Founder of a monastic order in the Middle Ages. Monastic orders of the early Middle Ages

N.F. Uskov

Dictionary of medieval culture. M., 2003, p. 320-331

Monasticism(from the Greek monachos - “hermit”) - one of the forms of implementation of the ascetic ideal, characteristic of a number of “religions of salvation”, which require their followers to fully or partially systematize behavior in order to gain both “spiritual participation in the divine” during life and salvation after death (M. Weber). In medieval monasticism one should not see the expression of the aspirations of the Haskets alone: it was an indispensable component of society’s ideas about itself, its value guidelines and tasks.

The transition from asceticism to monasticism

The texts of the New Testament do not contain any developed system of Christian asceticism; monks are not mentioned there either. However, Jesus taught about the vanity of all worldly things and called for people to follow themselves, leaving property and relatives in the name of a hundredfold reward (Matthew 19:10-12, 27-28; Mark 6:7-9; 10, 17-31; Luke 12 ,
22-31). The affirmation of the frailty of the “image of this world” coexisted in Scripture with the warning that the end of the world is near (1 Cor. 7:29,31). Denying the dualism of soul and body, seeing in them the one creation of God, Christianity recognized that man must overcome not the flesh, but his pride and self-love in the name of love for God. In fact, Christianity borrowed from various dualistic teachings of late antiquity forms of frantic struggle with the flesh, which subsequently often prevailed in the practice of monasticism, especially in a situation of heightened eschatological expectations. This, in particular, led to the identification of ascetics, and then monks, with the martyrs of the “peacetime” (when the persecution of Christians had already ceased) and determined the high authority of monasticism among the laity and in the church.

The desire to follow Christ, understood primarily as a way out of the system of traditional social connections for the sake of connection (Latin religio) with the sacred (hence the frequent designation of monks as religiosi), with the growth of Christian communities in the 3rd-4th centuries, led to the break of ascetics with the community (in which it is inevitable there was an homogenization of the Christian ideal) and departure, following the example of Christ, into the desert (Matthew 4), where monasticism is constituted as an institution isolated from the rest of the church. Even the authors of the lives of the first monks emphasized the peculiar selfishness of ascetics, who sought, by leaving the community, to find personal salvation, “pay attention only to yourself alone" (St. Athanasius), without participating in the performance of certain social functions. In concentrated form, this desire was expressed by one of the largest Western fathers of monasticism, John Cassian (d. 435): “A monk in all ways must run away from the bishop and the woman."

OK. 275 St. Anthony the Great (c. 250-356), who is called the “founder” of monasticism, joined one of the ascetics who lived in the desert of Lower Egypt. Egyptian colonies of hermits, which soon appeared under the influence of the exploits of St. Anthony and laid the foundation of heremitism (from the Greek “desert dwelling”), also nurtured another form of MA - the cenobe (from the Greek “coenobitic”), which imitated the community of the apostles: “The multitude... there was one heart and one soul... ... they had everything in common" (Acts 4, 32-35), Constant prayer (lat. laus perennis) and physical labor (lat. orera manuum), according to 1 Thess. 4, 11; 5, 17, were charged to members of the community and became the main occupations of the Cenobites. The founder of cinema is St. Pachomius the Great (c. 292-348), who wrote the first charter (rule), along with the power of the abbot (abbot, from the Syrian “father”) regulating the life of the community. In the 4th century. monasticism spreads in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Armenia, Georgia and Western Europe. In the 10th century From Byzantium, monasticism penetrated Bulgaria and Serbia, and in the 11th century. to Rus'.

Monasticism in the early Middle Ages:

between the church, nobility and royalty

The first centers of monasticism in the West known to us appeared in the most Romanized, and, accordingly, Christianized regions: Italy and Gaul. The oldest monasteries in Western Europe were founded in Aquitaine by St. Martin of Tours (336-401). Regardless of him in the U-U1 centuries. in the southeast of Gaul a whole family of monasteries developed, with the center in Lerens near Cannes. The largest of them included the monasteries of Jura (Konda, Lokon, Balma). The experience of Eastern ascetics, summarized in the works of John Cassian - “Conversations” and “Institutions”, had a significant influence on South Gaulish monasticism. In the vicinity of Rome in the beginning. VI century, apparently, not without the influence of the traditions of Lerain, the “Rule of the Teacher” (lat. Regula Magistri) was compiled, which formed the basis of the Regula Benedicti - a charter written by St. Benedict of Nursia (d. 555/560) for the foundation he founded c. 530 of the monastery of Monte Cassino near Naples.

With the advent of the cinnamon, significant changes occurred in the psychology of monasticism. What was required of the cenobite was not so much the desire to leave the world and lead an ascetic lifestyle for the sake of Christ, but rather a readiness for obedience and humility, up to the dissolution of his will in the will of the leaders of the monastic community with its strict discipline, vigilant control and system of punishments. In the Rule of Benedict, monks are defined as “soldiers of heaven,” fighting in “brotherly formation” under the leadership of the abbot. Life in a monastery is preparation for the higher world, protected from the wiles of the devil, which are dangerous for a free hermit. Only after undergoing training in a monastery - a “school of serving the Lord”, unquestioningly obeying the teacher-abbot as the “vicar of Christ”, could a monk become a hermit. Benedict viewed pilgrimage as a perverted version of monasticism, which could not provide education in monastic humility.

The spontaneous ascetic impulse was replaced by imitation, the reproduction in everyday life of those norms that were tested by the more holy men of antiquity on the way to the “heights of perfection.” With the advent of Cassian's compendiums and written regulations, the study of such norms seemed more important than searching for a suitable desert or obtaining "Egyptian roots." Reading (Latin: lectio divina), primarily a correct understanding of the Bible, along with prayer and physical labor, comes to the fore in the life of the community. The foundation of monastic learning was laid in Italy in the 6th century. Cassiodorus, founder of Vivarium, and Pope Gregory the Great, author of Moralia in Job - the main medieval code of monastic spirituality. The heroic feat of the ascetic was replaced by the routine of the “workshop”, in which the brothers master the “tools of spiritual craft” (Benedict has 72 of them), ascend 12 steps of humility from “unquestioning obedience” to elders to a deep experience of the inescapable sinfulness of their “I”, the urge to love God alone . A monk must lead not a contemplative, but an active life, “build” himself and thus create the heavenly Jerusalem, the “citizens” of which medieval sources often call monks. Therefore, construction motifs in didactic monastic literature, fine and applied arts are not accidental. What remained of the requirement to leave the world was the “closedness of the monastery” and the vow of “settled life” (lat. stabilitas loci), first mentioned in the U-I centuries. in the monastic texts of Lerain's circle and recorded in the Rule of Benedict.

