Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Unknown scribe
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Order of Saint Benedict comprises the confederated congregations of monks and lay brothers who follow the rule of life of St Benedict (c480-c547), written c535-540 with St Benedict's own abbey of Montecassino in mind. The rule, providing a complete directory for the government and spiritual and material well-being of a monastery, spread slowly in Italy and Gaul. By the late Middle Ages the Benedictine Rule had been translated into many languages owing to the diffusion of the order through many European countries.
The large abbey at Ottobeuren, near Memmingen, Bavaria, was founded in 764 and was among the most important early Benedictine monasteries, famous in the Middle Ages for its large library.