St. Benedict founded the Benedictine order and drew up the rules that became the basis for life in monasteries throughout Europe. Legends about him tell of his struggles with temptation and the miracles he performed.

Born into a wealthy family around A.D. 480, Benedict went to Rome to study. In time he became disgusted by the lack of morality in Rome and decided to live as a hermit in a cave some distance from the city. Benedict soon became famous in the area, and a local monastery asked him to become its abbot.head of a monastery or abbey However, the monks objected to the new abbot's strict rules of behavior and tried to poison him. Although Benedict returned to his cave, followers kept flocking to him. Eventually, he established 12 monasteries, each with 12 monks, and assumed control of all of them.

In about 525, Benedict founded the famous monastery of Monte...