The title had its origin in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria, spread through the eastern Mediterranean, and soon became accepted generally in all languages as the designation of the head of a monastery.

Of these the precedence was originally yielded to the abbot of Glastonbury, until in AD 1154 Adrian IV ( Nicholas Breakspear ) granted it to the abbot of St Alban's, in which monastery he had been brought up.

A horrible reign of terror ensued, in the course of which the ex-tsaritsa Eudoxia was dragged from her monastery and publicly tried for alleged adultery, while all who had in any way befriended Alexei were impaled, broken on the wheel and otherwise lingeringly done to death.

Their one monastery was on the top of Monte Varese, near Lago Maggiore, on the spot where their foundress, the Blessed Catarina Morigia ( or Catherine of Palanza ), had first led a solitary life.

With the ecclesiastical parishes of St Fagan's ( Trecynon ) and Aberaman carved out of the ancient parish, Aberdare had 12 Anglican churches and one Roman Catholic church, built in 1866 in Monk Street near the site of a cell attached to Penrhys monastery, and at one time had over 50 Nonconformist chapels.

Over the centuries this monastery had an important role on Portuguese culture.

During the following centuries the monks from this monastery had an influencing effect on Portuguese culture.

Bede's monastery had access to a superb library which included works by Eusebius and Orosius among many others.

The Life of Ceolfrith, written in about 710, records that only two surviving monks were capable of singing the full offices ; one was Ceolfrith and the other a young boy, who according to the anonymous writer had been taught by Ceolfrith and was " now a priest of the same monastery ".

The preface makes it clear that Ceolwulf had requested the earlier copy, and Bede had asked for Ceolwulf's approval ; this correspondence with the king indicates that Bede's monastery had excellent connections among the Northumbrian nobility.

The monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow had an excellent library.

Both Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith had acquired books from the Continent, and in Bede's day the monastery was a renowned centre of learning.

There is little evidence that he had access to any other of the pagan Latin writers – he quotes many of these writers but the quotes are almost all to be found in the Latin grammars that were common in his day, one or more of which would certainly have been at the monastery.

Monasticism had been introduced into the region of modern France during the Roman era by St. Martin of Tours, who founded the first monastery in Western Europe.

Bruno spent much time at the monastery where Adalbert had become a monk and where abbot John Canaparius may have written a life of Saint Adalbert.

He removed Theodora from the Great Palace to the Carian Palace and later to the monastery of Gastria, but, after the death of Bardas, she was released to live in the palace of St Mamas ; she also had a rural residence at the Anthemian Palace, where Michael was assassinated in 867.

He then moved to the celebrated monastery of Bangor on the coast of Down, which at that time had for its abbot St. Comgall.

Shortly afterwards, in a chapter of the order held in 1293, the original monastery of Majella being judged to be too desolate and exposed to too rigorous a climate, it was decided that the monastery which had been founded in Sulmtona should be the headquarters of the order and the residence of the General-Superior, as it has continued to be to the present day.

The manuscript constituted approximately half of the leaves of a volume of Syriac writings that had been catalogued in 1952 in the library of the Coptic monastery of Deir es-Suriani in Wadi Natrun, Egypt.

As time passed, Prior Diego sanctioned the building of a monastery for girls whose parents had sent them to the care of the Albigensians because their families were too poor to fulfill their basic needs.

During this period, the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola had become prior of the San Marco monastery in 1490.

A full catalogue of the library available to Bede in the monastery cannot be reconstructed, but it is possible to tell, for example, that Bede was very familiar with the works of Virgil.

He was also very energetic in his work as a missionary, and, in addition to founding several churches in the Hebrides, he worked to turn his monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries.

* Rather unlikely but very popular is the connection to a dragon saga ( see Lindworm ) and the connection with the monastery of Saint George the “ Dragon Slayer ” founded in Limburg.

Getting agreement took many months, and Mary and Pope Julius III had to make a major concession: the monastery lands confiscated under Henry were not returned to the church but remained in the hands of the new landowners, who were very influential.

The large and ornate new Abbey did not remain a monastery for very long.

Saint Martin's monastery benefited from its inception, at the very start of the 6th century from patronage and support from the Frankish king, Clovis, which increased considerably the influence of the saint, the abbey and the city in Gaul.

He appears to have had military service but at some point joined the very new monastery at Melrose, under the prior Boisil ( d. 661, as Abbot ), with whom he seems to have had a particular relationship, reading with him on Boisil's deathbed.

The nearby island, known as Pontikonisi ( Greek meaning " mouse island "), though small is very green with abundant trees, and at its highest natural elevation ( excluding its trees or man-made structures, such as the monastery ), stands at about.

In Eastern Christianity a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra.

* The Church of St. James, also called Schottenkirche, a Romanesque basilica of the 12th century, derives its name from the monastery of Irish Benedictines ( Scoti ) to which it was attached ; the principal doorway is covered with very singular grotesque carvings.

In 1276, the king fell very ill at Alzira and resigned his crown, intending to retire to the monastery of Poblet, but he died at Valencia on 27 July.

In 1919, he returned to the newly independent Poland, where he was very active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, a seminary, a radio station, and several other organizations and publications.

In the 14th century, Pope Urban VIII gave Montpellier a new monastery dedicated to Saint Peter, noteworthy for the very unusual porch of its chapel, supported by two high, somewhat rocket-like towers.

Nikephoros was also a very devout man, and helped his friend, the monk Athanasios, found the monastery of Great Lavra on Mount Athos.

Tomás de Torquemada entered the local Dominican monastery of San Pablo at a very young age.

On the east side of the main plaza is the 16th century monastery of San Gabriel, with its very large atrium, Capilla Real ( Royal Chapel ), Capilla de la Tercera Orden ( Chapel of the Third Order ), tall main church and Franciscan Library.

The hardship of such a posting is well-recognized ; to have a son or brother serving in such a monastery is recognized as very good karma for the family.

The torture of Hell are vividly depicted including poachers being roasted by the very rabbit they poached from the monastery.

For safety reasons, because the steps up to the monastery are rock, steep, and old, climbs are not permitted during very wet or windy weather.

He was also very energetic in his evangelical work ; in addition to founding several churches in the Hebrides, he worked to turn his monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries.

After the Reform Laws in the 1860s, most of the monastery property passed into state, then private hands, leaving only what is now the cathedral and several smaller chapels on a very large atrium.

Being very weak, he was baptised soon after his birth in the Ćelije monastery, where his relics are now resting.

His successor, King Manuel I, was also very fond of this sanctuary, and ordered the construction there of a monastery which was donated to the Order of Saint Jerome.

The monastery pre-dates Tintern Abbey but now is very much a ruin.