of the Middle Ages run well back into the early Christian
centuries. While the beginnings of Monasticism are involved in
uncertainty they probably sprang from exaggerated tendencies on
the part of individuals, toward lives of privation, hardship, and
exposure, of which there were early numerous examples and conspicuous
manifestations. These travesties upon devout character and mere
abnormalities of religious devotion were not true products of
Christian sentiment and ideals but glaring manifestations of morbid
self-assertion. This movement was not conterminous nor contemporaneous
with the development of Christianity; it existed apart from and
prior to Christianity. There were tendencies and examples in the
direction here indicated among the Jewish teachers; and it had a large
embodiment in the ancient Buddhist as in the modern Indian systems.
The central idea of the early ascetics, ever, was that the body is
a clog and hindrance to the spirit of man, and hence the assumption
of merit in and through the practice of severe austerities and rigid
self-abnegation. There were many gross, horrible, and idiotic
applications of this practice in the early stages of Christian history
as there are in India to-day. The period of its chief ascendency was in
the third and fourth centuries.
The monastic movement spread in the fourth century into the extreme
West. "Many of the islands around Ireland and Scotland," says
Professor Thatcher, "were occupied by the monks, a large number of
whom were hermits. Many monasteries were established. The movement
became immensely popular, and within a hundred and fifty years there
were hundreds of monasteries in the West and thousands of monks in
them."[72] The order of Benedictines (founded by Benedict of Nursia
at the beginning of the sixth century) ran its course and flourished
for centuries. The order of Benedictines was followed (not superseded)
by a succession of orders modeled somewhat after their earlier
precurser. This movement extended its existence and its influence also
far into the East as well as to the westward. Syria, Palestine, and
Arabia--especially in the region of Mt. Sinai--were thickly studded
with monasteries and "literally swarmed with recluses." Jerome, who
lived well into the first quarter of the fifth century (died 420
A. D.), wrote at Bethlehem, Palestine, "We daily receive monks from
India, and Persia, and Ethiopia."
The monasteries, so widely established during the period we are
considering, became the schools and training-houses for the clergy--the
only schools for a long period of time. And we are told that the rulers
in the West encouraged the monasteries to open schools for boys in
connection with their houses. The schools of this period, to be sure,
would not compare with those of modern times, but they were the best
available--in fact, the only schools; and they were not circumscribed
to religious instruction. The testimony of Professor Dobschütz is that,
"All the great fathers of the church insisted upon classical training;
so did Jerome himself and Saint Augustine, not to speak of the great
classical scholars in Christian bishoprics in the East. And even in
the later centuries, when classical civilisation had gone and was only
kept up artificially by assiduous reading, it was the church which
maintained the right and the necessity of a classical training for the
clergy.... There was a time when there was no reading at all outside
the clergy and the monasteries, but this reading was a combination
of classical and Biblical. That is the great merit of the medieval
church."[73]
The value and the extent of the instruction given in these schools was,
for the most part, exceedingly limited, in both range and research.
The monasteries were--and continued to be, for long--of far greater
significance and service, no doubt, in their relation to literature--to
its preservation and also its dissemination--than they were as seats
and sources of learning. "If there had not been great abbeys where
schools of grammar were established, and where as many books as
possible were jealously preserved, perhaps not one Latin writer would
have come down to us."[74] Most of the monasteries, especially the
larger ones, were provided with a "scriptorium" or a writing-room,
where the monks with an inclination to literature and those also
who were skillful with the pen were required, in the custom of most
monasteries, to devote a proportion of every day to the employment of
copying books. The large majority of all the scribes, throughout this
entire period of a thousand years, were connected with the churches
or the monasteries. By their employment in the writing-room worn-out
manuscripts were replaced; borrowed books, transcribed, the copies made
therefrom being retained at the return of the borrowed book; and thus
in these and in other ways, gradually an increasing number of books
found a home in the monasteries.
In the business of transcribing books, as often extensively carried on
in many monasteries, several monks would sometimes copy manuscripts at
the dictation of a reader and thus a number of copies would be produced
at the same time. Each copy thus produced, however, was an "individual"
and not a "manifold" or duplicate of the others, as in carbon copies
or as printed from a type-plate. Writing at the dictation of another
was an ancient custom. It may have been practiced in the transcription
of the cuneiform tablets. It is affirmed that Jeremiah, the prophet,
thus dictated the writing to his faithful scribe, "And they asked
Baruch, saying, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with
his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book." (Jeremiah 36:17,
18.) It is possible, or perhaps probable, that the fifty copies of the
Scriptures which Constantine is said to have ordered to be made for
the churches in and about Constantinople, may all have been produced
at the dictation of a single reader. In that event, each respective
copy, while collectively made by individual monks in the _scriptorium_,
would bear its own distinct individuality. The copies thus made at
dictation would not be facsimiles of one another or a proof copy of
the original, but each copy _would_ preserve a special kinship to all
the other copies made under the same general conditions. And this is
an important consideration in textual criticism--especially in tracing
"family" likeness of certain manuscripts. And so, no doubt, from the
_scriptoria_ of the monasteries came the books, or many of them, with
which the provincial mansions of the nobility and the private and
public libraries were supplied. These manuscripts, made by the monks,
were afterwards collected (or many of them were) in the libraries
of Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and elsewhere, as well as those
treasured in abbeys and churches.
