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One of the first monasteries built by the Normans was Canterbury Priory, whose monks followed the strict rule of St. Benedict, and were known as Benedictines. Lanfranc established the importance of Canterbury by declaring that all future Archbishops of Canterbury should be elected by the monks of its Priory.

Life of a Benedictine monk

Benedictines were instructed to eat two simple meals a day and were not allowed to eat expensive food such as meat. The monks were also told that they should not spend their time talking to each other. There were eight services a day in which the monks would be praying and chanting religious song - the first service was at 2 am and the last one at 6 pm.

In the north of England there was a revival of monastic life, and the abbey at Whitby was re-established, and new ones founded at Selby and St Mary’s York. The most eager promoter was William of St Carilef, the Bishop of Durham, who was a monk from Maine in Normandy. In 1083 he brought monks from Wearmouth and Jarrow to serve the cathedral of Durham and look after the shrine of St Cuthbert.

William encouraged the building of new monasteries in England, and he personally built an abbey at Battle in Sussex, on the site of Harold Godwinson’s death at the Battle of Hastings. The new stricter Cluniac order of monks was introduced into England in 1077, coming over from Cluny in southern France. The Cluniacs had taken over twenty-four monasteries in England by 1135.

The monasteries played a vital role in the limited amount of education that was available for people in England. Latin was the written language of both Church and State, so boys who wanted to become priests or government clerks had to learn Latin - and they were taught this in Anglo-Norman, not in English. Once the Normans settled fully in England, they established their Anglo-Norman language as the spoken language of everyday life, or the vernacular.