IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 208: The Transformation of Asceticism

Monday 7 July 2014, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Network for the Study of Late Antique & Early Medieval Monasticism
Organiser:	Albrecht Diem, Department of History, Syracuse University, New York
Moderator/Chair:	Albrecht Diem, Department of History, Syracuse University, New York
Paper 208-a	Ascetic Rhetoric: Constructing Proper Monastic Speakers in Basil of Caesarea's Retreat at Annisa (Language: English) Stefan Hodges-Kluck, Marco Institute for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 208-b	Family and Ascesis in Pseudo-Nilos Narrationes (Language: English) Fotis Vasileiou, Religions et Sociétés dans le Monde Méditerranéen (RESMED) Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 208-c	Donors' Inscriptions and the 'Ascetic' Family in Rome: The 8th-Century Texts of Santa Maria Antiqua and Sant'Angelo in Pescheria (Language: English) Gregor Kalas, College of Architecture & Design, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Monasticism, Religious Life
Abstract	Asceticism belongs to the most widely used but least defined terms for those who study late antique and early medieval 'radical' religions life. The Greek term askesis simply means 'exercise' and appears originally in the context of sport; the Latin term asceticus appears rarely (if ever) in late antique and early medieval sources but becomes a major descriptive category in modern research. The three papers in this session address investigate different practices and models of religious life that appear to be 'ascetic' from a modern point of view. Comparing these different asceticisms will show to what extent it makes sense to apply this category at all.