20th December is the saint’s day for an 11th
century Spanish monk known as Dominic of Silos.
Dominic was born in the year 1000 in Canas, Navarre. He
started out as a shepherd boy but soon decided that he wanted to be a monk. He
was accepted by the Benedictine monastery of San Millan de Cogolla, of which he
rose to be prior.
All went well until King Garcia of Navarre tried to claim
some of the monastery’s land for himself. The fight between the king and the
monastery eventually became so intense that Dominic and two other monks
realised that were in personal danger and fled to Castile where they sought and
gained the protection of King Ferdinand.
King Ferdinand was concerned about a monastery in his
kingdom that was in very poor shape. This was the monastery of San Sebastian at
Silos. He invited Dominic to take over as abbot, which he did, taking his
companions from San Millan de Cogolla with him.
Dominic and his team set about the restoration of the
monastery with energy and enthusiasm, firstly getting its finances on to a
sound footing then rebuilding parts of the fabric that were in decay. He also
ensured the reputation of the monastery as a place of prayer and devotion.
One thing that Dominic did was to set up a scriptorium for
the production of illuminated manuscripts, and the works that emerged were
among the finest ever produced in Spain.
Dominic’s work led to San Sebastian becoming highly popular and
it had to be expanded as more monks sought to join. The monastery attracted
endowments and donations from many wealthy people and, by the time of Dominic’s
death in 1073, it had become one of the greatest monasteries in the whole of Spain.
© John Welford
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