Military academy

A military academy or service academy (in American English) is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, marine corps, air force or coast guard. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.

Three types of academy exist: high school-level institutions awarding academic qualifications, university-level institutions awarding bachelor's degree level qualification, and those preparing officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of the state.

History

The first military academies were established in the 18th century to provide future officers for technically specialized corps, such as engineers and artillery, with scientific training.

The Royal Danish Naval Academy was set up in 1701, making it the oldest military academy, to existing in the world. The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich was set up in 1720 as the earliest military academy in Britain. Its original purpose was to train cadets entering the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. In France, the École Royale du Génie at Mézières was founded in 1748, followed by a non-technical academy in 1751, the École Royale Militaire offering a general military education to the nobility. French military academies were widely copied in Prussia, Austria, Russia and even minor powers, including Turin and the Kingdom of Savoy, in the late 18th century.

Benedictine Military School

Benedictine Military School (also referred to as Benedictine or BC) is an American Roman Catholic military high school for boys located in Savannah, Georgia. It was founded in 1902 by the Benedictine monks of Savannah Priory, which still operates the school, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.

History

Starting in 1874, Benedictine monks had gone to Georgia from St. Vincent Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, at the invitation of William Hickley Gross, C.Ss.R., at that time the Roman Catholic Bishop of Savannah. He was acting in response to a mandate given to all the Catholic bishops of the nation at the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, held in 1866, to establish missions to the newly emancipated African American slaves. Two separate attempts were made to establish such a mission. By about 1900, both had failed.

Having decided to place themselves under the authority of Leo Haid, O.S.B., the Abbot Nullius of Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, ten monks established a monastery in the city at 31st and Habersham Streets, where they served Sacred Heart Parish. Recognizing the need for a Catholic boys' school, they established Benedictine College in 1902. In 1906, the groundbreaking ceremony was performed on the ground that would become the school's campus on Bull Street. In 1920, the school changed their name to Benedictine School because of the confusion that Benedictine was a college. However, the nickname "BC" stuck regardless. In 1963, the school moved to its current campus located on Seawright Drive on the southside of Savannah.

Order of Saint Benedict

The Order of Saint Benedict (OSB; Latin: Ordo Sancti Benedicti), also known – in reference to the color of its members' habits – as the Black Monks, is a Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of Saint Benedict. Each community (monastery, priory or abbey) within the order maintains its own autonomy, while the order itself represents their mutual interests. The terms "Order of Saint Benedict" and "Benedictine Order" are, however, also used to refer to all Benedictine communities collectively, sometimes giving the incorrect impression that there exists a generalate or motherhouse with jurisdiction over them.

Internationally, the order is governed by the Benedictine Confederation, a body, established in 1883 by Pope Leo XIII's Brief Summum semper, whose head is known as the Abbot Primate. Individuals whose communities are members of the order generally add the initials "OSB" after their names.

Historical development

The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Saint Benedict of Nursia circa 529, was the first of the dozen monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino. There is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. When Monte Cassino was sacked by the Lombards about the year 580, the monks fled to Rome, and it seems probable that this constituted an important factor in the diffusion of a knowledge of Benedictine monasticism.