Benedict's Rule, like other monastic rules, proposed a new system of social connections, conceived as the antithesis of the relationships existing in the world. Entry into a monastery was equated to a new birth and was recorded by a special legal act that had virtually no retroactive effect. This was symbolized by a change of clothing, the renunciation of the previous name, all property and family relationships, and later the renunciation of hair and beard, which personified social status and gender in the world. The monk had to become neutrum, that is, like the angels, neither male nor female. The entire hierarchy within the brethren was built in accordance with the age of conversion, and at its head was the new “father” of the monks - the abbot, who was charged with taking care of all the needs of the brothers, instructing and punishing disobedient “children”.

The growing internal regulation of monastic life was also matched externally. monasticism, which originated outside the church and represented a “free” form of life for the laity, according to the canons of the Council of Chalcedon in 451, turned into an institution of public and church law. To found a monastery, the consent of the bishop was now required, which was approved
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The right of control and care over the lives of monks. This decision, supported by the Gallic councils, was due to the growth of the secular and spiritual power of the episcopate in the context of the disintegration of the municipal system in cities and the creation of the imperial church in Byzantium and royal churches in the barbarian states. The desire to ensure a monopoly of the episcopate in spiritual life, a monopoly on “holiness” that legitimized the secular power of the prelate, sometimes became the reason for a disdainful and jealous attitude towards monasticism, as in the case of the hermit and stylite Wulfilaich of the 6th century, ridiculed, according to Gregory of Tours, by the bishops who then destroyed his pillar.

Along with the responsibilities for intensifying religious life, including participation in pastoral service, the bishop also assigned the tasks of representing his own power to the monasteries subordinate to him from now on. Thus, in the V-VI centuries. The spontaneous growth of monasticism, caused only by ascetic motives, gave way to a strictly regulated process, initiated by
There were mostly prelates who assigned special functions to monasteries in the sphere of church organization. This ultimately predetermined the emergence and long-term existence of all kinds of forms of “monastic-clerical symbiosis” (R. Schiffer), which Alcuin (c. 735-804) in due time designated as tertius gradus (Latin “third rank”), i.e. something between monasticism and clergy. The rapprochement between the clergy and monasticism was facilitated, on the one hand, by the growing importance of the Mass in the life of monks (and, accordingly, by an increase in the number of ordained monks), the development of the cult of saints, the regular veneration of which, coupled with the pastoral care of pilgrims, becomes a constitutive element of many monasteries, and with the other is the idea of the desirability of “cult purity” for the clergy who come into contact with the holy gifts, which implied not only celibacy, but also vita communis (Latin “community life”), following the example of the apostles, whose successor the clergy is considered.

Irish monasticism, which arose in the 8th-11th centuries, followed a different path of clericalization. In Ireland there were no cities in the Roman sense of the word, and the episcopate, which did not have secular power, turned out to be much weaker than the monasteries, which were an important link in the clan organization of ancient Irish society. A monastic church developed in Ireland: the largest monasteries (Kildare, Clonard, Clonmacnoise, Bangor, Iona, etc.) became the centers of dioceses (paruchia), and their abbots or abbesses themselves appointed bishops. The monasteries largely earned their authority through the incredible severity of asceticism. One of its forms was a pilgrimage for Christ’s sake, understood as a voluntary separation from one’s homeland in order to find a secluded abode far from it. In con. VI century St. arrived in Gaul. Columban (d. 615), under whose influence the number of monasteries doubled. Along with the deepening Christianization of the Franks, and accordingly the complication of their spiritual needs, an important role in the success of the mission of St. Columban also played a role in the attractiveness of the model of Irish monasticism, which declared independence from the power of the episcopate.

In the first half of the 7th century. the desire for autonomy of the monasteries found support at the Frankish court, in whose policy there was a clear desire to strengthen the influence of royal power on the episcopate, which concentrated extensive powers in its hands, which in some regions led to the creation of “episcopal republics” (O. Evig). The privilege of ekhemptio (Latin for “seizure”), which removed the internal organization of the monastery, as well as its property from the jurisdiction of the episcopate, became widespread. At the same time, it was not possible to create a monastic church similar to the Irish one on the continent that was completely independent of the diocese.

The change in funeral rites in the 7th century, expressed in the almost universal disappearance of burial goods and the rapid growth of burials ad sanctos (Latin for “with the saints,” i.e., near the tomb of a saint), coincides with the first wave of the founding of “private” monasteries. In hagiography since the 7th-9th centuries. a hermit is, for the most part, no longer a solitary enthusiast: in the matter of founding a cell or monastery, he acts together with pious laymen who care about the good of their own souls,
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What is expressed in the charters is the universal motivation for foundations or donations - pro remedio animae (Latin “for the salvation of the soul”). In the 8th century. In monasteries, memorial books of the living and the dead are recorded (Durham, England; St. Petersburg, Salzburg, etc.), and the very participation in the monastic prayer community during life or after death acquires considerable spiritual significance. “The right of a private church,” crystallized in the process of increasing centrifugal tendencies in the Merovingian state, lay at the basis of many monasteries that arose in the UP-USH century. outside the authority of both the king and the local bishop. A “private” or domain monastery provided not so much for the ascetic needs of its inhabitants, but rather guaranteed the personal and ancestral well-being of the owner, served as a guarantee of his earthly success, as well as afterlife rewards, while at the same time providing the magnate’s authority with the proper spiritual sanction.

Majordomos, and then kings from the Carolingian dynasty at the end. 7th-8th centuries, trying to strengthen the power verticals in the fight against local separatism, including the “episcopal republics”, they founded on their lands, and later on the lands of the fiscus, many private monasteries, the abbots of which took an oath of allegiance to the dynasty. Later they demanded such an oath from all private monasteries in the kingdom, while at the same time allowing the existence of private monasteries among those faithful to the dynasty of bishops. Only with the weakening of central power in the second half of the 9th century. again, private monasteries of individual magnates arose in large numbers, which, to one degree or another, retained, even after the ban on the institution of the “private church” in 1095, dependence on their lords on the basis of the right of patronage.

Carolingian monasteries received a set of privileges: the kings guaranteed them security and patronage, which meant legal independence from the bishop of local lords, as well as tax and judicial immunity, and later the right to freely choose an abbot with his subsequent approval by the monarch. The Carolingians contributed to the transformation of monasteries into the largest and most privileged landowners in Europe. The monasteries were obliged to serve the king (servitium regis), primarily military, placing warriors on their lands; They prayed for the well-being of the empire, helped the sovereign with advice, provided him with hospitality, made various monetary contributions, and finally, organized schools for the laity and clergy and printed books. Thanks to the Carolingian policy, monasteries became the largest centers of early medieval literature and learning.

The fact that monasticism to the beginning. 9th century became one of the most important pillars of the imperial church system, not only added political significance to the rank of abbot, introducing the abbots of monasteries into the highest aristocracy, but made it possible to transfer this rank to the laity as a reward for service. The social composition of the monasteries changed: representatives of the nobility prevailed in them, who did not choose monastic life voluntarily, at a conscious age, but were destined for it from childhood as pueri oblati (Latin “children brought as a gift”). Their transfer to monasteries was motivated by the desire to increase the spiritual authority of the family, but sometimes also its social status, to ensure the maintenance and future of children not participating in the inheritance, to acquire their own prayer book before God or a popular saint.

