315 14 Monasteries old and new: the nature of the evidence Pamela Armstrong In 2000 the five volumes of Byzantine monastic foundation documents (BMFD) were published, an indispensable tool for those interested in the foundation and organisation of Byzantine monasteries. 1 BMFD consists of all known foundation charters and testaments, although some memoranda are included too. There is other evidence for the foundation of monasteries, such as hagiographies, but they were not generally 2 included in the BMFD because, reasonably, they do not claim direct witness to foundations and, as a class of religious documents, hagiographies naturally belong in a different category from monastic charters. The aim of this discussion, however, is firstly to demonstrate that hagiographies had a range of functions beyond their core raison d’être (recording the deeds and life of a holy man or woman), which could, especially if the holy person had founded a monastery, include acting as a record of property rights or An earlier version of this paper was delivered during the day school: ‘Monasticism east and west: founding and sustaining monasteries’, at Queen’s University Belfast. I am extremely grateful to Richard Catling for his careful scrutiny of my text. Alan Harvey is acknowledged with thanks for insightful discussions of the subject on a number of occasions, and also Margaret Mullett and Judith Herrin for their advice over a number of years; Alice-Mary Talbot generously provided access to her work in advance of publication. 1 Byzantine monastic foundation documents. A complete translation of the surviving founders’ typika and testaments, ed. J. Thomas and A. Constantinides Hero with the assistance of G. Constable, 5 vols (DOS, 35, Washington, DC, 2000). 2 ‘Included’ typikon material from saints’ lives, e.g. Life of Euthymios, Life of Lazaros, is of course published in BMFD, see above Mullett, 185-192.