Interesting and little-known facts about Benedictine monasticism.

In the midst of a frenetic modern culture, many are seeking ancient wisdom.

Alone or in community, early monks and nuns sought to follow Christ in a whole-hearted and vividly countercultural way.

The "Father of Western Monasticism" spent his life teaching spiritual beginners about kindness, community, and prayer.

Benedict's Rule became the gold standard of monastic life.

For centuries, monks were at the center of the Western missionary enterprise.

Bede gave us the single greatest source of information we have about Anglo-Saxon England.

One of Cluny's most “venerable” leaders believed firmly that the church is always in need of reform.

Under Charlemagne's influence, the monasteries shaped the future of Western education, trade, and even handwriting.

Not everyone who influenced the development of monasticism was actually a monk. Case in point: Alcuin.

As the peace and unity of Europe collapsed, the monastery of Cluny pointed a new way forward.

Count Gerald of Aurillac took the values of the monastery into the realm of everyday life—and the battlefield.

Many Catholics and Protestants are looking back to Benedict for the community and spiritual intensity they can't find in modern culture.

From its roots in the early Eastern church, through the Benedictine centuries, to the birth of new kinds of religious orders in the Middle Ages

Julie Andrews made it popular, but the real musical genius behind this singing aid was a medieval monk.

After a crushing political defeat, William Wilberforce nearly gave up his fight to abolish the slave trade. But a life-changing letter from John Newton sent this Daniel back into the lion's den.

The history of the church would have looked very different without these famous moms.

The settling of Jamestown; the preservation of a monastery; and recycling medieval manuscripts.

An 18th-century book gave Richard Foster new eyes for the present moment. The ordinary had never looked so extraordinary.

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