Back in the 7th century. in the monasteries of St. Columbania and his followers were propagated by a “mixed rule” based on Irish traditions and the Rule of Benedict. Columbanus may have received it from Rome from Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), who also wrote the life of Benedict, which is why, north of the Alps, the Rule of Benedict soon began to be perceived as “Roman”, pleasing to the “Prince of the Apostles” Peter, the owner of the keys of the heavenly fatherhood; which means that following such a charter should have guaranteed the acquisition of salvation to the greatest extent.

The popularity of Benedict's Rule was brought about by Anglo-Saxon missionaries at the end of the century. VII - first half of the VIII century. The Charter, consecrated in the name of Pope Gregory the Great, the founder of the English Church, has already been established since the end. VII century prevailed in English monasteries. The reform of the Frankish church, carried out by the Anglo-Saxon St. Boniface (672/75 - 754) with the support of the Carolingians,
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Provided for the establishment of “uniformity and subordination to Rome.” The introduction of the Rule of Benedict in all monasteries of the Frankish kingdom, the displacement of other rules, became an important component of the universalist policy of the Carolingians, which pursued the goal of internal consolidation of a vast multi-ethnic state and legitimation, primarily of spiritual, usurped royal power (751). The emerging new ethos of the Christian sovereign, the ruler of the imperium Christianum (Latin for the “Christian empire” - Alcuin), demanded from the Carolingians the patronage of not only religion and the church, but also care for monasticism.

Finally, the Rule of Benedict, as the only one pleasing to God and therefore permissible in the monasteries of the Frankish empire, was approved at the Council in Aachen in 816, which also strictly separated monasticism from the communal forms of organization of the white clergy. Initiator of the council, advisor to Louis the Pious (814-840) St. Benedict of Anian (d. 821), trying to unify even the interpretation of the statute, prepared at the same time a legislative approval of a single and obligatory “custom” for all monasteries (una regula - una consuetudo - Latin “one rule - one custom”), a kind of expanded and more detailed Rule of Benedict.

At the same time, one should not exaggerate the degree of unification of monasticism in the Frankish empire on this basis. Effectiveness of the Aachen decrees of 816 was as limited as the effectiveness of other Carolingian capitularies, which served rather as a manifestation of the general principles of power. The Rule of Benedict was for the monasteries a kind of symbol of loyalty to the Carolingian dynasty, which interpreted the ordo monasticus (Latin for “monastic class”) only as ordo benedictinus (Latin for “Benedictine class”). This idea, having lost connection with the specific ideological and political circumstances of its origin, was adopted over time and monasticism, and was preserved as a whole until the 12th century. Benedict's Charter was layered on numerous local customs and legal regulations of individual abbots, which in practice were regula viva. (Lat. “living rule”). Naturally, the acquisition by monasteries of various non-ascetic functions, the change in the status of the abbot and the composition of the monasteries, could not but affect the appearance of monasticism. Prayers before God and especially solemn veneration of saints, commemoration of the living and the dead, education, science, fulfillment of servitium regis (or duties to the monastery’s superior) , demanded by society, occupy a central place in the daily practice of monasticism, pushing into the background the tasks of unity with God, achieving individual salvation, etc.

Monastic reforms. Clunians

The evolution of monasticism in the early Middle Ages reflected the growth of its spiritual authority and the social significance of the sector of medieval society it occupied. At the same time, the “image of monasticism” that had developed in the minds of the laity and clergy (L.P. Karsavin) to a certain extent existed independently of its real incarnation. The desire to achieve the internal homogeneity of monasticism, its identity with the ideal, gave rise to the well-known formula: “The monastery must always be reformed.” The term reforma in its medieval usage meant a return to some primordial, and therefore authentic, forma. For Benedict of Anian, and in the 10th-11th centuries. For the Clunians and other monastic movements, this “only correct” form, and therefore obligatory for each monastery, was the Rule of Benedict. These “revivers of monasticism” (L.P. Karsavin), essentially traditionalists, trying to return monasticism to its “origins,” saw in unreformed monasteries only “secularization” and “corruption” and sought, by breaking the isolation of the monasteries, to impose their own on them, in a generally utopian understanding of the goals and image of monastic service. The artificiality of the form of monastic life was reflected in the “customs” compiled by the reformers (usually to tighten the requirements of the Rule of Benedict), and designed to describe in the smallest detail the imaginary social practice of the monastery. Thus, the Benedictine vow of silence was continued among the Clunians in the form of an expanded dictionary of gestures. The consequence of the reforms was therefore the further ritualization of monastic everyday life.
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It is necessary to distinguish the reform of Benedict of Anian, which was determined by ideological and political factors, carried out from above and limited by the Frankish empire, from the unification monastic movements of the 10th-11th centuries, which were part of a mass religious upsurge, fueled by eschatological expectations on the eve of the millennium
Christmas, and then the passion of Christ. Appearing in the 10th-11th centuries. The transition from formal piety to the search for individual ways of communicating with God became evident primarily in the sphere of monastic life. During this period, there was not only criticism of the practice of transferring children to the monastery, but also a massive, conscious conversion of the laity. Contemporaries believed that monks not only had greater chances of salvation than laymen and clergy, but also in heaven, not bishops, would lead the body of the righteous and, together with God, would then carry out the Last Judgment on the world.

The transformations of monasticism in the German Empire under the Ottones and the first Salii (936-1054), as well as in England under King Edgar (after 970), were similar to the Carolingian reform. In contrast, the Cluny movement, centered in the Burgundian Abbey of Cluny, founded in 910, came from among monasticism, and the monastic association that developed around Cluny was not determined by any political boundaries. Cluny was outside the sphere of the private and royal church, as well as the authority of the bishop, having been transferred by its founder, Duke William of Aquitaine, under the protection of the pope. During the reign of Abbot Odon (927-942), Cluny became the center of monastic reform, aimed at liberating monasticism from outside influence, from a bishop or secular lord, which was interpreted as a consistent renunciation from the world, a condition for the fulfillment of the Rule of Benedict and at the same time a guarantee of fidelity to it. The desire for independence of monasticism found visible expression in special, black robes, first introduced among the Benedictines precisely by the Clunians. The Clunians, however, did not seek the abolition of the right of a private church. On the contrary, the Onis themselves used this right to implement the reform of monasteries, receiving them
as a gift for the salvation of the soul, buying or entering into joint ownership with the lord - so that the reform rather went not from monastery to monastery, but from castle to castle. If the Clunians saw the church as predominantly monastic, as, in their opinion, it was in the time of the apostles, then the lord, ideally, even while remaining in the world, should have hidden his tonsure under a helmet.

