 Each monastery endeavoured to form an independent, self-supporting community whose monks had no need of going beyond its limits for anything. In course of time, as a monastery increased in wealth and number of inmates, it might come to form an enormous establishment, covering many acres and presenting within its massive walls the appearance of a fortified town.
在中世紀時期，修道院是知識和教育的中心。他們維護學校和書庫，而且負責複印手稿。雖然修道院具有與世隔離的思想，但是他們在農業和政治的世俗世界中變成了中堅力量。 |
Monastery ---
