This course studies issues regarding Byzantine monasteries and the monastic movement in relation to the Byzantine society and State. Students acquire knowledge on the appearance and establishment of monasticism as a spiritual and social movement in the early Byzantine period, and study its evolution in the middle and late Byzantine period. The study of this institution from the point of view of society and political life offers students insight on medieval Byzantium, and develops their critical thinking regarding investigating the causes and consequences of societal and institutional phenomena in their evolution.