The Attraction of Monastic Life, Essay Example

The Attraction of Monastic Life in the Early Middle Ages

When examining the reasons for the attraction of monastic life on men and women of the early Middle Ages, many factors come into play. These factors include aspects of spirituality and religiosity as well as matters of education, opportunity, and personal disposition. Also, in the early Middle Ages, the idea of social mobility or personal ambition existed in a  different context than in the modern world. In the early Middle Ages, in Europe, ideas of personal ambition and social responsibility reflected the limitations of a more conservative, class-based culture. In short, less opportunities were available for secular education or secular paths to personal empowerment; therefore, the monastic life offered an alternative to serfdom.

That said, any examination of monastic life and monastic tradition as practiced in the early Middle Ages in Europe demonstrates that monastic lie offered an authentic spiritual path to many who engaged in this way of life. In fact, as the following discussion will show, it is the spiritual discipline and reward of the monastic life that emerges as the predominant reason for its attractiveness to men and women of the early Middle Ages. The reason that this aspect can be seen as the most important aspect of monastic life is because the various elements of monastic life all were designed, or evolved, with the central idea of creating conditions for the individual to attain a deeper and more lasting bond with God.

The most obvious next question about the nature of the attraction of monastic life is whether or not those who had no true belief in spirituality could find monastic life to be fulfilling and productive.  Of course the answer to this question is: yes, because monastic life in the early Middle Ages provided for secular as well as spiritual life. Therefore it is not only possible but highly likely that a certain, almost certainly small, percentage of those who participated in monastic life did so despite the rigorous religious practices, rather than because of them. In such cases, the most likely reasons for the secular attraction of monastic life would have to do with previously mentioned ideas of social obligation and social opportunity.

The likeliest scenario in regard to why a man or woman would be attracted to monastic life includes a combination of secular adn spiritual interests with an emphasis placed on the latter. Even though spirituality and the quest for individual union with God was at the center of monastic life, the spiritual path mingled with work and community service. There a person in the early Middle Ages who wanted to become a scholar would be attracted to monastic life, but so would a person who was attracted to agriculture of the arts. This is due to the fact that monastic theology viewed life as a continuous attempt to reach Divine transcendence but it embraced literary, artistic, and even menial dimensions of earthly life as a means to attaining a deeper relationship with God.

The common conception of the life of a medieval monk or nun is based in historical truth. For example, most people who chose the monastic life in medieval times immersed in a life that was divided between prayer, meditation, and work. This left little room for self-pleasure, entertainment, or indulgence. In the monastic life the idea of prayer remained central and all other tasks and activities were seen as emanating form service to community, therefore, as service to God. The idea that a monk of nun was renouncing their selfish gratification is key to understanding the basic formulation of monastic philosophy. This means that the typical person who would be attracted to monastic life would be a man or woman who sought a life that largely existed outside of the day to day gratification of secular life.

Such an ideas presents the picture of austerity and self-restraint that was a very real part of monastic life. From this central point it is possible to extrapolate and determine a number of other types of people who would be attracted to monastic life. First off, due to the austere and isolated nature of monastic life, it would be natural to assume that those men and women in the early Middle Ages who felt drawn to literature and scholarly research might be interested in monastic life. As Jean Leclercq points out in  The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture (1982), literacy was a primary component of monastic life.  Leclercq writes: “All the monks were readers. A certain number of them also wrote […] Not that all the writings of the monks were, as with the scholastics, theological in nature”^[1] (Leclercq 191). This suggests that the monastic life would have been attractive to men and women who were writers or scholars in the early Middle Ages.

The idea of literacy in monastic life is complex and relates in a very profound way to the deeper, spiritual concerns of monastic life. Stated simply, monastic doctrine accepted reading adn writing as spiritual activities even when the subject matter went beyond issues of religion and prayer. Reading and writing were viewed as an extension of all the other spiritual work and activities that were part of the monastic life. The way that literacy functioned in a religious sense in monastic life may be hard for modern people to understand. This is because literacy in the monastic tradition was viewed as a way not only to preserve doctrines and philosophy or historical records, but to provide a toll that created higher wisdom. The higher wisdom that was attained through the act of reading and writing was thought to put the individual into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the Divine.

It is for this reason that  Leclercq states: “The content of monastic culture has seemed to be symbolized, synthesized, by these two words: grammar and spirituality.”^[2]  What is meant by this statement is that study adn introspection are a part of the literary life just as language and “grammar” are a part of the communication between the individual and God. The reason it is important to clarify the religious and spiritual basis of literary pursuits in the monastic life is because the vision of literacy that is part of monastic doctrine is very compatible with secular art. In other words, many secular artists believe that their work and creativity brings them closer to a higher source whether it is called God or inspiration. Therefore, monastic life would have attracted not only those writers who were scholarly, but creative or artistic writers as well.