The Clunians considered prayer before God for the salvation of themselves and the world to be the center of monastic life. Built in 1088-1125. the new abbey church (the so-called Cluny III) was the most grandiose temple in the Catholic world; On its numerous altars, divine services practically did not stop, the pomp and solemnity of which earned contemporaries the ironic nickname - “the lead mass.” Part of the liturgical cycle of Cluny was the commemoration of the living and the dead, which reached unprecedented proportions. Abbot Odilon (993-1049) established a special holiday for all departed souls (November 2), which over time became a general church holiday. The priority of worship determined that most monks had a priestly rank.

The Cluny association included hundreds of monasteries in Western Europe, so that contemporaries could call its head “king” and even “August”, i.e. emperor. At the same time, the Clunians failed to achieve a strict unification of the monasteries, many of which, as the popularity of Cluny grew, unification was driven rather by considerations of social prestige or the belief that the posthumous commemoration of the Clunian monks would ensure their salvation.

The movement of the Hermits in the 10th-11th centuries.

Part of the religious upsurge of the 10th-11th centuries. there was also a movement of heremits. Heremitisms previously existed in Western Europe, however, only as a phenomenon, although deeply revered, but still marginal in comparison with Cenonic monasticism. The “Golden Age” of heremitism was largely a reaction to the spread from the end. 9th century simony and marriages of clergy, the secularization of the white clergy, who pushed ascetic-minded laywomen into a radical escape from the world. The special fervor of the movement in Italy also suggests some influence of Greek monasticism (with its characteristic hermitage cult), which survived in the south of the peninsula since Byzantine rule. A carefully developed method of asceticism, even competition in the emaciation of the flesh against the backdrop of the dangers of the forests of gambling steeps undeveloped by man, constituted the main content of the heroic feat. At the same time, the hermits, sometimes in search of role models, and sometimes because of self-doubt and fear of temptation, very soon united into communities and even congregations, consisting of several colonies and, along with the texts of their mentors, were guided by the Charter Benedict, thus combining the rigors of individual asceticism with the communal way of life. Such associations developed in Italy around St. Romuald (950-1027) in Camaldoli (Order of the Camaldulens), John Gualbert (990-1073) in Vallumbrosa (Order of the Vallumbrasians), in France around Bruno of Cologne (1030/35-1101), who founded the monastery of Chartreuse (order of Carthusians).

Creation of orders. Cistercians

Over time, the monks of the reformed monasteries began to join the movement of the Hermits, dissatisfied with both the growth in the number of brethren and the enrichment of the monasteries, the luxury of their churches and worship, which gave rise to longing for the original simplicity of the Rule of Benedict. In such monasteries, it seemed increasingly difficult to find saving union with God, especially considering that the great fame of the Cluny monasteries often attracted people there who were trying to move up the social ladder. In 1098, a group of ascetic monks left their monasteries and retired to the secluded area of Citeaux (lat. Cistercium) in Burgundy. This monastery gave its name to the Cistercian order, founded in 1118. Thanks to the efforts of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) the Cistercian order spread to the middle. XII century throughout Western Europe, and a contemporary could exclaim: “The world has become Cistercian!”

The Cistercians did not reform the old monasteries, but founded new ones, sharply contrasting themselves with the previous monasticism, which was institutionalized by the created imin form of organization of monasticism - the order. They believed that the old monasteries, with their long traditions, privileges and connections, land holdings and vassals, were not suitable for “authentic” monasticism. In heremo (Latin “in the desert”), in places not yet inhabited by man, in simplicity and poverty, the Cistercians hoped to fully implement the Charter of Benedict. The ideal of poverty was visibly reflected in white (without dye), cheap “angelic” robes, as well as in the austere, no-frills architecture and interior decoration of Cistercian monasteries.

The order was based on the principle of filiation (Latin filiatio - clan continuity): upon achieving stability and maturity of the convention, the abbot, so that the severity of the monastic ideal did not soften, sent part of the brothers to found a new, daughter monastery, which the abbot of the mother monastery from now on regularly visited. Unlike the Cluny association, the head of which was the Abbot of Cluny, the supreme power in the Cistercian order was held by the general chapter - the annual meeting of all the abbots of the Cistercian monasteries. Their way of life was regulated by the statutes of the order, approved by the General Chapter, while the Cluny “customs” were the customs primarily of Cluny itself and in other monasteries of the Cluny association were layered on local monastic traditions. Also, the legal status of the Cistercian monasteries was determined by the general order privileges granted by the papacy, and not the private ones of each monastery, as in the previous monasticism. Subsequently, following the model of the Cistercians, all monasticism, including Cluny, was organized into various orders. Independence, as a rule, was retained only by the ancient royal (imperial) abbeys, periodic attempts to reform which followed throughout the Middle Ages. The confrontation between monasteries and unifying monastic movements was thus replaced by the confrontation of orders, within which unification reached the commonality of patron saints and uniformity in the architectural appearance of individual monasteries.
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The Cistercians considered physical labor to be a condition of monastic service, in which they saw a means of instilling humility and curbing the “spirit of temptation,” as well as guaranteeing the monastery’s independence from the world. Unlike previous monasticism, the Cistercians were not allowed to live on the labor of others or have dependent peasants and vassals. As a result, they spent more time in the field, in the barnyard or in the vineyard than in the scriptorium, school or temple for worship. Soon, however, manual labor was transferred to the converse (Latin for “converts”), who, being from the rural poor, although they took monastic vows, they lived separately from the main brethren. Intensive, highly profitable commercial farming became a source of rapid enrichment for the order. Contemporaries ironically said that Cistercian monasteries were like Noah’s Ark, on which the brothers gathered
all the riches, leaving desolation outside.

The Cistercian cult of labor, the intensive development of forests and wastelands, the introduction of all kinds of technical innovations allow us to consider the Cistercian movement within the framework of internal colonization in Western Europe in the 12th century, and also partially attribute to it the merit in the “rehabilitation of labor” (A.Ya. Gurevich). Exactly how much social significance does active labor activity have? in the conditions of a relatively overpopulated Europe influenced the rapid success of the order, it is difficult to judge, although in zones of military colonization, in the West Slavic lands and Spain, Cistercian monasteries were indeed desirable, and their foundation was supported by various secular and spiritual institutions, and the influx of inhabitants was ensured, among other things, by high authority missionary service combined with the hope of the laurels of martyrdom. And yet, the growth of the order was largely determined by: dissatisfaction with the results of monastic reforms in the 10th-11th centuries. and the church in the second half of the 11th - first quarter of the 12th century, the increase in social conflicts in connection with the development of commodity-money relations (hence the Cistercian cult of poverty) and at the same time changes in the religious consciousness of society, primarily its radicalization, expressed, among other things, in crusades, the creation of spiritual knightly orders, the massive, from the second half of the 12th century, dissemination of heretical teachings.

"Return" to the world

As cities grew in the 11th-12th centuries and their role in economic, intellectual and political life strengthened, monasticism, rooted in the agrarian sphere, lost its importance, and the idea of the wealth of monasteries, the effeminacy, idleness and greed of their inhabitants gained more and more space in the public consciousness . The Church sought to maintain its control over the cities, its monopoly in the spiritual life of society. The papacy, which even in the era of reforms actively relied on monastic movements and sought, by distributing the privileges of apostolic patronage to monasteries, to strengthen the hierarchical principle of church organization, in the 20s. XII century refuses to support monasticism in its struggle for autonomy within the church, expands the prerogatives of bishops.

