Originally published to commemorate the fifteenth centenary of the birth of St Benedict of Nursia, this new edition of Benedict’s Disciples contains a wealth of additional material updating the text in the light of recent scholarship, and offering wholly new appraisals on the growth of the Benedictine sisterhoods, the vitality of the Benedictine Order in the twentieth century and much else.

In these studies of monks and nuns who have attained holiness, or fame, or both, through following the rule of St Benedict, one of the most important influences in the making of Europe, the emphasis is firmly upon the people themselves. Spanning the period from the sixth to the twentieth century famous monastic figures are included as well as some perhaps lesser known.

Unity of inspiration and diversity of accomplishment mark the lives of these different, and sometimes difficult individuals. Their collective influence has been compared with leaven, working quietly but with immense energy in a society sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile.

In this book, written by monks, nuns and laypeople who share an interest in the spiritual and external achievements of Benedict’s disciples through the ages, readers will find much to inspire.

David Hugh Farmer was Reader in History at the University of Reading, and is a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society. He has edited two volumes on Bede for Penguin Classics, the Life of St Hugh of Lincoln and the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, now in its third edition. He is retired and lives in Whitchurch-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.