Anchorite

For other uses of "Anchorite" and "Anchoress", see Anchorite (disambiguation).
Anchorite's cell in Skipton
Christina Carpenter was walled in to a cell in Shere, Surrey.[1]
St Anthony the Great, father of Christian Monasticism and early anchorite

Anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress; adj. anchoritic; from Ancient Greek: ἀναχωρητής, anachōrētḗs, "one who has retired from the world",[2][3] from the verb ἀναχωρέω, anachōréō, signifying "to withdraw", "to retire"[4]) denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life. Whilst anchorites are frequently considered to be a type of religious hermit,[5] unlike hermits they were required to take a vow of stability of place, opting instead for permanent enclosure in cells often attached to churches. Also unlike hermits, anchorites were subject to a religious rite of consecration that closely resembled the funeral rite, following which—theoretically, at least—they would be considered dead to the world, a type of living saint. Anchorites had a certain autonomy, as they did not answer to any ecclesiastical authority other than the bishop.[6]

The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of Christian monastic living. In the Roman Catholic Church today it is one of the "Other Forms of Consecrated Life" and governed by the same norms as the consecrated eremitic life.[7] From the twelfth to the sixteenth century, female anchorites consistently outnumbered their male equivalents, sometimes by as many as four to one (in the thirteenth century), dropping eventually to two to one (in the fifteenth century). However, there is also a high number of anchorites whose sex is not recorded for these periods.[8]

Anchoritic life

The anchoritic life became widespread during the early and high Middle Ages. Examples of the dwellings of anchorites and anchoresses survive. A large number of these are in England. They tended to be a simple cell (also called anchorhold), built against one of the walls of the local village church.[9] In the Germanic lands from at least the tenth century it was customary for the bishop to say the office of the dead as the anchorite entered his cell, to signify the anchorite's death to the world and rebirth to a spiritual life of solitary communion with God and the angels. Sometimes, if the anchorite was walled up inside the cell, the bishop would put his seal upon the wall to stamp it with his authority. But some anchorites freely moved between their cell and the adjoining church.[10]

Most anchoritic strongholds were small, perhaps no more than 12 or 15 feet square, with three windows. Viewing the altar, hearing Mass, and receiving Holy Communion was possible through one small, shuttered window in the common wall facing the sanctuary, called a "hagioscope" or "squint". Anchorites would also provide spiritual advice and counsel to visitors through this window, as the anchorites gained a reputation for wisdom.[11] There was another small window that would have allowed access to those who saw to the anchorite's physical needs, like food and other necessities. The third window quite possibly faced the street but was covered with translucent cloth to allow light into the cell.[6]

Anchorites were supposed to remain in their cell in all eventualities. Some were even burned in their cells, which they refused to leave even when pirates or other attackers were looting and burning their towns.[12] They ate frugal meals, and spent their days both in contemplative prayer and interceding on behalf of others. Anchorites' bodily waste was managed by means of a chamber pot.[13]

In addition to being the crucial physical location wherein the anchorite could embark on the journey towards union with God and the culmination of spiritual perfection, the anchorhold also provided a spiritual and geographic focus for many of those people from the wider society who came to ask for advice and spiritual guidance, and who proceeded to read of the works and lives of anchorites, frequently recasting them in their own gendered image as part of a process of identification. It is clear that, although set apart from the community at large by stone walls and specific spiritual precepts, the anchorite also lay at the very centre of that same community. The anchorhold was clearly also a communal 'womb' from which would emerge an idealized sense of a community's own reborn potential, both as Christians and as human subjects.[8]

An idea of their daily routine can be gleaned from an anchoritic Rule. The most widely known today is the early-thirteenth-century text known as Ancrene Wisse.[14] Another, less widely known, example is the rule known as De Institutione Inclusarum written around 1160–62 by Aelred of Rievaulx for his sister.[15] It is estimated that the daily set devotions detailed in Ancrene Wisse would take some four hours, on top of which anchoresses would listen to services in the church, and engage in their own private prayers and devotional reading.[16]

Famous anchorites

The earliest recorded anchorites lived in the third century AD; for example, St. Hilarion (Gaza, 291 – Cyprus, 371) was known as the founder of anchoritic life in Palestine (Catholic encyclopedia, ST. JEROME, Vita S. Hilarionis in P.L., III, 29-54).

The anchoritic life proved especially popular in England. Well-known anchorites include:

In total, there is evidence for the existence of around 780 anchorites on 600 sites in England between 1100 and 1539, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and brought anchoritism in England to an end. Women were more numerous among the anchorites than men—considerably so in the thirteenth century.[23]

Good examples of English anchorholds can still be seen at Chester-le-Street in Durham, and at Hartlip in Kent.

"The Anchorite" by Teodor Axentowicz

Notable people

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anchorites.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Wyndham Thomas (2012). Robert Saxton: Caritas. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 16–20. ISBN 978-0-7546-6601-1.
  2. ↑ Harper, Douglas. "anchorite". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  3. ↑ ἀναχωρητής. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  4. ↑ ἀναχωρέω in Liddell and Scott
  5. ↑ BBB Radio 4: Making History – Anchorites
  6. 1 2 LePan, Don (2011). The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Broadview Press. p. 348.
  7. ↑ The Code of Canon Law 1983, canon 603
  8. 1 2 Herbert McAvoy, Liz (2005). Anchorites, Wombs And Tombs : Intersections Of Gender And Enclosure In The Middle Ages. University of Wales. p. 13.
  9. ↑ Tom Licence, Hermits and Recluses in English Society 950-1200, (Oxford, 2011), pp. 87-9
  10. ↑ Licence, Hermits and Recluses, pp. 123, 120.
  11. ↑ Licence, Hermits and Recluses, pp. 158-72
  12. ↑ Licence, Hermits and Recluses, pp. 77-9
  13. ↑ The Anchoress on line . Q&As Accessed October 2008
  14. ↑ Ancrene Wisse
  15. ↑ Translated by Mary Paul MacPherson in Treatises and the Pastoral Prayer, Cistercian Fathers Series 2, (Kalamazoo, 1971). In English the work is variously titled The Eremitical Life, The Rule of Life for a Recluse and The Training of Anchoresses.
  16. ↑ Ancrene Wisse, trans Hugh White, (Penguin, 1993), p.viii
  17. ↑ Ancrene Wisse, trans Hugh White, (Penguin, 1993), p.xiii
  18. ↑ University of Saint Thomas–Saint Paul, MN "Petition to Become an Anchoress", http://courseweb.stthomas.edu, 2003, 2012-04-22
  19. ↑ "History of Shere", sheredelight.com, 2011, 2012-04-22
  20. ↑ Jonathan Hughes, ‘Kirkby, Margaret (d. 1391x4)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 6 May 2011
  21. ↑ Ancrene Wisse, trans Hugh White, (Penguin, 1993), p.xiii
  22. ↑ Revelations of Divine Love
  23. ↑ Ancrene Wisse, trans Hugh White, (Penguin, 1993)

External links

Historical development

Roman Catholic Church links

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