Indicative in this regard is the metamorphosis of the regular canons, which arose in the second half of the 11th century. among the city clergy, who sought to become like the then spiritually attractive monasticism in their organization and contrast the purity of communal life with the vices of the rest of the clergy. In the beginning. XII century there is a demarcation between regular canons and monasticism. As a rule of community, they chose not the Rule of Benedict, but the rule attributed to Augustine, the oldest list of which dates back to the 6th-7th centuries. Since the IV Lateran Council of 1215 prohibited the creation of orders on the basis of new statutes, almost all spiritual orders of the 12th-13th centuries, including mendicants (except the Franciscan), accepted the statutes. Augustine. It was based on a special mystical category of Christian doctrine - love (lat. caritas). The highest love for God required sacrificial love for one's neighbor, which was expressed in active pastoral activity in the world, in responsibility for the salvation of all Christian souls. It was in this sense that the ideal of vita apostolica (Latin for “apostolic life”) began to be interpreted, in which they now saw not so much following Christ following the example of the apostolic communities, the departure of the world and the cenonic way of life, but rather likeness to the apostles who carried the good news to people.
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In the practice of the Order of Premonstratensians (lat. Praemonstratum - “Pre-Ordained”, as the first monastery in the vicinity of Reims was called), founded in 1120 by Canon Norbert of Xanten (c. 1082-1132), for the first time the ideal of apostolic preaching and pastoral service in the world was combined with the requirements of monastic asceticism , which is freed from external conventions (solitude in the “desert”, seclusion, sedentary life), is spiritualized, transferred to the sphere of internal spiritual work. This evolution was facilitated by the mystical definition of monks in Augustine’s Rule as “lovers of spiritual beauty.”

Mendicant Order

The emergence of mendicant monasticism (lat. mendicantes) in the 13th century. is closely connected with the development of new views on monastic asceticism, going back to the ideals of the regular canons and Premonstratensians, as well as those formed under the influence of heretical and other mass religious movements of the second half of the 12th - early. XIII century The ideology of mendicant monasticism bore the imprint of acute social conflicts of the era caused by the intensive development of the monetary economy and growing social polarization, especially noticeable in cities. The novelty, swiftness and ruthlessness of these processes gave rise to a crisis in the traditional Christian worldview and increased the expectation of the end of the world. Following Christ was now understood as the renunciation of all property and even a roof over one’s head for the sake of preaching universal repentance. From the very beginning, mendicant monasticism was supported by the papacy, which sought to rely on it in the fight against heretical movements, strengthen pastoral ministry in cities and increase the authority of the church. In addition, the mendicants, more mobile than the previous monasticism and not associated with local interests, strengthened the vertical of papal power.

The organization of mendicant monasticism was based on the idea of “apostolic life”, the evolution of the understanding of which was reflected by the rejection of the kenobia and the replacement by mendicants of the traditional name “monks”, i.e. "hermits", to "brothers". Mendicant monasticism focused on preaching in cities, confession, and missionary work, which presupposed the acceptance of all brothers into the priesthood. The organization of preaching in the mendicant orders differed significantly from the territorial one practiced in the church, and was based on the experience of heretics - the Cathars and Waldenses. The preacher did not wait for the flock to gather in his church, but he himself looked for it, went to the people, “with all humility,” “on foot, without gold and silver, in a word, imitating the apostles in everything.” If for the Cistercians the ideal of poverty was associated with the desire to gain independence from the world, which implied reasonable enrichment, then the mendicant brothers initially proceeded from the impossibility of owning any property; They preferred alms to work as an irregular income, and they saw long-term residence as a threat to the soul.

The number of mendicant orders increased so much over several decades that the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 was forced to establish only the four largest (Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinian-Jeremites and Carmelites), and dissolve the rest. In the XIII-XIV centuries. the authorized orders spread widely in all countries of Western Europe, penetrated beyond its borders - into Palestine, Egypt, Transcaucasia, Crimea, the Mongol Empire in Central Asia, China, had a female branch - the “second order”, and patronized numerous spiritual brotherhoods of the laity, united in the “third order."

Despite a number of common features, the most important of the mendicant orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, had their own distinct specifics, due to the personalities of the founding fathers, which in turn reflected the growing individualization of religious practice. And in the orders they founded, which abandoned the strictures of the cinnov, the emphasis was subsequently placed on the individual efforts and responsibility of brother preachers, theologians, and inquisitors.

St. Dominic (c. 1170-1221), Spanish Augustinian canon, early. XIII century found himself in the south of France, engulfed in the Albigensian heresy. He saw his task primarily as organizing effective preaching in order to preserve the integrity of the Catholic Church. The official name of the Dominicans, expressing the specifics of the order, is Friars Preachers. Apostolic restlessness and asceticism seemed to Dominic as tools for achieving holiness, the main condition for successful preaching, which was supposed to introduce people to the “fruits of contemplation.” The needs of competent preaching also determined another important area of activity for the Dominicans - the study of theology. The centers of the order were Paris and Bologna - the two largest university cities of medieval Europe. The Dominicans created an extensive network of theological teaching, which also included the study of languages necessary for theologians and preachers. Soon it was the Dominicans who largely determined what true Christian teaching was. From among them came St. Thomas Aquinas (1225/26-1274) is the greatest authority on Catholic theology. It is symptomatic that most of the inquisitors were Dominicans, and their fury in the fight for the purity of the faith earned them the nickname Domini canes (Latin for “dogs of the Lord”).

St. Francis (1181-1226), the son of an Assisi merchant, in his youth renounced his family and inheritance in order to belong to Christ alone, to become like him, who died a beggar on the cross. The cornerstone of Franciscan teaching was “Lady Poverty,” understood as the highest degree of humility, which was expressed by the official name of the order - Friars Minor (Latin Minorites). Francis, arguing that “a person cannot own, for only God owns,” forbade the brothers to seek even minimal comforts for themselves, ordered them to wear rags, girded with a rope, and allowed only literate brothers to have books, and then only for liturgical ones. For Francis, following Christ, the embodiment of love, also meant an all-consuming love for one’s neighbor, expressed in the preaching of salvation. Over time, the Franciscans created their own system of theological education, which, in contrast to the Aristotelianism of the Dominicans, was mainly based on the teachings of Augustine.

