The article describes the relationship between the first monks and the Church hierarchy represented by the bishops and popes. Bishops often mingled in the internal affairs of monastic communities, but some organizers of monastic life, such as Caesarius of Arles limited the interference from the outside. Abbots in Ireland while they become more important than bishops. Basil the Great, Augustine of Hippo, Caesarius of Arles, though they were monks, they exercised their functions well in positions of church and maintained friendly relations with the popes. A unique situation is the abbot of St. Columba the Younger, who in Gaul is involved in disputes with the local hierarchy. He did not agree even with the pope, but never openly spoke out against the Apostolic See. Monks usually do not lead to riots but had for respectful representatives of ecclesiastical authority.