Contenido

La palabra monasterio procede del vocablo griego μοναστήριον monasterion, de μοναστήριος - monasterios, a su vez de μονάζειν - monazein, «vivir solo»,[4]​ de la raíz μόνος - monos, «solo» (originalmente todos los monjes cristianos eran ermitaños); el sufijo «-terion» denota un «lugar para hacer algo». El primer uso que se conoce del término monastērion es del filósofo judío del siglo d. C. Filón en Sobre la vida contemplativa, cap. III.

En Inglaterra, la palabra monasterio también se aplicaba a la morada de un obispo y al clero de la catedral que vivía en él, separados de la comunidad laica. La mayoría de las catedrales no eran monasterios y estaban atendidas por canónigos, que eran comunales pero no monásticos. Sin embargo, algunas estaban dirigidas por órdenes de monasterios, como la Catedral de York. La Abadía de Westminster fue durante un breve periodo catedral y luego fue un monasterio benedictino hasta la Reforma; su Capítulo "Capítulo (religión)") conserva elementos de la tradición benedictina. También hay que distinguirlas de las colegiatas, como la Capilla de San Jorge "Capilla de San Jorge (Castillo de Windsor)") del Castillo de Windsor.

Terms

The term monastery is used generically to refer to any of the various types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent certain branches of Buddhism, there is a somewhat more specific definition of the term and many related terms.

Buddhist monasteries| They are usually called vihara (Pali language: el). Viharas may be occupied by men or women and, in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by women may often be called a nunnery or convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple. In Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Cambodia, Laos and Thailand a monastery is called wat, while in Burma it is called kyaung.

A Christian monastery may be an abbey (i.e. under the rule of an abbot), or a priory (under the rule of a prior), or possibly a hermitage (the abode of a hermit). It may be a community of men (monks) or women (nuns). A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order. In Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community may be called skete, and a very large or important monastery may be given the dignity of lavra.

The great community life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the anchorite life of an anchorite and the eremitic life of a hermit. There has also existed, especially under the Osmanli occupation of Greece and Cyprus, an "idiorhythmic" lifestyle in which monks gather together but are able to own things individually and are not obliged to work for the common good.

La vida monástica para los cristianos empezó poco tiempo después de la muerte de Jesús. Los primeros cristianos compartían sus posesiones y llevaban una vida de entrega a Dios.

En el siglo , san Antonio, un cristiano egipcio que vivió desde mediados del siglo al IV, reflexionó sobre las palabras de Jesús: Ve, vende todo lo que posees y dáselo a los pobres. Entonces él y sus seguidores abandonaron todas sus posesiones y marcharon al desierto de Egipto (en la llamada Tebaida "Tebaida (Egipto)")) y Siria. De esta manera creían vivir más cerca de Cristo dedicándose a la oración "Oración (religión)") y la contemplación.

Al principio vivían solos, pero pronto decidieron unirse y habitar en cuevas o chozas construidas por ellos mismos, sencillas pero suficientes como para hacer su vida de oración en comunidad.

En el siglo san Benito creó una comunidad y estableció reglas de convivencia que luego sirvieron de base para otras órdenes. Los seguidores de san Benito hacían tres promesas: abandonar todas sus posesiones personales (voto de pobreza), no mantener relaciones sexuales (voto de castidad) y seguir las reglas de la vida monástica obedeciendo al abad (voto de obediencia).

En la Edad Media, los monasterios evolucionaron completando su entorno con granjas, hospitales y otros edificios.

Más tarde aparecieron otras órdenes que establecieron sus propias reglas, como los cartujos o los cistercienses, monjes benedictinos de estricta observancia conocidos como monjes blancos porque utilizaban hábitos de lana sin teñir. Esta congregación fue fundada en 1098 por san Roberto de Molesmes, san Alberico y san Esteban Harding, en la Abadía de Citeaux, que da nombre a la orden. Uno de sus personajes de mayor repercusión es san Bernardo.

