§ 1. A monastery is a community of men or women, devoted to the service of God and obeying a fixed rule. Monastic rules of life varied in strictness and in detail; while each community supplemented the rule of its order by its own code of observances. The object, however, of these different rules and codes was one. The general term for the monastic life was 'religion' (_religio_): the 'religious' (_religiosus_) was bound by three vows, to poverty against the deceits of the world, to chastity against the lusts of the flesh, to obedience against the snares of the devil. His chief duty was to take part with his brethren in the recitation of the canonical hours, and in the celebration of daily masses. A portion of his day was set apart for meditation in the cloister; but his surplus time was devoted to labour. The business affairs of a monastery brought some religious into touch with the practical side of life. Others found their vocation in manual labour in the fields or workshops; while a certain number devoted themselves to literary work in the cloister. § 2. The rule of St Benedict, on which western monachism was founded, distinguishes between four classes of religious. Of these the two principal were cenobites, monks living in a community (_coenobium_) under rule, and the anchorites, who have departed (ἀναχωρεῖν) from the world to live a solitary life of prayer. These were the sources of the two main streams of Christian monachism. Naturally, the anchorite came first into existence. The cenobite followed, by the combination of anchorites in monasteries. The development of the _coenobium_ was gradual. About 305 A.D., St Anthony inaugurated the 'lauras' (λαῦραι) of northern Egypt, monasteries in which each anchorite lived in his separate cell and met for common services only on Saturday and Sunday. A few years later St Pachomius founded his first _coenobium_ at Tabennisi in southern Egypt. Here the social principle was more fully organised: common services in church were more frequent and labour was recognised as a factor in the monastic life; but the monks still lived separately. A further step was taken by St Basil, who about 360 founded a _coenobium_ near Neocaesarea. His rule introduced the idea of common life under one roof. It became the basis of the monastic system of the eastern Church, and its principles had a lasting effect on the monastic life of western Europe.