In his exchanges with King Henry IV during the later eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII proclaimed that he held the authority to remove the mighty King from the throne of the Roman Empire. Pope Gregory VII, having already excommunicated the King from the Church for various crimes against it, believed it was his religious duty to instill a Christian ruler who was loyal to the Church to govern the predominately Christian society. Pope Gregory VII argued that it was the power Christ gave to St. Peter that allowed him to possess such impressive authority, as he was a successor to St. Peter. St. Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule for Monasteries nearly 600 years before the conflict between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII erupted. Within Benedict's Rule is his ideal structure for people living in Christian communities known as monasteries. When St. Benedict wrote his Rule for Monasteries the Christian Church had nowhere near the unity it possessed during the reign of Pope Gregory VII. It was the unity experienced by Pope Gregory VII that allows us to examine the entire Roman Empire as a "monastery." St. Benedict would have been pleased to see such a unified church, operating under the decree of a single man, which still held the fundamentals of Christianity in great admiration.
             St. Benedict called for the monastery to be led by a man who was to be referred to as Abbot. The Abbot was the leader of all men committed to the monastery, and it was the Abbot who passes the final judgment on issues of importance. "An Abbot who is worthy to be over a monastery should always remember what he is called, and live up to the name of Superior" (Benedict 160). The Abbot was responsible to lead the men not only by what he said, but also by his example.
             This is to say, he should show them all that is good and holy by his deeds even more than by his words, expounding the Lord's commandments in words to the int...