Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasticism

Variorum
edited by Anthony Bryer and Mary B. Cunningham
ISBN: 0860785513
price: $89.95   hardcover

The papers in this volume derive from the 28th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, held for the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies at the University of Birmingham in March 1994.
Virtually from the time of their first foundation, the monastic communities of Mount Athos assumed a central position in the world of Orthodox Christianity The spiritual, political, and economic influence of the Holy Mountain soon transcended the boundaries of the Byzantine empire within which it lay, to take on a supra-national importance and become one of the pillars of Orthodoxy after the fall of the empire.
For the historian, the significance of Mount Athos is enhanced by the fact that its archives contain the most substantial body of Byzantine documentation to have survived the Middle Ages, and its libraries, treasuries, and buildings have preserved much that has elsewhere been lost. Theses archives are now largely edited, and investigation of the art and archaeology is yielding substantial evidence.
The papers in this volume, by a group of international scholars, embody the fruits of this research. Starting form Athos itself, they embrace the whole phenomenon of Byzantine monasticism, dealing with questions of asceticism, authority, community, economy, enlightenment, fortification, hesychasm, liturgy, manuscripts, music, patronage, scandal, spirituality, and women. Together, these papers provide a coherent and immediate view of scholarship in the field.
Mount Athos and Byzantine Monasticism is the fourth volume in the series published by Ashgate/Variorum for the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies.
Contents: Preface; Spring Symposia of Byzantine Studies: a record; List of abbreviations; Section I: From Stoudios to Athos; St. Athanasios the Athonite: traditionalist of innovator?, Kallistos Ware, Bishop of Diokleia; Symeon the new theologian (d.1022) and Byzantine monasticism, John A. McGuckin; The origins of Athos, Rosemary Morris; Byzantine monasteries in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Synaxis, Mt. Papikion, St. John Prodromos Monastery), Ch. Bakirtzis; Section II: Community and spirituality; The Athonite monastic tradition during the 11th and early 12th centuries, Dirk Krausmüller; Women and Mt. Athos, Alice-Mary Talbot; Athos: a working community, Archimandrite Ephrem Lash; Section III: Economy and patronage; The monastic economy and imperial patronage from the 10th to the 12th centuries, Alan Harvey; Patronage in Palaiologan Mt. Athos, Nikolaos Oikonomides; The buildings of Vatopedi and their patrons, Stavros B. Mamaloukos; "A safe and holy mountain:" early Ottoman Athos, Elizabeth A. Zachariadou; Section IV: Music and manuscripts; The libraries of Mt. Athos: the case of Philotheou, Robert W. Allison; Hesychasm and psalmody, Alexander Lingas; Section V: Art and architecture; The architectural development of the Athonite monastery, Peter Burridge; The "Tzimikes" tower of the Great Lavra Monastery, Sotiris Voyadjis; Recent research into Athonite monastic architecture, 10th-16th centuries, Ploutarchos Theocharides; The painted psalms of Athos, Günter Paulus Schiemenz; Section VI: Athos beyond Athos; L'Athos, l'Orient et le Caucase au XIe siècle, Bernadette Martin-Hisard; L'Athos et les Romains, Virgil Cândea; Athos and the Enlightenment, Paschalis M. Kitromilides; Index.