DOUBLE MONASTERIES

A Paper read before the Heret i cs Society

on Deéember 6th 1 91 4 ,

CONST A NCE ST ONEY

NE WNHA MCOLLE GE . CA MBRI DG E

CA MBRIDGE :

D E IGHT ON, BE LL

’ L ONDON

ELL S NS LI M T E G . B O , I D .

EA RLY DOUBLE MONA STERIES

’ A Pape r r ead before the Her etics S ociety

on D ecemb e 6th 1 9 1 4 r ,

CONST A NCE 'T ONEY

NE W H A N M CO LLE G E , CA MBRI DG E

C A M B R ID G E

D E I HT BE LL G ON co. , LI MIT E D .

LO N D O N

B L 8: G. E L S O NS , LI MIT E D .

E A R LY

D U M O N A T E R I E O BLE S S .

H E m on T system of double monasteries , or a s t e r ies for both men and women , is as old as

a t th t of Christian monas icism itself, though the ” 1 phrase m o n a s t e r ia duplicia dates from about the C6 . The term was also sometimes applied to twin monasteries for men ; Bede uses it in this

ea r m o u t h Y sense with reference to W and arrow , while he generally speaks of a double monastery as ” vi n monasterium r gi u m . ' The use of the word double is important . The monastery was not mixed ; men and women

v did not li e or work together , and in many cases did not use the same Church ; and though the

e chief feature of the system was association , ther

was in reality very little , when compared with the

amount of separation . I n time , the details of h organisation varied , such , for example , as w ether an abbot or an abbess ruled the whole monastery , t h though it was generally the latter . Details of e rule of the community naturally alte red at different ff times and in di erent places , but the essential character remained the same .

1 ” M na i . o st er a a u lla ur . o ur . duplici t appe nt C rp ' Ci v.

K o . . ( rueger) C dex I iii , 4 3 ‘ 4 33 1mm'no uBLE : M O NAS T E R I E S

As to the ob'ect of such an arrangement , opinions f dif er . Some have regarded it as a sort of moral experiment ; others have seen in it only the natural outcome of the necessity for having priests close at

hand to celebrate Mass , hear confessions and minister in general to the spiritual needs of the

nuns . There is , too , the practical side of the plan

n a m e lv t h e , that each side of community was

economically dependant on the other , as will be seen later . H owever this may be , the practice of placing t h e two together under one head seems to be as ancient as monasticism itself. The double monastery in its S implest form was that orga nisation said to have been founded in the 1 P . C . 4 by S achomius , an Egyptian monk He settled with a number of men , who had consecrated

T a b en n a t h e themselves to the spiritual life , at , by

s side of the N ile . About the same time , his ister

o f Mary went to the opposite bank the Nile , and began to gather round her women disciples . This settlement soon becam e a proper nunnery under the control of the superior of the monks , who delegated elderly men to care for its discipline

With the exception of regulations concerning dress , both monks and nuns observed the same rule ' . P which S achomius wrote for them . It was very

1 t a Pa h M P a col . 2 8 . c om . a t . La t t om c . Vi igne . 7 3 , p 4

a x 8 P ris , 4 9 .

R t m . . . a . Pach o m n . Gallandius Vet . Pat o egul S Bib . 4 p

1 8 . 1 6 7 Venice , 7 5 . EARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S 5

simple . There were to be twelve prayers said during the day , twelve at twilight , twelve at night , M and a psalm at each meal . ass was celebrated on

Saturday and Sunday . Meals were to be eaten all together and the amount of food was unlimited .

A ‘ b e monk could eat or fast as pleased , but the more he ate , the more work must he do . They were to sleep three in a cell . N o formal vows were to be taken , but the period of probation before entry into the community , was to be three years .

The men provided the food , and did the rough work for the women , building their dwellings , etc . , h while the women made clothes for the men . W en a nun died her companions brought her body to the river bank a n d then retired presently some monks

‘ b o d r o wed fetched away the y , back across the Nile , 1 and buried it in their cemetery .

That the communities of S . Basil and his sister C Macrina (also in the 4) were of this type , may be

seen from the rule of S . Basil . The communities ,

P O like those of achomius , were on pposite banks of ’ - i n Ma c r in a s a river this case , the I ris and nunnery is supposed to have been in the village of

- A n n es i N ee a A . D . , near Caes rea , and founded 3 5 7

In her nunnery , lived her mother and her younger

P d . brother eter , who afterwar s became a priest T h e life of this s a intly family and the relation between the two communities may be learned fro m

1 h m ’ Pac o . Mi n P 2 c . t I . at o c 8 o l 2 8 . a e s at . . t m a . Vi g , 7 3 , p , 4

a 1 8 . P ris , 4 9 6 EARLY DOU BLE M O NAST E R I E S

the charmingly written Life of S . Macrina by her I brother Gregory of Ny s s a .

