The Rise of the Mediaeval Church And Its Influence on the...

Outline: I.—Importance of the institution of monasticism. II.—Antecedents and analogies. III.—Causes of the origin of Christian monasticism. IV.—Evolution of Christian monasticism. V.—Spread of group monasticism from the East to the West. VI.—Development of monasticism in Western Europe. VII.—Opposition to monasticism. VIII.—Result and influences of monasticism. IX.—Sources.

Monasticism, the story of which is one of the strangest problems in Church history and is enshrouded in legend, originated outside the Church, but soon became the dominant factor in the Church. It was not the product of Christianity so much as an inheritance—an adopted child. It supported the orthodox faith,[198:1] upheld the papal theory, monopolised ecclesiastical offices, helped to mould the Church constitution, and supplied the great standing army of the Popes. It was a determining factor in European civilisation. The monk was the ideal man of the Middle Ages. He stood for the highest morality and best culture of that period. As a missionary he planted the Church over Western Europe. He stood between the laity and the hierarchy, as the friend of the former and the champion of the latter. He created the system of public charity and had a marked influence on industry and agriculture. Before long a monk sat in the chair of St. Peter and sought to rule the Church. The first series of great ecclesiastical reforms was produced by the hermits in the fourth century, the Benedictines in the sixth, the Clugniacs in the eleventh, and the Begging Orders in the thirteenth. Monasticism, therefore, was a very important institution in the rise of the Church.

Monasticism originated in antiquity and was based on a general principle broader than any creed. It grew out of that mystical longing for an uninterrupted inner enjoyment of the soul—out of a passion for self-brooding, and out of an abnormal view of the seclusion necessary for the cultivation of the true religious life, which would save the soul from sin. It was simply an effort to explain the riddle of existence and to comprehend the true relations of God, man, and the world. Every great religion has expressed itself in some form of monasticism. Centuries before Jesus there were monks and crowded convents among the Hindoos. The sacred writings of the ancient Hindoos (2400 B.C.) reveal many legends about holy hermits, and give ascetic rules.[199:1] Buddha, who founded his faith possibly six centuries B.C., enjoined celibacy on his priests.[199:2] Alexander the Great found monasticism flourishing in the East. In Greece the "Pagan Jesuits," the Pythagoreans, were a kind of ascetic order.[199:3] Plato, with his powerful appeal for the ideal life, had a marked influence upon the ascetic views of the early Christians, and Neo-Platonism became a positive force in Christendom during the third and fourth centuries. The priestesses of Delphic Apollo, Achaian Juno, and Scythian Diana were virgins.[200:1] In Judea the ancient Nazarites[200:2] afford an example.

The Essenes seem to be the direct forerunners of Christian monasticism.[200:3] In addition there were conspicuous individual examples in Jewish history like that of Elisha, Elijah, Samuel, and John the Baptist.[200:4] In Rome the name of vestal virgin was a proverb. In Egypt, the priests of Serapis were ascetics,[200:5] the priestesses of Ceres were separated from their husbands,[200:6] and the Therapeutæ were rigid monks who lived about the time of Jesus.[200:7]

These influences and examples, coupled with Platonic philosophy, and the interpretation put upon the teachings and lives of Jesus and His Apostles, produced Christian monasticism. Jesus Himself was unmarried, poor, and had not "where to lay his head." He commanded the rich young man to sell his property for the poor,[200:8] and said: "Take no thought for the morrow what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed." St. John and probably other Apostles were celibates.[200:9] The Apostles likewise taught that following Jesus meant "forsaking father, mother, brethren, wife, children, houses and lands."[201:1] They urged Christians to crucify the flesh, and disparaged marriage,[201:2] and they too were poor and homeless like their Master.[201:3]

The supreme question asked by earnest Christians in all ages has been this: "What is the true, the ideal Christian life?"[201:4] At every step of her progress the Church has given a different answer to the important query. Yet in all this divergent opinion there is plainly seen one common conviction. To live in the service of God, in the religious denunciation of the world, and in the abnegation of the joys of life—that is the universal reply. In the early Church this position was very strongly emphasised and led, in consequence, to the rise of monasticism. Hence it may be said that the monastic ideals simply expressed the highest ideals of the Church, and the history of monasticism becomes a vital part of the history of the mediæval Church.

