monasteries

Monasteries, or religious communities of men or women living apart from secular society, had their origin in the early church in Egypt where hermits (the word monk is derived from the Greek monos, one alone) came together to live a common life of contemplation and work under the direction of an abbot (from Aramaic abba, father). The first monasteries in the British Isles were established in the 5th cent. in Ireland, probably from Gaul. Thereafter communities spread throughout Celtic Britain, notable centres being at Iona under St Columba, at St Davids, and later at Lindisfarne (or Holy Island). Monasticism was introduced into Anglo-Saxon England by Augustine of Canterbury, himself a monk, the first community being St Augustine's, Canterbury (c. 598). By c. 650 many monasteries had been founded throughout Britain: some were communities of men and women, the most famous being Whitby ruled by its abbess, Hilda. They followed a wide variety of rules and customs. Attempts to standardize these under the rule of Benedict were made by Wilfrid of Ripon and Hexham, Benedict Biscop of Jarrow-Monkwearmouth, Theodore of Canterbury, and others, but were not wholly successful. The Viking raids that began in 787 and continued for over a century destroyed all the northern and eastern houses, while in areas less affected most fell under the control of secular lords, who appropriated their property and appointed members of their family as lay abbots. Recovery accompanied Anglo-Saxon political recovery under the Wessex dynasty. By 1066 there were some 35 male houses and ten nunneries. Virtually all were concentrated in the old kingdom of Wessex, the west midlands, and the Fens.

The Norman Conquest resulted in the seizure of some monastic lands by the invaders, but generally set-backs were temporary and monasticism was invigorated by new foundations such as Chester, Shrewsbury, St Mary's York, and Durham. The late 11th and 12th cents. also saw an increase in the number of houses for women, some of which belonged to new orders, such as the Gilbertines. In 1128 the first Cistercian community in Britain was established at Waverley (Surrey).

Thereafter monastic foundations declined markedly. Ecclesiastical patronage was directed at the new mendicant orders of friars, and chantries, frequently established in cathedrals and other churches to pray for the souls of donors and their families, tended to replace monasteries in the pious affections of the laity. The spiritual and intellectual condition of the late medieval monasteries is controversial, but there is little doubt that there was decline from the ‘golden age’ of the 12th and 13th cents., as friars took the lead in theological debate and universities began to replace monasteries as educational centres. By the time of the dissolution (1536-40) many monasteries were finding it difficult to attract sufficient recruits.