The Rule of S . Basil is written in the form of

question and answer , and much of it refers to the

relations between monks and nuns , while all impress upon the religious the duty of giving no occasion ' to the enemy to blaspheme . May the head of the monastery speak often with the abbess ' May he speak with any of the sisters other than the

' t h e abbess , on matters of faith May abbess be angry if a priest orders the sisters to do anything without her knowledge I f a sister refuses to sing

the psalm s , is she to be compelled to do so All the answers urge both parts of the community to

avoid giving ground for scandal . The nuns , in

h a d this case , seem to have a separate church , for Gregory speaks of the ' Chorus of Virgins who awaited him when he came t o visit his sister

Macrina on her death bed . There were , too ,

’ schools for boys and girls attached to S . Basil s house , for he makes regulations concerning their

education . There is practically no evidence for double C monasteries in the 5 , but at the opening of the C 6 we find them again . I n the West the earliest monastic communities had been founded by S .

1 Martin of Tours , first at Milan in 3 7 and after

1 L v o f Wo m a a i es en S in ts . Tra nslated by an e rly auth or

k ow o a 1 6 o - 6 1 r 1 E t . o t m a (un n n) pr b bly 5 . di ed by C H rs nn

1 88 6 . EARLY DOUBLE M O NA ST E R I E S f wards in Gaul , which from then became the chie monastic centre .

a r I t is here , then , that nother brother and siste

figure as the founders of a double monastery . S . l C a es a r iu s A r le s , Bishop of , persuaded his sister

Caesaria to leave Marseilles , where she was in a

t h e convent , and 'oin him at Arles to preside over women who had gathered there to live under h is guidance and the rule which he afterwards wrote for these nuns is the first Western rule for nuns , and was afterwards followed in many double 2 monasteries . H e arranged it , as he himself says , according to the teachings of the fathers of the

Church . He stipulates that all 'oining the com

o n munity shall , their entry , renounce all claims

t o to outside property . O nly those women are enter wh o accept the rule of their own accord and are prepared to live in perfect equality and without

t t o n i s servants . Much a t en i paid in the rule to the instruction of the nuns they were to devote con s id e ra b le time to music , as being an art through which God could fit t i n gly be praised ; to be taugh t r eading and writing ; to practice cooking , and weaving both of Church vestments a n d their own

clothing .

They were to attend to the sick and infirm , and

1 La T M Pat . t . o m . 6 1 1 0 C0 . 0 1 . igne , , 7 ,

' ' at o M a O and E a to o f D o e B es n , ry , rigin rly His ry ubl

a h : M onasteries . Tra ns cti o ns o f t e R oyal Hist orical S ocie ty

l . ' . . 1 1 Vo . III , p 4 8 EARLY DOU BLE M ONAS T E R I E S

above all they were not t o quarrel . They were not

o ff entirely cut from the outside world , since they were p ermitted to entertain women from other

e ut conv nts b , says the Rule Dinners and enter

i n s a t a n m e t sh ll not be provided for churchmen ,

laymen a n d friends . We have only indirect h evidence that Arles was a do uble monastery . T e

’ c C a e s a r iu s s onfusion , for example in will between

’ ’ his two foundations of S . 'ohn s and S . Mary s ,

resolves itself, if we suppose that the monks were at

the one , and the nuns at the other , and that they

a associated in the gre t chu rch in the monastery ,

s i o f S . C a e a r us described by the authors of the Life ,

. d . S . a a n as being dedicated to M ry , S 'ohn S 1 Martin . Such an arrangement was common in

later double monasteries .

Another famous . C 6 monastery in Gaul now

supposed to have bee n double was t hat of S .

h R h a u n R a d agu n d at Poitiers about S . a d g d

Clo t h a ir was married to King against her will , and their li fe together was a series of quarrels . She was so devoted to charitable work , we are told , that she often annoyed the King by ke m waiting w at meals , left him henever p and behaved in such a way that the king d that he was

marred to a nun rather than a queen . Finally the

e murd r of her young brother , at the instigation of k o the ing , determined her to leave the c urt , and

1

at on Ma i 1 . o c t . . B es , ry, p . , p 4 3 2 G o o F ran Li . . t . c b c a . reg rius Tur n , His , p 7 EARLY DOUBLE M O NAST E R I E S 9

Med a rd u s flying to the protection of Bishop , she 1 demanded to be consecrated a nun . After some natural hesitation on the part of the

D ea c o n n es s—a Bishop , she was made a term

a applying to nyone who , without belonging to any

a speci l order , was under the protection of the

- 2 Church . She devoted herself to the relief of every kind of distress , bodily and spiritual and at length the desire came to her to provide permanently for the men and women who came to her for help . So ,

a n ch P on estate whi she owned at oitiers , she founded a nunnery dedicated to the Holy N ame , and , probably at the same time , the house for men , sep a rated from the convent by the town wall and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary . It was in ’ h S . Mary s that R a d agu n d was buried and after

d . her death , her name was added to the edication Beside this evidence of association between the two houses , the only other is the correspondence of Rh a d a gu n d and the Abbess Agnes with the poet

’ Fortunatus , who was probably a monk of S . Mary s . He cert ainly seems to have been the director and and counsellor of the nuns , and to have been often engaged in business for them ; but he did not live in the same house with them for in one of his letters he laments the fact . His letters and verses addressed to the two women throw a strong light

