Greek monasticism in Campania and Latium from the tenth to the fifteenth century

Abstract

Book Title – Greek Monasticism in Southern Italy: The Life of Neilos in Context (edited by Barbara Crostini and Ines Angeli Murzaku) Chapter Number & Title – Chapter 3 : Greek Monasticism in Campania and Latium from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century (by Vera von Falkenhausen) During the tenth and early eleventh century, many Greeks from Calabria and Sicily left their homes because of continuous Arab incursions and moved to Campania, especially to the Lombard principalities of Salerno, Capua and Benevento, and even further north to Latium. This migration is well attested in archival documents and hagiographical texts in Greek and Latin. Some of the emigres founded churches and monasteries in their new homeland. This article describes the various sorts of foundation, the life and activity of the Greek monks in a Latin-Lombard environment and the decline of this Greek monasticism outside the borders of the Byzantine empire during the late Middle Ages.