The Plan of St. Gall :: :: University of Virginia Library

The head of the monastic community is the abbot. His
qualifications and duties are set forth in chapters 2, 3, 27,
and 64 of the Rule of St. Benedict—so fully and incisively
as to have resisted all later attempts for revision and
amplification.

"The abbot is believed to be the representative of Christ
in the monastery," Benedict declares,[15] and for that reason
called abba, i.e., father—an epithet derived from Abba,
Pater, addressed to Jesus and by Jesus himself addressed
to the Lord.[16] His authority over the monastery is complete
and unquestioned, extending even to those through whom
it is enforced: "As soon as anything has been ordered by
the superior, let it be received as a divine command and
not suffer any delay in execution . . . for the obedience
which is given to the superior is given to God."[17]

In exercising his authority, if the matter is of general
concern, the abbot must take council with his monks and
hear what each one, including the youngest, thinks;[18] if
the business to be done is of lesser importance, he may act
on the advice of the seniors only,[19] but in either case "the
decision depends entirely on the abbot's judgment, so that
when he has decided what is the better course, all may
obey."[20] In all things the abbot must make disposition with
prudence and justice, "knowing that he will certainly have
to render account of all his judgments to God, the most
high judge."[21] He must neither make any personal distinctions
in the monastery, not love one more than another, nor
put a freeborn monk before one that was a slave, "unless he
find him better in good works and obedience" or "there
be some other just reason," in which case he "may fix
anyone's order as he will." Otherwise, he must keep them
"in their due places,"[22] i.e., the order of seniority established
by the date of joining the community.

In administering correction the abbot must proceed with
due prudence and moderation "lest being too zealous in
removing the rust he break the vessel."[23] "Let him adapt
himself to circumstances, now using severity and now
persuasion, displaying the rigor of a master and the loving
kindness of a father . . . and let him not shut his eyes to the
faults of offenders."[24] As the titular head of the monastery
and its only link with the outside world, the abbot was
empowered "to eat with the guests and pilgrims" and for
that purpose was provided with his own kitchen "so that
the brethren may not be disturbed when guests—who are
never lacking in a monastery—arrive at irregular hours."[25]

[15]

Christi enim agere uices in monasterio creditur, quando ipsius uocatur
pronomine . . . abba pater. Benedicti regula, chap. 2.1; ed. Hanslik, 1960,
19-27; ed. McCann, 1952, 16-17; ed. Steidle, 1952, 79-94.

[16]

Epistle of Paul to the Romans, chap. VIII, 15. On the antiquity of
the term abba and its use by the Christians, see the comments of Steidle,
1952, 84ff and the sources quoted in Blume, 1965, 2, note 2.

[17]

Mox aliquid imperatum a maiore fuerit, ac si diuinitus imperetur,
moram pati nesciant in faciendo . . . quia oboedientia, quae maioribus
praebetar, deo exhibetur. Benedicti regula, chap. 5.4 and 15; ed. Hanslik,
1960, 35-38; ed. McCann, 1952, 33-35; ed. Steidle, 1952, 117-21.

[18]

Quotiens aliqua praecipua agenda sunt in monasterio, conuocet abbas
omnem congregationem et dicat ipse, unde agitur . . . . Ideo autem omnes ad
consilium uocari diximus, quia saepe iuniori dominus reuelat, quod melius
est. Benedicti regula, chap. 1 and 3, ed. Hanslik, 1960, 27-29; ed.
McCann, 1952, 24-25; ed. Steidle, 1952, 94-96.

[19]

Si qua uero minora agenda sunt in monasterii utilitatibus, seniorum
tantum utatur consilio. Benedicti regula, chap. 3, 12; ed. cit., loc. cit.

[20]

Et magis in abbatis pendat aruitrio, ut, quod salubrius esse iudicauerit,
ei cuncti oboediant. Benedicti regula, chap. 3, 5; ed. cit., loc. cit.

[21]

Ipse tamen abba cum timore dei et obseruatione regulae omnia faciat
sciens se procul duuio de omnibus iudiciis suis aequissimo iudici deo rationem
redditurum. Benedicti regula, chap. 3, 11; ed. cit., loc. cit. The same thought
is expressed in chap. 2, 6: Memor semper abbas, quia doctrinae suae uel
discipulorum oboedientiae utrarumque rerum in tremendo iudicio dei facienda
erit discussio. Benedicti regula, ed. Hanslik, 1960, 19-27; ed. McCann,
1952, 16-23; ed. Steidle, 1952, 79-84.

[22]

Non unus plus ametur quam alius, nisi quem in bonis actibus aut
oboedientia inuenerit meliorem. Non conuertenti ex seruitio praeponatur
ingenuus, nisi alia rationabilis causa existat. Quod si ita iustitia dictante
abbati uisum fuerit, et de cuiuslibet ordine id faciet; sin alias, propria
teneant loca, quia siue seruus siue liber omnes in Christo unum sumus.
Benedicti regula, chap. 2, 17-20; ed. cit., loc. cit.

[23]

In ipsa autem correptione prudenter agat et ne quid nimis, ne dum nimis
eradere cupit eruginem, frangatur uas. Benedicti regula, chap. 64, 12; ed.
Hanslik, 1960, 148-52; ed. McCann, 1952, 144-49; ed. Steidle, 1952,
307-11.

