Benedictine
Benedictine names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Benedictine a follower of ST
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a follower of ST. BENEDICT (q. v.). In 529 St. Benedict transformed the temple of Apollo at Monte Cassino into a monastery, and became its first abbot. He composed rules for its management, making every monk pledge himself to perfect chastity, absolute poverty, and implicit obedience in all respects to his superiors. These vows were irrevocable, whereas up to that time the monks had been allowed to alter the regulations of their founder at their pleasure. The rule here instituted was adopted at an early period by various other monastic communities; it was confirmed, about 52 years after the death of its founder, by Pope Gregory the Great, and was ultimately accepted by nearly all the monkish communities of the West. As long as the Benedictines remained poor, they were a blessing to the countries in which they lived, and especially to Germany, spending, as they did, sev eral hours a day in gardening, agriculture, and mechanical labor, and another portion of their time in reading, besides keeping school outside the walls of their convents. Science and literature are also indebted to them for having copied many of the classical authors and preserved | such knowledge as existed in their age. When at length their merits brought wealth, luxury and indolence sapped their virtues and diminished their influence for good. Afterward they became reformed, especially in France, in the 17th century. The Benedictine habit consisted of a loose black coat, or a gown, reaching to their feet, and having large, wide sleeves. Under it was a flannel habit, white in color. The head-dress was a hood, or cowl, pointed at the tip. They were sometimes called Black Monks. The Benedictines control 16 colleges in the United States. There were Benedictine nuns as well as monks. When they originated is uncertain. BENEDICTION (from the Latin benedicere, literally, "to speak well of"; "to commend"), a solemn invocation of the Divine blessing upon men or things.
Benedictine a liqueur prepared by the Benedictine monks of the abbey of Fécamp
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a liqueur prepared by the Benedictine monks of the abbey of Fécamp, in Normandy, consisting of spirit (fine brandy) containing an infusion of the juices of plants. It has been made in the same way since 1510.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's reported in 1921 that the liqueur had been "prepared by the Benedictine monks of the abbey of Fécamp" and "made in the same way since 1510"; in fact no monk had made it for well over a century. The Fécamp abbey was suppressed in the French Revolution, and the drink as sold was devised in the 1860s by a lay wine merchant, Alexandre Le Grand, who built the ornate Palais Bénédictine at Fécamp to house it and supplied the 1510 origin story as part of his marketing; the brand is now owned by Bacardi. The order itself has fared harder: Monte Cassino, the monastery St Benedict founded in 529, was destroyed by Allied bombing in February 1944 and rebuilt, being reconsecrated in 1964, while the number of Benedictine monks worldwide has fallen steeply since Collier's day. The Rule, however, is still followed, and the loose black habit and cowl described here would be recognised in any Benedictine house today.
Written for this edition, 2026.