350 ■Outlines of European History The Rule of St. Benedict The monas- tic vows The Rule of St. Benedict is as important as any constitution that was ever drawn up for a state. It is for the most part very wise and sensible. It provided that, since every one is not fitted for the monk's life, the candidate for admission to the monastery should pass through a period of probation, called the novitiate^ before he was permitted to take the solemn, final vows. The brethren were to elect the head of the monastery, the abbot, as he was called. Along with frequent prayer and meditation, the monks were to do the necessary cooking and washing for the monastery and raise the necessary vegetables and grain. They were also to read and teach. Those who were incapacitated for outdoor work were assigned lighter tasks, such as copying books. The monk had to take the three vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. He was to obey the abbot without question in all matters that did not involve his committing a sin. He pledged himself to perpetual and absolute poverty, and everything he used was the property of the convent. He was not permitted to own anything whatsoever — not even a book or a pen. Along with the vows of obedience and poverty, he was also required to pledge himself never to marry ; for not only was the single life considered more holy than the married, but the monastic organization would have been impossible unless the monks re- mained single. Aside from these restrictions, the monks. were commanded to live reasonable and natural lives and not to destroy their health, as some earlier ones had done, by undue fasting in the supposed interest of their souls. The influence of the Benedictine monks upon Europe is in- calculable. From their numbers no less than twenty-four popes and forty-six hundred bishops and archbishops have been chosen. They boast almost sixteen thousand writers, some of great dis- tinction. Their monasteries furnished retreats during the Mid- dle Ages, where the scholar might study and write in spite of the prevailing disorder of the times. The copying of books, as has been said, was a natural occu- pation of the monks. Doubtless their work was often done
