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There is no definitive answer for several reasons:
- The medieval period covers a huge time-span and the numbers of monks and nuns constantly changed throughout the period.
- There was never any kind of census of monasteries to determine how many people were involved.
- If you include the Saxon/Viking era in "medieval", very many monastic sites of that period were wiped out by Viking raids, the records destroyed and buildings burned, so we have almost no idea of their layout or how many monks were present.
- Britain did not exist as a unified territory during the medieval era.
- Certain Orders recruited "lay brothers" who were essentially a workforce and did not perform the same function as proper monks, but lived in the monastery and are often included with the numbers of monks.
It is calculated that at the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 there were around 1000 monks and nuns in about 60 Saxon monastic houses in England. These were almost entirely destroyed and rebuilt in the Norman style, with additional monasteries founded by wealthy Normans; by 1100 there were possibly 70 monasteries for monks and 12 for nuns in England and Wales.
By 1175 an astonishing 155 more monasteries had been built - this was the peak of monasticism in England.
Each monastery housed varying numbers of monks: some had as few as 20 or 30, others up to 200. Numbers dropped very sharply in the early 1500s when it became clear that king Henry VIII intended to take over the Church's wealth, lands and property.
If you take an average of 70 monks per monastery and multiply it by 250 monasteries (a very approximate figure for the end of the 12th century) you arrive at roughly 17,500 monks; figures for nuns are even more difficult to guess but there were perhaps between two and three thousand, perhaps more.
Some examples of fluctuating numbers: in the mid-12th century at Rievaulx Abbey (Yorkshire) there were 140 monks and 500 lay brothers; by 1538 there were just 23. In 1125 at Abingdon there were 80 monks, but just 25 in 1538.
What else can I help you with?
Who is group of men who evangelized and educated during middle ages?
Monks
What did monks during the middle ages live in?
They lived in monasteries
How did The black Plague relate to the Monks during the middle ages?
right it was bull
Did Monks teach in the school in the middle ages?
Not all monks taught in schools during the Middle Ages as not all monasteries had schools. However, many communities did operate what would be called schools today.
During the Middle Ages books were first written by what?
During the Middle Ages the monks were the people who preserved books and wrote books. The population of the Middle Ages couldn't read or write and there were really no schools for them to go to. Monks spent years creating and copying books. One of the great books that was done in this time was the Book of Kells.
What do monks of the middle ages wear?
robes
Who made illuminated letters?
by monks in middle ages
What rules did the monks follow in the middle ages?
work
How did the crusades effect the monks in the middle ages?
it actually helped the monks achieve zen
Were there monks in the middle ages?
There were lots and lots of monks in the Middle Ages. Nuns, too. Roger Bacon was a famous monk of the period, and Hildegard of Bingen was a famous nun.
Where did monks and nuns live in the Middle Ages?
In an nunnery. Monks lived in Monerstrys.
When was illuminated lettering used?
It was used in the middle ages by monks!
