Cassianus, Johannes (c. 360–435)

Monk and theologian. He was one of the founders of western monasticism. He was probably born in Provence, France, but spent his early life in a monastery at Bethlehem in the middle east. With his friend Germanus he travelled to Egypt, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey), and Marseilles, France, where he founded two religious houses, one a convent for nuns, and the other the abbey of St Victor, which is said to have sheltered 5,000 immates during his lifetime. After his death he was the object of a popular cult. He wrote De Institutione Coenobiorum and Collationes Patrum, treatises on monastic life.