In Byzantium, the populace respected and admired the monk . . . . Emperors loved him, shared their table with him, sought his blessing. Alexius III of Trebizond issued a chrysobull in 1364 in which he stated that ‘he relied for the defence of his Empire . . . and . . . placed greater faith in monasteries than in fortresses.’ (Peter Charanis, The Monk as an Element of Byzantine Society) How and why did Byzantine monks and monasteries play such a central role in medieval Byzantine society? Did these monks and monasteries live up to the “Basilian rule” which dictated their role in society?
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