Benedict was born in about 480 at Norcia in the Italian Apennines, the brother of St. Scholastica. He left his native town for Rome in order to study, and then proceeded to Subiaco where he took to the life of a hermit, and was later joined by a number of disciples. He seems to have caused jealousy locally, and finally moved to Monte Cassino. N.E. of Naples, where he established his definitive home and wrote his Rule. The Rule of St. Benedict, easily the most influential Western religious document in the early centuries of Christianity, was based on other Rules: those of St. Basil, St. John Cassian and the anonymous "Rule of the Master". It is distinguished by its flexibility and moderation, and for these reasons soon replaced other, earlier and harsher Rules such as that of the Irishman St. Columbanus. Benedict did not set out to found an Order, but such indeed formed around his Rule, to the extent that for many centuries ‘Benedictine’ and ‘monastic’ were equivalent terms. In the Dark Ages, it was the Benedictine monastery which kept Western civilisation alive, and for that reason Benedict has been declared the patron of Europe. There were later reforms of the Benedictine Order, such as that of the French house of Cluny, all tending to greater strictness, but the essence of Benedictinism, with its emphasis on the wisdom, love, and flexibility required of the abbot, remains. "Ora et labora" (Pray and work) is the motto of time Benedictine monk: prayer, study amid manual work based on the principles of stability, community and obedience. Benedict died in 550. His monastery at Monte Cassino, where he is buried along with Scholastica, was wrecked during the Second World War - it stands on a great height overlooking the road to Rome, a strategic point par excellence - but has been rebuilt.