This is a preview of the bonus episode, created for Patreon and Spotify subscribers, about a saint who, according to Pope Benedict XVI, ‘exercised a fundamental influence on the development of European civilisation and culture’. Indeed, the rule for religious men this saint wrote in the 6th century has been the template for nearly every monastic order in Europe, either embraced by their founders or imposed on them by the Church. Despite his significance to the unfolding story of Christianity and European history, very little is known about him. The earliest surviving sources are a 33-couplet poem in Latin and a few chapters in a four-book collection of hagiographies called Dialogues written by Pope Gregory the Great. This is the story of Saint Benedict the Godfather of Monasticism. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon or subscribe via Spotify.