REGULA MAGISTRI. – A monastic rule by an unknown author (not unacquainted with letters and somewhat too abstract in the formulation of disciplinary precepts), whose date ranges from the beginning of the 5th century to the 7th century. It is so called because it is expressed in dialogical form between a discipulus, who at the beginning of each chapter proposes a subject, and a magister (a figure somewhat different from the abbot), who responds by developing the various points of the Rule.
Partially reproduced in the Concordia Regularum of Benedict of Aniane and mentioned in the Commentaria in Regulam s. Benedicti of Smaragdus, it was long regarded as being of Frankish origin. Recently, however, M. Cappuyns (L'auteur de la R. M. Cassiodore, in Recherches de théol. ancienne et médiév., 15 [1948], pp. 209–68) has argued that Cassiodorus was its author and that it represents the Rule of Vivarium. Apart from this theory, the importance of the R. M. lies in the fact that chapters 1–10 display such analogies and verbal correspondences with the prologue and chapters 1–7 of the Rule of St Benedict as to postulate a relationship of dependence; there is disagreement, however, as to which of the two has priority. The dispute began with A. Génestout’s research on the text of the Benedictine Rule: his first article on the subject (La Règle du Maître et la Règle de st Benoît, in Revue d'ascét. et de myst., 21 [1940], pp. 51–112) nevertheless appeared later than others on the same topic, because he had previously communicated his views to certain scholars. The critical edition of the R. M. now in preparation will probably make a valuable contribution to the solution of the problem.