The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

nuncupant, liberique ab imperio seniorum, arbitrio suo uiuunt”. 19 Isidore was not alone in
his repudiation of this type of „pseudo-monk‟. 20
The reason why the presence of a monastic rule was thought necessary was made clear
by Isidore, again in his preface, when he explains that it is easy to lose both one‟s path and
the name of monk: “Qui uero tanta iussa priorum exempla nequierit, in huius limite
disciplinae gressus constituat, nec ultra declinandum disponat, ne, dum declinatus appetit
inferiora, tam uitam quam nomen monachi perdat”. He later goes on to add that if God were
willing to strike down those Israelites still ignorant of His laws in the desert, His punishment
for those who know His laws and yet still do not respect them would be even worse: “si enim
illis paruulis adhuc in lege et rudibus nequaquam indultum est, quanto magis iis qui
perfectionis legem perceperunt non parcet, si talia gesserint”. 21 In this sense, monastic rules
were an important element in the implementation of a monastic orthodoxy, a necessity
brought home by the frequent complaints of „pseudo-monks‟ and the like by other writers of
the period.
There was evidently a need for legislated cenobitic organisation, not only in order to
best achieve an ascetic ideal, but also to protect the reputation of the monasteries themselves.
Isidore again hints that the acts of some pseudo-monks can bring into disrepute the legitimate
19 De ecclesiasticiis officiis 2.9.
20 For example, Common Rule 1, “Solent enim nonnulli ob metum gehennae in suis sibi domibus
monasteria componere [...] Nos tamen haec non dicimus monasteria, sed animarum perditionem, et
ecclesiae subuersionem”; Rule of Benedict 1, “Tertium uero monachorum taeterrimum genus est
sarabaitarum, qui nulla regula approbati”.
21 Rule of Isidore 5.
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