Professor Freedman discusses some of the paradoxes of monasticism in the Early Middle Ages. To the modern mind, monks and learning make a natural pair. However, this combination is not an obvious outcome of early monasticism, which emphasized asceticism and renunciation of the world. As it moved west, monasticism shifted away from its eremetic beginnings in Egypt and Syria to more communal way of life under the Rule of St Benedict. In addition to communal life, the Rule emphasized prayer and labor; the latter of which was interpreted to include reading and eventually the copying of manuscripts.

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This course was recorded in Fall 2011.