Letter 15

From: [Frankish abbot] To: [bishops of Gaul] Date: ~560 AD Context: A letter circulated among Gallic bishops advocating for the establishment of new monasteries — part of the sixth-century expansion of Frankish monasticism. To the reverend bishops of the Frankish church. I am writing on behalf of the monastic community here, and on behalf of several other communities in this region who share the concern I am about to describe. The number of men and women seeking the monastic life has been growing for a generation, and the existing monasteries cannot accommodate all of them. More importantly, many of the new monasteries that are being established are being established without adequate episcopal oversight, without stable rules, and without the resources to sustain themselves long-term. The result is a proliferation of religious communities that are more like extended families organized around a charismatic founder than like genuine monastic houses ordered by a stable rule. What we are asking: that the bishops of each province take active responsibility for the monastic communities within their jurisdiction — not to control them in an overbearing way, but to ensure that they have a rule that the bishop has approved, that their members have genuinely chosen the life freely, and that they are financially viable. We are also asking for more explicit encouragement from bishops to potential benefactors. The establishment of a monastery requires land and an initial endowment. Benefactors who might provide these things need to hear from their bishops that such gifts are meritorious and that the monasteries created by them will endure. In Christ's service.