The monks, who were the principal copyists of the times, fostered
distinct traditions of penmanship that led to distinguishing "hands"
(page 115). They cultivated, also, not only the science and art of
penmanship but the higher art of embellishment and illumination of
manuscripts. For this they had both the time and the inspiring motive.
From the monasteries of this period issued some of the finest specimens
of the book-making industry and art extant in the world. In speaking
of the illuminated books of the thirteenth century, Dr. Walsh says
that, "Considering the number of them that are still in existence to
this day, in spite of the accidents of fire, and water, and war, and
neglect, and carelessness, and ignorance, there must have been an
immense number of very handsome books made by the generations of the
thirteenth century." And, quoting from another author concerning a
special manuscript of this period, he says, "Every page is sufficient
to make the fortune of the modern decorator by the quaint and
unexpected novelties of invention which it displays at every turn of
its intricate design."[75]
Allowing as we must--from the evidence--that monasticism possessed many
inherent weaknesses and deficiencies, such as these: It withdrew many
useful forces from society; it developed indifference for the family
and the family life; it isolated religion from relation to and contact
with the world; it nourished and incited materialistic aims and ideals
under the garb of superior sanctity; it prompted and promoted fanatical
zeal for part truths and whole errors; and other and kindred weaknesses
and excesses--and yet, with due recognition of its limitations and
perversions, its crudities and idiosyncrasies, it remains true,
nevertheless, that monasticism, as a system, made many and important
contributions, in various directions and for centuries, to the good
of mankind, and furnished the most important link in the chain of
events which perpetuated learning and literature in an age when, except
for so extraordinary provision and guarantees, they must inevitably
have perished. The monastic institution supplied, in a special and
adequate manner, through the abbeys and monastic houses in which, so
to speak, it was domiciled, a safe asylum and depository for the word
of God. The common isolation of these establishments, together with
the reputed sanctity of their occupants, were double security against
the hand of violence and, therefore, a double means of preservation
for the literary treasures--including both the Bible and classic
literature--made and treasured therein.
But these affirmations are not to be maintained by reasoning however
cogent nor by logic however convincing but by evidence;--by the
testimony of the historians for the period in question. The witness of
competent historians is summoned in their corroboration. Mr. Lecky
declares: "It is undoubted truth that, for a considerable period,
almost all the knowledge of Europe was included in the monasteries,
and from this it is continually inferred that, had these institutions
not existed, knowledge would have been absolutely extinguished....
The monasteries, as corporations of peaceful men protected from the
incursions of the barbarians, became very naturally the reservoirs
to which the streams of literature flowed; but much of what they
are represented as creating, they had in reality only attracted.
The inviolable sanctity which they secured rendered them invaluable
receptacles of ancient learning in a period of anarchy and perpetual
war, and the industry of the monks in transcribing, probably more than
counterbalanced their industry in effacing the classical writings."[76]
"It is certain," say Munro and Sellery, "that we are indebted for the
preservation of classical literature as far as it has been preserved,
to the monks above all others. For hundreds of years they truly
sheltered and preserved the treasures heaped up by those gone before,
and also multiplied them through copying.... If the rules of some
monastic orders forbade the reading of the pagan authors, the rules of
other orders not only permitted it, but made it an express obligation
to copy manuscripts. In this way the monks of the tenth, the eleventh,
and the twelfth centuries rendered services to civilization which will
never be forgotten.... With the foundation of the monasteries by the
missionaries, learning and poetry made their entrance into Germany.
Many of the writings of this early time are, of course, lost forever;
but enough survives to enable us to declare, with certainty, that
virtually all who studied and wrote did so in the quiet of the monastic
cells."[77] Hallam testifies: "The monasteries were subjected to strict
rules of discipline, and held out, at the worst, more opportunities
for study than the secular clergy possessed, and fewer for worldly
dissipations. But their most important service was in the fact that
they were the secure repositories for books. All our manuscripts have
been preserved in this manner, and they could have hardly descended to
us by any other channel; at least there were intervals when I do not
conceive that any royal or private libraries existed."[78] "The monks
were also the civilizers," say Thatcher and Schwill. "Every monastery
founded by them became a center of life and learning, and hence a
light to the surrounding country. They cleared the lands and brought
them under cultivation. They were farmers and taught by their example
the dignity of labor in an age when the soldier was the world's hero.