[24]

Id est miscens temporibus tempora, terroribus blandimenta, dirum
magistri, pium patris ostendat affectum. Benedicti regula, chap. 2, 24; ed.
Hanslik, 1960, 23; ed. McCann, 1952, 16-23; ed. Steidle, 1952, 79-84.

[25]

Benedicti regula, chaps. 53 and 56; ed. Hanslik, 1960, 123-27 and
131-33; McCann, 1952, 118-23 and 126-27; ed. Steidle, 1952, 257-60
and 273ff. The abbot's right to eat with the guests and pilgrims was one
of the few directives of the Rule which became a stumbling block to later
generations. For a detailed discussion of this issue, see above, p. 22.

331

ELECTIVITY OF OFFICE

The office of the abbot is elective, but has to be confirmed
by the local bishop, who also has the power of
correction: "Let him who is appointed be chosen for the
merits of his life and his enlightened wisdom, even though
he be the last in order of the community. But if (which God
forbid) the whole community should agree to choose a
person who acquiesces in its vices, and if these somehow
come to the knowledge of the local bishop and neighboring
abbots or Christians, let him foil this conspiracy of the
wicked and set a worthy steward over God's house."[26] In
the kingdom of the Franks there was another power to be
contended with, the secular ruler; the capitularies of Charlemagne
leave no doubt on this score:

Of the abbots and of the monks we wish and order that they be
subject to their bishops in full humility and obedience, as is ordained
by canonical law. . . . They will have to account to the bishops of
their province; if they do not mend their manners, the archbishop
will have to call them to the synod. If even then they do not correct
themselves, they must come before our presence with their bishops.[27]

A classical case of the use of these powers was the deposition
of Abbot Ratger of Fulda in 817 by Emperor Louis
the Pious.[28]

[26]

Uitae autem merito et sapientiae doctrina elegatur, qui ordinandus est,
etiam si ultimus fuerit in ordine congregationis. Quod si etiam omnis congregatio
uitiis suis, quod quidem absit, consentientem personam pari consilio
elegerit et uitia ipsa aliquatenus in notitia episcopi, ad cuius diocesim
pertinet locus ipse, uel ad abbates aut Christianos uicinos claruerint, prohibeant
praborum praeualere consensum, sed domui dei dignum constituant
dispensatorem. Benedicti regula, chap. 64, 2-5, ed. Hanslik, 1960, 148-49;
ed. McCann, 1952, 144-49; ed. Steidle, 1952, 307-11.

St. Benedict here refers to a condition which Pope Leo the Great
defines in succinct terms in a letter written in 446, namely, that in the
case of a controversial or contended election it was the prerogative of the
bishop who presided over the diocese in which the monastery was
situated to decide which party has "the more healthy insight." (Leo the
Great, Letter 14, chap. 5; ed. Migne, Patr. Lat., LIV, 1881, col. 673;
ed. Hunt, 1957, 63.) For more details on the jurisdictional relationships
between bishop and abbot, in pre-Benedictine days, see Steidle's
excursus "Die Rechtliche Lage des alten Mönchtums" in Steidle, 1952,
66ff.

[27]

Capitulare missorum generale, 802, chap. 15, ed. Boretius, in Mon.
Germ. Hist., Legum II, Capit. I, 1883, 94: "Abbates autem et monachis
omnis modis volumus et precipimus, ut episcopis suis omni humilitate et
hobhedientia sint subiecti, sicut canonica constitutione mandat . . . Et
monachi ab episcopo provinciae ipsius corripiantur; quod si se non emendent,
tunc archiepiscopus eos ad sinodum convocet; et si neque sic se correxerint,
tunc ad nostra praesentiam simul cum episcopo suo veniant."

The same idea is expressed in Capitula Francica (prior to 805?),
chap. 5, op. cit., 214: ("Et quomodo abbates vel abbatisse subiecti sunt
episcopis"); in Capitula ecclesiastica (810-813?), ch. 4, op. cit., 182 ("Ut
episcopi habeant potestatem in eorum parochia sicut canon docet faciendi
tam in vicis publicis, seu in monasteriis"); and as early as 794 in the
Concilium Francofurtense, chap. 2, in Mon. Germ. Hist., Concilia, II, 1,
166ff.

[28]

Discussed above, pp. 187ff.

MANORIAL POWER
AND MILITARY OBLIGATIONS

By the time the Plan of St. Gall was drawn, the abbot
had become lord of a vast and ramified system of manorial
estates which placed him economically and socially on a
par with many of the leading secular lords of the empire.
It was as landowner and as landlord of tenants and vassals
that the abbot became subject to military assessments.

At the time of St. Benedict it would have been unthinkable
that the abbot participate in any military activities.
But in the kingdom of the Franks the monasteries were held
to contribute their share of the country's defense and although
numerous public laws forbade that the abbots
should personally ride into battle,[29] the emperors did not
hesitate to order them to the rallies that preceded military
campaigns with their armed and mounted vassals, and to
specify the number of wagons and the volume of other
military gear and provisions, to be taken along on these
journeys.[30]

[29]

For more details, see below, pp. 342ff.

[30]

Karoli ad Fulradum epistola, cf. below, p. 347; and Prinz, 1971,
74-76.