Benedictine | Definition, History, & Facts (2024)

Benedictine, member of any of the confederated congregations of monks, lay brothers, and nuns who follow the rule of life of St. Benedict (c. 480–c. 547) and who are spiritual descendants of the traditional monastics of the early medieval centuries in Italy and Gaul. The Benedictines, strictly speaking, do not constitute a single religious order, because each monastery is autonomous.

St. Benedict wrote his rule, the so-called Benedictine Rule, c. 535–540 with his own abbey of Montecassino in mind. The rule, which spread slowly in Italy and Gaul, provided a complete directory for both the government and the spiritual and material well-being of a monastery by carefully integrating prayer, manual labour, and study into a well-rounded daily routine. By the 7th century the rule had been applied to women, as nuns, whose patroness was deemed St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict.

By the time of Charlemagne at the beginning of the 9th century, the Benedictine Rule had supplanted most other observances in northern and western Europe. During the five centuries following the death of Benedict, the monasteries multiplied both in size and in wealth. They were the chief repositories of learning and literature in western Europe and were also the principal educators. One of the most celebrated of Benedictine monasteries was the Burgundian Abbey of Cluny, founded as a reform house by William of Aquitaine in 910. The Cluniac reform was often imitated by other monasteries, and a succession of able abbots gradually built up throughout western Europe a great network of monasteries that followed the strict Cluniac customs and were under the direct jurisdiction of Cluny.

The great age of Benedictine predominance ended about the middle of the 12th century, and the history of the main line of Benedictine monasticism for the next three centuries was to be one of decline and decadence.

The 15th century saw the rise of a new Benedictine institution, the congregation. In 1424 the congregation of Santa Giustina of Padua instituted reforms that breathed new life into Benedictine monasticism. Superiors were elected for three years. Monks no longer took vows to a particular house but to the congregation. Further, ruling authority was concentrated in the annual general chapter or legislative meeting. This radical reform spread within a century to all the Benedictines of Italy and became known as the Cassinese Congregation. There were similar reforms throughout Europe. These reforms were confronted by the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Within a few years (1525–60) the monasteries and nunneries disappeared almost entirely from northern Europe and suffered greatly in France and central Europe. Benedictinism revived in France and Germany during the 17th century, however, and several congregations were founded, notably that of the male Maurists in France and the female Perpetual Adoration in Paris (1653) and Our Lady of Calvary (1617). Although the 18th century witnessed a new decline, from the middle of the 19th century Benedictine monasteries and nunneries again began to flourish. Foundations, including Solesmes, with its emphasis on the celebration of the liturgy, arose throughout Europe; monks and nuns returned to England; congregations were established in North and South America; and monasteries scattered all over the world. In the face of this revival, Pope Leo XIII desired to bring about some sort of unity among the traditionally independent Benedictines. In 1893 he created the office of abbot primate as head of the federation of autonomous congregations. This office, though unwelcomed because of the Benedictine desire for autonomy, gradually developed in influence.

Benedictines, in addition to their monastic life of contemplation and celebration of the liturgy, are engaged in various activities, including education, scholarship, and parochial and missionary work.