It must be remembered, too, that the old belief that the Church was poor, pure, and wholly spiritual until the time of Constantine is a false tradition. The secularisation and materialisation of the Church was so noticeable as to cause complaint as early as the third century. The Church Fathers unanimously deplore the precocious decay of the Christian world.[201:5] To the minds of many, therefore, the only way to escape the damning effects of contamination with the Roman world, the only way to elude the evils in the Church itself, and the only sure way of leading the ideal Christian life was to flee from villages and cities to the mountains and deserts. "They fled not only from the world, but from the world within the Church." When Christianity was drawn from the catacombs to the court of the Cæsars, it lost its power to regenerate souls. That memorable alliance hindered neither the ruin of the Empire, nor "the servitude and mutilation of the Church."[202:1] Associated with the power that so long sought to destroy her, the Church was brought face to face with the tremendous task of transforming and replacing the Empire. At the same time the Church made a desperate attempt, though in vain, to keep alive the spiritual torches of apostolic Christianity. The solution of that great problem, however, was left to the monks.

The philosophy which prevailed among many of the early Christians held that the material world is all evil, and that the spiritual world is the only good. Gnosticism, which permeated Christendom in the second century, declared that the body is the seat of evil and hence that it must be abused in order to purify the soul within.[202:2] Montanism advocated an excessive puritanism, and prescribed numerous fasts and severities, which paved the way for asceticism. Other groups of Christian philosophers exercised similar influences.[202:3] The Church itself commended fasting and other practices for the cultivation of spiritual benefit. Celibacy of the clergy gradually became the rule. As a result the belief soon developed that the surest way to gain eternal joys in heaven was to turn away from the transitory pleasures of earth. Christianity in the first and second centuries was the gospel of renunciation and resurrection. The next logical step was to make the body as miserable as possible here—sort of a pious sacrifice—in order to make the soul happier hereafter. To die that one might really live, to find one's life in losing it—that became the supreme purpose of earthly existence. The most eminent of the early Fathers commended asceticism, particularly fasting and celibacy, and many likewise practised it. It is easy to feel that the air was charged with ascetic ideals. The literature, the philosophy, and the religion of the day all pointed out narrow paths that led to holiness.

The persecutions of Christians by the Roman government forced many to flee for safety to the deserts and mountains.[203:2] Thus Paul of Thebes and St. Anthony fled in the Decian persecutions about the year 250. When persecution ceased, martyrdom had become such a holy act, and such a short, easy road to a sainted, eternal life, that the most devout resolved that since they could not die as martyrs, they would at least live as martyrs. The mildness of the climate in Egypt and Palestine, where the small amount of food and clothing needed for subsistence was easily procured, made those regions the birthplace of monasticism. The growth of worldliness in the Church, with the increase of numbers and wealth, gave rise to many cries for reform. The legalisation and, along with it, the paganisation of the Church gave birth to much that was bitterly denounced. The union of the Church and state was the climax—the Church was no longer the "bride of Christ," it was held, but the mistress of a worldly ruler. Hence monasticism turned its back not only on the world but also on the Church. To understand it, therefore, it must be viewed as the first great reformation in the Church—a desire to return to simple, pure, spiritual, apostolic Christianity.[204:1]

