Consecrated Women, Monks, and Priscillianism in the Hispano-Roman / Suevic-Visigothic Councils, Annales Historia Conciliorum, 51 (2021), 53-82

It is no exaggeration that monasticism, masculine and feminine, in its solitary or communal
expression became an attractive and highly influential form of living the Christian life. The
paradigm for both was there from the beginning in the New Testament. It was not until the
third century onward that monasticism became institutionalized. This asceticism spread
rapidly initially in the eastern Mediterranean and soon in the West. In the early centuries
major ascetics emerged that shaped the movement: Antony and Pachomius among others
come to mind. The contributions of monasticism were significant and deep in society at
large and the Church. In the fourth century as councils became the main venue for bishops
to guide the Church, monasticism and asceticism naturally did not escape their attention.
This study for the first time explores all of the conciliar legislation on monasticism focusing
en religious life, male and female, in Hispania from the fourth to seventh centuries.