In addition to the opportunities for scholars and artists that were available in monastic life of the early Middle Ages, those men and women who sought to fulfill community roles and services might also be attracted to monasticism. Because the doctrine of monasticism taught that doing the work of God was a way to get closer to the Divine, performing services for those in need was a priority of monastic life.. For example, the idea of performing altruistic acts such as feeding or clothing the poor was viewed in monastic doctrine as not only performing a service under the ill of God but reflecting the direct spirit of the Divine through one’s actions. therefore, altruism and serving the community were seen as unavoidable consequences of spiritual growth.

This would suggest that those men adn women in the early Middle Ages who felt a desire to help their fellow human-being might be attracted to monastic life. Similarly, a person who felt a deep Christian spirituality would innately feel driven toward acts of altruism and might then decide that the monastic life offered the best method for genuinely impacting those in the community in a positive way. Such a vision works against the vision of monastic life as being steeped in isolation. While hermits and individual seekers were an important part of monasticism, the true outreach of the monastic tradition pervaded throughout every aspect of medieval life.  Monasteries were not only typically involved in various  aspects of the communities in which they were installed, but often became the center of such communities.

This last observation reveals another aspect of monastic life that might have been attractive to men and women of the Middle Ages. That is: the opportunity to develop adn utilize leadership skills. Men adn women of the early Middle Ages who were born into the lower castes of society were usually presented with little or no opportunities for acting as leaders.  Monastic life offered the chance for individuals to rise to a position of social authority adn respect while minimizing the more damaging aspects of personal ambition that often hurt those who are born to lead. As Jones, Wainwright, and Yarnold indicate in The Study of Spirituality (1986), spiritual aspects of leadership were tempered in monastic life by the idea of altruism. They mention that : “The idea of a whole life of prayer lived towards God includes the notion of union with God as transfiguring the whole of creation, giving people a new perspective towards this world.” Such a statement shows that, for those living in the Early Middle Ages, the idea of serving God as a leader was viewed as a spiritual act.

Additionally, the way in which a person could act as a leader through monasticism extended beyond simply holding a position of social power or authority. For example, by writing theological works or works of social significance, even a monk who was a hermit might act as a leader to the community at large. the idea is basically that revelation of God’s knowledge and enacting the Divine in one’;s individual role as a leader is an act of altruism and spiritual growth. The monastic life could therefore be as attractive to a “type A” personality who was an extrovert as to a scholarly or artistic introvert as was previously described. The fact that monasticism was attractive to both introverts and extroverts and provided each with equal opportunities to interact with and serve the larger community shows how central monasticism was to life in the early Middle Ages. In fact, the best way to think of monasticism in this time-period is to view it as the “cutting edge” of individual societies, but also as the holder of most cherished social traditions.

The modernist side to monastic life in the early Middle Ages pertained to the fact that all aspects of technology in the arts, in agriculture, in scholarship and in literature were associated with monasticism. This means that the most activity and meaningful innovations in these areas was bound to be concentrated on the monastic life. So, despite the modern vision of monastic life as old-fashioned, dull, and traditional even in its time is somewhat at odds with the historical reality that monasteries and the monastic tradition functioned as the hub for most cultural, religious, and technological activities of the Middle Ages.

It’s reasonable to suggest that the monastic life was attractive to men and women of the Middle Ages due to the many secular based opportunities and functions listed above. However, as mentioned numerous times in this discussion, the deepest and most important attractant to the monastic life was the promise of spiritual union with God. Any person who entered the monastic life also entered into a willing pursuit of a union with the Divine. Monastic theology and the monastic life was designed to enable and encourage this union. Therefore, earthly works, community service, artistic expression, and labor were all viewed as ways to become closer to God. This view, in turn, helped to incorporate the notion of death and the afterlife into the everyday world. The true object of monastic life was to gain the “prize” of union with God that was only hinted at during life and found fully after death. This foundation-principle of monasticism shows that the monastic life would not only have attracted writers, scholars, artists, leaders, and community workers, but those men adn women who were interested in philosophy and religion.

Works Cited

Jones, Cheslyn, Geoffrey Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, eds. The Study of Spirituality. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.

Leclercq, Jean. The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Trans. Catharine Misrahi. New York: Fordham UP, 1982.

^[1] Leclercq, Jean. The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Trans. Catharine Misrahi. New York: Fordham UP, 1982.  p. 191

^[2] Leclercq, Jean. The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Trans. Catharine Misrahi. New York: Fordham UP, 1982.  p. 53

^[3] Jones, Cheslyn, Geoffrey Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, eds. The Study of Spirituality. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.  p. 279