Christian monasticism did not begin at any fixed time or place. It was slowly evolved as a curious mixture of heathen, Jewish, and Christian influences. The whole Church had an ascetic aspect during the apostolic age, hence endurance, hardihood, and constant self-denial were required of its members. But for one hundred and fifty years no proofs of a distinct class of ascetics can be found within the Church, except, perhaps, the order of widows, devoted to charity, supported by gifts from the faithful, and sanctioned by the Apostles.[204:2] In the second century, however, a class of orthodox Christians, who desired to attain Christian perfection, were called "abstinents" or "ascetics." They withdrew from society but not from the Church, renounced marriage and property, fasted and prayed, and eagerly sought a martyr's death.[204:3] The belief that the end of the world was near no doubt did much to emphasise the necessity of preparing for the day of judgment. By the third century the Christian literature, philosophy, and theology were tinged with asceticism. Cyprian, Origen, Hieracus, Methodius, Tertullian, and others taught the efficacy of asceticism in one form or another and, to some extent, practised it themselves,[205:1] but always within the Church. The heretical sects became still more prominent in their reverence for austerities and even outdid the orthodox in practice.[205:2] This first stage of asceticism was neither organised, nor absolutely cut off from the Church.

The product of this wide-spread ascetic agitation was the creation of a new type, namely, anchoretism, or hermit life, about the middle of the third century. This was the second phase of monastic evolution. It appeared first in Egypt about the fourth century, where the physical conditions were most suitable, in the home of the Therapeutæ and Serapis monks, the stronghold of heresy and paganism, the birthplace of Neo-Platonism amid a people famous for fanaticism. The Decian persecution in 250 was, apparently, the immediate occasion for its birth. Anthony of Alexandria, and Ammon were the earliest representatives of this new form of asceticism. Paul of Thebes, however, is now generally believed to be a pious romance from the pen of Jerome, but he may still be viewed as typical.

Anthony (251-356), the "patriarch of the monks," was the real founder of anchoretism. He early sold his estate for the poor, gave his sister to a body of virgins, and cut himself off from the world by retiring to a desert in order to devote his life to spiritual things. He lived as a strict hermit till a great age, gained a world-wide fame, had many visitors seeking spiritual guidance, and won many converts to monasticism. Soon the wildest tales were told about his divine powers. Before he died Egypt was full of hermits, and some were found in Palestine. Athanasius wrote his biography, which was read over all Christendom and scattered seeds of anchoretism everywhere—a book which influenced the thought of the age. Ammon had a settlement of possibly 5000 hermits at Mount Nitria in Lower Egypt and was almost as renowned as Anthony, his great contemporary.[206:1]

The example of these illustrious characters drew thousands of both the curious and the sincere to Egypt.[206:2] Whole congregations, led by their bishops, withdrew to the desert for salvation.[206:3] Priests fled from the obligations of their office.[206:4] By the fourth century that land was full of hermits. Their life was of a negative character, founded on abstinence and bodily abuse—a holy rivalry of self-torture and suicidal austerities. These practices may be divided into four classes: dietetic, sexual, social, and spiritual.

(1) From a dietetic standpoint the hermits either fasted, or ate the simplest foods, or consumed the smallest quantities. Thus the renowned Isidore of Alexandria never ate meat, and often at the table would burst into tears for shame at the thought that he who was destined to eat angel's food in Paradise should have to eat the material food of animals. Macarius ate but once a week. His son lived three years on five ounces of bread a day and seven years on raw vegetables. Alos boasted that up to his eighteenth year he never ate bread. Symeon ate but once daily and in fast time not at all. Heliodorus often fasted seven days at a time. In Mesopotamia a group of hermits lived on grass.[207:1]

(3) The social and domestic vagaries of anchoretism assumed many forms. The hermits fled from the society of the world; deserted friends and family; courted the company of wild beasts[207:2]; lived in caves, dried-up wells, swamps, rude huts, tombs, and on the summits of solitary columns, or wandered about without fixed homes.[207:3] A monk named Akepsismas lived sixty years in the same cell without seeing or speaking to any person and was finally shot for a wolf. Some hermits wore no clothing,[207:4] and thus exposed the body to the broiling sun and to biting insects. Macarius, to atone for killing a gnat, lay naked six months in a swamp and was so badly stung that he was mistaken for a leper.[207:5] Others wore hair shirts, carried heavy weights suspended from the body, slept in thorn bushes, against a pillar, in cramped quarters, or deprived themselves altogether of sleep. Many never washed their faces nor cared for their hair, beards, teeth, and nails. With them filthiness seemed to be next to godliness. Anthony and Hilarion scorned either to cut or to comb their hair except at Easter, or to wash their hands and faces. St. Abraham never washed his face for fifty years—yet his biographer proudly says, "His face reflected the purity of his soul." Theodosius like a second Moses, had a stream of water burst from a rock that his thirsty monks might drink. One wicked fellow, overcome by a pitiable weakness for cleanliness, took a bath, when, lo! the stream dried up.

