STUDITI. – Greek monks of the ancient coenobium of Constantinople called Studion (a strange name, whose true form was definitively established by H. Delehaye in Anal. Bolland., 52 [1934], pp. 64–65): founded, apparently, ca. 462 by the former consul of Rome
Studion, in the character of a chapel and small church, a century later received the acemeti monks (v.).
Among the very numerous monasteries of the Byzantine capital at that time (Marelli counts 81, Kalendarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae C., II, Rome 1788, p. 215), that of Studion stood out for its importance, so much so that its hegumen, in the public assemblies of the 8th century, occupied first place after the bishops. The number of the s. also contributed to this distinction, since, greatly reduced in the other monasteries during the iconoclastic persecutions, monks from everywhere settled at Studion, better situated near the Golden Gate, like an oasis of refuge. When, ca. 800, the celebrated s. Theodore (v.) was elected hegumen, nearly 700 s. were living there; during that period of ascetic flourishing under such a guide, their number rose to a full thousand. But even more than the number of the monks, what made Studion famous were the wise prescriptions of its true organizer and legislator, s. Theodore, concerning psalmody, fasting, manual labor, obedience, and hospitality, and especially the adjoining boarding school for the young men who there prepared themselves for religious life and for the study of the arts and sciences, as well as the great Library with its attached workshop for the transcription and production of precious codices. The s. were not spared by the iconoclast emperors, but they spread their civilization in exile.
A new period of alternating fortunes began for the s. when Constantinople was taken by the Latins (1204); this was followed by the monastery’s total dispersal as soon as the Turks occupied Byzantium (1453). Studion became the so-called Mosque of the Cavalier (Imbrahar-Dgiumi).
Among the most prominent s. must be remembered chiefly the saints venerated in the Byzantine Church—Plato, Theophanes, and Nicholas—or even in the universal Church, such as the founder Theodore, as well as not a few men of learning, such as his brother Joseph the Hymnographer and, after the schism, the writers Nicetas Pectoratus and Joseph Bryennios.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Studite monasticism was revived among the Ruthenians, organized by Metropolitan Andrew Szeptyckyj and subsequently guided by his brother, Count Casimir, who in religious profession assumed the name Clement. To the intense liturgical life and obedience inherited from the ancient Studion, the new s. added assistance to orphans and peasants. A characteristic of the Order is the abolition of the ancient distinction between hieromonks, hierodeacons, and simple religious; the priestly character, however, is expressly marked. At present, the Ruthenian s. of the various coenobia share in the events, so painful, of their lands.