From its beginnings, Christianity has been fundamentally conditioned by the idea of repentance. However, while the institutional practice of repentance in the early Christian world has received much scholarly attention, relatively little exists which deals with the development and applications of the wider concept (of which its institutional aspect is only a part). The purpose of this dissertation is to provide both a re-assessment and a re-framing of this foundational concept of repentance in Christian late antiquity, with special reference to formative Greek monastic sources from the fifth to seventh centuries. Following a discussion of scholarship, terms, and methodology in chapter one, the question of defining repentance in the Greek patristic world is addressed in chapter two, looking first at the major sources for later approaches (the Septuagint, the New Testament, and Classical/Hellenistic texts). A significant re-appraisal of the dominant scholarly narrative of repentance in the early church will be offered in the following chapter, making way for a close study of the chosen monastic authors: Mark the Monk, Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, and John Climacus in turn. A threefold framework whereby their respective approaches to repentance can be understood in their integrity and diversity will be suggested, involving 1) initial or 'cognisant' repentance, in which the sinner recognizes his or her fallen state and turns it heavenward; 2) 'existential' repentance, which involves the living out of repentance as a way of life, governing all the Christian's actions and intentions; 3) 'Christ-like' repentance, which serves as the summit and ultimate goal of the Christian's personal repentance, whereby the loving and sacrificial 'repentance' of Christ for others and the world at large is assimilated and worked out in the Christian's own life. It will be argued that this framework provides a new and significant hermeneutical lens through which not simply the early Christian concept of repentance in itself can be better understood, but also through which the development of early Christian self-identity and self-perception, particularly in an ascetic context, can be gauged.

La présente étude s’attache à retracer l’histoire textuelle de l’Échelle, encore jamais entreprise, à travers un corpus manuscrit comportant près de 350 codices ; ce corpus est traité exhaustivement du IXe s. au XIIIe s. et partiellement jusqu’au XVIIe s .L’ouvrage composé au VIIe s. est constitué des discours ascétiques de Jean du Sinaï et de plusieurs pièces-annexes. Il est considéré dans la tradition manuscrite comme le livre de l’Échelle (Κλίμαξ) faite de trente degrés, guide spirituel menant au ciel, et son auteur reçoit l’appellation de Climaque (ὁ τῆς Κλίμακος). Les pratiques de lecture de l’ouvrage, sa place dans les recueils et ses emprunts témoignent du rôle important qu’a joué l’Échelle, avec ses aphorismes et ses métaphores, dans la littérature ascétique à Byzance. Un abondant corpus de scholies exégétiques rédigées au Xe s. et développé par des citations d’auteurs ascétiques au XIe s. atteste de la réception originale de l’œuvre de Jean Climaque. Le Commentaire d’Élie de Crète, composé au début du XIIe s. et conservé dans 19 manuscrits, propose une exégèse exhaustive de l’ouvrage en s’appuyant sur les scholies mais aussi sur de nombreuses références patristiques et philosophiques. La présente thèse propose un classement des codices de l’Échelle, de ses scholies et un stemma codicum du Commentaire d’Élie ; tous les manuscrits examinés sont décrits sous forme d’un répertoire. L’étude établit les éditions princeps et critiques de nombreuses scholies et d’une partie du Commentaire. / The study relates the textual history of the Ladder, which has never been made attempted before, through a manuscript corpus containing nearly 350 codices exhaustively from the 9th to the 13th and partially up to the 17th century.The work composed in the 7th century is made up of the ascetic discourses of John Sinaites and of a few textual pieces enclosed with them. It is considered in the manuscript tradition as the book of the Ladder (Κλίμαξ) made of thirty steps, spiritual guide leading to Heaven, and its author receives the name of Climacus (ὁ τῆς Κλίμακος). The ways this book was read, its place in the collections and its quotations indicate the important role played by the Ladder, with its aphorisms et metaphors, in the ascetic literature in Byzantium. An abundant corpus of exegetic scholia written in the 10th century and developed in the form of quotations of ascetic authors in the 11th century attests to the original reception of the treatise of John Climacus. The Commentary of Elias of Crete, composed at the beginning of the 12th century and preserved in 19 manuscripts, proposes an exhaustive exegesis of the Ladder, relying on scholia but also on many patristic and philosophical references.The present dissertation establishes a classification of the codices of the Ladder, of its scholia and proposes a stemma codicum of the Elias’ Commentary ; all the examinated manuscripts are described in a repertoire. The study provides Princeps and critical editions of numerous scholia and of a part of the Commentary.