En la segunda década de siglo se crearon dos nuevas órdenes: los franciscanos (1210), que se guiaban por las enseñanzas de san Francisco de Asís, y los dominicos (1216), seguidores de santo Domingo. A diferencia de las órdenes monásticas, las nuevas órdenes mendicantes establecían sus casas —conventos— en las renacientes ciudades y no en despoblados, profesaban la pobreza, combatían la herejía cátara y proporcionaban enseñantes para las nuevas universidades. Sus miembros serían conocidos como «frailes».

Hispanic monastery

Hispanic monasteries are those monasteries or monasteries that existed in peninsular Hispania from the beginning of Christianity until well into the century in which both the buildings and the way of life of the monks and their rules were replaced by the liturgy and rules of Cluny, the Benedictine monastery that had so much influence, during the Middle Ages starting with the Carolingian Empire, on monastic life throughout Europe.

A Hindu who decides to abandon family life and dedicate himself to prayer is called saniasi. They wear saffron tunics and are helped by the common people, who consider them wise men.

In Hindu monasteries, monks live in buildings with simple rooms and large halls for meditation.

The equivalent of the Christian monastery is called ashram, although its buildings and way of life differ in some points.

Buddhist monasteries (viharas) are similar to Hindu ones. In the past, Buddhist monks only spent the three rainy months there. In both cases the monks can leave the monastery and lead a family life.

In China there are some famous monasteries, such as those of Shaolin, where monks practiced a type of martial art originating from the philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. The first Shaolin monastery was built during the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), in the year 495, in the Chinese province of Henan.

Orthodox Christianity had a good number of believers since before the century in the plains of Romania (Christianized by the apostle Saint Andrew, according to tradition) both in Wallachia "Wallachia (region)") (north of the Danube and south of the Carpathian Mountains), in the mountains of Moldavia (to the east the Carpathian Mountains), and in the provinces of Transylvania (until the annexation Austro-Hungarian, which led to the destruction of many monasteries by cannon fire, by order of General Buchow). The monks of Mount Athos have contributed to spreading mysticism and prayer throughout these lands and had founded a series of monasteries; Bulgarian monasteries were especially recognized in Christian Orthodoxy, especially those of the Byzantine era. A clear example of this is the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria.

The rules were the written ordinances that the monks of the different monastic orders had to follow. The first rule for cenobites that is known is that of Saint Pachomius, written for his monasteries of the Thebaid in Egypt; These rules began when the cenobia, or monasteries, grew in number of monks and there was a need for a certain organization. Many of these rules are preserved and thanks to them we have information about the architecture and layout of some monasteries that have already disappeared. Important figures for the monasteries of the Catholic Church were Saint Augustine, Saint Basil (his rule is obeyed throughout Eastern Christian monasticism), Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard, Saint Bruno, Saint Jerome, and others (although Saint Bernard did not write any rule but rather commented on and reinterpreted that of Saint Benedict; and Saint Bruno and Saint Jerome did not write any rule but did create a new monastic, semi-anchoretic lifestyle). The rules were made up of chapters that were usually read in monasteries in the chapter house. In them a series of rules were dictated that had to be followed, both spiritual and practical and regarding the life of the monks (clothing, food, hours of sleep, work, etc.).

Religious orders are made up of groups of people whose individuals are united by a rule established by the founder of said order. They are the consequence of monasticism in community, of those monks who first live in solitude until they have to meet and share a religious life because the number of people requires it. Each of these communities adopted a rule of coexistence and a name. The common aspiration that these people had was to lead an apostolic life similar to that of the disciples of Jesus, either following an active or contemplative model. The orders have their splendor from the end of the century, making the rule of Saint Benedict the official one for all the monasteries of Europe (which leads to the spirituality of Cluny), until the end of the 18th century with the French Revolution.

La construcción de un monasterio se compone de diversas partes y estancias que siguen por lo común un mismo esquema con algunas variantes. La estructura arquitectónica debe dar como resultado la autonomía de la comunidad, algo parecido a una pequeña ciudad donde el monje encuentre todo lo necesario para su existencia para vivir con y para Jesucristo.

