The Emergence of Monasticism offers a new approach to the subject, placing its development against the dynamic of both social and religious change.

• First study in any language to cover the formative period of medieval monasticism.
• Gives particular attention to the contribution of women to ascetic and monastic life.

Marilyn Dunn is a graduate of Edinburgh University and a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Glasgow. She has published work on religious and Byzantine history.