Gyrovagues (sometimes Gyrovagi or Gyruvagi) were wandering monks without fixed residence or leadership who relied on charity and the hospitality of others. The term is used to refer to a class of monks, rather than a specific order, and may be pejorative as they are almost universally denounced by Christian writers of the Early Middle Ages. They were denounced as wretched by Benedict of Nursia, who accused them of indulging their passions and cravings. Augustine called them Circumcelliones and attributed the selling of fake relics as their innovation. Cassian also mentions a class of monk which may have been identical, who were reputed to be gluttons who refused to fast at the proper times. Up until the time of Benedict, several attempts had been made by various synods at suppressing and disciplining monks who refused to settle in a cloister. With the establishment of the Rule of St. Benedict in the eighth century, the cenobite form of monasticism became the accepted form of monasticism within the Church, and the wandering monk phenomenon faded into obscurity. A monk is a person who practices asceticism, the conditioning of mind and body in favor of the spirit. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christianity. ... Justinians wife Theodora and her retinue, in a 6th century mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. ... Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. ... For the first Archbishop of Canterbury, see Saint Augustine of Canterbury. ... A relic is an object, especially a piece of the body or a personal item of someone of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial, Relics are an important aspect of Buddhism, some denominations of Christianity, Hinduism, shamanism, and many other personal belief systems. ... Cassian, or Saint Cassian of Imola was a Christian saint of the 4th century. ... St Benedict of Nursia The Rule of St Benedict by Benedict of Nursia (fl. ... Cenobite may mean: Cenobitic, a follower of a Cenobitic monastic tradition Cenobite (Hellraiser), a demon in Clive Barkers Hellraiser This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ...

Legacy

After the eighth century, the term Gyrovagi was sometimes used pejoratively to refer to degenerate monks within a monastery, or to travelling salesmen. The traveling salesman problem (TSP), also known as the traveling salesperson problem, is a problem in discrete or combinatorial optimization. ...

Sources

• The Rule of St. Benedict
• The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge