Скачать или смотреть EMA 13.1 | How Monks Accidentally Became Europe's Knowledge Keepers

Monks were supposed to flee the world, not save its books. The Rule of Saint Benedict never instructed monks to preserve classical learning — yet monasteries became the primary custodians of Western knowledge after Rome fell. This video traces the chain of historical contingencies that produced this paradox: from monastic withdrawal and the intercessory spiritual economy, to Rome's institutional collapse and the Church filling the vacuum.

Key concepts covered:
• The Rule of Saint Benedict and the purpose of monasticism (6th century)
• Lectio divina and why monastic literacy existed at all
• The paradox of withdrawal: how renouncing the world attracted worldly attention
• Spiritual surplus and the intercessory economy (monks praying for knights, kings, and merchants)
• Rome's fall and the collapse of law, bureaucracy, and widespread literacy
• How monasteries filled the institutional vacuum — not by design, but by circumstance
• Hindsight bias: why knowledge preservation was contingent, not inevitable
• The broader pattern of institutions serving unintended purposes

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SOURCE MATERIALS
The source materials for this video are from    • 13. Monasticism