Tradition has it that monasticism began in Egypt and spread north and westwards in the course of the fourth century ce (see also below, IIL11.5 Monasticism and monasteries). In fact, it is likely that the movement had its roots more generally in the pious and ceUbate ways of Ufe chosen by individual men and women in urban as well as desert settings from the apostoUc period onward. Such vocations seem to have involved either a private or pubUc promise to remain a virgin; early fourth-century Church councils suggest that this was regarded as a binding contract similar to a marriage vow (Elm 1994: 26-7). The departure into the Egyptian desert of such early monastic figures as St Antony (born around 250) thus emerged in a culture in which single-minded commitment to prayer, ceUbacy, and separation from the rest of society were already seen as options available to both male and female members of the laity.
Three versions of monastic Ufe emerged in this early period and remained important throughout the Byzantine period: the eremetical (soUtary), the coenobitic (communal), and a mixture of the two that is best exemplified in the lavra system which developed first in both Egypt and Palestine. The eremetical way of monastic life could be quite unregulated, as in the case of Egyptian gerontes of the late third and fourth centuries, or it could be attached to and subject to the rules of a coenobitic monastery. This category in its widest sense included men and women who attempted to live out the Gospel teaching which advises those who wish to perfect themselves to give their property to the poor and to follow Christ (Matt. 19: 21). By the early fourth century, especiaUy in Egypt, men and women who had exiled themselves from the rest of society by living in deserted regions set an example of extreme asceticism and dedication to prayer. Many lived in close proximity to each other, as at Scetis and Nitria, but solitude as the distinguishing feature of this way of Ufe remained an ideal. The coenobitic system appeared first in the monasteries estabUshed by Pachomios and Shenoudi, who stressed the importance of equality and obedience among monks, aU of whom should be under the jurisdiction of a monastic superior. Ecclesiastical leaders such as Basil of Caesarea, Eustathios of Sebaste, and Gregory of Nazianzos are credited with promoting coenobitic monasticism in Asia Minor. Basil wrote two sets of Rules, the Longer and the Shorter, which influenced Byzantine monasticism thereafter. The /avra, in which the eremetical and coenobitic ways of Ufe could be combined, was usuaUy composed of a number of central buildings including a church, refectory, bakehouse, and storerooms, as weU as a number of soUtary ceUs in which monks would live as soUtaries during the week, only coming together on Saturdays and Sundays to participate in liturgical services and to replenish their supplies. These institutions originated as groups of disciples surrounding a charismatic spiritual leader. It is clear that aU three styles of monastic Ufe survived in various forms throughout the Byzantine centuries, with
Many later monasteries supporting solitary monks even though these institutions remained primarily coenobitic.
World History
