Relaxations of the Rule

Observance of the Rule at St Edmunds in the thirteenth century was much the same as that in nearly all other great Benedictine houses at that period. It was moderately lax. The monks lived comfortably but not luxuriously and, so far as we know, gave rise to no scandals. In effect, they enjoyed those relaxations of the Rule which had modified strict observance in previous centuries. To some extent these relaxations were justifiable. St Benedict had intended the Rule to prescribe a monastic life suitable for an ordinary man with a religious vocation, not for one desiring or perhaps even capable of a life of remarkable austerity. But a few of the prescriptions in the Rule, while moderate for monks living in the Italian climate, were severe for those enduring the long, cold winters in northern countries such as England.

Good examples of the kind of relaxations which became common are the Rule's prescriptions concerning the monks’ dietary regime and their food and drink. Thus, the Rule prescribes a one-meal-a-day regime for the fasts of Advent and Lent, that is from 13 September until Easter, a period of four or five months coinciding with the coldest part of the year: by the thirteenth century only the few most observant houses observed this restriction strictly. The Rule imposed certain restrictions on what the monks ate, and on the quantity of their food and drink. However, by the thirteenth century, owing to various relaxations of the Rule, the monks’ diet in a wealthy monastery such as St Edmunds differed little from that of the lay aristocracy.

Some relaxations were achieved by evasion of, rather than by disobedience to, the Rule. This was the case with regard to meat-eating. The Rule prescribes that ‘everyone except the sick who are very weak’ (‘praeter omnino debiles aegrotas’) must abstain entirely from eating the meat of four-footed animals. It also ordains that as soon as a sick monk recovers he must again abstain from meat. Nevertheless, monks in nearly all English Benedictine houses ate a lot of meat in the middle ages. The Rule's prescriptions could be interpreted in ways which allowed considerable latitude.