The Monks as Missionaries

The conversion of the barbarians was an indispensable condition of modern civilization.  Every step forward had to be taken in the face of barbaric ignorance and cruelty.  In this stupendous undertaking the monks led the way, displaying in their labors remarkable generalship and undaunted courage.  Whatever may be thought of later monasticism, the Benedictine monks are entitled to the lasting gratitude of mankind for their splendid services in reducing barbaric Europe to some sort of order and civilization.  But again the mixture of good and evil is strangely illustrated.  It seems impossible to accord the monks unqualified praise.  The potency of the evil tendencies within their system vitiated every noble achievement.  Their methods and practical ideals were so at variance with the true order of nature that every commendable victory involved a corresponding obstacle to real social and religious progress.  The justice of these observations will be more apparent as this inquiry proceeds.

Monasticism and Civic Duties

The withdrawal of a considerable number of men of character and talent from the exercise of civic duties is injurious to the state.  The burdens upon those who remain become heavier, while society is deprived of the moral influence of those who forsake their civic responsibilities.  When the monk, from the outside as it were, attempted to exert an influence for good, he largely failed.  His ideals of life were not formulated in a real world, but in an artificial, antisocial environment.  He was unable to appreciate the political needs of men.  He could not enter sympathetically into their serious employments or innocent delights.  Controlled by superstition, and exalting a servile obedience to human authority, he became a very unsafe guide in political affairs.  He could not consistently labor for secular progress, because he had forsaken a world in which secular interests were prominent.

It may be true that in the early days of monasticism the monks pursued the proper course in refusing to become Roman patriots.  No human power could have averted the ruin which overtook that corrupt world.  Perhaps their non-combatant attitude gave them more influence with the conquerors of Rome, who were to become the founders of modern nations.

In later years, the abbots of the principal monasteries occupied seats in the legislative assemblies of Germany, Hungary, Spain, England, Italy, and France.  In many instances they stood between the violence of the nobles and the unprotected vassal.  Political monks, inspired by a natural breadth of vision and a love of humanity, secured the passage of wise and humane regulations.  Palgrave says:  “The mitre has resisted many blows which would have broken the helmet, and the crosier has kept more foes in awe than the lance.  It is, then, to these prelates that we chiefly owe the maintenance of the form and spirit of free government, secured to us, not by force, but by law; and the altar has thus been the corner-stone of our ancient constitution.”