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

sed moribus”; 37 the Rule of Donatus, borrowing from Augustine, states simply: “non sit
notabilis uester, nec affectetis uestibus placere sed moribus, quod uestrum decet
propositum”; 38 the Rule of Ferreolus advises no more than two tunics for each monk, unless
the winter weather deems it necessary; 39 neither the Rule of Waldebert nor Columbanus‟
Common Rule even mention the subject.
Despite such variances in how practical the information regarding clothing actually is,
all of the above texts are classified as monastic rules. Essentially, this demonstrates that not
every monastic rule will offer the necessary practical information to regulate fully every
single possible topic of day-to-day activity. There are a couple of important reasons for this.
First, monasteries were diverse institutions and the abbot or abbess was normally elected by
the congregation. It therefore follows that each abbot or abbess would possess different
interpretations of the monastic precepts, with some no doubt enforcing a much stricter
lifestyle and others being more lenient. These guidelines also had to cope with basic issues
such as diversity of climate, which meant that whilst Isidore‟s advice for clothing might have
been suitable for a monk in southern Spain, it would need adapting for a monk in a cooler
climate. However, Leander‟s guidelines are so vague and philosophical that they do not offer
guidelines on how to run even the most basic of day-to-day activities. Whilst there can be no
doubt that the monastic rules could vary in the level of practicality that they offered, there is
very little that the content of the De institutione uirginum could be used for in the practical
running of a community.
37 Rule of Augustine 4.1.
38 Rule of Donatus 62.
39 Rule of Ferreolus 14.
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