Pachomius founds the first communal monastery
Life under a common rule: the model for monasteries East and West
Around 320 Pachomius, a Coptic former Roman soldier, gathered monks at Tabennisi on the Nile who lived not as hermits but as a community, with shared work, meals and a written rule. By his death in 348 he led nine monasteries for men and two for women, with thousands of members. Jerome translated his rule into Latin, and through Basil the Great and Benedict of Nursia communal monasticism spread across the Christian world.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 4th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 313 Edict of Milan — 7 years earlier
- 330 Founding of Constantinople — 10 years later
Asia
- c. 320 Founding of the Gupta Empire — same year
Alive at the time
- Constantine the Great (aged 48)
- Ezana of Axum (aged 0)
- Anthony the Great (aged 69)