Children and Family in Late Antique Egyptian Monasticism

Caroline T. Schroeder's book explores the complex relationship between children and monasteries in late antiquity, Egypt, highlighting the paradoxes of vulnerability and cherishment. She examines diverse sources to demonstrate how monasteries provided social, cultural, and economic continuity while contesting the traditional family's claims.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 269 pages
Publication date: 10 March 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

This groundbreaking book is the first comprehensive study of children in one of the birthplaces of early Christian monasticism, Egypt. Despite being composed of individuals who had renounced sex and family, the monasteries of late antiquity played a crucial role in raising children, educating them, and nurturing their potential to carry on the monastic lineage and legacies into the future. Within these monastic institutions, children existed in a unique liminal space, simultaneously vulnerable to the whims and abuses of adults and yet cherished as potential future monastic prodigies. To unravel these paradoxes, Caroline T. Schroeder employs a diverse range of sources, including letters, rules, saints' lives, art, and documentary evidence. Through her meticulous examination of these sources, she showcases how early Egyptian monasteries not only provided an intergenerational continuity of social, cultural, and economic capital but also challenged the traditional family's claims to these forms of social continuity. This insightful work sheds light on the complex dynamics and multifaceted roles of children within early Christian monastic communities and contributes to our understanding of the historical and cultural significance of childhood in the ancient world.

Weight: 366g
ISBN-13: 9781316610084
Edition number: New ed