Hello, my name is Ches (@cheevester on Tumblr, you may also call me Ketil, which I picked from a 1066 Domesday census for this purpose) and I seem to be among the least studied in medieval history here (though I'm partial to the early Renaissance and its music). A while ago I received an ecstatic vision (normal dream) about being a choirmaster in a French monastery, and I've been fiending for monk content ever since. I am mostly here for Abbot Jude's delicious characters, the camaraderie, the aesthetics, and for inspiration in various creative endeavors (music/art/ttrpg campaigns). Please bestow upon me your monastic fun facts that I may absorb them and employ accordingly.
Welcome to the cloister club!
What kind of monastic fun facts are you looking for?
My personal go to is that there was a 14th century French monk named John of Morigny who taught his sister how to read with the Ars Notoria and she is the only woman (that we know of as of 2026) who engaged with ritual magic texts in the Middle Ages. Also John of Morigny dabbled in ritual magic before writing his own magical book that he claimed was approved by the Virgin Mary herself!