They preserved and transmitted much of the civilization of Rome to the
barbarians. They were the teachers of the West. Literature and learning
found a refuge with them in times of violence."[79] "The monks became
missionaries," declares Myers, "and it was largely to their zeal and
devotion that the Church owed her speedy and signal victory over the
barbarians; they also became teachers, and under the shelter of the
monasteries established schools which were the nurseries of learning
during the Middle Ages; they became copyists, and with great care
and industry gathered and multiplied ancient manuscripts, and thus
preserved and transmitted to the modern world much classical learning
and literature that would otherwise have been lost.... In a word,
these retreats were the inns, the asylums, and the hospitals, as well
as the schools of learning and the nurseries of religion of medieval
Europe."[80] Speaking of the monks' contribution to civilization,
Professor Emerton gives this estimate: "They opened up vast tracts of
land to civilized culture; they helped by their lives of self-denial
to keep in the minds of men a standard of morals somewhat higher than
their own; they furnished a safe retreat where the spark of learning,
beaten out by the violence of the time, might find a quiet corner in
which to smoulder at first, and then to flicker up slowly and feebly,
yet steadily into a brilliant flame."[81] Similar is the witness of
Professor Harding: "Each monastery was a settlement complete in itself,
surrounded by a wall; and the monks were not allowed to wander at will.
New monasteries were often located on waste ground, in swamps, and in
dense forests; and by reclaiming such lands and teaching better methods
of agriculture the monks rendered a great service to society. Schools
were also maintained in connection with the monasteries.... The monks
were encouraged to copy and read books."[82] Professor Duruy claims
that "the Benedictines added agriculture to preaching, and copying
manuscripts to prayer. Schools were usually annexed to their convents,
and contributed toward the saving of letters from complete ruin."[83]
Says another: "Only with the revival of learning did literature and
art issue out to the world in general; and then the end of the reign
of the manuscript was at hand. So, before the decline of monasticism
was accomplished, its special work as the exclusive guardian of
literature was done; and the secular world was ready to take into
its own keeping the heritage of learning which the monks had been so
largely instrumental in handing down to it."[84] And says Mr. Putnam:
"The fall of Constantinople in 1453," (at the very time when Gutenberg
was engaged in printing the first book) "and the introduction into
Europe of the Turks, was unquestionably a great injury to Europe and
to civilization, and the destruction of the collections of manuscripts
existing in the capital itself and in the monasteries and libraries in
other cities of the Empire, was an irreparable loss for literature.
For the educational interests and the literary development of Europe
there were, however, considerations to offset this serious disaster.
Great as was the destruction of manuscripts, a number were preserved
by individual scholars and in the hidden recesses of certain convents
and monasteries. Many of these were at once taken to Italy, Germany,
and France by the scholars flying from the barbarous conquerors of
their land, and the works were thus brought to the knowledge and made
available for the use of European students. Others were secured from
their hiding places years after the capture of the City, by Greek
scholars sent back for the purpose on behalf of the publishers of Italy
and France, or of the universities of Bologna, Padua, and Paris, while
some few valuable parchments were hidden so safely that they have been
forgotten for centuries and are only to-day being brought to light from
the vaults and attics of old monasteries, so as again to be included in
literature accessible for the world."[85]
The monasteries, as the tangible and permanent accretion of
monasticism, then, may be justly regarded as the centers of learning
and sources for the making of books--and by the slow and laborious
process of hand-writing. And it was a slow and laborious process even
though many copies were made at the same time from the dictation of a
single reader. The monasteries became also the depositories wherein
the Scriptures, together with other literature, including often the
classical writings, were preserved from destruction which the vandal
hordes that often devastated large sections of Europe occasioned. The
larger ancient libraries, except that at Constantinople, were destroyed
through the fanaticism and ruthlessness of Saracen and savage, as these
forces swept across northern Africa, overran Europe, and dominated
all Bible lands. But in consequence of the previous wide diffusion of
books into the monasteries and religious houses of the Roman Empire
and beyond--in fact, into all parts of Europe and western Asia--the
destruction by vandal, savage, and Saracen was far less sweeping,
undoubtedly, than these successive invasions and revolutions--these
changes and upheavals in society and government--would otherwise have
occasioned. While cities were sacked and burned, castles, palaces,
strongholds, and many churches were pillaged and overthrown, and whole
countries were laid waste, a measure of immunity from attack was
accorded to these religious houses--the homes of the monks and the
Orders.