1 F r tun at isar d o a . 2 . a 1 8 N 8 . , Vie de , ch p 5 P ris , 7

k stein L a Wom a M m . a E c en o a t . , in , n under n s icis P ge 5 4

am 1 8 6 . C bridg e, 9 I O EARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S ff on the friendship , and real a ection which existed

among the three friends . H e says that he will work

Rh a d a u n d day and night for g , draw the water , tend

the vines and the garden , cook , wash dishes , any

thing , rather than that she should do the heavy and

e menial work of the house . H begs the abbess Agnes to talk often of him with the sisters that he

m a y feel more really that she is his mother . H e

sends gifts of flowers for their sanctuary , and baskets which he has plaited ; and with a basket 1 of violets he sends the following charming verses . (I give a translation which m ust necessarily be inadequate . )

' I f the season had yielded me white lilies , w w according to its ont , or red roses ith sweet smelling savour , I had plucked them from the country side , or from the turf of my little garden , ' and had sent them , small gifts for great ladies

’ But since I lack the first , I e en pay the second , for

1 Tem p ora si s oli to m ihi ca ndid a lilia ferrent

A ut o a o t av rub o re o a speci s f re su e r s , Haec ego ru re legens a ut c aespit e pauperis h ort i Misis se m m ag h is m unera parva lib en s ;

a m a m d esun t vel o vo a Sed qui pri ihi , s l secund , o i V a t u o t et am o o a . Pr fer q i l s , fer re r s s Int er od or ifer as ta m en h as qu as m isim us herbas Pur ureae violae o m h ab e n t p n bile ger en , R espira nt parit er regali m urice t in ct ae E t sat ura l t o e o o o . f l is hin d r , inde dec r H ae qu od utru m que geru h t pari ter h ab eatis u traque E t sit m o fl ercis dor ore perenne d ecns . i N sar . oé 8 vi . a s. d Fo at . ( P sies de rtun Lib. P ri EARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S 1 1 ff he presents roses in the eyes of love , who o ers Y . e t only violets , these violets I send are , among

o f perfumed herbs , noble stock , and with equal grace breathe in their royal purple , while fragrance with beauty vies to steep their petals . May you , likewise , both have each charm that these possess , and may the perfume of your future rewa rd be a glory that blooms everlastingly .

The nuns of Ste . Croix , too , seem not to have been lacking in generosity . Fortunatus frequently thanks them for gifts of eggs , fruit , milk , etc . ; and on one occasion he receives more dishes than one servant could carry . He must have stood in some

f R h a d a u n d o ficial relation to g , for such freedom of i ntercourse to be possible and if his verses some t times suggest the courtier ra her than the monk , it must be remembered that they are t h e work of a poet who had first been a friend of princes and was among the most fashionable men of letters of his day in Ravenna ; and that they are addressed to a woman who was , after all , a queen . I n 5 87 Rh a d agu nd died and Bishop Gregory of Tours tells how greatly she was mourned by the

2 00 whole community , and how some women

. O n e crowded round her bier , bewailing their loss

B a ud o nivia of them , the nun , several years after k wards , cannot , she says , even spea of the death of 1 R h a d a gu n d withou t being choked with sobs .

a I t will be seen from these ex mples , that in all

1 G o o D e G o a Confessorum ca . 1 0 6 . reg rius Tur n , l ri , p i 1 2 EARLY DOU BLE MO NA S T E R IE S

t probability , the origin of the double monas ery

n eed not be sought , as has been supposed , in

Ireland , since it seems to have been known in

o lu m b a n u s Gaul before S . C and his I rish disciples landed there and preached a great religious

C 6 . revival , at the end of the I ndeed , though there are scattered notices in the lives of the I rish

u saints , which seem to s ggest that there were

double monasteries in Ireland in very early times , t here is no definite evidence until the description ’ ' ” C o it o s us s . in g Life of S Bridget , of one at 8 C . Kildare , probably in the The monasteries

lu m n u s . Co b a actually founded by S himself, were ll a for men .

O n the other hand , the double monastery seems always to have flourished wherever the fervour of P the I rish missionaries penetrated . erhaps , as 1 t Montalembert suggests , the ideal a mosphere of divine simplicity and single - mindedness which

characterised them , was particularly favorable to

the growth of such an institution .

