Weebly Essay 2

Educational opportunities in Monastic life

After the fall of the Roman Empire educational opportunities took a steep decline.
People of the Carolingian period had few opportunities for any education, except for those who
lived in Monasteries. Monasteries encouraged literacy, promoted learning, and preserved the
classics of ancient literature, including the works of Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, and Aristotle.
(Sorabella)
Monasteries for men were the most prosperous. Land was donated to them from
nobles families in exchange for prayers. The land helped the monks with growing crops and as
the property grew, peasants and servants who lived on the land did the labor. Some
monasteries became self sufficient. (Making Europe The Story Of The West Volume 1) Scribes
were very important in the monastery. Some monastic scribes composed works of their own in
addition to reading, copying, and commenting on works from the past. (Making Europe The
Story Of The West Volume 1 256).
For women, the monasteries were much more limited financially and educationally.
They did not receive the land grants like that of the Monks and did not have the libraries to the
extent that the monks had, but still the educational opportunities that they had were much
greater than women outside of the monastery.
The monies that the abbeys received were generally from dowries. When nobles or
royal families could not provide the dowry for their daughter to match their status, the girls
were sent to the monastery alone with the dowry. The daughter had no choice in the matter
and spent the rest of their lives in the monastery. Widowed queens and noble widows often
entered the monastery and dedicated the rest of their lives to the work of the monastery.
(Making Europe The Story Of The West Volume 1 257)
Monasteries for women outnumbered those of the men. This may have been because of
the educational enrichment and spiritual enrichment that they received there that would not
be there for them outside of the monastery.
Thankfully monasteries were there to provide the continued education and preservation
of ancient writings, otherwise these writings may have disappeared forever.

Works Cited
Bucur, Maria, Kidner, Frank L., Mathisen, Ralph, et al. Making Europe The Story Of The West Volume 1.
Boston: Wadsworth, Centage Learning, 2014. 256-257. print.
Sorabella, Jean. "Monasticism in Western Medieval Europe." n.d. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. web.
1 November 2014. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mona/hd_mona.htm