History of Monasteries and Monasticism

Tonight's episode takes us on a historical tour of monasticism, especially Catholic monasteries. I get that the topic of monasticism may sound at the same time random and particularly arid. But bear with me: I promise that if you are not familiar with it, you will discover a world of ideas, social experiments, spirituality, or controversies that you did not realize you needed to know about. Give it a shot! You will learn what anchorites and cenobites are, how Christian monasticism appeared in the Third and Fourth Centuries AD, how monasteries became economic and intellectual centers in medieval times, what the rule of Saint Benedict is, and some of the most famous orders, such as the Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Carmelites.