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November 10, 2026
November 10, 2026
Vow of silence: monks gathered at the table in a monastery refectory, painting by Wilhelm Riefstahl
Religion

Did Medieval Monks Really Take a Vow of Silence?

When you imagine a medieval monk, you probably think of a person who stays silent most of the time, wears a simple dark robe and prays all the time. By silent I mean that people often think monks had taken a vow of silence and never said a word. The truth behind it is really interesting. Let me say it from the beginning: they didn’t take a vow of silence. They simply spoke much less than we do in modern times. So, if that was not the case, where did the idea come from? Relax on your couch, as I will take you on a medieval journey once more.

Vow of silence: Carthusian monks sit silently at their meal in the refectory, painting by Francisco de Zurbarán
Saint Hugh visits the first Carthusian monks at their meal, painted by Francisco de Zurbarán around 1655 for the Carthusian monastery of Santa María de las Cuevas in Seville. Image: Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

What vows did medieval monks take?

The Rule of Saint Benedict, written in the 6th century, was the rule that most monks in western Europe lived by. This rule basically describes the promises a new monk made in front of his whole community. As it says in chapter 58 of the Rule, the new monk promised three things: a change in his way of life, stability and obedience. By stability, they basically said they would work for just one employer. Joking aside, they promised to remain in just one monastery. As you can see, the vow of silence was nowhere to be found in their promises. There was no vow, no rule demanding one, and no medieval monk swore one. We have already started to debunk this! Hurray!

What the Rule says about speaking

When it comes to speaking freely, this is where the myth may have started to take shape. Chapter 6 of the Rule says that permission to speak “should rarely be granted even to perfect disciples”. Saint Benedict explained that speaking and teaching belonged to the master, and the disciple’s role was to be silent and listen. Telling jokes and chit-chat were banned completely; there was no room for them inside the monastery. To make it simple, silence was a habit, an inside rule, not a vow of silence. Monks spoke when they had to, maybe to ask questions or to say something important, and they kept their mouths shut the rest of the time.

Silent meals

Did your mom tell you to be quiet during meals? Well, to be honest, being quiet was better than absolute silence. During meals, medieval monks were not allowed to talk. Chapter 38 asks for “absolute silence” at table, with no voice heard except the reader’s. While the monks enjoyed their meals, one brother read aloud from a holy book, because even during meals God was part of their life. If you needed something passed to you, like salt or other food that you couldn’t reach, you were told to ask for it with a sign and not to speak.

The Great Silence at night

The absolute strictest silence came at the end of the day, when the night approached. Chapter 42 says that after Compline, the last service, “no one shall be allowed to say anything”. Even this rule had exceptions, like all rules do. A monk could speak if a guest needed help, or if the abbot gave him a direct order, so that he could speak freely. I think if I were a monk, I would have preferred to be ordered around, so that I could speak. This night silence lasted until the next morning’s services. You can follow the whole timetable in our article on medieval monastery life.

Talking with their hands

The silent hours gave monks a practical problem: how do you work, cook and eat together without speaking? Their answer was sign language. According to the historian Scott G. Bruce, sign systems are first recorded in the 10th century in a group of monasteries in Burgundy, including the famous abbey of Cluny. The idea spread across Europe. In England, an 11th-century list in Old English from Christ Church, Canterbury, explains dozens of signs.

Signs for honey, beer and the abbot

Some of the Canterbury signs are wonderfully simple. For honey, you put your finger on your tongue. For the abbot, you placed two fingers on your head and took hold of your hair. For beer, you kneaded one hand on the other. Monks did drink ale with their meals, but not instead of water. You can read more in our article on whether medieval people drank water. These signs show how practical monks were. Silence was the goal, but daily life still had to work.

