Children and Family in Late Antique Egyptian Monasticism

This is the first book-length study of children in one of the birthplaces of early Christian monasticism, Egypt. Although comprised of men and women who had renounced sex and family, the monasteries of late antiquity raised children, educated them, and expected them to carry on their monastic lineage and legacies into the future. Children within monasteries existed in a liminal space, simultaneously vulnerable to the whims and abuses of adults and also cherished as potential future monastic prodigies. Caroline T. Schroeder examines diverse sources - letters, rules, saints' lives, art, and documentary evidence - to probe these paradoxes. In doing so, she demonstrates how early Egyptian monasteries provided an intergenerational continuity of social, cultural, and economic capital while also contesting the traditional family's claims to these forms of social continuity.

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‘an important and comprehensive contribution that will be very much appreciated by the academic community. Students and scholars of the late antique world, the history of Christianity and monasticism, and the Eastern Mediterranean will all find [Schroeder's] nuanced work meaningful and valuable … Her ultimate contribution, in my opinion, is illustrating how classical virtues and institutions were baptized and immortalized in the history of Christianity.’ Mary Ghattas, Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies

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Product details

• Date Published: March 2022
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9781316610084
• length: 269 pages

• dimensions: 228 x 152 x 15 mm
• weight: 0.39kg
• contains: 10 b/w illus.
• availability: Available