This immunity from attack, secured by the monasteries, was due often,
and perhaps chiefly, to the fact of their secluded situations and to
the strong defenses of resisting masonry which made subjection and
pillage difficult and profitless. The convent of St. Catharine, where
Dr. Tischendorf discovered the peerless Sinaitic Manuscript of the
Bible in 1859, is an example and illustration. This monastery was
perched, as it were, on the precipitous slopes of Mt. Sinai at an
altitude of full 5,000 feet above the level of the sea; and, until
recently, the only manner of access beyond its solid, massive, and
centuries-old masonry, was by means of a crude and primitive "lift"
consisting of a chair and rope, controlled by the inmates and operated
by a windlass and drum within and above. By this appliance all visitors
were "elevated" some twenty or twenty-five feet from its base to the
main entrance of the monastery. This arrangement safeguarded the
occupants and the contents of this religious stronghold from risk of
robbery and violence. These religious houses furnished even greater
security by their position and isolation and were generally respected
by the fiercest invaders.
The safety of the monks--of peaceful occupation and mien--and of their
possessions--almost wholly literary, even in the periods of disorder
and violence--was often due to the supposed sacredness of the roofs
under which they were sheltered. And even when these asylums were not
respected but seized and plundered, the books which they treasured had
little or no value in the eyes of the ignorant and hostile invaders,
or were hidden away in recesses of the monasteries beyond the reach of
prying eyes. And even when the manuscripts of a single monastery, or
the monasteries of a given region, were all destroyed, untold numbers
of copies--and largely duplicate copies--by reason of their previous
extensive dispersion throughout wide areas and secluded regions, were
preserved elsewhere to be again brought to light in more favored times,
and, finally, at the revival of learning, which awaited the coming of
the printing-press.
The thirteenth century has been called "the greatest of centuries,"
and, mainly, because it was the beginning period of emergence from the
'Dark Ages' and because the hearts of men were beginning to be thrilled
with the anticipatory birth-throes of the coming revival of letters.
"There is," says Goldwin Smith, "no more romantic period in the history
of the human intellect than the thirteenth century." The Italian
renaissance in the fourteenth century brought a deepening interest for
the old Latin writings, and this, in turn, revived attention to the
Greek classics--the fountain-head of the world's pagan literature.
The awakening concern for classic literature led the Humanists in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to ransack the libraries of the
monasteries and religious houses in even out-of-the-way places of
Europe for all kinds of old manuscripts. Statesmen as well as students
gave themselves up to the recovering of the literary and art treasures
of Greece and Rome. The Greek empire, the Levant, and all western
Europe were ransacked in every nook and corner; and the treasures of
the Indies and the libraries of the Levant were bought, says one, "with
impartial interest and equal delight."
This was a new and more fruitful kind of crusade, of which Symonds
declares, "As the Franks deemed themselves thrice blessed if they
returned with relics from Jerusalem, so these new Knights of the
Holy Ghost, seeking not the sepulchre of a risen Lord, but the tomb
wherein the genius of the ancient world awaited resurrection, felt
holy transport when a brown, begrimed and crabbed scrap of some Greek
or Latin author rewarded their patient search." And of Petrarch, one
of the most enthusiastic searchers for these ancient writings, Myers
says: "He made many a long and wearisome journey, with the object of
collecting manuscripts. The precious documents were found covered
with mold in damp cellars, or loaded with dust in the attics of
monasteries. This late search for these remains of classical authors
saved to the world hundreds of valuable manuscripts which, a little
longer neglected, would have been lost forever." And he says, further,
"Libraries were founded where the new treasures might be stored, and
copies of the manuscripts were made and distributed among all who
could appreciate them."[86] For it was a specific outgrowth of these
new intellectual and literary impulses which heralded the passing of
the "Dark Ages" that came the beginnings of the Vatican Library at
Rome. This renowned library was established by Pope Nicholas V. at
about the same date as the invention of printing and concurred with
that invention to make effective for all time to come the revival of
learning and of letters.
We have come back from our far-journeying to our starting point, the
invention of printing, and perhaps cannot more fitly conclude this
discussion than in the words of Lord Macaulay in his tribute to that
great patron of learning after the "Dark Ages," Pope Nicholas V.: "By
him was founded the Vatican Library, then and long after, the most
precious and the most extensive collection of books in the world. By
him, were carefully preserved the most valuable treasures which had
been snatched from the ruins of the Byzantine Empire. His agents were
to be found everywhere--in the bazaars of the farthest East, in the
monasteries of the farthest West--purchasing or copying worm-eaten
parchments, on which were traced words worthy of immortality."