Benedict of Nursia (480-547). Italian Christian monk. Founder of the Benedictine Order. Considered the patriarch of Western monasticism. The Heavy Stone. Episode from the life of the saint. His disciples wanted to place a stone to build a chapel, but the devil sat on it, making it so heavy that no one could move it. Benedict blessed the stone and the devil fled. Engraving by Huyot after a fresco by Spinello Aretino in the church of San Miniato al Monte, Florence, Italy, 1387. "Vie Militaire et Religieuse au Moyen Age et a lEpoque de la Renaissance". Paris, 1877.