. C olu m b a n u s B u r u n d o fa r a S dedicated g , or

Fara , as a child , to the religious life ; and she afterwards founded the mo n astery of Brie to the

- P south east of aris , which we learn from 'onas r who was a monk the e , and from Bede , was a

double monastery . I t is clear that this house was one of those ruled

a by an abbess , for 'onas s ys that no distinction

1 ’ Mo d i n V Occ d e t T m . . o . ca . . a i 8 1 6 . ines , p 4 P r s, 7 EARLY DOUBLE M O NA ST E R I E S 1 3

was recognised between the sexes , and that the abbess treated both alike . The discipline here ,

fo r ' h e however , seems to have been very severe , adds that some o f the new nuns tried to escape by

r ladders from the dormito y . Brie is interesting to us as forming one of the links between Continental and English monasticism at this time . Bede says

E r c o n b er h t of the daughter of , King of Kent ,

She was a most virtuous maiden , always serving

God in a monastery in France , built by a most

' noble abbess , Fara by name , at a place called t Brie for at that time , but few monas eries being built in the country of the Angles , many were wont , for the sake of monastic conversation , to repair to the monasteries of the Fra nks or Gauls ; and they also sent their daughters there to be t educa ed and given to their Heavenly Bridegroom , . i espec ally in the monasteries of Brie , Chelles , and ” 1 Andelys . He adds that two daughters of King Anna of ' a East Anglia , though str ngers , were for their ” virtue made abbesses of the monastery of Brie .

Little is known of Andelys , except that it was founded by Q ueen Clotilda . At Chelles , founded b 6 6 2 P y Q ueen Bathilda in , ten miles from aris , on the river Marne , many famous persons , both

a n d . men women , received their education Among

H e r e swit h them was a Northumbrian princess , ,

1 Plum m et . 8 . E . . a . d . t E . . c Bede , His . ccles , Lib III , p C

O o 1 8 6 . xf rd , 9 1 4 EARLY DOUBLE M O NAST E R I E S

wa s whose sister Hild , the most famous of English

abbess es . The prevalence and influence of the double monastery in England may perh a ps be better understood by a reference to the position of

- women generally i n Anglo Saxon society . N othing astonished the Romans more than the austere chastity of the Germanic women , and the religious respect paid by men to them , and nowhere has their influence been more fully recognised or more

- enduring than among the Anglo Saxons . This fact largely accounts for the extreme importance

a attached by them to marriage lliances , par 1 t i c u la r ly those betwee n me m bers of roya l houses . These unions gave to the princess the o ffi ce of

F r e o t h o w e b b e mediatrix ; in Beowulf she is called , ' ” 2 - h w . t e the peace eaver From this rose . high position held by queens . Their signatures appear in acts of foundation , decrees of councils , charters , etc . Sometimes they reigned with full royal

S eax b u r authority , as did g, Q ueen of the West 3 t h e . Saxons , after death of her husband From the beginning of Christianity in E ngland , the women , and particularly these royal women , were as active and persevering in furthering the Faith , as ' ” ‘

. a their men Christianity , says Mont lembert ,

1 a t o th e m This pplies Ger anic pe oples generally . ’

2 E F a 1 0 6 . 1 . d . . o t . Line 94 H l h usen Heidelberg, 9

3 A - a o u t 1 8 2 o o 6 2 . E Pl m m e . d . . ngl S x n Chr nicle , under 7 C 9 M ’ 6 . o d O ccid en t . T o m a 1 8 0 . 2 1 . a ines 5 , p ge 4 P ris ,

1 6 E ARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S affixed their signatures to the charters granted on 1 these occasions . I have already referred to one of the greatest of '

o f . these abbesses , Hild Whitby She was the

grand niece of Edwin , the first Christian King of Northumbria and had been baptised with her uncle 2 at Y ork in 6 2 7 by t h e Roman Missionary Paulinus .

Bede says that , before consecrating her life to / ' - ve religion , she had lived thirty three years ” nobly among her family . When she realised h vocation , she went into E ast Anglia where h

- i h - brother law was king , intending to cross over the continent and take the veil at Chelles . spent a year here in preparation , but before she accomplish her purpose , Bishop Aidan to the north , to take charge of monastery of H artlepool , which had been fou f ” by He u , the first nun in England . When , ' Bede , she had for some years governed t monastery , wholly intent upon es ablishing regular life , it happened that she also under the construction or arrangement of a m o n a s t e

S t r eone s h eal Wh i b the place which is called ( f y) , and diligently accomplish ed the work en'oined

. fi upon her For m this monastery , as in the rst ,

ll f e she established the discipline of the regular ,

1 a 2 M ild rith a an d t o i 1 . 8 . A b H dd n S ubbs , C unc ls , ii , 3 besses , A eth eld r ith A et t e Wilnoth H er esw t h t h e v , , , y , sign pri ilege a t t o t h e an m o a t of K t K gr n ed churches d n s eries en , by ing W h t i r ed ,

1 B E d . . t . E . ca . 2 . C . . ede His ccles , Lib . IV . , p 3 ( p II

. Plum m 1 6 et . O o 8 . C xf rd , 9 EARLY DOU BLE M O NAST E R I E S 1 7

and indeed , she taught there also , 'ustice , piety , t chastity , and other vir ues , but especially the

t h e guarding of peace and charity ; so that , after

wa s example of the primitive church , no one there

rich and none poor , all things were common to all

wa s h e r and no one had property . So great

a s prudence , moreover , that not only ordin ry person

in their necessity , but even kings and princes

sought and received counsel of her . She made those who were under her direction give so much

a n d time to the reading of the Divine Scriptures , exercise themselves so much in the works o f righteousness , that many could readily be met with f there , who were fit to take up ecclesiastical o fice , ”