As mendicant orders transformed into extensive and influential organizations, previous attitudes toward poverty were revised. The Dominicans, who from the very beginning needed separate cells, extensive libraries, and significant financial resources to practice theology, quickly agreed to a relaxation of the requirements of non-covetousness (1228). The first permanent monasteries were founded by St. Dominic. On the contrary, among the Franciscans, the desire, despite the growth of the order, to remain faithful to the “Lady of Poverty” gave rise to complex legal structures designed, without any visible deviation from Francis’ will, to ensure the viability of the Minority monasteries. Attempts to soften the demands of poverty caused, however, in the second half of the 13th century. the split of the order into supporters of strict adherence to the precepts of Francis - spiritualists and those who
condemned excessive passion for poverty, advocated the development of large monastic communities (conventions) - conventuals. Their ideologist, St. Bonaventure, general of the order (1257-1274), in the life of St. Francis (Legenda major), recognized as the official biography of the founding father, mythologized the image of the saint, calling him “the new Christ,” “the angel of the seventh seal,” thereby introducing into the consciousness of the brothers the idea that mere mortals are not able to imitate St. Francis.

To the beginning XIV century In the theological discussion of poverty generated by the radicalism of spiritualists, the central place was occupied by the question of whether Christ had property. Ultimately, the statement about the poverty of Christ and his apostles cast doubt not only on the entire existing system of social relations, but also prompted a revision of previous theological and canonical theories that substantiated church property. According to the then popular teaching of Joachim of Flora (d. 1202), the rule of the white clergy was just about to be replaced by the era of the Holy Spirit, the rule of monks who did not have property. The disgusting image of the “thin” she-wolf of greed, which haunted Dante, a contemporary of the polemics on poverty, was often identified in the minds of spiritualists with the Avignon popes. In 1322, Pope John XXII (1316-1334) declared poverty to be heresy
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Christ, and the distinction between the concepts of “ownership” and “use” is a legal fiction, renouncing the right of ownership of minority property. Soon the spiritualists were also excommunicated from the church (1329), which, however, did not stop the further polarization of the order, within which already in the second half of the 14th century. a movement of observants (from Latin observare, “to observe”) appeared, advocating for the observance of altissima paupertas (Latin “greatest poverty”). The return of the minority property to the ownership of the Apostolic See in 1428 did not prevent the final split of the order in 1517, and then the splitting off in 1528 from the Observant Order of the Capuchin Order, approved in 1560.

Mendicant monasticism, presenting an undoubted challenge to the monetary economy of the growing cities, was at the same time inseparable from city life and could not even, due to the “privilege of poverty,” count on long-term success in the countryside, which was unable to provide it with the necessary subsidies and premises. Moreover, cities with their high density and circulation of population guaranteed maximum preaching effect. Even if the orientation of the mendicants only towards the lower and middle strata of the urban population is not unconditional, it is obvious that the openness of the conventions of mendicant monasticism to the city, their competition in the performance of siga ashtagit (pastoral functions) with the clergy, which reached open conflicts, pushing them towards rapprochement with the city authorities, served to strengthen the spiritual and political identity of urban communities.

Female monasticism

Relatively little is known about female monasticism in the Middle Ages, which developed in the shadow of male monasticism and largely adopted its characteristic forms of internal organization. Obviously, from the very beginning it was closely connected with the idea of the importance of virginity, which likened the virgins to the virgin Mary and conveyed an advantage over men in achieving salvation. The adoption of a monastic veil (velamen), symbolizing a woman’s entry into a monastery, turned her into Christ’s bride, which over time contributed to the spiritualization of the idea of virginity, extending it also to widowed women. For the latter, solitude in the monastery was even considered as the most morally preferable form of life, which brought relief to the deceased spouse through prayers in his afterlife. monasticism was for a woman the only socially attractive alternative to the usual model of life, which included marriage, motherhood and housekeeping.

Female monasticism was charged with even stricter closure from the outside world, designed to guarantee the precious gift of chastity and the purity of marriage with the Almighty. This initially presupposed the presence of permanent property and income sufficient to live in a monastery without communication with the world, and therefore the social composition of female monasticism was generally limited either to representatives of the nobility, or, as was the case in the cities of the high and late Middle Ages, to the urban patriciate. The founding of women's monasteries often pursued the goal of ensuring a proper and pious existence for unmarried daughters who could not find a worthy match, widows, and relatives of clergy.

Women who were forbidden to take the priestly rank, secluded in a monastery, needed the spiritual care of male priests. Therefore, women's monasteries have always gravitated either to episcopal residences or to male monasteries. In the early Middle Ages, there were dual monasteries, but their experience did not take root then. The motif of kindred disembodied love or spiritual friendship dominated the understanding of the relationships that united nuns with their male shepherds. For example, St. Boniface even bequeathed to be buried together with his student and follower, St. Lyoboy, so that death, having united their bodies, would not separate their souls.

In con. XI-XP centuries. As the women's ascetic movement spread massively, the problem of strengthening regular life in numerous women's monasteries and organizing pastoral care over them through primarily male monasticism became acutely felt. OK. 1100, the French preacher Robert d'Arbrissel (d. ca. 1114) founded a double monastery in Fontevraud, which was headed by an abbess. The Order of Fontevraud then spread to France, Spain and England. In turn, St. Dominic and St. Francis realized the need for care over the female ascetic movement. Thus, the convent of Proville near Toulouse was even the first stronghold of the group of followers that formed around Dominic. Clara of Assisi (1194-1253), the founder of the female branch of the Minorite order - the Clarisses - was in close contact with St. Francis. However, convents , which existed under the tutelage of the mendicant orders, remained generally closer to traditional monasticism, especially since most of them arose independently of the Mendicant movement. The nuns were prescribed rigid sedentarism, they, of course, could not engage in pastoral service or collect alms. Women made up a significant part the mentioned “third order” of the Mendicants. Due to its relatively free form, it allowed them, without fear of accusations of debauchery and heresy, to realize the popular ideal of poverty and active pious activity in the world. Numerous orders operated independently of men from the 11th to 12th centuries. semi-monastic associations of women: while remaining in the world or living in small communities, their members were engaged in helping the disadvantaged, caring for the sick, preparing the dead for burial, etc. They gained greatest fame in the 12th-12th centuries. Beguines.

Literature:

Karsavin L.P. Essays on religious life in Italy 12th-12th centuries. St. Petersburg, 1912; It's him. Monasticism in the Middle Ages. 2nd ed. M., 1992; Culture of the Abbey of St. Gallen / Ed. V. Vogler. Baden-Baden, 1996

Monastic orders

Monastic orders exist only in Islam (Dervish orders) and in the Catholic Church. An order is an association of monks who live according to a special charter, usually approved by the Pope. One order may include many monasteries that accept a single charter. Other names for monastic orders are societies, brotherhoods, congregations.

Each order had a centralized structure and administration, headed by a general elected by the general chapter. The General Chapter consisted of
provincials who headed the regional divisions of the order. Individual monastic communities (convents) were governed by abbots (abbots, priors or guardians). The abbots gathered in their chapters.

In some orders, communities were united into large groups - congregations.

Many orders had convents. The female half of the monastic order was called the second order. It was an elitist structure; girls of low origin were not accepted there. There were also brotherhoods of laymen within the orders, called tertiaries (third orders).

