Page 25 - All About History - Issue 18-14
P. 25
Mass Media
How do we know this? PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE
A variety of sources document the roles undertaken The monasteries were an important part of the
by monks in the Middle Ages. Life In The Medieval medieval communities and would provide the
Cloister by Julie Kerr gives a fascinating insight only source of medical treatment to many villages
into the daily lives of the monks. Using chronicles as well as war casualties. Monks would be trained
and letters from the period, the book provides a
personal touch through the monks’ own words. in the art of medicine – often through books that
For an insight into the rules dictating the lives of they themselves had read and copied so that other
Benedictine monks there is no better source than generations could make use of the knowledge – and
The Rule Of Benedict, written by St Benedict himself, offered their services from a hospital attached to the
which has guided monks for 15 centuries.
monastery. Monks were known to amputate limbs,
induce birth and cure scurvy.
GATHER FOR DINNER
Meals were eaten twice a day, in the morning and
at midday, while from late spring to early autumn
supper would also be served. The monks would
gather in a large refectory and eat in silence as Bible
passages were read by one their order – in a time
when most of the population were illiterate, monks
could read and write. As it was forbidden to eat
four-legged animals, the meals were simple, largely
consisting of bread and ale, which was drunk at
every meal.
PRIVATE REFLECTION
A monk’s life was first and foremost dedicated to
prayer and worship and every day time would be
set aside for private reflection and meditation. Strict
silence was expected and two elders would patrol
the monastery to ensure this was upheld. Anyone
seen being idle, speaking or, even worse, cracking
jokes would be harshly disciplined with beatings or
forced seclusion.
A portrait of a typical
solemn Benedictine monk
COPY ANCIENT
MANUSCRIPTS
All monks were required to read and write in
Latin, and copying manuscripts was a vitally
important task. A monk would sit for hours at a
time hunched over a tiny table copying ancient
texts onto parchment by hand. There would be no
candles or fires for warmth because of the risk to
the parchment. Making one copy of the Bible would
take at least five years, so it was mind-numbing
and backbreaking work, but it is because of their
dedication that so many texts were preserved for
future generations.
GET SOME REST
Even a monk’s rest would be strictly disciplined;
with roughly five hours’ sleep between the evening
prayers and the early 2am church service. Monks
would usually sleep in cold dormitories with coarse
blankets and straw mattresses that were searched
every night by the abbot to avoid the men hiding
any forbidden items there, such as alcohol to warm
© Look and Learn
their bones when the nights were cold.
25
