What did the monks do during the Middle Ages?

Answer 1

Monks lived in monasteries and separated themselves from the rest of society. Unless their duties required it most monks had very limited contact with people outside of their monastery, and could not leave it without permission.

Within the monastery there were two groups, the monks themselves, and also lay brothers. The actual monks were usually from the upper classes. Daily life of the monk was focused on two areas, religious services, and academics. The monks recited prayers throughout the day, celebrating the various Divine Offices. These began with a midnight service (yes, they got up in the middle of the night and went to church) and would proceed at regular intervals until just before retiring for the evening.

The other primary activity of the monks was academics. They studies, copied, and occasionally authored books. Books were read aloud at meal times. The monasteries of medieval Europe were the primary repository of written knowledge at the time.

The life of the lay brothers was different. Lay brothers came from the common classes, and while they lived withing the monastery they had separate quarters from the monks, with their own dormitory, refectory (a sort of dining hall) and privy. The lay brothers were typically illiterate. The attended but did not perform the Divine Offices. The did the majority of the physical labor at the monastery, such as gathering and cutting wood, washing and mending clothing, baking the bread, tending the garden, and so on. The monks had certain duties as well, and it appears that they cooked some of their own food (a task assigned on a rotating basis). Monks would also staff the infirmary, where sick or aged monks and lay brothers were cared for.

Answer 2

Monks lived in monasteries and separated themselves from the rest of society. Unless their duties required it most monks had very limited contact with people outside of their monastery, and could not leave it without permission.

Within the monastery there were two groups, the monks themselves, and also lay brothers. The actual monks were usually from the upper classes. Daily life of the monk was focused on two areas, religious services, and academics. The monks recited prayers throughout the day, celebrating the various Divine Offices. These began with a midnight service (yes, they got up in the middle of the night and went to church) and would proceed at regular intervals until just before retiring for the evening.

The other primary activity of the monks was academics. They studies, copied, and occasionally authored books. Books were read aloud at meal times. The monasteries of medieval Europe were the primary repository of written knowledge at the time.

The life of the lay brothers was different. Lay brothers came from the common classes, and while they lived withing the monastery they had separate quarters from the monks, with their own dormitory, refectory (a sort of dining hall) and privy. The lay brothers were typically illiterate. The attended but did not perform the Divine Offices. The did the majority of the physical labor at the monastery, such as gathering and cutting wood, washing and mending clothing, baking the bread, tending the garden, and so on. The monks had certain duties as well, and it appears that they cooked some of their own food (a task assigned on a rotating basis). Monks would also staff the infirmary, where sick or aged monks and lay brothers were cared for.

Answer 3

Monks lived in monasteries and separated themselves from the rest of society. Unless their duties required it most monks had very limited contact with people outside of their monastery, and could not leave it without permission.

Within the monastery there were two groups, the monks themselves, and also lay brothers. The actual monks were usually from the upper classes. Daily life of the monk was focused on two areas, religious services, and academics. The monks recited prayers throughout the day, celebrating the various Divine Offices. These began with a midnight service (yes, they got up in the middle of the night and went to church) and would proceed at regular intervals until just before retiring for the evening.

The other primary activity of the monks was academics. They studies, copied, and occasionally authored books. Books were read aloud at meal times. The monasteries of medieval Europe were the primary repository of written knowledge at the time.

The life of the lay brothers was different. Lay brothers came from the common classes, and while they lived withing the monastery they had separate quarters from the monks, with their own dormitory, refectory (a sort of dining hall) and privy. The lay brothers were typically illiterate. The attended but did not perform the Divine Offices. The did the majority of the physical labor at the monastery, such as gathering and cutting wood, washing and mending clothing, baking the bread, tending the garden, and so on. The monks had certain duties as well, and it appears that they cooked some of their own food (a task assigned on a rotating basis). Monks would also staff the infirmary, where sick or aged monks and lay brothers were cared for.