monaster (monaster)

[ The Century, XXXV. 56, note. monaul number of monasteries in Europe was much diminished at the Reformation, when their rich estates were in part appropriated by sovereigns to their own use, and in part transferred to universities and other educational institutions, etc. We owe to the monasteries the first definite beginnings or revival of civilization in many countries, especially Germany and France, almost all the mi ionary work of the early middle ages, and the preservation of nearly all ancient cla ical and early medieval literature. The monastic life has been practised from pre-Christian times among the Buddhists. See rule. The hypocrites hath loste their more than pryncely habit a cions, theyr monasteries , conuentes, hospital les, preben daries and chaunter yes, with theyr fatte fedyng and war me couches, for yl gotten good wyl home agayne. Bp. Bale, Image of the Two Churches, i. Abbeuile is a goodly faire Citie,... wherein many Monasteries of men and women. are Coryat, Crudities, I. 13. IMG:content-0865.png:[blocks in formation] The eastern monasteries, with the important exception of a vow of obedience, differed little from a collection of hermitages. They were in the deserts; the monks commonly lived in separate cells; they kept silence at their repasts; they rivaled one another in the extravagance of their penances. Lecky, Europ. Morals, II. 121. Mitered monastery. See miter. - Monasteries' Di olution Acts, English statutes of 1536 and 1539, vesting in the king certain monasteries and other religious houses, and the rights and property belonging to them. monastic (mō-nas'tik), a. and n. [F. monas tique = Sp. monástico =Pg. It. monastico, The clergy, and the monastic orders especially, had been Stubbs Const. Hist., § 464. good farmers. 2. Adapted to or suitable for monks or nuns; of ascetic character or use: as, monastic buildings or architecture; monastic seclusion. To forswear the full stream of the world, and to live in a nook merely monastic. Shak ., As you Like it, iii. 2. 442. The grounds of the villa, raised on the ancient walls of the monastic precinct, look down at once on the waves of Hadria. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 298. 3. An epithet noting a style of book-decoration in which medieval forms of compact ornament are strongly stamped on the sides or back of the book without any use of gold-leaf.-Monastic bishop, in the ancient Celtic churches of Ireland and Scotland, and sometimes in other countries in the earlier middle ages-(a) an abbot who was also a bishop; or (b) a monk consecrated bishop, resident in a monastery, and exercising his office in confirmations, ordinations, etc., but without jurisdiction. - Monastic vows, the vows imposed under monastic rule. They are three in number, poverty, chastity, and obedience. II. n. A monk; a religious recluse. An art preserved amongst the mon a sticks. Sir T. Herbert , Travels in Africa, p. 143. It seems plain that the treble value was intended specially to protect the new monastics in their tithes by heightening the peril of disputing them. R. W. Dixon , Hist. Church of Eng., xv. monastical (mō-nas'ti-kal), a. [ monastic + -al .] Same as monastic . monastically (mō-nas'ti-kal-i), adv. In a monastic manner; in a retired manner; after the manner of monks. Swift.