Architectural components

The church, a place of prayer, is the main building. The necessary departments were rising around it. The church began to be built in the apse and had easy communication with the monks' cells through the cloister.

The cloister was perhaps the second most important element. It was generally built next to the south nave of the church, although there are quite a few models that show it next to the north nave. The church had an access door to the cloister. The rooms most used for the life of the monks were distributed in this space.

The cloister has a square floor plan and each of the four sides is called a panda. In the center there is usually a well and in the remaining space, a small garden with four paths. Each panda has a covered gallery or corridor limited by archways. In the east panda and near the body of the church there is almost always a small room that served as a study or library, independently of the large library that some important monasteries had. This space was called the closetlum or armarium and in it both the liturgical books for each day's religious acts and the reading books of the monks were stored. When the monasteries accumulated a good amount of books and files, they needed to build a library and the closet became an obsolete space; On some occasions it was used to place an altar of devotion. Next was the chapter house, a piece that was considered of great importance and was generally built with rich architectural ornamentation. It was the meeting place of the community, where the chapters of the rule of the order were read and where the abbot organized the different tasks to be followed by the monks. This room was where possible faults of any of them were exposed so that the superior could reprimand them, which was called "calling a chapter."

In the southern part there used to be the calefactory, a warm place where the monks could go from time to time to rest and warm up. Next to it, the refectory, which was the dining room and, adjacent to it, the kitchen. The west gang used to be called Legos or Conversos and it also had the Legos alley and the cilla with the warehouse. The monks' cells or the large common dormitory (depending on the time and the different orders) were on the upper floor.

To this fundamental structure were added the part of the scriptorium, the orchard, the infirmary, the parlor "Locutorio (architecture)") and, sometimes, stables, winepresses, mills, workshops, etc. Furthermore, the cemetery was always located on the monastic grounds.

Contenido

La palabra monasterio procede del vocablo griego μοναστήριον monasterion, de μοναστήριος - monasterios, a su vez de μονάζειν - monazein, «vivir solo»,[4]​ de la raíz μόνος - monos, «solo» (originalmente todos los monjes cristianos eran ermitaños); el sufijo «-terion» denota un «lugar para hacer algo». El primer uso que se conoce del término monastērion es del filósofo judío del siglo d. C. Filón en Sobre la vida contemplativa, cap. III.

En Inglaterra, la palabra monasterio también se aplicaba a la morada de un obispo y al clero de la catedral que vivía en él, separados de la comunidad laica. La mayoría de las catedrales no eran monasterios y estaban atendidas por canónigos, que eran comunales pero no monásticos. Sin embargo, algunas estaban dirigidas por órdenes de monasterios, como la Catedral de York. La Abadía de Westminster fue durante un breve periodo catedral y luego fue un monasterio benedictino hasta la Reforma; su Capítulo "Capítulo (religión)") conserva elementos de la tradición benedictina. También hay que distinguirlas de las colegiatas, como la Capilla de San Jorge "Capilla de San Jorge (Castillo de Windsor)") del Castillo de Windsor.

Terms

The term monastery is used generically to refer to any of the various types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent certain branches of Buddhism, there is a somewhat more specific definition of the term and many related terms.

Buddhist monasteries| They are usually called vihara (Pali language: el). Viharas may be occupied by men or women and, in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by women may often be called a nunnery or convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple. In Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Cambodia, Laos and Thailand a monastery is called wat, while in Burma it is called kyaung.

A Christian monastery may be an abbey (i.e. under the rule of an abbot), or a priory (under the rule of a prior), or possibly a hermitage (the abode of a hermit). It may be a community of men (monks) or women (nuns). A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order. In Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community may be called skete, and a very large or important monastery may be given the dignity of lavra.

