What was the role of the monasteries in the byzantine empire?

Answer 1

Different orders were founded for different purposes, and monasteries were built for those purposes, although some evolved into other purposes.

Some monasteries were simply places were religious people could devote their lives to prayer, as more than a few did. Kings sometimes abdicated and went to live in monasteries, and queens did even more often.

Some were places where people who were in trouble or abused could seek refuge. The royal governments were reluctant to risk removing people from sanctuary because doing so could mean excommunication to the people involved, and an excommunicated king's vassals were usually freed from their oaths of allegiance, so the life and power of the king would be at stake.

Some were hospitals, as we know them, and others were hostels, or places people on pilgrimage could stay.

Some monasteries were devoted to transcribing books, or even specifically to transcribing bibles.

Monasteries were places where some people could get educations. This is particularly true of people who were not to go to ordinary schools, and this included members of royal families because they were safer in monasteries than they would be in schools.

Some monasteries became focused on the production of specific foods, such as cheese, wine or beer.

Perhaps other people could add more to this.

Answer 2

During the days of the Roman Empire, or the early days of Christianity, the role of the monasteries was the same as now. They were places were men and women could devote themselves to Christian worship in isolation from the wider communities.

The earliest monks were hermits or solitary who lived in isolation in the desert like Jesus had done when he spent 40 days in the desert. They lived in a hut or a cave. Most of them were in the Egyptian desert. This has been called hermitic or solitary monasticism. These men withdrew from the world to live a life of asceticism, self-abnegation and devotion to Christian worship. Some prominent hermits attracted followers who went to live near them, but still in isolation. There were hermits already in the 1st century AD. This led to the evolution of closely-knit communities in the Egyptian desert. These men lived by themselves, but gathered together for common worship on Saturdays and Sundays. This had been called cenobitic (community-based) monasticism. They lived in monasteries with one or several buildings. In the latter case, a building housed some 20 monks who lived in separate rooms (cells) with two or three men each. The first cenobitic Christian monastery was established in Egypt in 346 by St Pachomius who wanted his disciples to live in an organised community where the men worked, ate and worshipped in a communal place. This was because many monks were unable to live in total isolation.

St Pachomius introduced rules for monastic life and had everyone dress the same and eat the same food. Separate monasteries for men and women were established. St Basil introduced the principles of ascetic life for monasteries in 370. These early stages occurred in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and were developed by the Greek/Eastern Church, the main church in this part of the empire (later it came to be called Orthodox). Monasteries were introduced in the western part of the Roman Empire by Saint John Cassian (360--435) who founded a monastery near Marseille. . The Latin/Western Church, the main church in the western part of the Roman Empire (later it came to be called Catholic) also developed monasteries. In 388 St Augustine founded a lay community based on monastic principles. St Benedict established a monastic order and between 530 and 560, he wrote the Rule of Saint Benedict as a guideline for monks living in community. Monasteries begun to be built in the countryside around the empire, rather than just in the desert.

Answer 3

Monasteries played a crucial role in preserving culture and encouraging literacy.