Anchorite
An anchorite (female: anchoress) from "one who has retired from the world",[1][2] is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-filled, ascetic life. Anchorites are often considered to be a type of religious hermit,[3] unlike hermits, anchorites had to make a promise to God to stay in one place, which was a very small room, either attached to, or within the wall of, a local church.
The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of being a Christian monk. From the 12th to the 16th centuries, female anchorites consistently outnumbered their male equivalents, sometimes by as many as four to one (in the 13th century), dropping eventually to two to one (in the 15th century). The sex of a high number of anchorites, however, is not recorded for these periods.[4]
Notable people
Anchorite Media
Christina Carpenter was walled in to a cell in St James's Church in Shere, Surrey.
The Anchorite (1881), by Teodor Axentowicz
Anthony the Great, father of Christian Monasticism and early anchorite. The Coptic inscription reads ' Ⲡⲓⲛⲓϣϯ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓ' or 'The Great Father Anthony'.
Related pages
References
- ↑ Harper, Douglas. "anchorite". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ↑ ἀναχωρητής. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at Perseus Project.
- ↑ "BBB Radio 4: Making History – Anchorites". Archived from the original on 2003-06-24. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
- ↑ Herbert McAvoy, Liz (2005). Anchorites, Wombs And Tombs : Intersections Of Gender And Enclosure In The Middle Ages. University of Wales. pp. 13.
Other websites
Media related to Anchorites at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to Anchorite at Wikiquote