(4) A sincere desire for spiritual improvement expressed itself in various practices. Prayer was perhaps the most common means to that end, and it was believed that number and duration counted the most. Paul the Simple repeated three hundred prayers a day and counted them with pebbles. A certain famous virgin added four hundred to that number daily. Some spent all day and others all night in prayer. Meditation and contemplation were generally employed. Preaching and singing were common forms of religious activity. Studying and writing engaged those of a more scholarly bent of mind.

Out of this unorganised anchoretism there grew, by the latter part of the third century, a crude form of group monasticism. This was the third stage in the progress of monastic life. Such renowned hermits as St. Anthony in Upper Egypt, Ammon at Mount Nitria, Joannes in Thebaid, Macarius in the Scetische Desert, and Hilarion in the Gaza Desert each had a coterie of imitators imbued with a common purpose and with a profound respect for their leader; but no uniform rules governed them at first. As time passed, however, the necessity of regulating the various relations of so many became apparent.[209:1] The organisations of the Essenes and Therapeutæ may have served as models. At Mount Nitria the monks by common arrangement lived in separate cells, but had a dining room and a chapel for all.[209:2] Pachomius (282-346), a converted heathen soldier, of little education, a pupil of Palæmon for twelve years, created the first monastic rule and organised at Tabenna on the Nile the first monastic congregation (322), while his sister formed the first convent at Tabenisi. This first walled monastery had many cells built to accommodate three monks in each. Membership was guarded by three years' probation on severe discipline. The monks met in silence for one daily meal and wore white hoods so as not to see each other. They prayed thirty-six times daily, worked with their hands indoors and out, and wore over their linen underclothes white goat skins day and night.

They were ruled by "priors" chosen on merit from the twenty-four classes of monks.[209:3] At the head of the whole system stood an abbot.[209:4] When Pachomius died (346) he had established nine cloisters with 3000 monks. He called them all together twice a year, and paid them annual visits. By 400 the monks numbered 50,000.[209:5] The great Athanasius visited Tabenna to inspect the system and to study the operation of this epoch-making rule.

From Tabenna organised monasticism spread over Egypt and then to nearly every province in the Roman Empire by the end of the fourth century.[210:1] In the Holy Land laboured Hilarion,[210:2] Epiphanius,[210:3] Hesycas,[210:4] the Bethlehem brothers,[210:5] Ammonius,[210:6] Silvanus, and Zacharias. Jerome, the celebrated Church Father, with Paula, a rich Roman widow, left Rome for the East. After studying monasticism in Egypt they located at Bethlehem (386). There Jerome studied the Scriptures and ruled a large crowd of monks, while Paula became the head of a convent for girls. Melania built a convent on the Mount of Olives and ruled fifty virgins (375). Goddana and Elias laboured on the lower Jordan.

In Asia Minor laboured, conspicuous among many, Eustathius who first prescribed a monastic dress, Basil the Great (c. 379) who originated the monastic vow,[210:7] the famous Nilus (c. 430), and the hated hermit Marcus (c. 431). Syria was renowned for at least a dozen hermits, the most celebrated being Simeon Stylites (c. 459),[210:8] the pillar saint. From Egypt and Asia the institution spread to Greece and became quite general by the fourth century. The most famous cloister was that of Studium (460) at Constantinople. The islands of the Adriatic and Tuscan Sea were soon covered with monasteries swarming with monks.[210:9]

