From the article: "Far from being places of rote worship, these religious houses sparked an explosion of scientific research that transformed European life. "
This does not surprise me. Many scientists are pacifists (even during the Cold War, American scientists were communicating and cooperating with Russian scientists at great risk of being rounded up in the McCarthy witch hunt) and that may also have been true in the middle ages.
Joining a monastery was probably a more attractive option than getting their heads chopped off in battles (not that monks were always able to avoid battles... but they were sometimes able to avoid them).
This does not surprise me. Many scientists are pacifists (even during the Cold War, American scientists were communicating and cooperating with Russian scientists at great risk of being rounded up in the McCarthy witch hunt) and that may also have been true in the middle ages.
Joining a monastery was probably a more attractive option than getting their heads chopped off in battles (not that monks were always able to avoid battles... but they were sometimes able to avoid them).