benedictine

Benedictine a monk or nun of a Christian religious order following the rule of St Benedict, established c.540. The Rule of St Benedict was gradually adopted by most Western monastic houses, sometimes with their own modifications. Benedictines were also known as Black Monks from the colour of their habits.

The liqueur benedictine, based on brandy, is named from its being originally made by Benedictine monks in France.

Benedictine. Monastic Order based on the rules of St Benedict (480–543), who established the great Abbey at Monte Cassino from which the arts of agriculture, architecture, and writing were disseminated. In C9 the Rule was regularized, and the Order confined its activities to Western Europe. An exemplary plan for the Benedictine Monastery of St Gall in Switzerland survives, and demonstrates the sophistication of the architecture as early as c.820: the plan of the church itself is similar to that used for several later churches.

Bibliography

Eschapasse (1963);
J. Evans (1972)

Benedictine A French liqueur invented in about 1510 by the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in France. The Abbey was closed, and the recipe lost after the French Revolution, then rediscovered about 1863. It is based on double‐distilled brandy, flavoured with some 75 herbs and spices; it contains 40% (by volume) alcohol and 30% sugar; 300 kcal (1.3 MJ)/100 mL. See also B and B.