Monks who “talked” too much

Not everyone thought the signs were a good idea. In 1180, the writer Gerald of Wales visited the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury. He complained that they were “so profuse in their gesticulations of fingers and hands and arms” that they were hardly silent at all. These were the same monks who had seen Thomas Becket murdered in their cathedral ten years earlier. In other words, the signs could become a second language for gossip. Silence on paper was not always silence in practice.

Three monks in white habits singing inside a decorated initial D from an Italian choir book
Monks singing together, painted inside the letter D of an Italian choir book by Girolamo dai Libri in 1501–02. Singing the daily services was the one time monks used their voices freely. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

When monks used their voices

Ironically, monks spent hours every day using their voices. The daily services were sung, from the night office before dawn to Compline at bedtime. Psalms, prayers and hymns filled the church eight times a day. Our article on medieval music explains how this chant sounded. Monks also spoke at the daily meeting in the chapter house, where business was discussed. Silence was about avoiding useless talk, not about never opening your mouth.

The Carthusians: the quietest monks

Some orders went much further than Benedict. In 1084, Saint Bruno and six companions settled in the Chartreuse mountains in France and founded the Carthusians. Carthusian monks spend most of the day alone, praying and working in their own cell. Their order names silence and solitude as the pillars of their life. Even so, they meet in church every day. Today they still share a meal and talk together on Sundays, and go on a weekly walk.

A kneeling Carthusian monk in a white habit prays at the foot of the cross, panel by Jean de Beaumetz
A Carthusian monk kneels at the foot of the cross in this small panel by Jean de Beaumetz, painted in 1389–95 for the monks’ cells at the Chartreuse de Champmol in Dijon. Image: Cleveland Museum of Art (CC0).

Where did the myth come from?

Many of the myths about the Middle Ages actually come from later centuries, and this myth follows the same rule. Armand-Jean de Rancé became abbot of La Trappe in Normandy in 1664 and began a very strict reform. According to the Britannica website, under his rule the monks of La Trappe lived with harsh fasting and, “except for chanting, absolute silence.” All his followers became known as the Trappists. Their reputation for silence stuck so much that people all around them assumed it was surely a vow. Nobody stays silent unless they are obliged to. But even the Trappists’ own order says that the idea of a vow of silence “has never been the case”.

Could I have kept quiet?

As you may have already seen, writing here on this website already says a lot about me. The need to share things and to talk is a big one for me, so I think it would have been terrible for me to stay silent. Also, eating in silence with my fellow monks would have been harsh. The sign language, on the other hand, sounds like fun. I can easily imagine myself among those Canterbury monks, trying to wave my hands and hoping everything would be OK, and that I would not look like a weirdo.

So, did monks take a vow of silence?

The promises of medieval monks were stability, a new way of life with chants and prayers, and, finally, obedience. They never took a vow of silence. The only real thing that they had was a strong habit of being quiet. Their way of life was to be quiet at meals and at night, to speak only when needed, and to use hand signs instead. Like many things we “know” about the Middle Ages, the silent monk story is half true and half exaggeration, which other industries, like the film industry, “took advantage” of. For more stories like this, see our list of medieval myths. And to see the bigger picture of faith and power behind the monasteries, read our overview of the medieval Church.

Frequently asked questions

Did medieval monks take a vow of silence?

No. Under the Rule of Saint Benedict, monks promised stability, a change of life and obedience. Silence was an important habit, but it was never a separate vow.

When were monks not allowed to speak?

Mainly at meals, when a brother read aloud, and at night after Compline, the last service of the day. Talking was also discouraged in church and in the dormitory.

How did monks communicate without talking?

They used sign language. Lists of monastic signs survive from the 10th century onwards, with signs for food, people, objects and tasks.

Do Trappist monks take a vow of silence?

No. The Trappist order itself says they have never taken a vow of silence. They do keep a quiet atmosphere as part of their promise of conversion.

Which monks were the most silent?

The Carthusians, founded in 1084, live mostly alone in their cells and keep silence for most of the day. Later, the Trappists became famous for their strict silence too.

Sources