Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders' Typika and Testaments

Dumbarton Oaks
edited by John Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero
ISBN: 0884022323
price: $150.00   hardcover

Among the many types of sources for the history of Byzantine monasticism, none are more important than the typika, or foundation documents, collected and translated in these volumes, which will make possible for the first time a comprehensive study of religious life and institutions in the Greek East and a comparison between Greek and Latin monasticism. Together, the typika throw light on almost every aspect of Byzantine monastic life and its development from the eighth to the fifteenth century. Their nature is discussed by John Thomas in the introduction. They were flexible and personal documents, which differed considerably in form, length, and content. Not all of them were foundation documents in the strict sense, since they could be issued at any time in the history of an institution. Some were wills; others were reform decrees and rules; yet others were primarily liturgical in character. (from the Preface, Giles Constable)