HIST-211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 70: John Cassian, Medieval Latin, Cenobitic Monasticism
23 Sep 2020
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He also promoted monasticism as the backbone of latin christianity. Self denial and contemplation organized by way of rules: martyrs to monks. Monasticism arose as a form of self martyring. Christians were no longer persecuted, so they had to show their devotion via self denial: christian ascesis. Monasticism took 2 major forms: anchorites: those living in isolation, coenobites: those living in community, antony the great. Most important anchorite of late antiquity was this egyptian. According to his biography, he gave up all of his wealth and headed to the desert after hearing the gospel: pachomius. Another egyptian, perfected the idea of monks living communally under a rule. Antony fought demons alone in his desert cave. Pachomius" monks formed a community: spreading monasticism. Basil of caesarea developed coenobitic monasticism in the east. Martin of tours and john cassian spread greek monasticism to the latin world: transmitting culture. In addition to evangelizing, one function of monks was to keep classical culture alive.
