When Benedict fled from Rome he took refuge in a solitary gorge formed by the Anio, in its picturesque course, about 40 miles from the city. There, in a dark inaccessible grotto near Subiaco, he found seclusion and shelter. A neighbouring monk supplied him with food let down by a rope, with a small bell attached, which gave notice of the approach of the food. Once the devil broke the rope, but his malice was foiled by the pious ingenuity of the monk. Other and graver dangers assailed him. The Evil One took the shape of a beautiful woman, with whose image the youthful recluse had been familiar in Rome, and so worked upon his senses that he was on the point of abandoning his solitude in search of the beauty which haunted him. But summoning all his fortitude he stripped himself of the vestment of skins which was his only covering, rushed naked amongst the thorns and briars which grew around his retreat, and rolled himself amongst them till he had extinguished the impure flame which devoured him. No impulses of sensual passion ever revisited him. But trials of a different kind assailed him. After spending about three years in retirement a neighbouring convent of monks insisted upon choosing him as their head. He warned them of the severity of the rule he would be bound to exercise, but they would not be dissuaded from their purpose. He had hardly commenced his office, however, when they broke out into fierce resentment against him, and attempted to poison him. The cup containing the poison was no sooner taken into the hands of Benedict than it burst asunder; and, calmly reproving them for their ingratitude, he left them and withdrew once more into his solitude.

By this time, however, the fame of Benedict had spread, and it was impossible for him to remain inactive. Multitudes gathered around him, and no fewer than twelve select cloisters were planted in the lonely valley of the Anio and on the adjacent heights. Young patricians from Rome and elsewhere were attracted to these fraternities; and amongst them one of the name of Maurus (St Maur), who began to share in popular esteem something of the sanctity and miraculous endowments of Benedict, and who was destined to be his successor. But with increasing fame came also jealousy of his position and duties. A renewed attempt was made by an envious priest to administer poison to the saint; and, miraculous interpositions having again come to his rescue, the same priest, by name Florentius, had recourse to the diabolical device of sending seven lewd girls within the precincts of the monastery, to seduce the monks by their gestures and sports. Benedict determined to depart from a neighbourhood so full of danger, notwithstanding the long period of thirty years during which he had laboured to consecrate it and spread abroad the blessings of an ascetic Christianity. He journeyed southwards, and at length settled at Monte Cassino, an isolated and picturesque hill near the source of the Liris. There at this time an ancient temple of Apollo still stood, to which the ignorant peasants brought their offerings. Benedict, in his holy enthusiasm, proceeded to demolish the temple and to erect in its place two oratories, one to St John the Baptist and the other to St Martin, whose ascetic fame had travelled to Italy from the south of Gaul. Around these sacred spots gradually rose the famous monastery which was destined to carry the name of its founder through the Christian world, and to give its laws, as Milman says, “to almost the whole of Western monasticism.”

Benedict survived fourteen years after he had began this great work. His sanctity and influence grew with his years, in illustration of which it is told how the barbarian king Totila, who made himself master of Rome and Italy, sought his presence, and, prostrating himself at his feet, accepted a rebuke for his cruelties, and departed a humbler and better man. His last days were associated with the love and devotion of his sister Scolastica, who too had forsaken the world and given herself to a religious life with an enthusiasm and genius for government hardly less than his own. She had established a nunnery near Monte Cassino; but the rules of the order permitted the brother and sister to meet only once a year. He had come to pay his accustomed visit. They had spent the day in devout converse, and, in the fulness of her affection, Scolastica entreated him to remain, and “speak of the joys of heaven till the morning.” Benedict was not to be prevailed upon, 7hen his sister burst into a flood of tears, and bowed her ead in prayer. Immediately the heavens became overcast; thunder was heard, and the rain fell in torrents, so that it was impossible for Benedict to depart for the night, which was spent in spiritual exercises. Three days later Benedict saw in vision the soul of his sister entering heaven, and in a few days afterwards his own summons came. He died standing, after partaking of the holy communion, and was buried by the side of his sister.

The Benedictines, or followers of St Benedict, were those who submitted to the monastic rule which he instituted. This rule will be generally described in the article on Monasticism. It is sufficient to say here that its two main principles were labour and obedience. It was the distinction of Benedict that he not merely organized the monks into communities, but based their community-life, in a great degree, on manual labour, in contrast to the merely meditative seclusion which had hitherto been in vogue both in the East and the West. Probably, not even the founder himself foresaw all the prospective advantages of his law, which was destined not merely to make many a wilderness and solitary place to rejoice with fertility, but to expand, moreover, into a noble intellectual fruitfulness, which has been the glory of the Benedictine order. The law of obedience was absolute, but was tempered by the necessity on the part of the superior of consulting all the monks assembled in a council or chapter upon all important business. The abbot or superior was also elected by all the monks, whose liberty of choice was unrestricted. No right of endowment properly subsisted within the monastery; and the vow of stability once undertaken after the expiry of the year of novitiate could never be recalled. Food and clothing were of the simplest kind, and all duly regulated; and the intervals of labour were relieved by a continually recurring round of religious service from prime to evensong. The Benedictine rule spread almost universally in the West,—not in rivalry of any other rule, but as the more full and complete development of the monastic system. In France and England especially it took rapid root; and “in every rich valley, by the side of every clear and deep stream, arose a Benedictine ’abbey ”—a centre of local good and Christian civilization. See Abbey. (j. t.)

