Benedict of Nursia

Lived

c. 480–c. 547

Era

Medieval

Where

Monte Cassino, Italy

Tradition

The apostolic communities

The Rule that organised western monasticism

An Italian who withdrew to a cave at Subiaco, gathered followers despite himself, and eventually founded the monastery at Monte Cassino, for which he wrote a rule.

Why it matters

The Rule's achievement is moderation: where earlier monastic practice ran to extremes of austerity, Benedict prescribed a workable balance of prayer, study and manual labour, with enough food and sleep, under an abbot bound by the same rule he enforced. It spread across the west because it was livable. For centuries the Benedictine houses were the schools, libraries, hospitals and farms of western Europe, and the survival of much classical literature is a side effect of monks copying it.

All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.