ived in them or round them six or seven
hundred years ago.

V

RELIGIOUS HOUSES

In speaking of the Religious Houses in Wales I shall deal with those
which flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries--the period
we have hitherto been studying--though it is tempting to go back to
the glories of the old Welsh monasteries of the sixth century, such as
Llantwit Major and Bangor Iscoed, whose dim memories must always
exercise a strong fascination. The monasteries of this early type had
fallen on evil days in Wales, as in Ireland and elsewhere, before the
twelfth century, many had been wiped out by the Danes; and those that
remained seem to have lost the spirit of life (save in a few distant
islands or inaccessible mountains), and made no struggle for existence
against the vigorous invasion of the new monasticism.

We shall be concerned with two kinds of religious houses--namely, the
houses of monks and the houses of friars. And, first, let us consider in
briefest outline the main course of development of the religious orders
in the Roman Church. The Rule of St. Benedict (+541) was adopted by all
monks: the essential features of it were prayer, labour, silence, a
common life and common property. But among the early Benedictines each
monastery was independent and self-governing, though an abbey might have
priories in some measure connected with it. The result was that in the
course of time the discipline and life of monasteries varied infinitely;
and there was no co-operation for self-defence among the various
monasteries. Hence in the tenth century arose the Cluniac order--the
first attempt at organisation--the Abbot of Clugny became head of a vast
number of monasteries in different countries of Europe; the priors of
these owed allegiance to the Abbot of Clugny, were appointed by him, and
paid revenues to the head abbey and the general fund of the Order. This
organisation was thus monarchical--despotic; the Abbot of Clugny was a
pope of monasticism. The movement acquired enormous influence on the
Church as a whole, getting control of the papacy, insisting that the
Church should be independent of the State, and that celibacy of the
clergy should be practically enforced. But the Cluniacs instead of
withdrawing from the world began to dominate it, losing many of the
essential features of monasticism. Hence another reform movement arose
about 1100, that of the Cistercian Order, which is associated with the
nam