Re:St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)
by Ichthypresbyter on Monday January 11, 2021 @05:16AM
(#25726952)
In the Orthodox Church, priests are allowed (and in fact encouraged) to be married, but cannot marry after they are ordained.
On the other hand, bishops must be monks as well as priests, and therefore cannot be married.
Monasteries from pretty early on required celibacy. According to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_celibacy_in_the_Cat..., priests did get married until the 12th century (even then, some say there was an unenforced law rule on the books saying that wasn't supposed to happen) .
While there were some theological and worldly reasons for the change, competition with lords wasn't one, and doesn't make a lot of sense. Religious communities were largely populated by the children of the nobles, and nobles gave to monasteries. (And again, wouldn't apply, since only non-monastic priests were married.)