From the deserts of Egypt to the emergence of the great Monastic orders, the story of late antique and Medieval monasticism in the West used to be straightforward.
In the first part of this book, the reader is introduced to the astonishing variety of Forms and Experiences of the Monastic life, their continuous transformation, and their embedding in physical, socio-economic, and even personal set.
But today we see the story as far \'messier\' - less linear, less unified, and more historicized.
From the deserts of Egypt to the emergence of the great Monastic orders, the story of late antique and Medieval monasticism in the West used to be straightforward