. t o that is , the service of the altar Bede goes on

’ s wh o mention six men from Hild monastery , afterwards became bishops . The most famous

. t was perhaps S 'ohn of Beverley , who was firs d Y bishop of Hexham , and afterwar s of ork , and

w a s a n d A who noted for his piety learning . et t a held the see of Dorchester for a time . Bosa , another scholarly disciple of Hild , became Arch

O f Y T a t fr it h bishop ork , and was elected bishop Hw icce h is of the , though he died before

e cons cration . o N ne of these . however , have a greater claim t o - be remembered than the cow herd Caedmon , t h e the first English poet , and story as given by Bede is perhaps one of the most charming 1 h e in his Ecclesiastical History . Apart from t

1 m m . o 1 6 . . . 2 E d . . O 8 . ca . Lib IV , p 4 C Plu er xf rd , 9 1 8 EARLY DOU BLE M O NAST E R I E S

literary interest attaching to the story , his life shows some of the details in outward organisation o f these great double monasteries . Before his e ntry into the monastery , says Bede , he was a dvanced in years , and yet had so little skill in music that he was unable to take his turn at feasts

in singing and playing on the harp , an accomplish ment common to high and low among the Anglo

Saxons and kindred nations . The story is familiar on one occasion when the

f s aw east was over , he left the hall as soon as he

t h e o harp being passed , according to cust m , from

- hand to hand . He went out to the cattle sheds ,

tended the beasts and lay down to sleep . In a d ream he heard a voice , Caedmon , sing me some ” d t . hing H e answere , I know not how to sing ; and for this cause I came out from the feast and cam e ” I k n w hither because e not how . Again he who spoke

with him said , N evertheless , thou canst sing me ” ” s omething . Caedmon said What shal l I sing ' ” He answe red Sing me the Creation . Then Bede relates how the cow - herd sang songs before ' unknown to him , in praise of the Creator , the

Glorious Father of men , who first created for the

s ons of earth , the heaven for a roof, and then the

middle world as a floor for men , the Guardian of t h e H eavenly Kingdom When the abbess Hild

heard of the miracle , she instructed him in the presence of m any learned men to turn into verse

h i s portion of the Scriptures . H e took away task EARLY DO UB LE M O NAST E R I E S 1 9

' and brought it to them again compo sed in the ” a choicest verse . Thereupon the abbess , s ys Bede ' a embr cing and loving the gift of God in the man ,

s a n d a entreated him to leave the ecular , t ke upon t h e him monastic life , and ordered him to be ” instructed in sacred history . S o he was received

t t a a n d into Whitby monas ery wi h all his f mily , ' a continues the story , all that he could le rn he kept in memory , and like a clean beast chewing the

‘ cud , he turned it all into the sweetest verse , so pleasant to hear , that even his teachers wrote and ” learned at his lips . The story throws a good deal of light on the way in which a large double monastery was orga nised . O n e ga thers from it that not only isolated mon ks and nuns were received into the community but sometimes whole families . Caedmon entered ' ” t cum omnibus suis , which is generally aken to mean th a t his whole family were received with him .

t We see from it . too , how earnes was the desire of the superiors of the monasteries to instruct the ignorant how rich and poor alike in the C7 might aspire to the monastic life , the only passport being the honest desire to serve God in the best possible way .

a a Again in the l tter p rt of the story , dealing with

’ r Caedmon s sickness and death , the e is evidence

a of how the ged , the sick and the dying were tended with speci a l care . Whitby was not only an im portant religious but 20 EA RLY DO UBLE M O NAST E R I E S also political centre and the abbesses took by no

means a small part in controversy . At the Synod 1 6 6 t of Whitby held here in 4 , when the respec ive claims of Irish and Roman ecclesiastical discipline

were discussed , Hild took the side of the I rish

A e lfl aed Church ; while her successor , interested

herself in the doings of her b ro th er King n r it h . Hild reigned thirty years at Whitby and died after ff many years of su ering , during which she never

failed to teach her flock , both in public and in

private . All that we know of her character , indi

s cate a strong and vivid personality , a mind keenly

e aliv to the necessities of the age , and a will ‘ v igo r o u s e n o u gh to be successful in providing for h them where opportunity occurred . She a d a

A e lfl aed worthy successor in , a friend of the holy S . ' Cuthbert . Bede says of her that she added to the lustre of her princely birth the brighter glory ' of exalted virtue , and that she was inspired

m a n with much love toward Cuthbert , the holy of ” 2 God .

O n one occasion she had fallen seriously ill , and expressed a wish that something belonging to S . ' Cuthbert could be sent to her . For then , she ' said , I know I should soon be well . A linen

o girdle was sent from the Saint , and the abbess 'y fully put it on . The next morning she could stand

1 t . . E . . ca . 2 Bede His ccles , Lib IV . , p 5 . '

. h 2 d ta . m b r h t i c a . E d m C ut e . . . Be e Vi S , p 3 C Plu er

O fo 1 8 6 . x rd , 9 EARLY DOUBLE M O NAST E R I E S 2 1 on her feet and the third day she was restored to

perfect health . Later , a nun was cured of a head h ac e by the same girdle , but when next it was

a wanted , it could nowhere be found . Bede rgues quaintly that its disappearance was als o an act of P Divine rovidence , since some of the sick who

flocked to it might be unworthy , and , not being f cured , might doubt its e ficacy , while in reality , their ” own unworthiness was to blame . Thus , he con

e r ludes , was all matter for detraction emoved from ” o f the malice the unrighteous .

