Hilarion
Hilarion (291–371), also known by the bynames of Thavata, of Gaza and, in the Orthodox Church, as the Great, was a Christian anchorite who spent most of his life in the desert according to the example of Anthony the Great (c. 251–356). While Anthony is considered to have established Christian monasticism in the Egyptian Desert, Hilarion, who lived in the coastal area near Gaza, is considered by his biographer Jerome (c. 342/347 – 420), to be the founder of Palestinian monasticism – regarding this claim see also Hilarion's contemporary, Chariton (mid-3rd century – c.