Common Lives

       After some 400 years of Roman military occupation, administration, and social control, my Celtic ancestors found that they were to look to their own defense.  Other folks around the Empire faced the same collapse of authority, and new aggressive tribes coming down from the northeast.  These tribes wanted to take away everything. Speaking of taking everything, the center of the world, the city Rome, was sacked not once but three times. Can you believe it? What is one to do and survive? Let's see, here is a plan. First, give everything you have to the needy folks around you.  Nothing to take from you if you have given it all away. Second, isolation seems a good idea since fewer angry folks would be around. Third, find a unique place to live such that no one would think to look for you there. Maybe one or two individuals could join you or at least live close by. Martin of Tours (d. 397) has given us a good example. Maybe we could wear the same type of cloths and cut our hair the same way. It would be hard to tell us apart. What about the women among us?  What could we call ourselves? Monks for the men, and Nuns for the women might work? Hmm...common lives together.

      The following map shows the when and where the monasteries had their beginning.

      Starting near the coastline; Marseille, Lerins, and way up north Whithon, were founded around the same time ca. 400 A.D. (marked orange on the map).  Marmouter was earlier (marked pink), and a large number marked green formed during the time 500 A.D. Note that most during this period were in Ireland. (St. Patrick had something to do with that). The following 100 years saw a cluster of places being founded in France and north Britain.

     

 Map is found p. 43 in Atlas of Medieval Europe Edited by Angus Mackay with David Ditchburn, Routledge, London, 1997.