to demolish the temple and to erect in its place two oratories, one to St John the Baptist and the other to St Martin, whose ascetic fame had travelled to Italy from the south of Gaul. Around these sacred spots gradually rose the famous monasteiy which was destined to carry the name of its founder through the Christian world, and to give its laws, as Milman says, " to almost the whole of
Western monasticism."Benedict survived fourteen years after he had began this great work. His sanctity and influence grew with his years, in illustration of which it is told how the barbarian king Totila, who made himself master of Home and Italy, sought his presence, and, prostrating himself at his feet, accepted a rebuke for his cruelties, and departed a humbler and better man. His last days were associated with the love and devotion of his sister Scolastica, who too had forsaken the world and given herself to a religious life with an enthusiasm and genius for government hardly less than his own. She had established a nunnery near Monte Cassino ; but the rules of the order permitted the brother and sister to meet only once a year. He had come to pay his accustomed visit. They had spent the day in devout converse, and, in the fulness of her affection, Scolastica entreated him to remain, and " speak of the joys of heaven till the morning." Benedict was not to be prevailed upon, Then his sister burst into a flood of tears, and bowed her ead in prayer. Immediately the heavens became overcast ; thunder was heard, and the rain fell in torrents, so that it was impossible for Benedict to depart for the night, which was spent in spiritual exercises. Three days later Benedict saw in vision the soul of his sister entering heaven, and in a few days afterwards his own summons came. He died standing, after partaking of the holy communion, and was buried by the side of his sister.
The Benedictines, or followers of St Benedict, were those who submitted to the monastic rule which he instituted. This rule will be generally described in the article on Monasticism. It is sufficient to say here that its two main principles were labour and obedience. It was the dis tinction of Benedict that he not merely organized the monks into communities, but based their community-life, in a great degree, on manual labour, in contrast to the merely medi tative seclusion which had hitherto been in vogue both in the East and the West. Probably, not even the founder himself foresaw all the prospective advantages of his law, which was destined not merely to make many a wilder ness and solitary place to rejoice with fertility, but to ex pand, moreover, into a noble intellectual fruitfulness, which has been the glory of the Benedictine order. The law of obedience was absolute, but was tempered by the neces sity on the part of the superior of consulting all the monks assembled in a council or chapter upon all important business. The abbot or superior was also elected by all the monks, whose liberty of choice was unrestricted. No right of endowment properly subsisted within the mon astery ; and the vow of stability once undertaken after the expiry of the year of novitiate could never be recalled. Food and clothing were of the simplest kind, and all duly regulated ; and the intervals of labour were relieved by a continually recurring round of religious service from prime to evensong. The Benedictine rule spread almost univer sally in the West, not in rivalry of any other rule, but as the more full and complete development of the monastic system. In France andEngland especiallyit took rapid root; and " in every rich valley, by the side of every clear and deep stream, arose a Benedictine "abbey " a centre of local good and Christian civilization. See Abbey.
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BENEDICT. Fourteen popes bore the name of Benedict—
Benedict I. (573-8) succeeded John III., and occupied the Papal chair during the incursions of the Lombards, and during the series of plagues and famines which followed these invasions. (Paul. Diacon., De Gest. Longob.,ii. 10.)
Benedict II. (G84-GS5) succeeded Leo II., but although chosen in 683 he was not ordained till G84, because the leave of the Emperor Constantino was not obtained until some months after the election. (Paul. Diacon., op. cit. vi. 53.)
Benedict III. (855-858) was chosen by the clergy and people of Rome, but the election was not confirmed by the Emperor Lothair, who appointed an anti-pope, Anastasius. Benedict was at last successful, and the schism helped to weaken the hold of the emperors upon the popes. The mythical Pope Joan is usually placed between Benedict and his predecessor Leo IV.
Benedict IV. (900-903).
Benedict V. (964-9G5) was elected by the Romans on the death of John XII. The Emperor Otho did not approve of the choice, and carried off the pope to Hamburg, where he died.
Benedict VI. (972-974) was chosen with great cere mony and installed pope under the protection of the Emperor Otho the Great. On the death of the emperor the turbulent citizens of Rome renewed their outrages, and the pope himself was strangled by order of Crescentius, the son of the notorious Theodora.
Benedict VII. (975-983) belonged to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum, and governed Rome quietly for nearly nine years, a somewhat rare thing in those days.
Benedict VIII. (1012-1024), also of the family of Tusculum, was opposed by an auti-pope, Gregory, who compelled him to flee from Rome. He was restored by Henry of Saxony, whom he crowned emperor in 1014. la his pontificate the Saracens began to attack the southern coasts of Europe, and effected a settlement in Sardinia. The Normans also then began to settle in Italy.
Benedict IX. (1033-105G), the son of Alberic, count of Tusculum, and nephew of Benedict VIII. , obtained the Papal chair by simony. He was deposed in 1044, and Sylvester was chosen in his stead. The result was a long and disgraceful schism (cf. Mittler, De Schisrnate in Eccl. Rom. sub Pontif. Bened. IX.)
Benedict X. (1058-9) scarcely deserves to be reckoned a pope. He reigned nine months. It is important, how ever, to remember that his election is one of the latest made by Roman factions, and under his successor the mode of election by the cardinals was adopted.
Benedict XI. (1303-1304) succeeded the famous Boniface VIII., but was unable to carry out his Ultramontane policy. He released Philip the Fair of France from the excommunication laid on him by Boniface, and practically ignored the bull Unam Sanctum. The popes who imme diately succeeded him were completely under the influence of the kings of France, and removed the Papal seat from Rome to Avignon.
Benedict XII. (1334-1342) succeeded Pope John XXII., but did not carry out the policy of his predecessor. He practically made peace with the Emperor Louis, and as far as possible came to terms with the Franciscans, who were then at war with the Roman see. He was a reforming pope, and tried to curb the luxury of the monastic orders, but without much success. (Baluze, Vitce Pontif. Avenion., i. )
Peter de Luna, a Spaniard, who was chosen by the French cardinals on the death of Clement VII. in 1394. On the death of Urban V. in 1389 the Italian cardinals had chosen Boniface IX.; the election of Benedict therefore perpetuated the great schism. The greater portion of the church refused to recognize him, and in 1397 the French Church, which had supported him, withdrew from allegiance to both popes,
and in 1398 Benedict was imprisoned in his own palace at