BENEDICT. Fourteen popes bore the name of Benedict—

Benedict I. (573-8) succeeded John III., and occupied the Papal chair during the incursions of the Lombards, and during the series of plagues and famines which followed these invasions. (PauL Diacon., De Gest. Longob.,ii. 10.)

Benedict IL (684-685) succeeded Leo II., but although chosen in 683 he was not ordained till 684, because the leave of the Emperor Constantine was not obtained until some months after the election. (Paul. Diacon., op. cit. vi. 53.)

Benedict III. (855—858) was chosen by the dergy and people of Rome, but the election was not confirmed by the Emperor Lothair, who appointed an anti-pope, Anastasius. Benedict was at last successful, and the schism helped to weaken the hold of the emperors upon the popes. The mythical Pope Joan is usually placed between Benedict and his predecessor Leo IV.

Benedict IV. (900-903).

Benedict V. (964-965) was elected by the Romans on the death of John XII. The Emperor Otho did not approve of the choice, and carried off the pope to Hamburg, where he died.

Benedict VI. (972-974) was chosen with great ceremony and installed pope under the protection of the Emperor Otho the Great. On the death of the emperor the turbulent citizens of Rome renewed their outrages, and the pope himself was strangled by order of Crescentius, the son of the notorious Theodora.

Benedict VII. (975-983) belonged to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum, and governed Rome quietly for nearly nine years, a somewhat rare thing in those days.

Benedict VIII. (1012-1024), also of the family of Tusculum, was opposed by an anti-pope, Gregory, who compelled him to flee from Rome. He was restored by Henry of Saxony, whom he crowned emperor in 1014. In his pontificate the Saracens began to attack the southern coasts of Europe, and effected a settlement in Sardinia. The Normans also then began to settle in Italy.

Benedict IX. (1033-1056), the son of Alberic, count of Tusculum, and nephew of Benedict VIII., obtained the Papal chair by simony. He was deposed in 1044, and Sylvester was chosen in his stead. The result was a long and disgraceful schism (cf. Mittler, De Schismate in Eccl. Rom. sub Pontif. Bened. IX.) Benedict X. (1058-9) scarcely deserves to be reckoned a pope. He reigned nine months. It is important, however, to remember that his election is one of the latest made by Roman factions, and under his successor the mode of election by the cardinals was adopted.

Benedict XI. (1303-1304) succeeded the famous Boniface VIII., but was unable to carry out his Ultramontane policy. He released Philip the Fair of France from the excommunication laid on him by Boniface, and practically ignored the bull Unam Sanctam. The popes who immediately succeeded him were completely under the influence of the kings of France, and removed the Papal seat from Rome to Avignon.

Benedict XII. (1334-1342) succeeded Pope John XXII., but did not carry out the policy of his predecessor. He practically made peace with the Emperor Louis, and as far as possible came to terms with the Franciscans, who were then at war with the Roman see. He was a reforming pope, and tried to curb the luxury of the monastic orders, but without much success. (Baluze, VitoePontif. Avenion., i.)

Benedict XIII. Two popes assumed this title—(1.) Peter de Luna, a Spaniard, who was chosen by the French cardinals on the death of Clement VII. in 1394. On the death of Urban V. in 1389 the Italian cardinals had chosen Boniface IX.; the election of Benedict therefore perpetuated the great schism. The greater portion of the church refused to recognize him, and in 1397 the French Church, which had supported him, withdrew from allegiance to both popes, and in 1398 Benedict was imprisoned in his own palace at Avignon. The Council of Constance brought this state of matters to an end. Benedict abdicated in 1417, but was recognized by Scotland and Spain until his death in 1424. His name does not appear in the Italian list of popes. (Of. Dupuy, Hist, du Schisme, 1378-1428). (2.) Vincenzo Marco Orsini, who succeeded Innocent XIII. in 1724. He at first called himself Benedict XIV., but afterwards altered the title. He was a reforming pope, and endeavoured to put down the luxury of the Italian priesthood and of the cardiualate. He died in 1730.

Benedict XIV. (1740-1758) belonged to a noble family of Bologna. Elected to the Papal chair in a time of great difficulties, chiefly caused by the disputes between Roman Catholic nations about the election of bishops, he managed to overcome most of them. The disputes of the Holy See with Naples, Sardinia, Spain, Venice, and Austria were settled. Perhaps the most important act of his pontificate was the promulgation of his famous laws about missions in the two bulls, Ex quo singulari and Omnium solicitu-dinum. In these bulls he denounced the custom of accommodating Christian words and usages to express heathen ideas and practices, which had been extensively done by the Jesuits in their Indian and Chinese missions. The consequence of these bulls was that most of the so-called converts were lost to the church.