There are four main types of monastic orders:

orders of statutory monks(Benedictines, Antonians, Clunians, Cistercians);
orders of statutory canons and statutory clergy(Augustinians, Dominicans, Jesuits);mendicant orders(Franciscans, Carmelites);
knightly (military) orders(Templars, Hospitallers, Teutons).

Monastic orders acquired independent status at the IV Lateran (1215) and II Lyon Councils. They formulated the main provisions concerning the activities of these organizations. They were directly subordinate to the Pope and all divisions
these organizations were freed from the authority of bishops.

At the IV Lateran Council, the creation of new orders without the special permission of the pope was also prohibited. All orders were ordered to convene all abbots to a council once every three years, following the example of the Cistercian order.

For a person concerned with the salvation of the soul, various forms of monasticism and different orders were not of equal value. In the Middle Ages, a hierarchy of these spiritual institutions was formed. Prominent ideologists of monasticism considered hermitage, or anchorage, to be the highest form of service, but containing too many dangers for weak souls, since in the desert a person is alone and therefore most exposed to devilish temptations. The monastery was considered a much more suitable place for the salvation of the soul, since here everyone was under the supervision of the abbot and counted on the support of the brethren.

The orders differed from each other in the strictness of their rules, and therefore, from the point of view of the soul, the choice of a monastery was of great importance. The official hierarchy of the orders was constantly changing depending on the preferences of Rome. If initially the church authorities sought
to remake all monasticism on the model of the Benedictines, then Cluny became an example to follow, after which the Cistercian order was located at the top of the hierarchy.

Although the idea of unifying monasticism by creating an ecumenical order living according to a single charter matured in the church for many centuries, it was not possible to bring it to life. The construction of a hierarchy of orders was the result of the transformation of this idea into the concept of a single monasticism, implying different forms of service.

And from a certain time, among some Protestants, a community of monastics, whose members observe the general rules of the monastery and take solemn vows (in contrast to a monastic congregation, in which only simple vows are made). Depending on the specifics they differ:

Orders of Canons Regular
Orders of Regular Clerics

In the Eastern Catholic Churches there are also monastic orders, called ranks in Slavic (Basilians - the Order of St. Basil the Great, etc.).

Order of the Carthusians

Bruno, a native of Cologne, who was the head of the Reims cathedral school, retired from Reims, out of indignation at the vicious life of the archbishop; on the advice of the Bishop of Grenoble, he founded a monastery near Grenoble in a wild gorge between high mountains. This gorge was called Chartreuse (in Latin - Cartusia); the name of the gorge became the name of the monastery. The monasteries that accepted the charter given by Bruno to the Chartreuse Abbey began to be called Chartreuse or, in the Latin form of the word, Carthusian (Carthusian). The Carthusian Order and Chartreuse were founded in 1084. Bruno then had thirteen fellow hermits. Six years after that he went to Rome on call UrbanaII, who was his student, but it was difficult for him to remain among the noise of the world. He refused the rank of Bishop of Reggio offered to him, retired to the desert area of the Calabrian Mountains, near Squillace, founded a monastery there with the charter of the Carthusian Order, and died there (in 1101).

Chartreuse Monastery - founding place of the Carthusian Order

Thirty-three years after his death, the rules he introduced in Chartreuse were written down and expanded. According to the charter of the Carthusian order, the monks did not live in lonely hermitages, but in a monastery, but they observed the rules of hermitage. The Carthusian monk spent his time in the silent solitude of his cell; The food of the Carthusians was meager, and they were completely forbidden to drink wine. Members of this medieval monastic order wore hair shirts under their shirts; their prayers were very long; they were required to do manual labor. But they were also engaged in scientific works; their monasteries had libraries.

Order of Grammon

This was also the character of the Grammonian order, the founder of which was Stephen of Tihorn, who built a monastery for himself and his followers in a desert area near Limoges (in 1073). Robert Arbrissel in 1096 built an abbey in the deserted Fontevros valley near Craon, which housed a convent intended for sinners who turned to repentance.

Cistercian Order

The Cistercian order acquired much greater importance in the early Middle Ages. Its founder was Robert, a native of Champagne, a Benedictine monk. Outraged by the luxury with which the rich Benedictines lived, in 1098 he and several followers built a monastery near Dijon, among a dense forest, in a valley called Citeaux. From the Latin form of this name, Cistercium, came the name of the order, which accepted the charter of the monastery founded by Robert; the rules of the charter were set out after Robert’s death in the “Charter of Christian Love”, Charta charitatis; in 1215 the pope accepted the Cistercians under his special protection.

Cistercian monks. 18th century fresco

The charter of this order was a reworking of Cluny in the spirit of more severe asceticism. The Cistercians replaced the black robe of the Benedictines in their order with a white one. With their harsh life in voluntary poverty, they gained such respect from the people that soon monasteries of their order began to appear everywhere. He became more influential than the Cluny congregation; his power was especially enhanced by Bernard, abbot of the Clairvaux (clara valus) monastery. considered a saint, had a strong influence on the course of historical events. He became the main inspiration for the Second Crusade.

Bernard of Clairvaux, the most famous member of the Cistercian order. Painting by G. A. Wasshuber, 1700

The Clunians could not be rivals of the Cistercians, who had such a famous ascetic; at that time they were already leading a luxurious, vicious life. Pontius (Pons), who was the abbot of Cluny from 1109, was debauched and rampant, like knights engaged in robbing passing merchants.

Order of the Premonstratensians

The Premonstratensian order competed with the Cistercian order in the severity of asceticism and power; The first monastery of this order was founded in the wooded valley of Coucy near Laon. Between the forests there was a meadow, which at the founding of the monastery received the name Pré Montré, “Meadow indicated” (by God); The monastery also began to be called by this name. The founder of the Premonstratensian Order was Norbert, a native of Lorraine, a man of noble birth, a relative of the emperors, a canon at the Cologne Cathedral and Chapel HeinrichV, who had rich income from these positions and a sure prospect of achieving very high ecclesiastical rank. Turned by a miraculous vision to concern for his spiritual salvation, he renounced wealth and honors, subjected himself (1118) to voluntary poverty and went to preach repentance to people. The clergy ignored his admonitions; he addressed his sermon to the common people; they began to consider him a saint. When Norbert went (1120) to found a monastery on the meadow God had shown him, only seven monks went there with him. Thirty years later there were almost a hundred abbeys in France and Germany whose monks wore the white clothes of the Premonstrans order. Their abbots gathered annually to resolve the affairs of the order in the Pré Montré monastery. Norbert was made Archbishop of Magdeburg and tried to spread the rules of monastic asceticism in Northern Germany. This led to unrest among the clergy and the people. One day the people wanted to kill Norbert, and he barely escaped. But when he died (June 6, 1134), the pious Magdeburgers did not give his body to the monks of the Pré Montré Abbey.

