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1. Concept 1.1. AsceticismAsceticism is a “fundamental concept of European cultural history”, [18] whose use in the Modern Period can scarcely be said to make sense without a knowledge of its history in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period. The term goes back to the Greek verb askeín (“to practise something”); the “practice” (Gr. áskesis) referred to was frequently defined in terms of method, and related to physical (e.g. sportive or military) as well as, by extrapolation, intellectual and moral areas of life (such as philosophy and virtue). S…