Abbot

An abbot is the leader of a monastery (also called an "abbey") and its community of monks. The term may also be applied to the presiding officer of a religious order whose members do not live in community but who do take monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to a rule of life.

Monasteries preserved knowledge and important manuscripts, such as the Codex Sinaiticus, which would have otherwise been lost during the Dark Ages.