The great community life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the anchorite life of an anchorite and the eremitic life of a hermit. There has also existed, especially under the Osmanli occupation of Greece and Cyprus, an "idiorhythmic" lifestyle in which monks gather together but are able to own things individually and are not obliged to work for the common good.

La vida monástica para los cristianos empezó poco tiempo después de la muerte de Jesús. Los primeros cristianos compartían sus posesiones y llevaban una vida de entrega a Dios.

En el siglo , san Antonio, un cristiano egipcio que vivió desde mediados del siglo al IV, reflexionó sobre las palabras de Jesús: Ve, vende todo lo que posees y dáselo a los pobres. Entonces él y sus seguidores abandonaron todas sus posesiones y marcharon al desierto de Egipto (en la llamada Tebaida "Tebaida (Egipto)")) y Siria. De esta manera creían vivir más cerca de Cristo dedicándose a la oración "Oración (religión)") y la contemplación.

Al principio vivían solos, pero pronto decidieron unirse y habitar en cuevas o chozas construidas por ellos mismos, sencillas pero suficientes como para hacer su vida de oración en comunidad.

En el siglo san Benito creó una comunidad y estableció reglas de convivencia que luego sirvieron de base para otras órdenes. Los seguidores de san Benito hacían tres promesas: abandonar todas sus posesiones personales (voto de pobreza), no mantener relaciones sexuales (voto de castidad) y seguir las reglas de la vida monástica obedeciendo al abad (voto de obediencia).

En la Edad Media, los monasterios evolucionaron completando su entorno con granjas, hospitales y otros edificios.

Más tarde aparecieron otras órdenes que establecieron sus propias reglas, como los cartujos o los cistercienses, monjes benedictinos de estricta observancia conocidos como monjes blancos porque utilizaban hábitos de lana sin teñir. Esta congregación fue fundada en 1098 por san Roberto de Molesmes, san Alberico y san Esteban Harding, en la Abadía de Citeaux, que da nombre a la orden. Uno de sus personajes de mayor repercusión es san Bernardo.

En la segunda década de siglo se crearon dos nuevas órdenes: los franciscanos (1210), que se guiaban por las enseñanzas de san Francisco de Asís, y los dominicos (1216), seguidores de santo Domingo. A diferencia de las órdenes monásticas, las nuevas órdenes mendicantes establecían sus casas —conventos— en las renacientes ciudades y no en despoblados, profesaban la pobreza, combatían la herejía cátara y proporcionaban enseñantes para las nuevas universidades. Sus miembros serían conocidos como «frailes».

Hispanic monastery

Hispanic monasteries are those monasteries or monasteries that existed in peninsular Hispania from the beginning of Christianity until well into the century in which both the buildings and the way of life of the monks and their rules were replaced by the liturgy and rules of Cluny, the Benedictine monastery that had so much influence, during the Middle Ages starting with the Carolingian Empire, on monastic life throughout Europe.

A Hindu who decides to abandon family life and dedicate himself to prayer is called saniasi. They wear saffron tunics and are helped by the common people, who consider them wise men.

In Hindu monasteries, monks live in buildings with simple rooms and large halls for meditation.

The equivalent of the Christian monastery is called ashram, although its buildings and way of life differ in some points.

Buddhist monasteries (viharas) are similar to Hindu ones. In the past, Buddhist monks only spent the three rainy months there. In both cases the monks can leave the monastery and lead a family life.

In China there are some famous monasteries, such as those of Shaolin, where monks practiced a type of martial art originating from the philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. The first Shaolin monastery was built during the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), in the year 495, in the Chinese province of Henan.

Orthodox Christianity had a good number of believers since before the century in the plains of Romania (Christianized by the apostle Saint Andrew, according to tradition) both in Wallachia "Wallachia (region)") (north of the Danube and south of the Carpathian Mountains), in the mountains of Moldavia (to the east the Carpathian Mountains), and in the provinces of Transylvania (until the annexation Austro-Hungarian, which led to the destruction of many monasteries by cannon fire, by order of General Buchow). The monks of Mount Athos have contributed to spreading mysticism and prayer throughout these lands and had founded a series of monasteries; Bulgarian monasteries were especially recognized in Christian Orthodoxy, especially those of the Byzantine era. A clear example of this is the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria.

