Study lifts the lid on monks’ shock habits

A STUDY by a North East scholar has delved into the world of monks – and come up with some astonishing stories.

It reveals that 16th and 17th century Benedictine monks refused abstinence, died in duels, went off to war and spread illegal Catholic doctrine.

The Monks in Motion project, led by Dr James Kelly, research fellow in the History of Catholicism in Durham University’s Department of Theology and Religion, has brought together records of English and Welsh Benedictine monks exiled in Europe in a first-ofits-kind searchable database and uncovered some of their remarkable histories.

The study has found examples of monks teaching works of Catholic controversy in the schools they ran, and illicit Benedictine publications being held within the personal collection of Catherine Braganza, the wife of King Charles II.

Records also show a number of exiled Benedictine monks fought in the English Civil War and French Revolution, and evidence of English Government spies secretly joining the Order.

Personal stories uncovered included a monk imprisoned for refusing to comply with his Order’s requirement for abstinence, and another who joined the Order having accidently killed his brother with a cannon ball.

The findings of Dr Kelly’s study have been brought together in an open database of known Benedictines, available for scholars and the public alike to access.