3. Degeneracy of 3Ionachism, and its Extension. — The irruption of the Lombards into Italy and of the Saracens into Spain, and the civil wars in France af- ter the death of Charlemagne, as well as the many favors received from the Church, which had come to regard recluses as a higher class of Christians, hav- ! ing facilitated the growth of moral corruption among the monastics, and having introduced great disorder also among the Benedictines, several attempts at re- form were made, and for many centuries the history of monachism now comes to present a continual strug- gle of reformers with the laxity, indifference, or immo- rality obtaining in a larger or lesser number of the convents of those times. The first and most noted of the reformers was Benedict of Aniane (f 821), whose commentary on the rule of Benedict of Nursia obtain- ed later an equally authoritative character. Next in order stands Berno, the founder of the Clugny Congre- gation (q. v.), afterwards reformed by bis successor,
MOXASTICISM
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MOXASTICISM
St. Odo. Several monasteries adopted Odo's reforms ; but it was Clugny alone that enjo^-ed tlie greatest privileges, and it was generally looked upon as the main pillar of the reformatory party. It controlled nearly all the important convents of Gaul and Italy. In the 11th century the Benedictine order again fell from its original purity and strictness. This gave rise to many attempts to restore it to its pristine form and object ; hence arose the Carthusians, the Camalduks, the Cileglines, the Cistercians, the monks of Grammont, the CoHf/regation of St. Maur, and the celebrated monks of La Trtippe.
In the .sth century a kind of middle order between the monks and the clergy had been formed, called the canons regular of St. Augustine. Their dwellings and tible were in common, and they assembled at lixed hours for the divine service. In these respects they resembled the monks ; but they diflfercd from them in taking no vows, and thcj' often officiated in churches committed to their care. Having degener- ated in the 12th centurj', pope Nicholas II introduced a considerable reformation among them. At this pe- riod they seem to have divided into several branches of the original order; some formed themselves into communities, in which there was a common dwelling and table, but each monk, after contributing to the general stock, employed the fruits of his benefices as he deemed proper. At the head of another union was the bishop of Chartres. They adopted a more rigid and austere mode of life, renounced their worldly pos- sessions, all private property, and lived exactly as the strictest order of monks did. This gave rise to the distinction between the secular and regular canons. The former observed the decree of pope Nicholas II ; the latter followed the bishop of Chartres, and were called the regular canons of St. Augustine, because they were formed on the rules laid down by .St. Augustine in his Epistles. They kept public schools for the in- struction of youth, and exercised a variety of other employments useful to the Church. A reform was effected in the Augustines by St. Norbert ; and, as he presided over a convent at Primontre, in Picardy, those monks who adopted his rule were called Pre- monstratenses. They spread throughout Europe with great rapidity.
Other orders also arose, mainly devoted to special benevolent or religious purposes. Thus, e. g., the Or- der of St. Anthony (1095) and the Ilosjntallcrs (1078) de- voted themselves to the nursing of the sick, the Order of Fontevraud (IQO-i) to the correction of lewd women, and the Ttinitarinns (1198) to the redeeming of Chris- tian prisoners. Even the warlike tendencies of those times sought a union with the monastic spirit by the establishment of several orders of knights, such as the Knights of St. John, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, the orders of St. Jago, Calatrava, Alcantara, Avis, and St. JIaurice. See Knighthood. During this period convents of nuns were also established, the institutes and regulations of which were similar to those adopted by the Benedictines and Augustines, or to the reformed branches springing from those two great orders.
We sec in all tliis that in the remarkable religious movement whicii characterized the Church of the l-2th century the principle of monachism underwent consid- erable modification ; and yet, however active and con- sistent these different orders might be, they were still too impsrfectly adapted to the wants of the fast ap- proaching l.'Uh century. Tliere was yet too much self-indulgence in the inhabitants of the cloister, and too little for the general want in tlic semi-monastic orders of the knights. The latter were too much con- fined to special wants in life only ; the former, as men who had renounced the l)usiness of this world to make themselves another in the cloisters where tlioy lived and died, kept too far aloof from secular concerns; and even where they had been most assiduous in the duties