Late mediaeval anchoritism in Europe and the Mediterranean and its surviving elements in Gozo

Abstract

By the late Mediaeval period, a new phenomenon in the form of what is known as ‘anchoritism’ made its appearance in Europe and the Mediterranean. This phenomenon did not remain alien to the Maltese Islands and to Gozo in particular. This contribution seeks to trace any of its surviving elements in Gozo through two case studies: that of San Kerrew in Qala and that of San Eliju in the limits of Għajnsielem. But as it was a European and Mediterranean phenomenon, anchoritism and any of its surviving elements in Gozo are looked upon through these two case studies within the broader European and Mediterranean context.