Monks and Laymen in Byzantium, 843}}}1118 [Paperback]

This book reassesses the role of monks in Byzantine society.In Byzantium monks did not form a separate caste, apart from society. They formed part of a nexus of social, economic and spiritual relationships which bound together the 'powerful' in the middle Byzantine state. Using hagiography, chronicles and, in particular, the newly-available archives of the Athonite monasteries, this book reassesses the role of monks in Byzantine society and examines the reasons for the flowering of the monastic life in the period from the end of iconoclasm to the beginning of the twelfth century.In Byzantium monks did not form a separate caste, apart from society. They formed part of a nexus of social, economic and spiritual relationships which bound together the 'powerful' in the middle Byzantine state. Using hagiography, chronicles and, in particular, the newly-available archives of the Athonite monasteries, this book reassesses the role of monks in Byzantine society and examines the reasons for the flowering of the monastic life in the period from the end of iconoclasm to the beginning of the twelfth century.In Byzantium monks did not form a separate caste, apart from society. They formed part of a nexus of social, economic and spiritual relationships that bound together the powerful in the middle Byzantine state. Using hagiography, chronicles and, in particular, the newly-available archives of the Athonite monasteries, this book reassesses the role of monks in Byzantine society and examines the reasons for the flowering of the monastic life in the period from the end of iconoclasm to the beginning of the twelfth century.List of maps and tables; Acknowledgments; Note on transliteration and citation; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Founders and Benefactors: 1. The resurgence of the monastic life; 2. Groups, communities and solitaries; 3. Monastic founders; 4. Monasticism and society; 5. Piety, patronage and politics; Part II. Protection and Survival: 6. Monasteries l³.