Book 2: Chapter 6, Saint Benedict and Gregory the Great Summary and Analysis

The Church managed to preserve the culture of the ancient Rome during the wars of the sixth and other centuries, creating institutions that allowed learning and civilized arts, even though fanaticism and superstition spread.

The Church enacted three movements: the monastic movement, the influence of the papacy, and the conversion of barbarians through missions.

The monastic movement was undertaken in Egypt and Syria at the beginning of the fourth century through solitary hermits and monasteries. The first of the hermits, Saint Anthony was born in Egypt in 250. He withdrew from the world in 270, lived for fifteen years alone in a hut, and for twenty years in the desert. In 305 he started teaching, encouraging hermit's life. He limited his intake of food, drink, and slept to minimum. Through...