The English Benedictine Reform in the late tenth century was the most important religious and intellectual movement in the later Anglo-Saxon period. The reformers sought to replace married secular clergy in monasteries with celibate contemplative monks who followed the Rule of Saint Benedict. The court of Æthelstan (924–39), the first king of the whole of England, began a cosmopolitan trend; future reformers such as Æthelwold of Winchester, Oswald of Worcester, and Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, learned from Continental exponents of Benedictine monasticism. The reformers had close relations with the crown, furthering its interests and depending on its support, especially under King Edgar (959–75). Influential artistic workshops established by Æthelwold reached a high standard of craftsmanship in manuscript illustration, sculpture and gold and silver, and his monasteries produced scholarship and competent prose and poetry in the elaborate hermeneutic style of Latin. His Winchester school helped create the standard vernacular West Saxon literary language, and his pupil Ælfric was its most eminent writer.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Benedictine_Reform

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1777:

American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Assunpink_Creek

1941:

Second World War: Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, was severely damaged by German bombing during the Cardiff Blitz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llandaff_Cathedral

1963:

Vietnam War: The Viet Cong won its first major victory in the Battle of Ap Bac. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ap_Bac

1976:

The Gale of January 1976 began, which resulted in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, leading to at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_of_January_1976

1991:

Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., thus becoming the first African American woman to lead a major American city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Pratt_Kelly

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

rosemaling: (US) A Norwegian style of stylized floral decoration with scrollwork and geometric elements. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rosemaling

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.   --Isaac Asimov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov