Description
This book presents four essays on different models of fuga mundi through monasticism bringing examples from the 3rd century East and 16th- and 17th-century Malta. After outlining the development of monasticism in early Christianity, the different models of monasticism proposed by Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus are discussed. Moving on to Malta, some correspondence between female monastic communities from Birgu, Mdina and Valletta and their superiors are analysed, bringing to light the needs that the members of these communities had. Finally, the life of a Maltese woman, Geltruda Cumbo, who left Malta to live as a monastic nun in Palermo is studied in its social and religious context.
Studies on Monasticism in Late Antiquity and Early Modern Malta
