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This dissertation investigates a middle Byzantine (10th-11th c.) typology, the rock-cut Courtyard Complexes, spread throughout Cappadocia in central Turkey, with a special focus on the A&ccedil / iksaray Group. Usually organized around three sided courtyards, these complexes stand either within an ensemble or in isolation. Nevertheless, the concentration of complexes is remarkable on strategic points near fortresses or military roads. Courtyard Complexes have large receptional suites as well as utilitarian spaces such as kitchens, stables and apparently multi-functional rooms all carved around a courtyard. The majority of the complexes have their own churches also carved in the rock mass. High decorated fa&ccedil / ades adorn the Courtyard Complexes and make them visible from a considerable distance. Because of the distinctive elaborate design, and the large number of still standing examples, as well as the communal life style that they indicate, these Cappadocian complexes have attracted scholarly attention in both monastic and secular Byzantine studies. Consequently, it was necessary for the dissertation to reconsider both religious and secular communities and their physical expressions in the form of monasteries and various dwelling types of the era. On the other hand, the idiosyncratic volcanic landscape and carved architecture required an extensive comparative architectural investigation of all Courtyard Complexes known so far in Cappadocia. Based on the results coming out from the contextual studies and architectural analysis this dissertation proposes aristocratic families with a military function on this border land of Byzantine as the initial inhabitants of the Courtyard Complexes. The A&ccedil / iksaray Group in particular, with the paucity of its churches contrasting its elaborate stables, bears the traces of a secular medieval community of some importance.

La thèse est une approche multidisciplinaire des coutumes religieuses et sociales byzantines en lien avec l’entrée au monastère et la profession monastique. L’étude se propose de mieux expliquer certains aspects peu compris de l’histoire du rituel liturgique ou de l’histoire des pratiques sociales. Parmi eux, nous mentionnons la terminologie utilisée pour décrire les étapes de la vie monastique, l’origine du petit habit monastique, l’introduction de la tonsure dans les pratiques utilisées à l’entrée au monastère, le nombre et le nom des habits reçus le jour de la profession monastique, les règles sociales qui gouvernaient le départ vers cette nouvelle forme de vie. Notre recherche vise l’évolution de l’ensemble de ces pratiques monastiques tout au long de l’histoire byzantine. Elle utilise à la fois des sources historiques, canoniques, littéraires, liturgiques et iconographiques. Le point clé de notre interprétation est la distinction entre deux traditions monastiques, l’une provenant de Jérusalem et l’autre provenant de Constantinople. Dans cette perspective, l’histoire des pratiques étudiées devient un « conte de deux cités », terme déjà utilisé dans un contexte strictement liturgique par R. Taft, mais pas encore appliqué à la vie monastique. Ce dialogue entre deux coutumes monastiques suffisamment différentes constitue la source d’un nombre important de clarifications terminologiques et liturgiques. On constate la coexistence sans conflit de ces traditions d’origines différentes, leurs influences mutuelles et une remarquable capacité de synthèse propre à la vie ascétique byzantine. Certains des traits du monachisme de cette époque sont encore observables dans le monachisme d’influence byzantine d’aujourd’hui. / The thesis is a multidisciplinary approach to the Byzantine religious and social customs in relation to the entrance into the monastery and the monastic profession. The study aims to better explain some aspects of the history of the liturgical ritual or the history of social practices that remain little understood. Among these, we discuss the terminology used to describe the stages of the monastic life, the origin of the small monastic habit, the introduction of the tonsure among the practices used at the entrance to the monastery, the number and the names of habits received on the day of monastic profession, the social rules that governed the start of this new form of life. The research focuses on the overall evolution of these monastic practices throughout the Byzantine history. In so doing, it uses the historical, canonical, literary, liturgical and iconographic sources. The key point of our interpretation is the distinction between two monastic traditions, one from Jerusalem and another from Constantinople. From this perspective, the history of the practices studied here becomes a "tale of two cities", a term already used in a strictly liturgical context by R. Taft, but not yet applied to the monastic life. The dialogue between these two different monastic traditions is the source of a large number of terminological and liturgical clarifications. We observe the non-conflictual coexistence of these practices of different origins, their mutual influence and a remarkable capacity for synthesis within the Byzantine ascetic life. Some features of the monastic life during this period are still found in the nowadays monasticism of Byzantine influence.