Christian monasticism in the context of "Anchorite"

Dominus is the Latin word for Lord or owner. Dominus was used primarily as an imperial title during the era of the Roman Empire (25 BC – 1453 AD) and was also the Latin title of the feudal, superior and mesne, lords. Dominus was also used as an ecclesiastical and academic title during thattime. The ecclesiastical title was translated from the French seigneur into English as sir, making it a common prefix for parsons before the Reformation. This is evident by the character's name Sir Hugh Evans in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. The title Dominus is still used in modern times for those with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

The shortened form for Dominus – Dom – has remained in use in modern times as a prefix of honor for ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church, and members of religious orders, especially for those of the monastic Order of Saint Benedict, the Benedictines, who have professed perpetual religious vows. The Spanish equivalents of Doñacode: spa promoted to code: es and the French equivalent of Dame are given to nuns of the Benedictine order.

The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (Latin: Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits, although some, like the Olivetans, wear white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.

Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy. They are instead organized as a collection of autonomous monasteries and convents, some known as abbeys. The order is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation, an organization set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have a superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to the Vatican and to the world.

Pepin the Short (Latin: Pipinus; French: Pépin le Bref; German: Pippin der Kurze; c. 714 – 24 September 768) was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.

Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude. Pepin's upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the Christian monks of the Abbey Church of St. Denis, near Paris. In 741, after Pepin and his older brother Carloman besieged their half-brother Grifo (who did not accept their father's plans for succession) at Laon and imprisoned him in a monastery, he and Carloman succeeded their father as the Mayor of the Palace; In effect, Pepin reigned over Francia jointly with his elder brother, Carloman. Pepin ruled in Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, while his older brother Carloman established himself in Austrasia, Alemannia, and Thuringia. The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the Bavarians, Aquitanians, Saxons, and the Alemanni in the early years of their reign. In 743, they ended the Frankish Interregnum [fr] by choosing Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian monarch, as figurehead King of the Franks.

The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה, romanized: Midbar Yehuda, Arabic: برية الخليل, romanized: Bariyat al-Khalil) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that stretches east of the ridge of the Judaean Mountains and in their rain shadow, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea.

The Judaean Desert has historically functioned as a place of refuge for rebels and displaced populations. According to the Hebrew Bible, David took shelter there while fleeing from King Saul. The Hasmonean rulers of Judaea, and their successor, Herod the Great, built several monumental fortresses in the region, including Herodium, Hyrcania, and Masada. In the period of the Jewish–Roman Wars, the desert became a key theater of conflict, with Roman forces besieging major strongholds. Caves in the area, such as the Cave of Letters and the Cave of Horrors, later served as hiding places for Jewish refugees, preserving personal documents, religious texts, skeletons, weapons, clothing, and household items—thanks to the region's arid climate. The desert also attracted religious sects, including the classical-era Jewish ascetics of Qumran (likely Essenes) and Byzantine-era Christian monks who practiced spiritual isolation in local lavras.

Göreme (Turkish: [ɟœˈɾeme]; Ancient Greek: Κόραμα, romanized: Kòrama) is a town (belde) in the Nevşehir District, Nevşehir Province in Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its population is 2,034 (2022). It is well known for its fairy chimneys (Turkish: peribacalar), eroded rock formations, many of which were hollowed out in the Middle Ages to create Christian churches, houses and underground cities. Göreme was formerly known as Korama, Matiana, Macan and Avcilar.

Göreme sits at the heart of a network of valleys filled with astonishing rock formations. Being a centre of early Christianity, it also has the most painted churches, as well as hermitages and monasteries, in Cappadocia.

Tyrannius Rufinus, also called Rufinus of Aquileia (Latin: Rufinus Aquileiensis; 344/345–411), was an early Christian monk, philosopher, historian, and theologian who worked to translate Greek patristic material, especially the work of Origen, into Latin.

The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism in the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began within the Benedictine order at Cluny Abbey, founded in 910 by William I, Duke of Aquitaine (875–918). The reforms were largely carried out by Saint Odo (c. 878 – 942) and spread throughout France (Burgundy, Provence, Auvergne, Poitou), into England (the English Benedictine Reform), and through much of Italy, northern Portugal and Spain.