Athanasius, a hero and oracle to the Western Church, on a tour to Rome in 340, carried with him from Egypt two specimens of hermits.[211:1] His Life of Anthony was soon translated into Latin. The West had already heard about the institution, and many individuals had visited the most celebrated hermits in Egypt. After 340 many men and women began to give enthusiastic support to the new institution. Eusebius (c. 370) lived by rule with his clergy under one roof at Vercelli in northern Italy.[211:2] Ambrose fostered it in and around Milan.[211:3] Paul of Nola (c. 431) lived in Campagna. Conspicuous examples were found among the Roman virgins and widows.[211:4] Marcella in Rome turned her palace into a convent.[211:5] Paula and her whole family lived as ascetics. The widow Lea was an active worker.[211:6] Melania devoted her fortune to the cause. Many of the nobles of Rome likewise became converts to the new idea.[211:7] Jerome and Rufinus were conspicuous examples of those devotees who by precept and practice soon popularised monasticism throughout Italy. Convents for both sexes were soon founded.[211:8] From Rome Augustine carried the institution back to north-western Africa. When Cassian (c. 448) left Egypt and planted two monasteries at Marseilles, he found monks already in France. Martin, the Bishop of Tours, turned his episcopal palace into a monastery, and at his death (400) 2000 monks followed him to the grave.[212:1] Poitiers, Lyons, and Treves, together with the bordering mountains, were soon scenes of monastic activity.

Donatus, an African monk, early carried the new faith to Spain where it soon became so popular that by 380 a synod forbade priests dressing as monks. Athanasius, who lived at Treves as an exile, probably introduced it into Germany. The British Isles had a flourishing system long before the mission of Augustine. By the fifth century, therefore, monasticism had been firmly planted over all western Europe.[212:2]

Although western monasticism was an offspring of the eastern type, yet the child differed much from the parent. Anchoretism gained but little foothold in the West because of climatic and ethnic differences. The group type was dominant in the West, and extremes and excesses were absent. No pillar saints and other conspicuous fanatics were found there.[212:3] Western monasticism was a more practical system, an economic factor, a powerful missionary machine, an educational agency, and the pioneer of civilisation. It was not a negative force, but very aggressive and made history. It led all the great reform movements. It was uniform in spirit, though widely divergent in form. In some cases monks were under abbots each with his own rule; others had no fixed abode—and many of them were tramps of the worst description, living on their holy calling.[213:1] Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, and many other Fathers have left sufficient complaints about the growing monastic disorders. The need of a common rule, therefore, was generally felt in order to unify the highly varied, and in part highly doubtful forms of monasticism.

Early efforts were made to meet that need. Jerome translated the rule of Pachomius into Latin and it was used in parts of Italy. Rufinus brought the rule of Basil the Great to Rome and it was adopted in southern Italy and in Gaul. The rule of Macarius was at least known in the West. Cassian (c. 448) was the first, however, to write out for the cruder western institution a detailed constitution (c. 429). He had studied monasticism in Egypt and drew up a very complete rule which covered all the essential phases of cloister life. It was used in many cloisters till the ninth century. During this early unorganised period Popes, councils, and even secular powers often tried to control and regulate monasticism.

The great organiser and unifier of western monasticism, however, was St. Benedict (d. 543), "the patriarch of the monks of the west."[213:2] Born of rich parents at Nursia in 480, he was sent to Rome to complete his education. There he became disgusted with the vice about him, fled from college, family, and fortune, and at the age of sixteen, retired to a cave at Subiaco thirty miles from Rome. He became a severe ascetic, wore a hair shirt and a monk's dress of skins, rolled in beds of thistles to subdue the flesh, and chose to be ignorant and holy rather than educated and wicked. His fame soon attracted disciples and he established twelve monasteries, with a dozen monks and a superior in each, but all under his own supervision. Later he left Subiaco and went to Monte Cassino where he spent the closing years of his remarkable career. Monte Cassino became the capital of western monasticism.

