The Strongest Kind Of Monks

Is it a monk or is it a friar? There seems to be some confusion as to the distinction between these two different words. A monk was generally a man living in a religious community apart from society, whilst a friar was a man who could live within society preaching and teaching. These are of course very imprecise definitions because there was much overlap and change during the medieval period.

Monastic orders included the Benedictines, Cistercians and Carthusians.

Cisterican monks at work,
Cîteaux, 1111, Bibliothèque Municipale, Dijon, MS. 170, f.59r.

Mendicant orders included the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Carmelites.

Dominican friars seated with the Luttrell family,
The Luttrell Psalter, England, fourteenth century, British Library, Add. 42130, f. 208r.

To make matters even more confusing there were also canons, such as the Augustinians. Monks, friars and canons made up the ‘regular clergy’ of medieval society. (They were called regular because they followed a rule of life).

The Benedictines, and most other monastic orders, based their rule of life on that written by St Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century. He described in Chapter 1 the basis of Benedictine monasticism “those who live in monasteries and serve under a rule and an Abbot”. The Dominicans and Augustinians followed the Rule of St Augustine, whilst the Franciscans followed the rule written by their founder, St Francis of Assisi.

There were of course more similarities between the various religious orders than there were differences. The various orders were often referred to by the colour of their habits, so the Benedictines became the Black Monks and the Cistercians the White Monks.

The important questions to bear in mind when deciding between the label of ‘monk’ and ‘friar’ are time and location:

• The friars were a thirteenth century phenomenon, so before 1200 it’s safer to presume that they’re monks.
• If they lived in the centre of a town or city they’re more likely to be mendicant friars, because whilst monks desired isolation, the friars wanted to reach a maximum lay audience with their preaching.

[This is NOT meant as a foolproof guide or an exhaustive study into the religious orders. Consider it more of an exceedingly brief introduction].