 Most Benedictine communities existed in the West under what was geographically the jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome.After some centuries of increasing distance between Rome and the Eastern ancient Patriarchates (due to doctrinal, linguistic, and cultural differences, and the development of different schools of theology), the Western and Eastern branches of the Church separated, with the Western branch taking most of the Benedictine monastic communities.However, some Benedictines outside of the jurisdiction of Rome remained Orthodox, including monks of the Amalfion Monastery, which was a community of Benedictine monks from Italy who had come to reside on Mount Athos in the late 10th century, where they remained until the late 13th century.