’ A eb b e A contemporary of Hild s was , a princess

B e r n l c l a of the rival dynasty of , and sister of the

O O s w e royal saint , King swald , and of y , the r ign

ing king . H er brother intended to give her in

marriage to the king of the Scots , but she herself f was opposed to the alliance . Her amily had

1 n embraced the Christian religion exile , and she w determined to follo the monastic life .

a Accordingly , she built a doubt monastery , ppar

ently in imitation of Whitby , at Coldingham on

’

h t . t e promon ory still called S Abb s Head . She h does not seem , owever , to have maintained , like d H ild , the iscipline and fervour of which she herself gave an example ; for Bede notes here a rare example of those disorders of which there were certainly far fewer in England at this time than 1 A eb b e i anywhere else . was apparently in gn or

1 E . . . ca . 2 . E d . . m m B t . ed . . His ccles , Lib IV , p 5 C Plu er

O o 1 8 6 . xf rd , 9 2 2 EARLY DO UBLE M O NAST E R I E S ance of the relaxation of discipline in her monastery until she was warned of it by an Irish monk of her

A d a m n a n . community . named As he was walking with the abbess through the great and beautiful house which she had built , he lamented with tears , All that you see here so beautiful and so grand will soon be laid in ashes '

The astonished abbess begged an explanation . I ” ' have seen in a dream , said the monk , an unknown one who has revealed to me all the evil done in ” this ho u se and the punishment prepared for it .

And what , one naturally asks , are these crimes for which nothing short o f total destruction of the splendid house is a severe enough visitation from ' Heaven A d a m n a n con t inues The unknown one has told me that he visited each cell and each bed , and found the monks , either wrapt in slothful sleep ,

a l a or aw ke , eating irregular mea s and eng ged in senseless gossip while the nuns employ their leisure in wearing garments of excessive fineness ,

t t h e either to attire hemselves , as if v were the ” brides of men , or to bestow them on people outside . O n e m ust admit that here and there in the writings

d wo r ld li of the perio , there are references to this ness in some monasteries but whate ver may have been the state of things at a later date , there does not seem to be evidence o f gr ave r misdeeds in these early y ears of monasticism in England . Bede uses perhaps unnecessary severity in speaking of

d s o - renega e monks and nuns called , since he is

2 4 EARLY DOU BLE M O NAST E R I E S t e n h n went to Ely , the isla d in the fens given to her by her first husband ; and there she built a

m . onastery , of which she became abbess She renounced all the splendours and e ven o rdinary comforts of her former royal life . Bede

‘ s ays that from the time that she entered the

wo m onastery , she wore no linen , but only ollen g arments , rarely washed in a hot bath , unless 'ust

' b efore any of the great festival s , such as Easter ,

Whitsuntide , and the Epiphany and then she did it last of all , after having , with the assistance of

t . hose about her , first washed the other nuns

After presiding ove r the monastery Six or seven y ears , she died of a tumour in her throat , which she used to s a y was sent as a punishment for her e xcessive love of wearing neckl a ces in her youth .

’ H ence the t awd r ey lace of The Winter s

wa s Tale and elsewhere , which a necklace bought

’ A wd re s a t S . y Fair , held on the day of her

O 1 . f estival , ctober 7 th She was succeeded by her

ea x b u r h E r con b er h t s ister , S , the widow of , king of

Kent , who had founded a double monastery at

e Sheppey , of which she was the first abbess . Th re is no mention of monks as well as nuns before her

E r m en ild reign . Her daughter g succeeded her as

’ Abbess of Sheppey , and at her mother s death , of ’ E r m en ild s Wer b u r h E ly . g daughter , (the famous

Werb u r h t S . of Ches er) , also became abbess of

Sheppey and E ly in succession .

I n the same way , M inster in Thanet remained EARLY DOUBLE M O NAST E R I E S 2 5

‘ in a Of E o r m e n b u r the f mily its foundress , g or

‘D o m n eva , as she is sometimes called , the wife of

a M er ewald the Merci n prince . According to t radition she received the land from E gbert of w Kent , as ergild for the murder of her two

s brother . She asked for as much land as her

tame deer could cover in one course , and she thus o t btained about ten housand acres , on which she

built her monastery . H er daughter , Mildred , who

s a s a a . ucceeded her bbess , acquired gre ter fame

w a s She educated at Chelles , and was there

- w a s in cruelly ill treated by the abbess , who

a Wilc o n a . ppropriately named , or Welcome She wished to marry Mildred t o one of her relatives '

a n d n when the girl refused , she put her i to a

n a . s a fur ce When that puni hment f iled , she pulled

her hair out . Mildred adorned her psalter with

the ravi s hed hair and sent it to her mother .

