In contrast, Anglo-Saxon monasteries were often more casual and public-facing than we imagine such institutions to be. Many of the people who lived in them, known as secular clerks, were free to marry and popped in and out, treating the place like a vaguely God-themed Club Med. The system of parish priests and churches hadn’t yet developed, so it made sense to have a version of monasticism that wasn’t entirely inward-looking. Still, there was an aura of flexibility and fun that’s always vulnerable in a religious context.
