Early Double Monasteries: A Paper read before the Heretics' Society on December 6th, 1914 — John Shaqi
Early Double Monasteries: A Paper read before the Heretics' Society on December 6th, 1914Stoney, Constance
History
Early Double Monasteries: A Paper read before the Heretics' Society on December 6th, 1914
Stoney, Constance
Monasticism and religious orders; Speeches, addresses, etc.
When Boniface was establishing religious houses in Germany he sent to
Abbess Tetta, asking that Lioba might be allowed to come over and help
him. She went, and Boniface put the monastery of Bischofsheim on the
Tauber, a tributary of the Main, under her care. Here she carried on the
traditions of Wimborne, for she taught and encouraged learning in every
way. Her rule was sane and wise. Her biographer says of her, "She was
careful always not to teach others what she herself did not practise.
Neither conceit nor overbearing found any place in her disposition; but
she was gentle and kind to everyone without exception. She was beautiful
as an angel and her conversation was charming. Her intellect was
renowned, and she was able in counsel. She was catholic in faith, most
patient in hope, and of widespread charity. Though her face was always
cheerful, she never broke into hilarious laughter. No one ever heard an
ill-natured remark fall from her lips, and the sun never went down upon
her wrath. Though she provided food and drink with the greatest
liberality for others, she was very moderate herself; and the cup from
which she used to drink was called by the sisters, on account of its
size, 'darling's little mug.'"
She knew that a heedful mind is necessary for both prayer and study, and
so she insisted upon moderation in holding vigils. She allowed herself,
and the sisters under her, a short rest after dinner, especially in the
summer time; and would never willingly allow people to stay up late; for
she maintained that loss of sleep meant loss of intelligence, especially
in reading. Her methods were undoubtedly successful, for Rudolf says
that among the other convents for women in Germany, there was scarcely
one which had not teachers trained under Lioba, so eagerly sought after
were her pupils.
Here this account of some early double monasteries must end. In England
they probably existed right up to the Danish invasions of 870, and
disappeared in the general devastation of the country during the
succeeding years. The organisation, however, appears again in this
country in the C12, and even as late as the C15. The order of S. Gilbert
of Sempringham in the C12 was a double one, and the only order which
actually had birth in England. It was, however, entirely lacking in that
intellectual activity which was a special feature of the earlier double
monasteries, among both men and women, and which, from the secular point
of view, gave to the Anglo-Saxon nunneries a place not incomparable with
the women's colleges of the present day. The latest double monastery in
England was that of S. Bridget of Sion, near Isleworth, on the Thames.
Reference has been made only to the more important early double
monasteries in England; but there are others which may or may not come
under this category. Of these some are Whitern in Galloway, Carlisle,
Caistor in Northamptonshire, Gloucester, Strenshall in Staffordshire,
and Lyminge in Kent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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