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

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community, 75 and the monastic rules are quick to admonish any monk who feigns illness or<br />

neglects his work. 76 Self-sufficiency was a pragmatic solution to a community that aimed to<br />

have as little interaction as possible with society. 77<br />

All <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Visigothic</strong> monastic are explicit about the importance <strong>of</strong> manual labour in<br />

the life <strong>of</strong> a monk. Chapter twenty-one <strong>of</strong> Isidore‟s monastic rule, entitled “Quid ad quem<br />

pertineat”, gives an impression <strong>of</strong> the kind <strong>of</strong> roles that monks were occupied with and<br />

activities that took place in a monastery:<br />

―Ad praepositum enim pertinet [...] satio agrorum, plantatio et cultura uinearum, diligentia<br />

gregum, constructio aedificiorum, opus carpentariorum siue fabrorum. Ad custodem sacrarii<br />

pertinebit [...] ordinatio quoque linteariorum, fullonum, calceariorum atque sartorum [...]<br />

Ad eum qui cellario praeponitur pertinebit [...] horrea, greges ouium et porcorum, lana et<br />

linum, de area sollicitudo, cibaria administrandi pistoribus, iumentis, bobus et auibus,<br />

industria quoque calceamentorum, cura pastorum, seu piscatorum [...] Ad hortulanum<br />

quoque pertinebit munitio custodiaque hortorum, aluearia apum, cura seminum diuersorum,<br />

ac denuntiatio quid quando oporteat in horto seri siue plantari”.<br />

75 For example, the Rule <strong>of</strong> Isidore 5, “Quaecumque autem operantur monachi minibus suis<br />

praeposito deferant, praepositus autem principi monachorum [...] nullus monachus amore priuati<br />

operis inligetur, sed omnes in commune laborantes patri sine murmuratione obtemperare debent”.<br />

76 Rule <strong>of</strong> Isidore 5.<br />

77 A comparison on this level could be made with some Amish communities, which are similar to<br />

early medieval monasteries in various ways. For example, in its strictest adherence, both seek to<br />

remain as a separate society and practice self-sufficiency and live according to a set <strong>of</strong> pre-defined<br />

regulations. In reality, adherence to these practices varies from community to community. However,<br />

agricultural self-sufficiency and the ability to carry out manual work successfully is essential in many<br />

Amish communities in order to have as little contact as possible with the rest <strong>of</strong> society.<br />

38

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