Finally she escaped and returned home . Her nam e is a m ong the five abbesses who signed a charter granting church privileges at a Kentish 1 i n u r W t a a em ot . E a d b g Her successor , g , or

a Bugg , built a splendid new church in the

i n monastery , which is described a poem 2 w a s attributed to Aldhelm . The high altar hung with tapestries of cloth of gold , and ornamented

r . with silve and precious stones The chalice , too , wa s a n d of gold , set with 'ewels there were glass

1 a n l . 2 8 a d t o 1 . H ddan S ubbs , C unci s , ii , 3 1’ 8 i 8 l . 2 . l l o a t L T m . o . m A d h e M Pa . at . o c S per . igne 9 , 9 2 6 EA R LY DOUBLE M O NAST E R I E S

w windo s , and from the roof there hung a silver censer . Mention is made of the united singing of the monks and nuns in the church .

E a d b u r g and her mother , a certain Abbess

E a n t h gy , were both friends of Boniface , the great ' English missionary bishop of Main , the Apostle ' n h of Germany . E a gyt writes to him of her troubles as abbess of a double monastery , of the quarrels among the monks , the poverty of the

a n d u house , the excessive d es which had to be paid to the king and his officials . I n one letter Boniface

E a d b u r thanks g for books and clothes , and asks if she will write out for him in gold letters the

. P Epistles of S eter , that he may have the words of the Apostle before his eyes when he pre a ches . Repto n was another d ouble monastery under an abbess , though nothing is known of its foundation . Some information about it is gained from the Life h l . u h l of S G t a c by Felix . G u t a c was a noble of

Mercia , and in his youth a great warrior ; but at

- the age of twenty four , he went to Repton and f received the tonsure under the abbess A el t h ry t h .

Her rule was apparently very strict , for we find Gu t h la c getting into trouble for breaking a rule by not drinking wine .

’ Several chap t ers in Bede s Ecclesiastical History are de voted to stories of the double

o n e monastery at Barking , wh ich was of the most ld m . E r c o n wa fa ous It was founded by , who after t wards became bishop of London . He buil one for EARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S 2 7

himself at Chertsey , and one for his sister A et h elb u r g at Barking , and , as Bede says , estab li s h ed t hem both in regul a r discipline of the best

kind . This monastery included both a hospital

' r and a school , unde the energetic rule of its first

abbess .

Hild elit h A e th elb u r succeeded g , and it was for a her and her companions th t the scholar Aldhelm , ' bishop of Sherborne , wrote his work , De ” 1 L ib r in it t i s S a u d u s Vi g a . H e peaks of the nunnery as a hive where the nuns work like little

bees , for they collect everywhere material for s study . Their industry is not confined to the tudy a of Holy Scripture . He spe ks of them as searching

o carefully into the writers of hist ry , as having a

knowledge of ancient law and chronography , and

i o f a n d in wr ting , of the rules grammar ortho n graphy , punctuatio , metre , together with the use of allegory a n d tropology ; all of which goes to prove that the field of secul a r knowledge w a s not a particul a rly limited for nuns in those d ys . Aldh e l m enlarges on the charms of their pea ceful

n u n n e r e s life in the v, and the opportuniti for r c thought and study it affords them . He e o m

' mends the works of Cassian a n d G r e go ry for their

n readi g , and warns them against pride , a special temptation to those who have adopted the religiou s life . Again there comes the wa rning against wo r ld li ness in both monk and nun . Some of the men , he says , contrary to the rule of the regular life , wear

1 1 1 - L t m . 8 0 3 0 1 2 T o 0 . 6 Pat . a . l a M . S . A d h elm i oper . igne 9 , 3 2 8 EARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S

a . g y clothing The appearance of the other sex , : too , corresponds a vest of fine linen of hyacinth blue is worn , and above it a scarlet tunic with hood and sleeves of striped silk ; on the feet are ' little shoes of red le a ther ; the locks on the forehead and temples are waved with a curling iron ; the dark grey head - veil has given place to

- white and coloured head dresses , the folds of which are kept in place by fillets and reach right down to the feet the nails are pared to resemble ” the talons of a falcon . Aldhelm condemns all t this , but has ens to add that of course he is addressing no one in particular . The work closes with an aff ectionate greeting to those whom he P calls the Flowers of the Church , earls of Christ , his monastic sisters and scholarly pupils , whose prayers he always desires . In Wessex the double monastery of Wi m borne a n d was the most important of its time , most famed for its literary activity . According to the 1 - i t Anglo Saxon Chronicle , was founded by Cuth

l n e . burg , sister of , king of Wessex Most of our knowledge of the community comes from the Life 2 ‘ o f S . Lioba ( the who was educated there during the reign of the Abbess Tetta , another sister of the royal founder . The author of ’ S . Lio b a s Life describes the arrangement at

Wimborne . H e says that there were two monas t e r ie s a n d there , one for clerks the other for

