Grazers (Christianity)

Saint Paul, "The First Hermit", Jusepe de Ribera, Museo del Prado (1640)

The grazers or boskoi (in Ancient Greek: βοσκοί, romanized: boskoí) are a category of hermits and anchorites, men and women, in Christianity, that developed in the first millennium of the Christian era, mainly in the Christian East, in Syria, Palestine, Pontus, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. However, the majority of them were situated in Palestine and Syria.[1][2]

They derived their name from their practices, which consisted of nourishing themselves only with raw plants, often on all fours, and living in a wild manner, "among the beasts."[1][3] They were dressed in clothes made exclusively from leaves and vegetation, or simply completely naked.[1][4] Furthermore, they did not cultivate plants and did not use fire.[5][6] They were linked to another type of hermits called the "dendrites", which seemed to have the same way of living but in trees.[7]

The grazers may perhaps be among the inspirations for the wild man archetype, a legendary figure in medieval Europe.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Meunier, Bernard (2010-12-31). "Le désert chrétien, avatar des utopies antiques ?". Kentron (26): 79–96. doi:10.4000/kentron.1369. ISSN 0765-0590. Archived from the original on 2023-08-25. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  2. ^ Paṭrikh, Yosef, ed. (2001). The Sabaite heritage in the Orthodox Church from the fifth century to the present. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta. Leuven: Peeters. ISBN 978-90-429-0976-2.
  3. ^ "ASCÈSE & ASCÉTISME, L'ascèse chrétienne - Encyclopædia Universalis". www.universalis.fr. Archived from the original on 2023-08-25. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  4. ^ Déroche, Vincent (2007-12-31). "Quand l'ascèse devient péché: les excès dans le monachisme byzantin d'après les témoignages contemporains". Kentron (23): 167–178. doi:10.4000/kentron.1752. ISSN 0765-0590. Archived from the original on 2023-08-25. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  5. ^ Rubin, R. (2002). "The Melagria: On Anchorites and Edible Roots in Judaean Desert". Liber Annuus (in Italian). 52: 347–352. doi:10.1484/J.LA.2.303559. ISSN 0081-8933. Archived from the original on 2023-12-28. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  6. ^ Jotischky, Andrew (2011). A hermit's cookbook: monks, food and fasting in the Middle Ages. London New York, NY: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-2393-1.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).