Monastic settlement

Monastic settlements are areas built up in and around the development of monasteries with the spread of Christianity.

These settlements are of historic interest as the development of a monastery typically spurred other settlement developments over many hundred of years which may be rich in historical artefacts enabling understanding of social orders and the spread of culture and technologies. For instance, there were monastic settlements (e.g. Wadi al-Natrun), which developed a kind of council, which adopted the responsibility of communication between the monastery and the world.[1] There are also settlements that performed specialized tasks such as the preservation of religious texts as demonstrated by a distinctive literature called apophthegmata (sayings) recorded and preserved by men and women living in the community around Nitria.[2] Celtic Christianity also had the so-called "double-monasteries", where men and women could live within the same monastic settlement, spawning a community settled by supporters, which was governed by unique rules and intentions, particularly concerning gender relations and spiritual equality.[3]

References
  1. Sayed, Gawdat Gabra Abdel; Gabra, Visiting Professor of Coptic Studies Gawdat; Gabra, Gawdat; Vivian, Tim (2002). Coptic Monasteries:Egypt’s Monastic Art And Architecture. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-977-424-691-3.
  2. Esler, Philip Francis (2000). The Early Christian World. Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-415-16496-2.
  3. Schaus, Margaret (2006). Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 226. ISBN 0-415-96944-1.


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