Monastic life looks peaceful from the outside. In reality, monks lived on rigid schedules, heavy meals, and constant prayer. Alcohol was safer than water and consumed daily. Large portions and few ...

A woman disappears, “taken by wind.” A one-eyed priest frantically carves a feminine-looking crucifix for an abbey chapel, hoping it will absolve his sins. A group of nuns hides a text of mystical ...

The warming house at Rievaulx is next to the refectory, and was altered quite substantially over the period from the 12th to ...

Pottery, animal bones, seeds, nuts, and more tell a tale of what everyday life was like in medieval times in a monastic settlement in Ireland. Armed with two-meter COVID-19 sticks, to ensure they were ...

Lundquist, an English professor at North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota, debuts with a wrenching account of the breakup of her marriage to a gay man. Lundquist met her Continue reading » ...

The monastic grange project at the Abbaye Sainte-Marie of Boulaur has aroused a wave of enthusiasm in the country and is already inspiring other monasteries in Europe. The community is establishing a ...

As Italy grapples with overtourism, a series of ancient trails resurrected by nuns winds through the forgotten landscapes where Benedictine monasticism shaped medieval Europe.

Newly displayed 1,300-year-old doodles suggest that medieval monastic life wasn’t all about solemn chants and holy scripture. Now on view at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, the ...

The National Trust for Scotland’s archaeologists and volunteers uncovered discoveries spanning millennia in 2025 — from ...