§ 3.

The influence of the monachism of the east naturally spread westward. No general rule of life was followed at first. Each collection of monks was governed by its own special observances, aiming generally at the ascetic ideal of separation from the world pursued by the early anchorites. Monachism, however, was a powerful agent in the Christianising of the west. Each monastery under its abbot or father became a training-ground for monk-bishops who ruled dioceses in new monastic centres of missionary effort. The beginnings of organised monachism in Ireland may be traced to the monastery of Lerins, on an island near Cannes, where St Patrick received his training. The success of Irish monasticism soon reacted upon Gaul and Italy, when St Columban founded the monasteries of Luxeuil and Bobbio upon a rule derived from Irish practice. About the same time St Columba at Iona established the vogue of the Irish system in northern Britain.