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Benefits Of Being A Monk Or Nun In Medieval Europe

880 Words4 Pages

Ana Murray
World History
Mr. Rand
1/9/23
The Benefits of Being a Monk or Nun in Medieval Europe Essay Monks were men who committed their lives to Christianity. In Medieval Europe, they lived a simple lifestyle in monasteries. They were expected to be silent and remove all distractions in their life. Monks had an education, and access to food, which were not easy to possess at the time.Nuns had the same religious practices in convents, which were monasteries for women. Nuns accepted women who fled from their previous life and made them nuns. Both had an ideal lifestyle compared to others in Medieval Europe. Becoming a monk or a nun gave you opportunities to live a fitting lifestyle. These were simple lives but effective for …show more content…

They used their reading and writing skills in connection to understanding God. Monks and nuns studied, and prayed, every day, with an education unlike many in Medieval Europe. Many people then were too poor and did chores instead. Monks and nuns greatly devoted themselves to studying theology in monasteries. Being a monk meant there would be no distractions in any form. Monks practiced many things but William W. Lace recalls, “He wrote that, to better be able to find God, monks should rid themselves of all distractions, move away from cities, and build monasteries in remote places - working, studying, and meditating.” Monks were exceedingly strict about interference with the study of God. Their education made their lives greater than most people. Education was available for all monks and to become one, they were required to study what Robert S. Hoyt emphasizes how “Benedictine monasteries, however, usually included a school for novices, a library, and a scriptorium (writing room), and they therefore were ideally suited for the preservation of the pagan and Christian culture of antiquity.” Monks were extremely immersed in their studies of the past and kept their history alive. Monks and nuns wrote down events that occurred in books and they were able to learn and provide books and other texts for years to come through their education. It was …show more content…

People would starve to death or become ill due to the lack of food. Monks, though, had meals and were given a variety of foods. Monks were stronger than those who didn’t have as much food. Monks had nutritious foods which caused Jeffrey L. Forgeng to state that they “had the highest dietary standard of the Middle Ages as judged by modern nutritional science....The bulk of the diet was derived from grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits…” In Medieval Europe, Monks were given healthy foods which they grew in the monasteries. In contrast, peasants and other common people needed money to purchase food if they couldn’t grow it. Often, they didn’t have money to buy anything. Monks had nutritious foods, making them stronger and healthier, so their lives were desired by

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