What did it mean to live in a medieval monastery?

Researching medieval monasteriesWalking through the remains of a medieval monastery, we are often struck by an unusual sense of immediacy.Cloisters, refectories and dormitories appear to lend themselves readily to imagination, encouraging us to picture the rhythms of communal prayer, labour and silence that once structured monastic life (Hedstrom 2019).This enduring visibility is reflected not only in the archaeological record but also in modern heritage landscapes.Of the approximately 1200 international monuments currently designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, more than five per cent can be broadly classified as monasteries (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/?search=monasteries& components=1&order=country).As outlined by Roberta Gilchrist, modern excavations are frequently conducted alongside the preservation of monastic ruins and their interpretation for the public (Gilchrist 2014).Monasteries, therefore, appear almost familiar, their space easily populated in the mind, helped in no small part by cultural representations ranging from historical reconstructions to literary works such as The name of the rose by Umberto Eco.Yet this apparent accessibility raises an important question: how far can archaeology move beyond evocative spaces to reconstruct the lived realities of monastic communities?Medieval monasticism was neither marginal nor socially withdrawn.From its fourth-century origins in the deserts of Egypt and Syria, monasticism developed into a range of institutional forms across medieval Europe.Throughout this long history, it both shaped and was shaped by the secular world around it.For over a millennium, monasteries and religious orders were prominent features of the western social and political landscape, with their leaders holding positions of influence that