1. _The Benedictines_ (Fig. 1) are the most ancient of the Monastic Orders, and have always been the most learned. They were founded by St. Benedict in Italy about A.D. 529, as a monastery for 12 monks, in order that they might live, in a religious community, a Christian life with lofty ideals. Originally, St. Benedict’s idea was not to found an Order whose branches should extend throughout Europe as one organisation, but rather that the various houses should be independent of one another. The Order spread very rapidly, being very rational and elastic in its rules, and it displaced the others that were in existence. Pope Gregory the Great gave to it his high approval, for as the learned Abbot Gasquet says:--“In his (Gregory’s) opinion, it manifested no common wisdom in its provisions, which were dictated by a marvellous insight into human nature, and by a knowledge of the best possible conditions for attaining the end of a monastic life, the perfect love of God and of man.” Its rule did _not_ enforce ascetism, and great liberty was given to the heads of the Order to modify its regulations to suit special circumstances. The Mission sent to England by St. Augustine, A.D. 597, consisted of a Prior and Monks of St. Benedict’s rule; and as Christianity spread in this country, so the number of houses of the Order increased, until “during the whole Saxon period, this was the only form of monasticism in England.” 2. _The Cluniacs_ grew out of the Benedictines, being established at Cluny, near Macon-sur-Saone, A.D. 912. By the Benedictine rule, all religious houses were self-centred. The Cluniac rule established a new principle--that there should be a great central monastery, with dependencies spread over many lands, all owing allegiance to the central authority. In every case, the Superior of the lesser houses was not elected by the community, but was nominated by the Abbot of Cluny. The Order was established in England shortly after the Norman Conquest, and when the monasteries were suppressed in the 16th century, there were thirty-two Cluniac Monasteries in this country, one only--at Bermondsey--being an abbey. 3. _The Cistercians_ (Fig. 2). This was the most flourishing offshoot of the Benedictines, and was founded at the Monastery of Citeaux, A.D. 1092. Though not the founder the greatest organiser was an Englishman, St. Stephen Harding. The Cistercians formed themselves “into an organised corporation, under the perpetual pre-eminence of the Abbot and house of Citeaux, with yearly Chapters, which all Superiors were bound to attend.” The Order spread very rapidly, and the first abbey was founded in England A.D. 1129. At the general suppression there were one hundred Cistercian houses in this country. 4. _The Carthusians_ (Fig. 3).