Contextualizing Cassian: Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reformation in Fifth-Century Gaul

by Richard J. Goodrich

Richard J. Goodrich examines the attempt by the fifth-century ascetic writer John Cassian to influence and shape the development of Western monasticism. Goodrich's close analysis of Cassian's earliest work ( The Institutes ) focuses on his interaction with the values and preconceptions of a traditional Roman elite, as well as his engagement with contemporary writers. By placing The Institutes in context, Goodrich demonstrates just how revolutionary this foundational work was for its time and milieu.

310 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 2007