1 U 1 8 nder 7 .

1 6 . . R o o f F a a m o k w o t a o t 8 A . By ud lf uld , n . He r e b u 3 SS

o . t . 2 8 . B ll , Sep EARLY DOUB L E M O NAS T E R I E S 2 9

women . The two houses were surrounded by high walls and the monastery was well endowed . No nun could obtain permission to go to the m ’ ’ onks house , and no man might enter the nuns

a e convent , except the priests who c me to celebrat n e in their church . O gathers from this that there was not a common church for both sides of the

. s community , as was often the case The abbes gave any necessary orders to the monks through a window . N o woman was admitted to the com munity unless she undertook not to attempt to leave it except for very urgent reasons and b y permission of the abbess . Some idea of its si'e may be gathered from t h e fact that there were five hundred nuns at

Wimborne . That strength and tact were needed to rule them is shown by one a m u s in g if lamentable episode . A very r e ligio u s vir gi n was placed in authority over the novices , and she was so hated by them on account of her severity that even after her death

o u n n u n s the y g could not forget ; and rushing out , ra they t mpled upon her grave , with curses , until the mound became a hole half a foot dee p . The abbess Tetta rebuked them for their unchristian ’ a beh viour , and ordered a three days fast and penance , after which the culprits apparently recovered their senses . Lioba herself seems to have had an attractive ff personality , and to have gained the a ection both of the abbess and the other nuns . A little letter of hers is extant , wherein she writes to Boniface recalli n g he rself to h is m in d and claiming relation 30 EARLY DOUBLE M O NAST E R I E S

s hip with him through her mother . She also

encloses some Latin verse for his criticism . She ' s ays , This too , I ask , that you will correct the

o mistakes of this letter , and send me a few w rds as

a proof of your goodwill . I have composed the t lit le verses written below , according to the rules

of prosody , not from pride , but from a desire to n cultivate the begi nings of a slender genius , and

because I wanted your help . I learnt the art from E a d b ur a g , my mistress , who devotes herself ' unceasingly to searching Divine Law . When Boniface was establishing religious houses

in Germany he sent to Abbess Tetta , asking that Lioba might be allowed to come over and help t him . She went , and Boniface put the monas ery o f of Bischofsheim on the Tauber , a tributary the

Main , under her care . H ere she carried on the

traditions of Wimborne , for she taught and

encouraged learning in every way . Her rule was

sane and wise . Her biographer says of her , She was careful always not to teach others what she

herself did not practise . N either conceit nor overbearing found any place in her disposition ; but she was gentle and kind t o everyone without n exception . She was beautiful as an a gel and her t conversation was charming . H er intellec was

renowned , and she was able in counsel . She was

catholic in faith , most patient in hope , and of

widespread charity . Though her face was always c heerful , she never broke into hilarious laughter . N o one ever heard an ill - natured remark fall from

her lips , and the sun never went down upon her wrath . Though she provided food and drink with

3 2 EARLY DOUBLE M O NAS T E R I E S

l n present day . The latest double monastery

. S r England was that of S Bridget of ion , nea

I sleworth , on th e Thames . Reference has been made only to the more im portant early double monasteries in England ; but there are others which may or may not come

f h it e r n under this category . O these some are W

in Galloway , Carlisle , Caistor in N orthampton

S t r en s h a ll ff shire , Gloucester , in Sta ordshire , and

Lyminge in Kent .

Bis c o f s h e i m It is uncertain whether , in Ger

many , under the abbess Lioba , was a double

monastery , but the arrangement is known to have

existed in Germany in the C8 and later . There

are also traces of them in Italy , and considerable

evidence for the same sort of system in Spain , but

time does not allow of dealing with them here .

Finally , the double monastery did not flourish or find much favour in the more sophisticated

ages of Christianity , but generally followed an outburst of religious enthusiasm in the earlier ' ” Mo n t a lem centuries of the Faith . I t was , says

bert , a peculiarity belonging to the youth of the

a ll church , which , like youth in circumstances , f went through all the di ficulties , dangers , and

storms of that age , and which in maturer times

a gave way before a more practical , if . less ide l , ” 1 outlook on life .

1 ’ M i i i 8 6 0 d cc d e n . T a 2 0 a 1 o O t o m . . nes 5 , p ge 3 P r s ,

RETURN TO th e c irc ul a tio n d e sk of a ny Unive rsity o f C a lifo rnia Lib ra ry o r to th e NO RTHERN REG IO NAL LIBRA RY FAC ILITY B 4 R h d . 00 c m o nd Fe d Sta t o n l g . i i l i Unive rsity o f C a lifo rnia R c h m o nd CA 94 804 - 4 098 i ,

ALL BO O KS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS — 0 2 m o nth l o a ns m a y b e re ne we d b y c a l ling (5 1 0) 04 2- 07 5 3 0 l - ye a r l o a ns m a y b e re c h a rg e d b y b ring ing bo o ks to NRLF Re ne wa l s a nd re c h a rg e s m a y b e m a d e 4

d a ys p rio r to d ue d a te .

DUE A S STAMPED BELO W

'AN 09 2003

U. C. BERKELEY

( l l /QS)