Benedictine Order - Ordo Sancti Benedicti

The oldest monastic order in Western Europe. In a broad sense, it includes all monasteries or orders of monks and nuns who live according to the "Benedictine Rule," or the Congregatio Monastica (the name of an association of autonomous monasteries). In a narrow sense, it refers to monasteries (16 orders in total) excluding the independent Camadorean and Cistercian orders.

The founder of the monastery was Benedict of Nursia. In 529, he built a monastery in Monte Cassino, halfway between Rome and Naples, and established the rules, laying the foundation for Western monasticism. The rules consist of a preface and 73 chapters, and are specific and comprehensive, including regulations for the Divine Office (prayer), regulations for life and behavior inside and outside the monastery, and the mindset of a monk. However, the essence of the rules can be summarized in the recommendation to live together and the spirit of obedience. It is extremely significant that, in a fluid social situation during a time of transition, a group of ascetics was settled and organized in the monastery, forming a group that would later support the backbone of the medieval Catholic Church. The monastery also played a variety of roles, such as cultivating a work ethic based on a self-sufficient system, having an impact on social and economic history in relation to the manorial economy, and acting as a bridge between ancient cultures.

However, as the Benedictines gained a foothold in real society, distortions arose due to institutionalization. The history of the Medieval Benedictines is also a history of reform movements, such as the reforms by Benedict of Agnaune in the 8th and 9th centuries, the reform movement at Cluny Abbey in the 10th century, and the reforms by the Cistercians in the 11th century. In the 13th century, the Benedictines were forced to decline in the face of new forces such as the Franciscans. The Benedictine lineage is sometimes called a contemplative order, while the Franciscan lineage is called an active order, and their characteristics are sometimes contrasted.

In modern times, it was revived as a result of academic research and the liturgical movement, etc. In Japan, traces of the Benedictine Order can be seen in the Trappist monastery in Hokkaido, which belongs to the Cistercian Order.

[Noriaki Akaike]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

西欧で最古の修道会。広義では「ベネディクトゥスの修道戒律」に従って生活するすべての修道士・修道女の修道院ないし修族Congregatio Monastica（自主性をもつ各修道院の連合体の名称）を含む。狭義には別派独立したカマドール会・シトー会などを除いた修道院（16の修族を数える）をさす。

　創立者はヌルシアのベネディクトゥス。529年ローマとナポリの中間にあるモンテ・カッシーノに修道院を建て戒律を制定、西欧修道制の基(もとい)を築いた。戒律は序文と73章からなり、聖務日課（祈り）の規定、院内外の生活や行動の規定、修道者としての心構えなど、具体的かつ網羅的に条文化されている。だが、戒律の要諦(ようてい)は共住生活の勧めと服従の精神とに集約されるであろう。あたかも転換期の流動的社会状況のなかにあって、禁欲者の群れを修道院内に定住させ組織化し、やがて展開する中世カトリック教会の屋台骨を支える集団を形成した意義はきわめて大きい。また自給自足体制にちなむ労働倫理の育成、荘園(しょうえん)経済と絡んでの社会経済史上に与えた影響、古代文化の橋渡し役など、修道院の果たした役割は多彩であった。

　しかし、ベネディクト会がその地歩を現実社会のなかに確保するにつれて、制度化に伴うひずみがおこる。8、9世紀のアニャーヌのベネディクトゥスによる改革、10世紀のクリュニー修道院改革運動、11世紀のシトー会による改革など、中世ベネディクト会史は一面改革運動史でもある。13世紀には、フランシスコ会など新しい勢力の前に衰退を余儀なくされた。なおベネディクト会の系統を観想的修道会、フランシスコ会の流れを活動的修道会とよび、その性格を対照することもある。

　近代に入り学問研究、典礼運動などを契機に復興した。日本ではシトー会に属する北海道のトラピスト修道院にベネディクト会のおもかげをうかがうことができる。

［赤池憲昭］

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