To control his monks Benedict drew up in 529 the "Holy Rule,"[214:1] which became the basis for all western monastic orders and was a rival of St. Basil's rule in the East. The "Holy Rule" was the product of Benedict's own sad experience as hermit, cenobite, and superior, and also of his observations concerning the monastic laxness which he saw on all hands. It consists of a prologue and chapters on seventy-three governmental, social, moral, liturgical, and penal subjects. The whole spirit and aim of the Rule were constructive and reformatory. It provided for an organisation monarchial at the top and democratic at the bottom. Each monastery had an abbot elected for life by all the monks to rule the monastery in the place of Christ. The abbot chose the prior and deans, on the basis of merit, with the approval of the monks, but minor officials were named directly by the abbot. The important business affairs of the monastery were conducted by the abbot in consultation with all the monks, but minor matters required only the advice of the superior officers. Admission was open to all ranks and classes of men above eighteen on an equal footing after one year's probation. The two fundamental principles in this constitution were labour and obedience. Indolence was branded as the enemy of the soul. Each candidate had to take the vow of obedience and constancy to the order; chastity and poverty of course being implied.

A monk's day was minutely regulated, according to the seasons, and consisted of an alternation of manual work, study, and worship, with short intervals for food and rest. Labour was thus regulated in the monastery somewhat as in an industrial penitentiary. The frugal meal was eaten in silence while some edifying selection was read. The monks had to renounce the world and give all the fruits of their labours to the monastery.

Obedience was regarded as the most meritorious and essential condition of all. Monasticism meant a generous sacrifice of self and implied a surrender of the will to a superior. The monk must obey not only the abbot but also the requests of his brethren. Monks were treated as children grown up. They could not own property—not even the smallest trifles; they were not allowed to walk abroad at will; if sent away, they could not eat without the abbot's permission; they could not receive letters from home; and they were sent to bed early. Once in the order the vow of stability prevented withdrawal. A violation of any of the regulations entailed punishment: private admonition, exclusion from common prayer, whipping, and expulsion.

This Rule, all things considered, was mild, flexible, and general; with order, proportion, and regularity, yet brief, concise, and well tempered to the needs of western Europe[215:1]; hence like Aaron's rod it soon swallowed up the other rules in use. Before 600 it was supreme in Italy. In 788 the Council of Aachen ordered it and no other to be used throughout the kingdom of Charles the Great. In the ninth century it superseded the Isidore rule in Spain. It embraced likewise the Columban rule in western Europe and by the tenth century prevailed everywhere. Under it the Benedictines had a remarkable history. At one time they had 37,000 monasteries and altogether produced 24 Popes, 200 cardinals, 4000 bishops, and 55,505 saints.[216:1] The Benedictine monasteries differed from later monastic bodies in the fact that they were quite independent of each other and had no common head. After the thirteenth century they were surpassed by the Begging Orders and devoted themselves mostly to literary pursuits, soon becoming "more noted for learning than piety." Their edition of the Church Fathers is a monument of scholarly industry.[216:2] The order still exists, chiefly in Austria and Italy, and is noted mostly for its classical learning. They boast of 16,000 distinguished writers.

These early monasteries were like swarming bees in planting monastic societies in every part of western Europe. The passion grew until it became a veritable madness which seized the pious and lawless alike. Popes like Gregory I. praised the institution and promoted its interest in every possible way. Even kings like Carloman of the Franks, Rochis of the Lombards, great statesmen like Cassiodorus, and others voluntarily became monks. Louis the Pious, the Roman Emperor, was prevented from that course only by his nobles.[216:3] The monk was the leader and pattern of the Middle Ages. Every father was ambitious to have his son enter that holy calling. To the quiet and peaceful abode of the monastery, therefore, went not only the pious, but the student, those who disliked the soldier's life, the disconsolate, the disgraced, the disappointed, the indolent, and the weary. And this powerful organisation was utterly under the control of the great Roman Bishop and his subordinates.

The remarkable growth of monasticism brought great wealth and political power, which were used in large measure to strengthen the Church. Kings and nobles made large grants of lands—especially Charles the Great and Louis the Pious. Besides many monks brought their possessions as gifts to the monastery and not infrequently powerful abbots took lands by force. Monasticism thus gradually became secularised and also feudalised. Monasteries were often used as prisons for deposed kings, criminals, and clergy convicted of crime. The abbots were virtually secular lords who ruled as local sovereigns, claimed immunity from tolls and taxes, went hunting and hawking, and even fought at the head of their troops. As a result the office of abbot became a coveted prize, for the younger and the illegitimate sons of nobles.[217:1] What effect this secularisation had upon the high ideals may be easily seen. Soon only certain ceremonies distinguished the monks from the secular clergy.

