Monasticism begins
Christians withdraw to the Egyptian desert, and an institution forms around the impulse.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 230 years
- Known to
- ± 20 years
- Era
- Classical, Holocene
Anthony the Great goes into the Egyptian desert around 270 CE, and others follow — first as hermits, then in organised communities under Pachomius. Basil in the east and later Benedict in the west write rules balancing prayer, study and manual labour. Monasteries become the institutions that copy and preserve texts through the collapse of Roman administration in the West, which is why a good deal of classical literature survives at all.