Please note this is a guest post I originally wrote for the fabulous Mary Anne’s blog, the Coffee Pot Book Club. You can find the original article here: https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2020/01/fantasy-author-laura-maybrooke-is.html
Writing fantasy gives us access to fantastical worlds—ones unburdened by the nitty-gritty details of reality. That is not to say a fantasy world can function without an internal logic system, but that one needs not always adhere to the small details of ancient everyday life.
Today I am exploring the life of medieval monks—and by extension, showing how it contrasts with the life of my priests in my fantasy novel Immortal Defiance and its upcoming two sequels.
In my fantasy novel, priests of Lordanys are dedicated monks, skilled at healing and herb lore, but many of them are also excellent fighters. An example of such a character in my novel is the high priest Myoden, an ally to the novel’s leading lady, the elven enchantress Dulcea. His position as a high priest likens him to an abbot of a medieval monastery. The priests’ powers are half magic, half hard work. They dress in fancy embroidered robes and can marry and have children, own worldly goods, and are free to leave the temple whenever.
Quite different from the life of real medieval monks, would you not say?
In medieval times, apart from some notable Irish exceptions, monks mostly lived and died within the walls of the monastery they had once joined as a novice. Their possessions were few: apart from a few sets of clothes, they usually only owned a comb, a small sewing kit, a pen, and a knife. Grooming equipment such as razors were only available at select times. The monks’ meagre possessions extended to their sleeping space: they often had only a straw-filled mattress and a few woolen blankets.
The life of a medieval monk was one of constant work, whether physical or spiritual. Monasteries differed in size: the smallest had only a dozen or less inhabitants, while the larger ones could boast having over a hundred brothers. In France, in mid-12th century, the monastery of Cluny Abbey at its peak had 460 monks living there.
The larger the monastery, the wealthier it normally was. Although people of any rank could apply to become a monk, many monks came from well-to-do families and provided the monastery with considerable riches. In the smaller monasteries, the monks sometimes needed to take care of all the chores of the monastery, including cooking, cleaning, and laundry. The larger, wealthier monasteries often attracted many lay brothers and could also afford to hire laborers for the manual work. Lay brothers, where available, lived within the monastery’s walls—together but separate from the monks—and adhered to some monastic regulations while doing manual labor for the monastery and on its lands.
A monk’s duty was never-ending. Their daily life consisted of worship, prayer, meditation, reading, and manual labor. Breviary, the unabridged version of the more famous Book of Hours, divided into eight sections—or hours—was the monks’ main prayer book. It was read at eight specific times of the day in the monastery church, even during the night at 2 am and then again at 5 am. These occasions were known as follows: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline.
The monks’ dress was basic, made from the cheapest cloth, and they normally owned only two pieces of the same clothing. Their wardrobe consisted of linen underclothes, sometimes hose or socks, a simple woolen tunic, a cowl, and a robe. During winter, a sheepskin cloak provided extra warmth. Most monks received a new cowl and a robe each Christmas. A monk’s cowl, a long sleeveless robe with a deep hood, remains their most recognizable item of clothing to this day.
Like with the cowl, medieval monks’ other most remembered distinguishing feature relates to their appearance. Monastery rules required all monks to shave the top of their head. This distinctive haircut, called a tonsure, left their heads shaven except for a narrow strip of hair above the ears. For the monks, tonsures symbolized their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem.
As the Middle Ages progressed, different orders branched out from the Benedictine Rule practiced by the first medieval monks. Different orders had different practices, and some took vows of silence while others were not as strict. In general, though, all main orders subscribed to three essential vows: those of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Anyone breaking the monastic rules got reported to the abbot, and depending on the severity of the transgression, possible punishments included being beaten, exclusion from communal activities for a time, temporary imprisonment, or even expulsion from the monastery.
What then compelled people to become monks? Why would people sometimes send their children to the monastery as young as at five years of age?
Almost no one lived an easy life in the Middle Ages. The medieval world was rife with disease, famine, warfare, and violence. Even the most powerful monarchs were in constant danger of something uncontrollable upsetting their world. The life of a monk was hard, but unlike most other career options, it offered a secure roof over one’s head and above average quality and amount of food and drink for the duration of one’s life.
As such, it is difficult to say how many became monks for the sole purpose of devoting their lives to serving God, and how many just to live life in a secure retreat, to escape from violence and warfare, or to lead a peaceful and quiet life.
Monasteries contributed in an important way to the communities near them. Anyone joining the monastery could receive an education there, learning reading, writing, arithmetic, and Latin. The monks produced and copied books and illuminated manuscripts, travelers could find a room with them when needed, and they also helped the poor by providing medical care, orphanages, homes for the aged, and public baths. Monasteries were also great patrons of the arts and looked after many pilgrim sites.
While monkhood was not always a permanent career choice, particularly from the 13th century onwards, most monks had no need or desire to leave the monastery after their acceptance into it. Because of this, monasteries were self-sufficient and provided its inhabitants with all the things necessary for survival, including education, food, spiritual sustenance, medical care, and barber services. The specific skills present in each monastery depended on the monks’ own training and interests.
For more information on medieval monks and their everyday life and habits, start with Ancient History Encyclopedia:
https://www.ancient.eu/article/1293/the-daily-life-of-medieval-monks/
or Medieval Life and Times:
http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-life/life-of-medieval-monks.htm
Both of which sites were used to contribute to the content of this article, along with my own knowledge and impressions gathered throughout the years.
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