Carmelite Order

Around 1156, another medieval monastic order, similar to the Carthusian, arose in Palestine. Pilgrim Bartoldo, a native of Calabria, settled with several other pilgrims in a cave of Mount Carmila (Carmel); After the name of the mountain, these hermits called themselves Carmelites. The prophet Elijah lived on Mount Carmel; therefore, legend attributed the founding of the Carmelite Order to Elijah himself.

Organized into congregations and brotherhoods occupies important positions. Currently there are about 140 monastic orders, whose activities are led by the Vatican Congregation for Sanctified Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The most influential monastic orders are the Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits. Each of them has its own specifics and its own history of development.

Benedictines

Founder of the Benedictine monastery - Benedict of Nursia(480-547) became the founder of the first monastic rule. He founded a monastery in Monte in 530 Cassino, in which he established strict rules. This charter became the basis and example for the monks of other monasteries. The main rule was community life away from the bustle of the world. Monasteries were built in remote places, away from the influence of the world. Initially, there was no central organization; each monastery was independent. Monasteries became centers of education and training. The Benedictines were engaged in missionary activities in the Slavic lands and the Baltic states. Currently, the Benedictine Order unites over 10 thousand monks and 20 thousand nuns.

Monastic orders appeared in 910, after the abbot About from the monastery Cluny undertook a reform of the monastic organization. He proposed to unite many monasteries performing common tasks into orders, which should submit to the central government. The purpose of such a unification was a return to strict observance of the rules, the deprivation of monasteries of autonomy and subordination to the pope, bypassing bishops, and the independence of the church from secular power.

Carmelites

Founder - Berthold of Calabria, leader of the crusaders. The order was founded in 1155 after the victorious Crusade. It got its name from its location - at the foot of the mountain Carmel in Palestine. After the Crusaders were defeated, in the 13th century. The order moved to Western Europe. In the 16th century The Carmelite Order split into several movements. A women's order arose in Spain Barefoot Carmelites, and then male. The peculiarities of the order include a reclusive lifestyle and living on alms. Carmelite monks are mainly engaged in missionary work, raising and educating children and youth.

Carthusians

The monastery was founded in 1084 in the province Chartreuse(lat. - Cartusia). It was officially approved in 1176. There is a female branch of the order, which was formed in 1234. A special feature of the monastery is the presence of large land property. The main source of wealth is the production and sale of Chartreuse liqueur.

Cistercians

First appeared in 1098 in a desert area Sieve (Cito). Since the 14th century There are nunnery monasteries. In 1115 the order was reformed Bernard of Clairvaux and received the name Bernardine. The monks of the order actively participated in and supported the pope in his struggle with the secular authorities.

Franciscans

The monastery organized Francis of Assisi in 1207-1209 in Italy near Assisi. Francis of Assisi spoke out against the acquisitiveness of the papal hierarchs, against the distribution of positions by the pope to his relatives, and against simony (the buying and selling of church positions). He preached the benevolence of poverty, the renunciation of all property, sympathy for the poor, and a cheerful, poetic attitude towards nature. His mysticism was permeated with love for people. These ideas became very popular and in a short time gained recognition in other European countries. Francis of Assisi created "Order of Friars Minor" - religious and moral community. Minorities- “the least of all people” - lived not in monasteries, but in the world, traveled, preached in the language of the common people, and were engaged in charity.

The renunciation of property aroused suspicion among the pope. At first, Francis of Assisi was forbidden to preach, then in 1210 he was allowed, but demanded to abandon the call to poverty. Francis did not comply. After his death, the order split. Extreme followers of Francis fratinelli(brothers) were declared heretics, many were burned. The remaining moderate followers became the pope's support. In 1525, the Franciscans separated capuchins(pointed hoods) to counteract. Since 1619, the Capuchins became an independent order.

Dominicans

The order was founded in 1216 by a Spaniard Dominic de Guzman. The purpose of the order was to fight heresy Albigensians, which spread to France, Germany and Italy. The Albigensians opposed the Catholic Church, which hindered the development of cities. A crusade was declared against the Albigensians, which ended in the defeat of the heretics. The Dominicans also fought the heresy of the Cathars and other movements opposed to the Catholic Church, showing particular cruelty and uncompromisingness.

Dominicans take a vow of poverty, abstinence and obedience, and they are forbidden to eat. The requirement of poverty applies only to individuals, not to congregations. The emblem of the order is a dog with a lit torch in its teeth. They call themselves “dogs of the Lord” (lat. - dominicanes). In 1232 they were given leadership of the Inquisition. They become censors of Catholic orthodoxy. In their activities, the Dominicans used torture, executions, and prisons. They abandoned physical labor in favor of teaching and scientific work. Prominent Catholic theologians emerged from the ranks of the order, including Thomas Aquinas, as well as several popes.

Knight brotherhoods

Spiritual knightly orders began to emerge in the territory of Palestine, conquered during the first Crusade, to protect the conquered lands. The knights took three monastic vows: chastity, poverty and obedience. Unlike ordinary monks, members of the orders had to fight for the faith with weapons in their hands. They obeyed only the pope and the order authorities - the chapter and the grand masters.

Hospitallers

Around 1070 a hospice house was built in Jerusalem ( hospitalis) for wounded and sick pilgrims. The house was given the name of St. John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria. Soon the monks caring for the wounded began to take part in the fighting themselves. In 1113, the pope approved the order's charter, according to which the Hospitallers, or Johannites, were called upon to fight the infidels. After the conquest of Palestine by the Muslims in 1309, the Johannites took possession of the island of Rhodes, and then, when the Ottomans captured it in 1522, they moved to the island of Malta, after which the order received the name Maltese. The distinctive feature of the order was a red cloak with a white cross.

Templars or Templars

The Order of the Templars or Templars arose at the beginning of the 12th century. It was named for the location of his residence near King Solomon's Temple. The distinctive feature of the order was a white cloak with a red cross. The Order accumulated significant funds. After the fall of Jerusalem, the order moved to Cyprus, then to France. King Philip IV the Fair, seeking to seize the wealth of the order, accused the Templars of Manichaeism (a synthesis of Zoroastrianism and Christianity). In 1310, the knights were burned, the property passed to the king, and the order was abolished.

Warband

In the 12th century. In 1190, German crusaders created a military monastic order in Palestine, based on the hospital of the Holy Virgin Mary - the Teutonic Order - after the name of the German tribe. At the beginning of the 13th century. he was transferred to the Baltic states, where he launched military activities in Prussia. The Order carried out a policy of feudal-Catholic expansion in the Baltic states and the northwestern Russian principalities. The difference between the Teutons was a white cloak with a black cross.

Jesuits

The name comes from Lat. SocietasJesu- "Society of Jesus" The order was formed in 1534, approved by the pope in 1540. The founder was a Spanish Basque, a nobleman, a former brave officer, crippled in battle, Ignatius of Loyola(1491-1556). The purpose of the order is to fight the Reformation, spread Catholicism, and unquestioning submission to the pope. The Jesuits are characterized by a strictly hierarchical structure, headed by a general subordinate to the pope. The Order is engaged in worldwide missionary activities.