The monks as such belong to the laity. Monasticism was viewed as a lay institution as late as the Council of Chalcedon (451)[217:2] when the legal authority of the bishop over the monks of his diocese was recognised. The monks were called religiosi in contrast to the seculares, the priests. The monks were the "regulars" who formed the spiritual nobility and not the ruling class in the hierarchy. They formed another grade in the hierarchy between the clergy and the laity. But after the fifth century the difference became less marked. Since monasticism was considered the perfection of Christian life, it was natural to choose the clergy from the monks. Gregory the Great was the first monk to be elected Pope. Monasteries were the theological seminaries to supply priests for the Church, hence the ignorant clergy looked up to the educated monks. Still monks at first, because not ordained, could not say mass nor hear confession. Each monastery kept a priest or an ordained monk to fulfil these duties. Abbots were usually in priestly orders.[218:1] In time, however, monks assumed the dress of priests and became ambitious for priestly powers,[218:2] especially after the Council of Chalcedon, backed by the state, gave bishops jurisdiction over cloisters. Often monasteries applied to the Pope for independence from episcopal jurisdiction and were taken under the immediate protection of the Bishop of Rome. By the sixth century monks were classed in the popular mind with the clergy. In 827 a council at Rome ordered that abbots should be in priests' orders.

The crystallisation of ascetic ideals into monastic institutions was attacked by heathenism and did not meet the unanimous approval of Christendom. Before Constantine the pagans denounced the hermits because they were guilty of the treasonable act, from a Roman view, of fleeing from social and civic duties. After Constantine, when monasticism became the "fad," it was assailed by the aristocratic pagan families, who lost sons, and especially wives and daughters, in the maelstrom of enthusiasm, because it broke family ties and caused the neglect of obvious responsibilities. Julian, the imperial pagan reactionist, called it fanaticism and idolatry. Pagan poets like Libanus and Rutilius denounced it as an institution "hostile to light."

Within Christendom hostility came from Christian rulers like Valens, because monasticism withdrew civil and military strength from the state, when all was needed against the barbarians, and because it encouraged idleness and unproductiveness instead of useful activity and heroic virtue[219:1]; from Christians of wealth and indulgence who felt rebuked by the earnestness, poverty, and holy zeal of an ascetic life; from the clergy who did not comprehend the significance of monasticism[219:2]; and from the liberal party in the Church who took a saner view of salvation and ethics. Jovinian (d. 406), like Luther, first a monk and then a reformer, held these five points according to Jerome: (1) that virgins, widows, and wives are all on an equality if good Christians; (2) that thankfully partaking of food is as efficacious as fasting; (3) that spiritual baptism is as effectual in overcoming the devil as baptism; (4) that all sins are equal; (5) that all rewards and punishments will be equal. Jerome answered him and Pope Siricius excommunicated him and his followers as heretics (390).[220:1] Helvidius of Rome denounced the reverence for celibacy and declared that the marriage state was as holy as that of virginity. Again Jerome wielded his intellectual cudgel.[220:2] Bonasus, Bishop of Sardica, was excommunicated for holding the same view (389).

Vigilantius, an educated Gallic slave, a disciple of Jovinian, attacked the necessity of celibacy, denied the efficacy of virginity, opposed fasting and torture, ridiculed relics, objected to candles, incense, and prayers for the dead, and doubted miracles. He was a Protestant living in the fifth century.[220:3] He too was assailed by Jerome and put under the papal ban.[220:4] Ærius of Sebasta, a presbyter, called into question the need or value of fasts, prayers for the dead, the inequality of rank among the clergy, and the celebration of Easter and of course was outlawed by the Church.[220:5] Lactantius declared that the hermit life was that of a beast rather than a man and treasonable to society. But all these loud outcries against the monks were branded as heresy and drowned in counter-shouts of praise.