The rules were the written ordinances that the monks of the different monastic orders had to follow. The first rule for cenobites that is known is that of Saint Pachomius, written for his monasteries of the Thebaid in Egypt; These rules began when the cenobia, or monasteries, grew in number of monks and there was a need for a certain organization. Many of these rules are preserved and thanks to them we have information about the architecture and layout of some monasteries that have already disappeared. Important figures for the monasteries of the Catholic Church were Saint Augustine, Saint Basil (his rule is obeyed throughout Eastern Christian monasticism), Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard, Saint Bruno, Saint Jerome, and others (although Saint Bernard did not write any rule but rather commented on and reinterpreted that of Saint Benedict; and Saint Bruno and Saint Jerome did not write any rule but did create a new monastic, semi-anchoretic lifestyle). The rules were made up of chapters that were usually read in monasteries in the chapter house. In them a series of rules were dictated that had to be followed, both spiritual and practical and regarding the life of the monks (clothing, food, hours of sleep, work, etc.).

Religious orders are made up of groups of people whose individuals are united by a rule established by the founder of said order. They are the consequence of monasticism in community, of those monks who first live in solitude until they have to meet and share a religious life because the number of people requires it. Each of these communities adopted a rule of coexistence and a name. The common aspiration that these people had was to lead an apostolic life similar to that of the disciples of Jesus, either following an active or contemplative model. The orders have their splendor from the end of the century, making the rule of Saint Benedict the official one for all the monasteries of Europe (which leads to the spirituality of Cluny), until the end of the 18th century with the French Revolution.

La construcción de un monasterio se compone de diversas partes y estancias que siguen por lo común un mismo esquema con algunas variantes. La estructura arquitectónica debe dar como resultado la autonomía de la comunidad, algo parecido a una pequeña ciudad donde el monje encuentre todo lo necesario para su existencia para vivir con y para Jesucristo.

Architectural components

The church, a place of prayer, is the main building. The necessary departments were rising around it. The church began to be built in the apse and had easy communication with the monks' cells through the cloister.

The cloister was perhaps the second most important element. It was generally built next to the south nave of the church, although there are quite a few models that show it next to the north nave. The church had an access door to the cloister. The rooms most used for the life of the monks were distributed in this space.

The cloister has a square floor plan and each of the four sides is called a panda. In the center there is usually a well and in the remaining space, a small garden with four paths. Each panda has a covered gallery or corridor limited by archways. In the east panda and near the body of the church there is almost always a small room that served as a study or library, independently of the large library that some important monasteries had. This space was called the closetlum or armarium and in it both the liturgical books for each day's religious acts and the reading books of the monks were stored. When the monasteries accumulated a good amount of books and files, they needed to build a library and the closet became an obsolete space; On some occasions it was used to place an altar of devotion. Next was the chapter house, a piece that was considered of great importance and was generally built with rich architectural ornamentation. It was the meeting place of the community, where the chapters of the rule of the order were read and where the abbot organized the different tasks to be followed by the monks. This room was where possible faults of any of them were exposed so that the superior could reprimand them, which was called "calling a chapter."

In the southern part there used to be the calefactory, a warm place where the monks could go from time to time to rest and warm up. Next to it, the refectory, which was the dining room and, adjacent to it, the kitchen. The west gang used to be called Legos or Conversos and it also had the Legos alley and the cilla with the warehouse. The monks' cells or the large common dormitory (depending on the time and the different orders) were on the upper floor.

To this fundamental structure were added the part of the scriptorium, the orchard, the infirmary, the parlor "Locutorio (architecture)") and, sometimes, stables, winepresses, mills, workshops, etc. Furthermore, the cemetery was always located on the monastic grounds.